Chapter 40: Speed (2)
Translator: Dreamscribe
Kang Woojin, who had received the scenario, nodded indifferently.
“Ah- thank you for getting it.”
But inside, he was dancing a shoulder dance.
‘Nice, Japanese scenario acquired.’
He was literally grinning from ear to ear. If he shown this outside, his image would have been shattered in an instant. Anyway, the reason why Woojin requested a Japanese scenario was simple. He thought of Japanese after English.
‘It’s probably better to go with what’s familiar.’
When Kang Woojin checked the cover of the scenario, the stylist Han Ye-jung next to him asked a little coldly. It’s not that she had a bad personality, but that’s how she usually spoke.
“Oppa, do you also speak Japanese? It doesn’t seem to be a translation.”
“A little.”
“Ah- really? But why a Japanese scenario?”
“I just want to have a look.”
The conversation was generally low due to the coldness and sternness. When Kang Woojin turned a page of the scenario, CEO Choi Sung-gun in the passenger seat looked at Woojin reflected in the rearview mirror and opened his mouth.
“It took a while to get the original Japanese scenario instead of the translated version, Will this do?”
“Yes, this will do. Thank you.”
This was when road manager Jang Su-hwan chimed in.
“Wow! CEO! How did you get the Japanese scenario??”
“Hey, hey, look ahead! How did I get it? I just have some connections in Japan.”
Choi Sung-gun answered casually and glanced at Woo-jin through the rearview mirror again. He looked at Kang Woojin. He then sighed slightly, feeling a bit stuffy.
‘Ah, darn. I can’t even ask about the past because it’s explicitly written in the contract not to. But I’m so curious.’
He was incredibly curious about the monster’s past.
Was he really abroad? … Was he in Japan? Looking at his sudden request for a Japanese scenario, maybe.’
As Choi Sung-gun was trying to understand something in his own way and glanced at Woojin through the rearview mirror again.
‘So he’s thinking of making a debut in Japan? Japan is good. Knowing Japanese alone is several times more advantageous than other actors. The world opens up with more possibilities.’
For an actor, language is essential. It’s not just about dialogue; to grow globally, fluency in foreign languages is required. Once fluent, the growth rate is tens of times faster. Choi Sung-gun knew this all too well.
‘Japanese? It’s good, but English is still the best for an actor. Can Woojin not speak English at all?’
Around this time, Kang Woojin, who was pretending to read the scenario, moved his index finger so as not to be noticed.
– Swipe.
He moved it to tap the black square that appeared next to the scenario.
– Poof.
As is, Woojin entered the endlessly pitch-dark void space and naturally turned his body to check the listed white rectangles. As expected, one more had been added.
-[1/Scenario (Title: Exorcism), A-grade]
-[2/Script (Title: Profiler Hanryang Part 1), S-grade]
-[3/Scenario (Title: Tokyo Station), C-grade]
The Japanese words were hard to read for now. Regardless, Kang Woo-jin smiled.
“Let’s go for Japanese.”
He was on the verge of mastering Japanese after English. It was a matter of time. He was going to possess two foreign languages in just about two weeks.
Then.
-Swish.
Kang Woojin selected the white rectangle with Japanese written on it. At the same time.
[“A new language other than the base language has been detected. Acquiring ‘日本語(Japanese)’ first.”]
A robotic female voice was heard.
[“Preparing ‘日本語’ reading ……”]
[“…Preparation complete. Starting ‘日本語’ reading.”]
A vast grey covered Kang Woojin.
After a while. When Kang Woojin returned to the real world inside the van, he murmured softly, looking at the scenario in his hand.
“いいね, すごくいい.(It’s really good)”
Since he read the Japanese in the script so smoothly, he didn’t need a translator at all.
‘Japanese Acquired.’
Japanese was engraved into Kang Woojin.
After that.
Yesterday, on March 25th, the filming of ‘Profiler Hanryang’ began, and the staff and actors smoothly followed the schedule. As a result, Kang Woo-jin had to handle the shooting like a madman.
“Cut! OK!! This time it’s Woojin’s solo! We’ll start with the bust!”
The day went by with dozens of switching of Park Dae-ri and Kang Woojin. Acting, acting, acting, eating, acting, acting. Except for occasional breaks, Woojin just kept acting. He seemed like a machine built for acting.
“OK! Next is Woojin’s turn! Huh? Where’s Woojin?!”
“He’s waiting in the car! I’ll bring him right away!”
For the newbie actor Kang Woojin.
“Woojin! Stand by!!”
It was not strange even if he felt nauseous at this speed.
‘Please save me, please.’
So Kang Woojin reduced his words even more, excluding acting. Just maintaining the shooting and concept was overwhelming enough. However, it wasn’t just Kang Woojin who was on a forced march. It seemed the same for all the staff and actors.
Solo shots, full shots, crowd shots, and so on.
“Call in the extras! The next cut is a crowd shot!”
Regardless, PD Song man-woo shot like he was possessed. However, he didn’t do it haphazardly.
“Cut! Jung-min! Your expression is killing the mood, Let’s try again with a slight smile!”
He was such a veteran that he could shoot quickly while controlling each scene with great depth. Sometimes he spent more than two hours on just one or two scenes.
A week passed like that.
March ended and April began. April 1st, Wednesday. However, the shooting speed increased even more. As if they were on an high-speed train. Kang Woo-jin could only endure.
‘Isn’t this really too much?’
It was a world apart from ‘Exorcism’.
“Okay!! Now, Woojin, go fix your makeup!”
A continuous sequence of shooting, shooting, and more shooting. Even this massive team moved around a lot. From the set to outside, back to the set, and back outside again. The absurd part was that even this schedule was made with the best possible route.
“Woojin standby! Ah, let’s fix Woojin’s makeup here!!”
“Yes! I’m on it!”
Kang Woojin poured out all the calories he had consumed into his acting.
Although he may appear calm and stern, there was no particular need to maintain the concept. A slight adjustment of tone naturally maintained his poker face. For Woojin, who had started acting itself two months ago, this brutal schedule felt violent. But he couldn’t whine about it. He couldn’t appear weak.
Because to everyone, Kang Woojin was a crazy monster actor. His self-esteem was high. So Kang Woojin used a cheat key. That’s the void space.
-Thud!
Since it was a filming site, the script was always by his side. Kang Woojin poked the black rectangle whenever it felt like hell. He didn’t use it on the first day of filming, as it was chaotic, and he had some determination, but now he couldn’t bear it just by showing off. Anyway, unlike the chaotic scene, the void space was dead quiet.
Although it was endless dark space, the void space itself was heaven.
“Ha- I can live now.”
But.
“It’s a pity that I can’t sleep.”
He couldn’t sleep in the void space. Woojin tried several times but failed. The reason was not certain. Whether it was a psychological problem of Kang Woojin or a characteristic of the void space.
“Or is it some kind of penalty?”
Well, it was impossible for Woojin, a human, to understand the void space, which was extremely bizarre. If it doesn’t work, it doesn’t work. Kang Woojin thought positively. What if I can’t sleep a little? The void space is an overwhelming advantage.
Besides, he could rest like this, right?
Although he couldn’t fully rid himself of fatigue, he could melt it a bit. That was enough for now. There was nothing to bring in, including his phone, so it was boring, but that was a luxurious complaint considering the hellish scene.
“I’m more than satisfied just being able to take breaks freely.”
Once Kang Woojin roughly finished recharging and shouted, “Exit!”, he again donned the mask of his character with a calm demeanor. However, there was some misunderstanding among the staff during this process.
“Why does Woojin look so fine? How good is his stamina to be like that? Normally, anyone would be dropping dead from this level of forced march.”
“That’s right, even the lead actors are nodding off. It seems like Woojin has incredible endurance. I’ve never seen him groaning in pain. His acting quality is always good, without any fluctuations.”
“He must have been born with that stamina. He’s just too perfect, isn’t he? Every time I see Woojin, I wonder why did he start acting only now?”
Regardless, the ‘Profiler Hanryang’ team ramped up their filming speed even more. The B team even joined, boosting their pace. With the B team coming in, they can now film 20 cuts a day instead of just 10.
It was as if PD Song Man-woo had become two people.
Of course, Team B would be shooting smaller, less crucial cuts, but that was a big help in itself. The cast, including Kang Woojin, alternated between the main and B teams to continue shooting.
Time went like a bullet.
The weekend quickly came to an end, and the second weekday of April began. Around April 6th, Director Woo Hyun-goo, who had been cursed at daily, confessed to all his wrongdoings.
『[Exclusive] Director Woo Hyun-goo, From ‘Master’ to ‘Monster’ “I will live my life atoning for my sins”』
That same afternoon, Director Woo Hyun-goo held a press conference with a dejected expression.
“I’m really sorry to the victims and the public, and I also feel burdened for causing such a big problem in the film industry. I’m sorry.”
With this, it could be seen that Director Woo Hyun-goo’s illustrious career had come to an end.
And then, on the next day.
The ‘Profiler Hanryang’ team released an official piece of confirmed news.
『[Official] The highly anticipated ‘Profiler Hanryang’ will premiere on May 15th, airing every Friday and Saturday at 10PM.』
The premiere date was confirmed.
A few days later, on Friday, April 10th.
In the morning, a large number of people had gathered in a large meeting room. There were around 20 people sitting at a U-shaped table. All of them were members of the ‘Mise-en-scène Short Film Festival’ committee.
This place was the committee meeting room of the ‘Mise-en-scène Short Film Festival’.
In line with the long-standing tradition of the ‘Mise-en-scène Short Film Festival’, there were many older people in the committee. A man with his head full of gray hair sitting at the head of the table spoke up.
“That’s settled. The event date will be April 30th, and the schedule for the week after the event is confirmed as such. Submissions start the day after tomorrow.”
He was the executive chairman, the highest position in the committee.
“Have we finished about 70% of the preparations?”
“Yes.”
“How about the venues?”
The answer came from the vice chairman sitting next to the chairman. He also looked quite old.
“Seoul Cinema Art Hall, CCV COEX, and the headquarters of our sponsor, plus one or two undecided theaters.”
“Settle it quickly. We won’t have time to worry about such things once the submissions start coming in.”
“Understood.”
“What about inviting the judging directors?”
This time the answer came from a young woman sitting in the middle of the table.
“We have sent out invitations to a total of ten directors, including last year’s judges and some new directors. We naturally invited the renowned ones too.”
“Did you include Director Kwon Ki-taek?”
“Yes. However, one spot has become vacant since the incident with Director Woo Hyun-goo.”
“Hmm. Even if they’re not renowned, include some variety show directors or well-known directors to make it 15. Better to have too many than too few.”
“Yes, chairman.”
The chairman continued, looking down at a transparent file on the table.
“Also, increase the list of honorary judge actors and invited actors. The number has to be greater than last year, no matter what.”
Suddenly, as he remembered, the chairman called the vice chairman.
“Vice-chairman, what about the special invitations? Given to those Japanese directors.”
“Ah- As you have said, we have sent the notice to a total of five people. But we have not received an answer yet.”
“Send the invitation indiscriminately, whether they’re art or commercial directors. It would be great if at least two master directors could come, but if that’s not possible, even moderately famous directors will do.”
Having given his instructions, the chairman suddenly clasped his hands and drew everyone’s attention.
“Alright, I’m sure you all more or less know this, but this year we are going to put more effort in than before. The promotion has to be different from last year. We should also get s from YouTubers or BJs, and invite those who are good. We need to attract as many people as possible.”
By the looks of it, the chairman seemed to be aiming for a significant refreshment compared to last year.
“We’re considering soliciting opinions from top actors who come as honorary judges and also proposing them as ambassadors. The ultimate goal is to get the public to watch more short films, whether online or offline.”
The chairman explained the reason for this.
“With a change of sponsors this year, the new sponsor is putting a lot of effort into it. The requirement is to necessarily make the festival bigger. That way, the sponsor can also get publicity.”
Large corporations sponsor sports teams and film festivals, which are great for brand promotion. It’s for imprinting the image of supporting cultural advancement.
“So this year must definitely be more explosive than last year. Understand? Let’s all stay focused.”
The chairman firmly changed the topic as he closed the transparent file.
“And the sponsor suggested that we add an award for the actors this year. What do you all think?”
A team leader responded quickly.
“I think it’s not a bad idea. Given the nature of our film festival, there are years when there is no Best Picture. That tends to diminish the explosiveness you mentioned.”
“Right.”
“Considering that there may not be a Best Picture, adding a couple of new actor awards would make the festival more vibrant, without feeling empty. It would give the reporters something to write about. Perhaps Best Acting and a Grand Prize would be appropriate.”
“Well, what I’m worried about is, after all, the actors in the short films are mostly unknown, right? Aren’t we creating a situation where we’re forcibly giving awards to actors who lack acting skills?”
“Well, we would be giving it to the better ones among them. Even if the acting is a bit lacking and awkward, it would be like encouragement for the future. After all, participation by top actors or decent actors will increase.”
Most of the committee members in the conference room nodded their heads at his remarks. The executive chairman seemed to agree as well, nodding his head slowly before adding instructions.
“Then let’s prepare to add an actor’s award.”
At the same time, in the ‘Exorcism’ editing room.
A peculiar smell wafted faintly in the editing room. In fact, three ragged-looking people were sitting there.
They were Director Shin Dong-chun and the editors.
Their appearance was far from good. Dark circles under their eyes indicated sleepless nights, their faces full of blemishes, and their hair disheveled. Yes, they resembled zombies. But their eyes were fixed solely on the monitors in front of them.
-Tap!
They occasionally operated the editing equipment, but their gaze was almost entirely on the monitor. On several monitors, of course, the short film ‘Exorcism’ was being displayed.
It was played, rewound, fast-forwarded, and stopped.
Consequently, the protagonist, Kang Woojin, looked somewhat ludicrous on the screen. However, Director Shin Dong-chun’s face was full of seriousness. Although he looked worn-out, his eyes were vivid.
“Extend the sound a bit over there.”
“Yes.”
The editors were the same. Led by Director Shin Dong-chun, the three of them moved in perfect harmony. As a result, the quality of ‘Exorcism’ displayed on the monitor was high.
About an hour passed like this.
One of the editors hit a key on the editing machine.
– Thunk!
The noise seemed to signal a full stop. At the same time, behind the editors sitting side by side, Director Shin Dong-chun sighed and raised his head to the ceiling, covering his face with both hands. A long sigh came from his mouth mixed with relief.
“Finally.”
The editors sitting next to him echoed his sentiment. They jumped up from their seats and shouted.
“It’s over!!!”
“Wow- Si! It’s over, it’s over!”
“Hahaha! Director, you’ve worked really hard!!”
“Yes! Director! You really worked hard!”
And so it was. The editing of ‘Exorcism’, which started in mid-March, ended today on April 10th. A month-long journey.
“No, you two really worked hard. Thank you very much. Really.”
So, at this moment, the short film ‘Exorcism’ was completed. A work that Kang Woo-jin had affection and attachment for. Of course, it was Director Shin Dong-chun’s slight misunderstanding, but he didn’t know that. He picked up his phone.
‘I must tell him right away. He was so passionate about it, he’ll be happy.’
He had to inform Kang Woojin about the completion of his first starring work.
*****