All the scenes in the morning centered on the scorpion king, and the shooting went very smoothly. Most shots were completed in one or two takes, finishing the planned work before eleven o'clock. The Crew took a temporary break, regrouped after lunch, and continued shooting the scorpion king's scenes.
However, unlike the morning, the scenes shot in the afternoon mainly consisted of close-ups and extreme close-ups of the scorpion king.
Similarly, the shooting continued smoothly. Stephen Sommers directed the Crew, completing four shots between one and half-past two. Three of these were successful on the first take, and the most difficult one only required four takes.
The Crew took a temporary break. Stephen Sommers sat behind the director's monitor, continuing to watch the completed footage.
After reviewing all the shots, he was in a good mood. Today's shooting progress exceeded expectations. He had originally thought that with a new actor joining the Crew, completing even half of the plan would be good, but Matthew Horner's performance was surprisingly outstanding—so outstanding it caught everyone off guard.
"To achieve this kind of performance, it can only mean..." Stephen Sommers was not a novice but an experienced director. "Matthew Horner prepared extensively for this role, and he is naturally suited to play this type of character."
He sighed. Matthew Horner's acting skills were only average, but his inherent demeanor and physical condition were extremely compatible with the role of the scorpion king, as if he were born to play this type of character.
Suddenly, Stephen Sommers recalled seeing on Matthew Horner's resume that he had played powerful warrior roles in Ridley Scott's directed Gladiator and in band of brothers, which was executive produced by Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg.
Two Crews choosing him for this type of role—surely that wasn't a coincidence?
What would the shooting have been like if they had cast Dwayne The Rock Johnson today? Stephen Sommers couldn't help but entertain the thought, and the answer immediately formed in his mind: one had the physique but no acting experience; the other also had a good physique but extensive experience playing these types of roles... Stephen Sommers stopped pondering, stood up, and wandered around the set. After working continuously for an hour and a half, he was a bit tired too. Most people on the set were resting or using special methods to relax. The soundstage was quiet, except for one area where shouting could be heard.
It was a circle formed by extras. Curious, Stephen Sommers walked over to look. First, he saw his Action Director, and then a person dressed as an ancient Egyptian warrior—Matthew Horner.
"You're doing great!" the Action Director said to Matthew Horner, who was holding a shield.
"Yes, just like that! Put power into your sword stroke!"
Stephen Sommers looked across from the Action Director. Matthew Horner performed several movements wielding the shield and sword. These movements were not only powerful but also demonstrated excellent physical coordination, much like a seasoned warrior.
"He really is doing well." He nodded.
But the actor over there still seemed dissatisfied and said to the Action Director, "I don't think it's flexible enough. Felipe, can you figure out a way to make the movements look more agile?"
Stephen Sommers continued to watch from among the extras on the periphery.
"Footwork, mind your footwork!" the Action Director's voice carried over again. "Didn't you just finish two months of boxing training? Use the footwork you practiced!"
Hearing this, Stephen Sommers had a moment of realization. No wonder Matthew Horner was in better shape than before—it turned out he had specifically trained for two months after signing the contract.
How many young actors today are this serious and dedicated? He shook his head, thinking of most of the young actors he had encountered.
Stephen Sommers watched for a while longer, then turned and left, returning to his director's chair to look through the recent shooting schedule.
After finishing the scenes of the scorpion king in his human form, they still needed to shoot the final ending of the film. He hadn't decided yet whether to create the scorpion king entirely using CGI plus keying Matthew Horner's face onto the model, or to shoot it using the actor combined with green screen special effects synthesis.
Initially, fearing that the novice Dwayne The Rock Johnson would be unable to handle the actor-plus-green-screen method of shooting, he had planned to generate the scorpion king's monster form directly using CGI.
But this idea began to waver after the scorpion king's makeup test. Based on today's shooting, Matthew Horner's capabilities were sufficient. Should they adopt the actor-plus-green-screen method? This approach would yield better results than pure CGI generation and would also be cheaper.
This way, they could save another sum of money to further enhance the special effects production.
Thinking about special effects production, Stephen Sommers frowned slightly. Matthew Horner had been on set for less than a day, yet all he could think about were the conveniences he brought. Why was that?
Setting aside the filming aspects, purely regarding funding: casting Matthew Horner as the scorpion king saved a million dollars in salary that could be used to strengthen post-production. If they adopted the actor-plus-green-screen method, they could save another significant amount.
The Action Director walked over at this point and said, "Director..."
Stephen Sommers asked, "What is it?"
"It's about shooting the next scene," the Action Director said as concisely as possible. "Matthew Horner suggested not using a stunt performer and doing all the action scenes himself."
"He can do that?" Stephen Sommers asked.
The Action Director was full of confidence. "I think it's fine. Matthew Horner underwent systematic boxing training before joining the Crew, and his physical coordination is excellent!"
Stephen Sommers frowned in thought.
The Action Director suggested, "Should we try it? If the actor shoots it himself, it saves a lot of trouble."
Using a stunt double involved too many complexities, so Stephen Sommers quickly made a decision. "Alright, let's shoot a test take first. If it doesn't work, we'll proceed according to the original plan."
The break ended, and shooting resumed.
Many extras stood on the sand in front of the green screen, preparing to fight. Matthew stood in the middle of the most advantageous spot for filming, checking the shield and sword in his hands one last time. Three stunt performers dressed as ancient soldiers were already in position, ready to charge over sequentially once filming began.
The Crew was ready. The Action Director gave Matthew a thumbs-up and then shouted loudly, "Action!"
In the quiet soundstage, the sounds of fighting immediately erupted, as extras bearing the scorpion mark "fiercely battled" with extras in different costumes.
The first stunt performer attacked Matthew from the side, thrusting the prop sword straight toward his body.
Following the pre-set choreography, Matthew dodged, and his shield slammed down. The stunt performer, being experienced, acted as if he had been violently struck just before the shield hit him, flying backward.
The second stunt performer rushed up quickly and fiercely. Matthew used his shield to block the axe, then thrust his sword forward, and the stunt performer collapsed to the ground.
Next, the third stunt performer appeared at the perfect moment, leaping forward to pounce. Matthew raised his shield and used the momentum of the stunt performer's jump to flip him away.
Having dispatched three enemies as easily as slicing vegetables, Matthew charged directly into the circle of fighting extras.
"Cut!" The Action Director operating the camera called a stop, then looked toward the director's monitor. Seeing Stephen Sommers nod, he shouted, "Okay! That's a wrap on this take!"
Matthew switched the sword to his left hand, walked over to the last stunt performer, reached out, and pulled him up, asking, "Are you alright?"
The stunt performer moved his shoulder, which seemed a bit painful, but he smiled and said, "I'm fine, I'm used to it."
"That's good." Matthew smiled too.
He was equally friendly towards these stunt performers. Their work was difficult, as they generally performed the Crew's most dangerous tasks.
He still had several scenes later that required cooperation with these stunt performers.
His excellent completion of this action scene dispelled all doubts held by Director Stephen Sommers. In the subsequent action scenes, Matthew did not use a stunt double, performing every one himself. Although they encountered a few issues, none were problematic, and the shooting of the scorpion king's scenes continued to proceed smoothly.
After two continuous days of shooting, the scenes involving the scorpion king's human form were declared complete at nearly twice the speed planned by Stephen Sommers.
All of this was inseparable from Matthew's relatively thorough preparation beforehand.
Sometimes, when he thought about it himself, he felt he was indeed very suitable for this type of role. Such characters primarily rely on looks, muscle, and displaying a powerful demeanor, without demanding excessive acting skill.
After this section of filming was completed, Stephen Sommers also made up his mind to abandon the plan of purely generating the scorpion king's monster form using CGI, opting instead for the actor-plus-green-screen method.
The adjustments he made required preparation from the Crew. This segment of the film was temporarily postponed, and they switched to shooting the scenes of the male and female leads first. However, Matthew did not idle; he came to the soundstage every day to observe the filming and the performances of the main actors.
During this time, Matthew fully utilized his advantages, not only getting acquainted with the main Crew members, including Brendan Fraser, Rachel Weisz, and Arnold Vosloo, but also gradually becoming familiar with them.
Perhaps because they had all starred together in the mummy, the atmosphere among the actors in this Crew was relatively harmonious.
Therefore, Matthew always showed his best side and gradually established a good reputation within the Crew.
Ten days later, the scorpion king's scenes resumed. This also included the filming of the movie's grand finale. Once this part was finished, Matthew could leave the Crew. The others would then head to Morocco to continue experiencing life in the African desert.
Just like before, the shooting of Matthew's shots was generally smooth. Because he had remained with the Crew, he maintained excellent form, and the professionalism he displayed earned him considerable praise.