Chapter 418 (1/2)

Maru looked at director Joongjin while buttoning up his drill uniform. The atmosphere on the set was mainly decided by the director. Choi Joonggeun, the director of Twilight Struggles, was someone that didn’t talk a lot during shoots. The only words he spoke were: ‘again’ and ‘good’. Whether it was his senior or his junior; a lead actor, or a supporting actor, he did not speak to them in long sentences. He only sat in front of the monitor with an expressionless face and spoke from time to time. Once he got a good cut and the camera stopped, he would become ‘close brothers’ with the rest of the people.

Joonggeun’s method was to let the actors decide for themselves. It was a method that also pressured the actors considerably. There was no feedback during the shoot. He told the things he wrote down and thought of during the shoot to the actors only during break times. Once the camera started rolling again, he would not say anything.

During the shoot for Twilight Struggles, he saw Moonjoong in deep thought. He was probably contemplating how to solve the requests that the director had given him.

Just how many rolls of film had they gone through? Maru was there for only one day, but he was flabbergasted by the director when he took dozens of takes for one scene.

Joonggeun’s method was to help the actors reach an answer themselves. His method was only possible if he had the confidence to give no directions to the actors. However, fundamental trust towards those actors had to lie as the basis. If he was working with veteran actors, he would be able to create high-quality scenes in a short time, but if that wasn’t the case, he would have to throw out a lot of rolls of film. Despite the risks, Joonggeun provided the same opportunities to all the actors during the shoot. He waited and waited again.

“Smack down on the desk when you say ‘be quiet’. Like, in a strong tone. Think of it as though you’re trying to cover up everyone else’s voices on the microphone. Then you turn around, to the left.”

Joongjin limited the range of acting. He controlled every little action the actor had to do with his words and wanted them to act within his control. At first, Maru thought that he was going to give instructions to just the minor actors and the background actors, but he gave detailed instructions to all the actors that came inside the classroom.

“Wouldn’t it be better to turn right?”

Cha Taehoon, the lead actor for a child role, gave his opinion, but Joongjin refused in a soft, yet firm way that didn’t leave room for any negotiation.

No one talked back to him after realizing his intentions of meticulous control behind his soft-spoken words. While the explanations continued, though, another person came into the classroom. It was Miso.

“Then let’s get ready.”

Joongjin positioned each actor. The direction they were looking in, the angle of their arms, the shape of their mouth, etc. He told them every little detail as though he was teaching a child that did not know anything.

Maru saw the expressions of the child actors slowly starting to stiffen.

“We’re going to start the shoot like this. We’ll do a master shot once and then do a coverage of each part. Everyone, do the actions I told you to do. Even if you make a mistake, don’t stop. I’m the one making that decision.”

Joongjin left the class. A camera, which was installed on a dolly, which was then installed on rails, moved around the entrance of the classroom. Maru saw the camera director nodding towards Joongjin.

“Scene three-dash-one-dash-one.”

The staff with a slate clapped it in front of the camera. Following that, the director’s voice could be heard.

“Ready, action.”

The camera slid into the classroom. It seemed to be getting an overall feel of the scene. Maru looked at the situation while in a sleeping position just as Joongjin had instructed him to. Everyone was doing the actions that the director told them to do. The camera on a dolly stopped in front of Park Gwangsoo, who sat in the front row.

Park Gwangsoo said the line he prepared in a strong manner. His character was the first of the class. Everyone in the class suddenly turned quiet. The expressions and actions as they became quiet were also instructed in detail by the director. There was no ‘improvisation’ where the camera was shooting. Everything was a scenery created by Park Joongjin. There was no individuality at all.

Despite that, Maru found this place limitlessly natural.

Directing was something artificial. Since a person was creating an imaginary story and giving directions according to that, it could only be artificial. However, in between two directions, there were the emotions of individuals as well as their acting. It was the mixture of contrivance and individuality that lessened the artificial nature and increased sympathy. No, Maru believed that to be true until he experienced this moment.

Joongjin’s direction of the classroom was fairly artificial. He limited all individual action so that there was nothing in between his directions. He created the space as though he was mass-producing things. Maru thought that the contradiction of this methodology would soon show up once they started shooting. Perfect order could only look mechanical. He predicted that the ‘human nature’ that people working in the industry looked for, would be absent and would create a stifling picture.

However, what actually happened was a picture of a classroom that had its traits despite being ordinary and above all - had no flaws. What if the kid chatting next to him looked just a little lower, and what if the guy whistling by the window whistled for just a little longer, and what if the drill uniform of the smiling guy sitting at the back was a little neater? Would it feel the same then?

He subconsciously sighed.

Eventually, they continued to the point where Gwangsoo hooked his arm around Bangjoo and laughed together. It was a long take. During this 3-minute shot, there was no NG signal. Taehoon smacked down on the desk. Then, a second round of silence pervaded the area. Everyone looked at Taehoon in the same instant. Every movement, down to their hands, was just as Joongjin had instructed them to do. Once the gaze was gathered on him, Taehoon kicked off his seat and walked towards the camera.

“Cut,” Joongjin spoke in a bright voice.

After entering the classroom, Joongjin walked amidst everyone and told every one of them what they did wrong. The ones that were pointed out widened their eyes in surprise. They seemed surprised that Joongjin noticed their minute mistakes at all.

“We’re doing that again. You just need to do as I told you to.”

While Joongjin took the lead actors and Miso outside the class, Maru straightened his back and sat up.

“Seonbae-nim.”

Bangjoo, who sat at the front, walked up to him.

“What is it?”

“Is shooting a movie supposed to be like this?”

“Is anything strange?”

“It is. It’s completely different from how I expected it to be.”

“What did you expect?”

“Acting out this and that, and then the director would tell people who’s wrong, who was good, and what they could do better. When they hit a block, we’d talk with other actors, and… anyway, I was expecting more of a hustle and bustle.”