Chapter 283 (2/2)

“Nice spot,” Geunsoo sat down on the floor as he spoke.

“Have a nice meal.”

“You too.”

Maru took a bite off the sausage buchim before looking around. It seemed that the actors were eating somewhere else as he couldn’t find any of them around. There was a blue tent on his left, and he predicted that the actors were in there.

“Are the three people from last time all there is in the lighting team?” He asked as he continued to eat.

There were many heavy-looking lighting devices gathered around. The three of them handled all of those lighting devices?

“No way. Those three from just now were the A team, and the B team is over there. You see that car over there? That’s the generator car, and the one next to it is the crane truck that holds the lights up in the air. The car next to that holds the equipment. All of that combined is called the lighting department.”

“So that’s how it works.”

“But while they’re called ‘teams’, they’re just hired part-time workers most of the time. The three that you saw last time will hire people for shooting a movie and they’ll scatter once the movie is over. It’s a hard job, so many people quit midway. It’s rare to see someone you see on one set appear again in another set.”

After speaking, Geunsoo started eating his meal with a happy expression.

“So many people for just one movie.”

At a glance, more than a hundred people seemed to be having dinner right now. There were people who were laughing and talking, and there were also those that just ate quietly. They had all gathered here to finish a movie that would be around an hour and 20 minutes long, or at most 2 hours long.

“Well, with screens, more people work in the background than in the foreground.” Geunsoo put down his spoon as he spoke.

“The first thing that people do before every movie is to have a meal together with the staff like this. Only then do they realize that there may be 30 to 40 people appearing on camera, but there are at least 10 times as many people working in the background.”

Geunsoo had a serious expression. It was even disconcerting how he was so different from the prankster Geunsoo that let Maru have the handle on the road.

“Looks like screwing the movie up will have consequences.”

“Hmm, no. Normally, the staff isn’t in a bad position even if the movie fails. They get their pay regardless of the success or failure of the movie. But sometimes, like what you just said, there are producers that screw up so hard. They’re trash who shoot movies without any budget. Because of those kinds of bastards, there are many people who get into debts unwillingly,” after saying those words, Geunsoo made a bitter smile.

“That’s why we have to do our best to make this movie successful. To do that, we need to put our best effort in… no, we need to do the best act possible so that the stage these people created for us doesn’t go down the drain. That’s the duty of those that live on guarantees.”

Duty.

Maru nodded his head. If he did a half-assed job just because he had a minor role, it would be the equivalent of being impolite to all these people. Rather than the best he could, he had to do the absolute best. This wasn’t a high-school acting club, but a proper movie where actual money was involved. People valued results more than the process, and fruits more than effort.

Just as he was about to finish his meal off with some cherry tomatoes, he saw people leaving the tent. The staff checked the time on their phones before starting to clean up.

“It looks like the filming is about to resume. It’ll be your scene once this scene’s over.”

“I should have one more look at the script then.”

“Rather than the script, you should look at the storyboard. Those have the camera angles, so it’ll be easier for you to draw the picture. Although the director will explain it to you during the shooting, not knowing and knowing is worlds apart even when you do listen to the explanation.”

“Okay.”

Maru started flipping over the storyboard that Geunsoo handed to him. The shooting location started becoming noisy.

“Hey! We need to readjust the level!”

“The jimmy jib is shaking though.”

“Get the wireless mic.”

“Check up on clothing!”

Although noises could be heard from everywhere, it didn’t look that messy. After a short while, the noises died down. Then, the lights started coming on one by one. The surroundings became brighter a bit.

“You should make your greetings before it starts.”

Geunsoo dusted his pants as he stood up. It was obvious who he had to greet so he didn’t ask. He walked towards the tent along with Geunsoo. He avoided the people moving busily and poked his head inside the tent.

Moonjoong was sitting next to a gas heater with the pot on top of it. There were many actors around him.

“I’m here, sir.”

“Oh, you’re here.”

Moonjoong closed his script and welcomed him. Maru bowed to greet him back..

“I’m also here, elder.”

“Yes, yes. So I finally get to see you on the scene. Wasn’t it tiring getting here?”

“Sir, I’m really sad. I’m the one who drove him here,” Geunsoo shook his head as he spoke.

“Haha, that’s right. You must be tired, Geunsoo. Did both of you have dinner?”

“Yes.”

Maru greeted the actors sitting behind Moonjoong as well. There were actors he hadn’t seen before as well. He presumed that they either had minor roles or were just extras like he was.

“Please get ready for the rehearsal.”

Someone entered the tent and spoke in a small voice. The actors all stood up.

“Well then, Maru. See you later.”

“Yes, elder.”

“Geunsoo, if I remember correctly, you appear the day after tomorrow, right?”

“Yup. In two days, I’ll be beaten to death by you. Please go easy on me.”

“Oh no, I can’t do that. I’ll have to put all my strength into it. Please die realistically, haha.”

“You’re so cruel. I’m your son, you know?”

Moonjoong left the tent with laughter. Maru carefully followed him. He greeted some of the staff that he met on his way and soon, the shooting began.

Seeing Moonjoong under the light, Maru became silent. He heard the cue sign from the director amidst the faint sounds of machinery.

“Pathetic, how pathetic.”

A depressed voice filled the surroundings.

Maru started focusing on Moonjoong’s acting as he embraced the air of the location.