A Genius Director Who Dominates OTT Platforms - Chapter 68

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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The Genius Director Who Dominates OTT

Episode 68

* * *

After spending unplanned time with the Accomplice actors, I arrived at the set past 3 PM.

As soon as I arrived at the set.

“Hyeon-u, no more playing hooky from now on.”

I was met with shocking words that came out of Chae Seo-hui’s mouth.

“…Playing hooky?”

Playing hooky?

Playing hooky, she said?

I went to visit the lead actor’s agency as the general CE to handle extremely official business!

But my hurt feelings completely disappeared with what she said next.

“Wipe that pout off your face. The set didn’t run well without you here.”

“The set? Why?”

“Because the OK man disappeared.”

“OK man?”

“From what I could see, there was nothing wrong with the filming results themselves, you know? Director Im is capable.”

“Right.”

“The problem is, until now the director and actors have been used to moving on only after getting your OK.”

“That’s quite an exaggeration. I’ve never infringed on the director’s authority.”

“Who said you did it through actions? I’m talking about the feeling.”

“Hmm…”

“Same with directing. Until now it went through you, but when the director did it, the actors found it a bit unfamiliar.”

This is a bit of a problem.

Director Im used me for efficiency reasons, but that might have come across as a lack of ability.

“You said there were no problems with the filming results?”

“Yes. But it was a bit slow. Getting through the call sheet felt about 1.5 times slower than usual.”

To be precise, today wasn’t slow – we’ve been fast until now.

We shot an enormous amount over the past 3 weeks.

“Long-term, I don’t think it’s a big problem. Director Im isn’t the type to quit after just one drama.”

“Right.”

“Still, don’t play hooky for a while. Talk with the director and sort out the directing approach too.”

“Fine, that’s all good. But I don’t like the term ‘playing hooky.'”

“How can a person live only hearing things they like?”

“…”

Chae Seo-hui has changed a lot too.

She definitely didn’t feel like this when I bought her lunch on her first day.

It must be because of Ju Yeong-hun, right?

If there’s a problem at SSK, it’s usually Ju Yeong-hun’s fault.

While I was thinking that, my smartphone vibrated.

It was Manager Gong Seok-jun.

“Yes, Manager.”

-Hyeon-u, you’re at the set now, right?

“Yes. I just arrived after handling external schedules. What’s wrong?”

-There’s something I need to check…

Why is he hesitating like this?

Manager Gong Seok-jun, who had been hesitating for a while, finally spoke with difficulty.

-Is it possible to launch Caught at Fingertips in August?

“August? This year’s August?”

-I know it’s pushing it, I know. But the situation has gotten a bit complicated.

“No matter what, August is… possible.”

-I thought so too, huh?

“I said it’s possible. If we push a bit, even mid-July seems possible.”

-…Really? Without any drop in quality?

“Yes.”

I don’t know what’s going on, but moving up the launch is something I secretly wanted too.

Didn’t I mention it earlier?

We shot an enormous amount over the past 3 weeks.

“Still, you know the staff will suffer if the schedule gets moved up, right? Incentives and bonuses…”

-Ah, of course. You don’t need to worry about that at all.

“I’ll be watching.”

-This kid.

“Huh? I see something. September… Is it September?”

-Let’s settle on August. Sorry.

“But are we really launching on Tivic? It wasn’t on the planned launch list.”

-Hmm… It’s a bit much to discuss over the phone. Come to my office tomorrow, no wait. Contact me after you finish work. Can’t interfere with the set.

“Understood. I’ll contact you.”

When I hung up, Chae Seo-hui was looking at me with a strange expression.

“What?”

“No, how can you treat the manager so casually?”

“Me?”

“It’s like you’re talking to some neighborhood uncle.”

Did I?

I guess I did?

It wasn’t like this from the beginning, but it’s been like this since I got caught receiving that scout offer at the emergency exit.

Come to think of it, it’s a bit strange.

President Yun too, and Seong Tae, Go Team Leader, Reporter Moon…

Among the people I’m close with, there are many who are much older than me.

Seong Tae is 7 years older, so not that much, but it’s still not a small gap, right?

“You don’t treat the president like that though, right?”

“Of course not. He’s the one who pays my salary.”

“Now all the actor pretense has completely drained out. Welcome to becoming a slave of capitalism.”

Chae Seo-hui made an unfunny joke and laughed by herself, then asked.

“But are we really launching in August?”

“Yes. Something seems to have come up, but I agreed to hear the explanation later. It shouldn’t be a big problem, right?”

“Filming shouldn’t be a problem, but I’m not sure about Director Im’s editing speed.”

Ah, there’s no need to worry about that.

I don’t know about other things, but I’m certain about this one thing.

There’s probably no one in Korea faster at editing than Director Im Un-jae.

When we did practice filming together and I asked why he was so fast, he said he’d been like that from the very beginning.

I was shocked to hear he edited 【Leave the Window Open】 in just 6 days.

Considering the mise-en-scène and scene details, that shouldn’t be possible.

Maybe he reached the top of the music video industry through a high-volume, low-margin strategy.

* * *

Despite the accelerated schedule, the set moved forward smoothly like a ship with the wind at its back.

Jeon So-ra played a considerable role in this.

Among the actors, no one had a longer career or higher status than Jeon So-ra.

As a result, the set standards inevitably aligned with Jeon So-ra, and Jeon So-ra was extremely diligent.

Far from being late, she often arrived earlier than others, and even when filming was delayed, she never complained.

At first I thought she was full of enthusiasm because it had been a while since she filmed, but I heard an interesting story from Director Jo Tae-seok.

“Jeon So-ra was originally famous for being extreme in both directions.”

“Extreme in both directions?”

“Yeah. When she likes the filming, she’s the world’s model student, but when she doesn’t like the filming, there’s no bigger troublemaker than her.”

“Really?”

“She likes our work. Her acting is really amazing.”

And Jeon So-ra wasn’t the only one creating this atmosphere.

Kim Ra-un was so immersed in his role that it was hard to even talk to him, and Min Jae-ryul was also stimulated by such Kim Ra-un and was pouring out the performance of his life day after day.

Min-sik Sunbae experienced some ups and downs, but he came alive like a ghost whenever it came to important scenes.

As filming progressed, the fluctuations in his acting were also disappearing.

At this point, I suspect that personality traits might be included in the superpower’s casting recommendations.

If not, there’s no way the set could be this clean.

“As expected, Hyeon-u. I’m glad I’m working with you.”

Thanks to this, Sound Director O Jun-jae was all smiles every day.

Well, when the filming atmosphere goes to hell, the sound team suffers the most.

The amount of post-recording is determined by how much on-set sound can be used, and if there’s a lot of post-recording, the sound team goes to hell.

But even during this smooth sailing, there were moments when things suddenly stopped.

“Cut, okay.”

“Luhan, good. Your acting was good, but this part…”

It was Luhan.

Pi Do-seon, played by Luhan, has almost no screen time in the beginning, but his importance suddenly rises from the middle part when Sa Mo-yeon starts causing real trouble.

According to the call sheet, Luhan’s solo cuts had been increasing for the past few days, and Director Im Un-jae was starting to show dissatisfaction.

“Let’s try it again!”

Personally, I don’t think there are major problems with Luhan’s acting.

I verified his acting talent before casting, and there are no problems compared to typical newcomers.

Nevertheless, the reason Director Im Un-jae was dissatisfied was probably because the set had been leveled up.

Kim Ra-un, Min Jae-ryul, Kang Min-sik, Jeon So-ra.

Not one of them has holes in their acting.

When I watch them act in a daze, I sometimes wonder how I managed to gather such skilled people in one place.

I can even include Oh Ha-eun in this lineup.

“Ha-eun. Are you well prepared?”

“Yes, yes! I prepared very hard!”

“Looking at this scene, it seems like Ha-eun can do it well enough, right?”

“…Of course!”

She seems like the type who performs well when shown continuous interest and encouragement, so I keep watching her.

After watching these people act, when you look at Luhan, you can’t help but feel something’s off.

However, this is partly my fault too.

When I watched Luhan’s acting before casting, I thought he needed to break through his shell once.

Just like I pushed Eum Seong-hyeon to the edge, Luhan also needs a trigger.

But I was busy, and since there were no noticeable problems, I kept putting it off…

“Director. I’ll take Luhan to Seoul tomorrow.”

“Why?”

“There’s something I want to try.”

I felt like I shouldn’t ignore this any longer.

* * *

I was pacing around the studio entrance, wondering if this was really late March weather, when a large Starex slid in.

The person who got out of the driver’s seat was a woman with a familiar face.

Sim Seon-hui.

The B-team director of our drama.

How did I get to know her…

-Looking back, that was the most unnecessary moment in my life. Don’t contact me.

She’s the director who rejected me before I contacted Director Im Un-jae.

I didn’t contact her again, but about two weeks later, she called me completely drunk.

She was crying, asking what the hell I was doing throwing stones into her peaceful mind.

It didn’t seem like a peaceful mind at all…

Anyway, that’s how we connected, and after various tests, she was selected as the B-team director.

It wasn’t a particularly difficult decision.

Since Director Im Un-jae would set the tone and manner anyway, I thought it would be enough if she had the skills to follow that.

To be honest, we didn’t have the money to hire an experienced director.

But thinking about it now, Sim Seon-hui was the best choice.

The B-team often handles insert scenes, supporting character narratives, and crowd scenes, and this person has a natural sense for scene length.

She often shows slightly less than what’s in the script, and I quite like that.

Thanks to that, even if the A-team shoots in more detail, the running time balance works out.

While I was thinking about that, Director Sim Seon-hui approached and spoke.

* * *

“Where’s Luhan?”

“He’s inside the studio. I sent him in first to get his emotions ready.”

At Dohyeon-u’s casual answer, Sim Seon-hui looked around and spoke.

“Aren’t you pushing too hard? I didn’t notice any problems with Luhan’s acting.”

She was sincere.

Rather, considering he has no acting experience, he’s doing quite well.

It’s amazing how he picked Luhan specifically out of so many idols.

Of course, she could understand Dohyeon-u’s actions through the staff’s stories.

Compared to the main actors’ acting prowess, Luhan’s acting would seem lacking.

But that’s not an absolute deficiency, it’s a relative disappointment.

There are many actors who collapse when you try to correct such things carelessly.

However, Dohyeon-u’s reaction was calm.

“I want to try as much as I can. If it still doesn’t work, then there’s nothing I can do.”

“Honestly, I’m skeptical. I’ve never seen an actor’s acting skills improve overnight.”

“I have.”

“When?”

“All the actors in Accomplice were like that.”

“Those people had theater experience backing them up. Eum Seong-hyeon is a genius.”

At Sim Seon-hui’s words, Dohyeon-u smiled.

“What’s to say Luhan can’t do it?”

What should I think of this?

Is this unconditional faith in the actor, or is it stubbornness pushing his own standards?

Honestly, I’m not sure.

If it weren’t for what Dohyeon-u has accomplished so far, I would think it’s the latter, but this is the Dohyeon-u of Accomplice.

He might not know it well himself, but Dohyeon-u and Accomplice’s position in the independent film scene is absolute.

Moreover…

‘He also selected me as a director.’

Eventually, Sim Seon-hui nodded.

“Well, if the director says to do it, I have to do it.”

“Please film with affection.”

“I’m already overflowing with it?”

As they entered the studio, Luhan was waiting for them with slightly anxious eyes.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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