....
[Next Day]
….
As promised to Stan Lee, Tolliver Lee and Carrow Seagal, Regal went ahead with the test shoot.
Only, being Regal… he didn't just 'test' it.
He staged the entire thing like it was a real scene from the actual film - lighting, blocking, crew, sound, the whole package, the kind of prep most directors reserved for day one of principal photography, he was doing just to prove a point.
Stan didn't say much about it, neither did his sons.
If anything, they welcomed it.
The more footage Regal gave them now, the more leverage they would have later, especially if the actor didn't land well on screen, if he faltered even slightly, they would have tangible evidence, a reason to push for a recast without seeming unreasonable.
And if the shoot somehow went well?
Well, at least they could justify the money being spent.
For now, they watched, letting Regal play his hand.
….
Shoot Day.
MDC and LIE Studios - Stage 12
Late February, 2013
….
The lot had been cleared by 5 a.m.
The floor trembled faintly as riggers secured the last of the high-tension cables into the ceiling track, and a soft mechanical vibration filled the soundstage.
From above, the exposed rafters of Stage 12 looked more like a spiderweb themselves - webs of steel and cable, looped across pulleys and fastened into carbon-frame harnesses that gleamed under the blue-tinted stage lights.
Regal sat in the video village, bundled in a thick parka, eyes fixed on the monitor.
This was Andrew's moment.
The make-or-break.
He was also watching the rooftop, that slightly worn rooftop façade made of painted foamcrete and matte-painted HVAC units.
It wasn't real Manhattan, but it felt like it was… especially now, with that spotlight haze crawling in through the smoke machine's quiet breath.
"Okay, Andrew…." Regal called. "You have got about six feet before the edge, we will go full take this time."
Andrew Garfield gave a small nod as he stopped cycling the spinbike, putting on the mask carried by the makeup assistant over his face.
The scene required him to show his tiredness, and chest beating - so had been cycling the machine every time the crew is preeping for the scene.
His suit already had the limp built into the hip joint, a tiny wedge in his boot elevated one side slightly, giving his walk the wounded rhythm the scene demanded. It is a bit dramatic, but it was needed.
So now, half-suited he stood just behind the black screens, his body language was quiet, but not still.
He was rolling his shoulders, tapping his chest twice, whispering something to himself.
One of the stunt coordinators walked up to him, offering the final harness check.
"All good?"
Andrew nodded, but didn't speak.
He wasn't 'on' yet, but he was becoming.
Behind the spandex mask lay a mind rewinding the reel, remembering the scene's stakes:
Peter Parker, shot in the leg, bleeding, exhausted… and Alone.
The Lizard is minutes away from releasing a virus from the Oscorp Tower, he has no clear path across the skyline.
Or more like the one he had… it just wont make him reach in time.
And that's when the people of the city, the same people he protects, light the way.
….
"William's ready in the rig." - someone said from the comms.
William Spencer, Andrew's main stunt double, was already twenty feet up on the adjacent wire platform, suspended by the twin-line yoyo rig designed to simulate the pendulum of a natural web-swing.
He gave a thumbs-up from the rafters.
"Let's move to Picture!" the AD, Lena shouted.
Cameras rolled into action - three of them in this setup.
- The ARRI Alexa Studio, mounted on a 30-foot Technocrane, was set for a sweeping arc.
- A Steadicam operator ran along a built track, ready to trail behind Andrew.
- The third, mounted low, aimed to catch the close-up just before the leap.
Immediately Regal shout was followed from the microphone -
"Scene 67B, take four."
"Mark it!" [clap]
"Action!"
….
Andrew limped across the rooftop, each step landing with pain behind his masked face.
The camera was right in front of him, but he didn't dare to look into it - he had been practising it for months now, and if somehow, his teacher saw it he didn't even want to imagine the consequences.
Also, Andrew knew his chances of getting replaced are all riding on this test shoot.
So he didn't dare to take it lightly.
His eyes tracking the invisible path ahead, where in post-production, swinging cranes would soon glow in golden backlight, all perfectly aligned for his escape.
His breath came faster.
The wind machine kicked in softly to tousle his suit and ripple his torn mask edge, behind the camera line, Regal mouthed the next instruction.
Andrew hit his mark, just before the rooftop's edge, he lunged forward - and the scene cut to the stunt.
From above, a second cue was triggered.
"Go!" barked the stunt coordinator.
William Spencer leapt from a platform into open air - his body snapped forward, the wire pulling taut as he swung into frame with a perfect arc.
The camera swept with him, gliding across the Manhattan skyline - that is, the green screen canvas where it would all be painted later.
On set, it was just blue scaffolds and rigging tape.
But in Regal's mind - and soon on the screen - it is Spider-Man's New York.
"Cut! That's a hold, let's reset the cable tension, he was five degrees low on entry."
"Got it." replied the rigger, adjusting the winch.
….
Later That Afternoon.
VFX Stage – Motion Capture Volume.
Inside an enclosed motion-capture studio just next door, the second phase was already in play.
Andrew stepped into the Volume in full mocap gear - tight suit, grey with dozens of reflective markers along joints and tendons.
He stretched his arms wide as a technician calibrated his model in Vicon Blade, the industry-standard system in 2013.
"We are simulating the moment after you latch onto the second crane." said Kevin Mack, the VFX supervisor. "Leg's still trailing, so you are twisting, counterbalancing, got it?"
Andrew smiled. "Let me fall a few times first and then I will get the twist."
Garfield launched into the mocap swings, with stagehands triggering foam-padded yoyo pulls to simulate drag.
Dozens of cameras captured every flex of his limbs.
Later, a digital double would be rigged in Maya and ZBrush, their textures overlaid with film-accurate shaders using V-Ray.
…..
Meanwhile… Across the Lot.
Editorial and Previz Bay
On a trio of large monitors, the swinging sequence was already being stitched together by the editing team.
"We got plates from the helicopter shoot last week." - said the assistant editor, scrubbing through gorgeous sunset skyline footage captured over Manhattan. "We are using shots from 44th Street to overlay the lower angle."
The city - real and photoreal - was being built, crane by crane.
Fully animated in Houdini, each steel arm was textured with grime and rust, their movement synced using animation curves mapped against pendulum physics simulations.
The swing path can't be a guesswork - it was math.
"We can't afford the swing to feel weightless." Kevin insisted in every review meeting. "He is not flying, he is grabbing gravity and wrestling it for a few seconds."
….
Nightfall - Final Touches.
Back on Stage 12, the final take of the day was ready.
This time, Marc wanted it all in one flowing movement - no cut, just transition.
Andrew limped, ran, jumped - cut to William mid-swing.
The camera surged, the wire flexed - and a huge gust from the wind cannon hit at the apex of the arc.
Everything clicked.
The monitor view was unfiltered and uncomposited - but it gave Regal chills.
Regal whispered, almost to himself. "There's your city, Peter..."
….
What took two days of shooting, one month of animation, and 28 compositors… lasted only 37 seconds in the final cut.
Soon, it was presented to Stan.
A camera tracking in on Spider-Man's limp as he emerged onto the rooftop, favoring one leg.
Andrew's performance was… expressive without being too dramatic heroism, just pain, his breaths were short, and his shoulders slumped.
The Steadicam follows him from behind as he stumbles to the ledge, rain hits his mask, his chest heaved and leg buckled.
"Come on... come on..." Andrew whispered behind the mask, not loud enough for dialogue, but the mic caught it.
It wasn't scripted, it was him, Peter, talking to himself - Pushing.
He looked out, a massive gap and Oscorp was there... but he would never make it in time.
Then-
From the silence came a rumble.
A crane swung… his way.
Its long metal arm shifted in place, a bright halogen light snapped on, piercing the rain.
Then another.
And another.
Crane after crane turned, forming a perfect corridor through the skyline.
A voice crackled through the radio on set - "Let's light it up, boys! Spidey needs a way through!"
Andrew, in the suit, trembled, his body language was perfect, part disbelief, part hope.
He stepped back, looked down and his leg shook.
Then he screamed, not loud, or theatrical, a desperate, human cry - and ran.
The launch was real.
The first crane swing was performed by the stunt double, Rick Munroe, flying across with perfect grace.
But the next was Andrew.
Harnessed, rigged and arms out.
And you could feel it.
The resistance in his body, the way his torso twisted mid-air.
He landed, rolled, staggered up, and took off again.
Second crane.
Third.
Fourth.
Each landing was shakier and every next jump harder.
Andrew leaped again.
The camera panned with a wide sweeping motion, watching Spider-Man soar through the air, backlit by the blinking tower.
For a moment, he wasn't struggling.
He was flying.
And that was the moment.
But one wet morning, soaked in fake rain, where a tired actor gave everything for a swing that would define Spider-Man.
And during the shoot and now Stain watching this scene play out…
Frame by frame.
Swing by swing.
…this is what Spider-Man is…
You felt what Peter felt.
Fear, pain and grit.
And above all-
Hope.
So all he could utter was -
"...your daring attempts always astonish me Regal."
He didn't say it for light humor.
Stan meant it.
Because?
The test shoot which was supposed to decide whether they should replace the actor - Andrew - Regal chose as Spider-Man didn't now turn out as he expected.
He was sure Regal would choose a scene, Andrew get to show is acting powers - with something deep in emotion -
And definitely a scene without Spider-Man in his suit.
However, it didn't happen.
On the contrary, there wasn't a single shot of Spider-Man without a mask, let alone not wearing the suit.
In fact, he is sure there is even a stunt double involved in the swinging scene.
Who does that?
Wouldn't that undermine the whole purpose Regal is even doing the test shoot?
Well, the answer is no.
Just taking in the count of the number of times Stan watched the 37 second video would be more than 24 hours.
That's how much he loved it.
….and the number of times he teared up is not even something he could remember.
Watching the clip - a wounded teenager choosing pain over failure, with the city rising to help him through - he couldn't care about the actor inside the suit, or the stunt double.
He just saw Spider-Man.
And that's what he cared about.
.
….
[To be continued…]
★─────⇌•★•⇋─────★
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