Those brave crew members, including the first group who rushed out to rescue but unfortunately struck a reef, were all given generous bonuses to reward their courage.
After this incident, Gilbert decided that all future night scenes would be filmed in the studio to avoid any further accidents.
However, the crew still didn't have much luck with the shooting yet another unexpected incident occurred.
Here's what happened: during studio filming, many of the sets and props are made from flammable materials, such as foam and the like.
Therefore, to prevent accidental fires, smoking is usually not allowed in the studio, nor is anyone permitted to bring in sources of fire, in case of accidents.
But unfortunately, on this day after filming had wrapped, a crew member was cleaning up and perhaps thought it was fine since no one was around, so he casually lit a cigarette.
After finishing his smoke, he tossed the cigarette butt away carelessly without extinguishing it.
The cigarette landed near one of the set props and began to smolder, gradually growing from small to large, until half an hour later, it turned into roaring flames and spread rapidly.
Studio Two quickly turned into a sea of fire. By the time the crew noticed, the fire was already out of control.
At that moment, Gilbert had returned to the hotel and was in a meeting with the department heads of the crew, once again emphasizing the importance of safety.
"Safety—I've said it again and again that safety is the most important…" Gilbert was speaking passionately when an assistant ran in and whispered a few words into his ear.
Gilbert's expression visibly darkened. All the department heads, upon seeing this change, knew something had happened again.
Sure enough, Gilbert said, "Studio Two is on fire."
Charles Roven was shocked and immediately asked, "What about the adjacent warehouse? Has the fire spread there?"
Next to Studio Two was the crew's storage for sealed film reels. If that caught fire too, the losses would be massive.
If the warehouse burned, it would mean that all the footage filmed during this period would have to be reshot. Back in those days, there wasn't any digital storage device large enough to hold that much data.
So the film reels used for shooting were extremely valuable. Even though backups were usually made, the latest batch of footage hadn't yet been duplicated.
Gilbert said he wasn't sure: "Let's go check right now!"
"Okay," Charles Roven gathered everyone and also called the local fire department to send over fire engines.
By the time Gilbert and Charles Roven arrived at the scene, Studio Two was already ablaze, flames lighting up the sky, thick black smoke billowing upwards.
The staff who remained on site couldn't get anywhere near the blaze only waves of intense heat hit them.
Fortunately, all the film reels in the warehouse next to Studio Two had been moved in time. Otherwise, judging by the current situation, by the time the fire was out, the warehouse would've been gone too.
The film lot was equipped with fire-suppression systems. At that time, over a dozen crew members set up hoses, spraying water toward the fire in an attempt to contain it, but the effort had little effect.
"How's the film?" Gilbert's first concern upon arriving was the status of the film reels.
The staff on site responded, "They were moved out immediately no damage."
"Well done. Organize the firefighting efforts now prevent the fire from spreading to the other studios," Gilbert instructed.
"Yes, sir…" All the staff sprang into action. With the help of the local fire department, who arrived promptly, the fire was finally brought under control. However, Studio Two was reduced to nothing but crumbling ruins and was heavily damaged.
"As long as the people and the film are safe," Gilbert let out a sigh.
Recently, the crew had been plagued with bad luck first water, then fire. This disaster of water and fire had brought significant losses to the production.
The next day, the damage report came out quickly. The initial estimate put the losses at around four hundred thousand dollars—which actually wasn't too bad. The most important thing was that the film had been saved. If the reels had burned, the loss would've been catastrophic.
Charles Roven breathed a sigh of relief and said to Gilbert, "The biggest fear on a film set is fire. Once there's fire, it means massive losses."
"Exactly," Gilbert nodded, then added, "But fire doesn't start for no reason. Keep an eye on this."
"Of course…" Charles Roven promised to find the culprit.
In fact, the responsible crew member was soon identified and is now facing serious charges he's likely headed for jail.
But there was no helping it. Since he had made the mistake, he had to take responsibility. Fortunately, the film reels weren't damaged. Otherwise, things would've been far worse for the staffer.
After going through both a flood and a fire, it seemed the crew had endured eighty-one tribulations. Following that, filming proceeded smoothly without further incidents.
Due to the severe damage to Studio 2, rebuilding it would take time, so the crew switched to Studio 3 to complete the rest of the shoot.
Actually, it's quite common for accidents to happen on set. Fires are just the most typical kind. Sometimes, even fatalities occur!
Take the 1969 movie Shark, for example. Back then, prop and special effects techniques were still underdeveloped. Before Star Wars, Hollywood's model-making for effects wasn't very convincing.
So, in pursuit of realism, Shark used real sharks during filming.
But during the shoot, a shark broke through a protective net and directly attacked stuntman José Marco, resulting in his death.
Later, when the film was released, they even used the shark attack and real death as a publicity gimmick, which sparked considerable controversy.
There were also paranormal incidents. During the filming of The Exorcist, a fire broke out on set, but no cause could ever be identified after the fact.
Moreover, the actress who played the mother of the girl possessed by the demon fell for no reason on flat ground and fractured her spine.
Even more bizarre, nine behind-the-scenes crew members and cast died one after another during production. Eventually, the team had to invite a priest from the church to pray, and only then did the strange events stop.
It's worth noting that The Exorcist was the inspiration for The Conjuring film series.
Another infamous film is The Conqueror, often called the "death crew." This movie told the story of Genghis Khan from a typically Western perspective.
The film was shot in the desert near Utah, an area that still had lingering radiation from nuclear bomb tests decades prior.
The Conqueror crew was exposed to large amounts of radiation, which indirectly led to the deaths of 91 people, including the director and the lead actors making it the most cursed production in Hollywood history.
There are many more such accidents, often with serious consequences. At the very least, they result in financial loss, and at worst, cost lives.
That's why Gilbert constantly emphasized the importance of safety to his crew. In truth, his crew management was already considered very strict.
Running aground and fires are both major incidents for a film crew. Thankfully, no one died.
After those events, the crew didn't encounter any more major accidents, and filming progressed very smoothly.
...
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