Chapter 327
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 327
Chapter Title: The Collapsing Set
-----------------------------------------------------------------
“Cut. Okay.”
As Director Jeffrey's voice echoed across the set, the chaotic scene instantly erupted into a flurry of activity. The staff moved briskly to prepare for the next shot, guiding the extras back to their starting positions and checking the lights and cameras.
With the wide shot complete, the cameras were brought onto the set for the actors' close-ups.
The cameras were scheduled to move along a pre-planned path, so the extras had to follow their own choreographed movements from the previous take while ignoring the cameras weaving through them to reach Seojun Lee.
“Alright, let's start filming!”
Everyone returned to their positions. Director Jeffrey’s call for action was heard, and then—
KABOOM!!
The sound of an explosion blared from the speakers.
* * *
After finishing the scene, Seojun came off the set and asked Director Jeffrey a question.
“Director. Where are we shooting the next scene?”
“Right here.”
Seojun tilted his head at the director's faint smile.
The next scene was supposed to be the shopping mall collapsing from a bomb attack, with people panicking and evacuating.
‘But isn't this place too clean for that?’
The set was pristine, not a single thing out of place. Seojun wondered if they were going to use CG.
Meanwhile, the staff in charge of extras confirmed the current positions and led them off the set. Kim Jongho and the other actors, not having been told to move, also looked puzzled.
“/I think they're going to set up a green screen and shoot here./”
“/Really?/"
Seeing the bewildered actors, Director Jeffrey smiled, confirmed that everyone had cleared the set, and gave a signal.
At his signal, the camera director and crew went onto the now-empty set. Everyone tilted their heads in confusion as five cameras were positioned on a set with no actors.
The five cameras on set weren't filming people, but objects: a large pillar, a wide wall, a display case full of products.
The situation grew more baffling, and Seojun blinked.
Watching the camera director and crew get into position, Director Jeffrey said something to his assistant director.
“Filming ‘South Shopping District Collapse 5’ begins now!”
At the assistant director’s voice, Seojun’s eyes widened slightly.
He had no idea what was happening. There wasn't a single green screen set up, yet they were filming.
Just then, the floor of the set where the camera crew stood began to shake.
“…Huh?”
Seojun let out an involuntary sound and covered his mouth with both hands.
But he wasn't the only one. Kim Jongho and the other Korean-American actors also let out gasps of awe.
The camera director and crew, however, kept their balance perfectly, as if they had expected it.
The changes weren't limited to the shaking floor.
A thin black line appeared on the white-painted wall.
Starting from that line, cracks began to spread erratically across the once-perfect walls, ceiling, and pillars. The fissures branched out in all directions.
The walls split open like the ground in an earthquake, and flakes of dry paint from the edges of the cracks fluttered to the floor.
Following these ominous cracks, the far end of the set began to collapse.
A pristine wall broke in half, and a sturdy pillar tilted sideways. Display cases rolled helplessly from the tremors in the floor.
Seojun, who had been gasping in amazement, turned his attention to the machines installed just outside the set, which he had assumed were merely part of the scenery.
Mechanical arms, like something out of a factory, were moving as if detaching and reattaching sections of the set, separating pieces and lowering them to the floor.
These ‘remnants of the explosion’ piled up irregularly here and there, adding a stark sense of reality to the scene.
“They look real, but they're made of a special lightweight material.”
Seojun marveled at Director Jeffrey's explanation. The broken pillar and the rebar visible through it looked genuine, but apparently, they weren't.
“We filmed the previous scenes here, too.”
Of course, for each take, they altered the sequence and direction of the collapse, as well as the size and weight of the falling debris.
“The larger pieces like pillars and walls are moved by these machines, and the display cases are on rails so they won't move beyond a certain distance. As for smaller props like flowerpots, the staff will throw or roll them out of the camera's angle. The floor will be shaking during the actual shoot, so be sure to remember that.”
The plan was for the shaking to be stronger near the explosion and feel like a faint vibration further away.
Seojun and Kim Jongho nodded at Director Jeffrey's explanation.
The set continued to collapse from the far end up to a designated area. After the filming of ‘South Shopping District Collapse 5’ was finished, the set looked as if it had been devastated by a real bomb.
“Whoa!”
Once the filming stopped, the people who had been watching in breathless awe finally let out the cheers they had been holding back.
Seeing their reactions and the captivated expression on Seojun Lee’s face, the head of Bearound’s planning team shrugged with satisfaction. He had seen this four times already, but he still loved the response.
“We'll be adding CG, but we tried to make it as realistic as possible.”
‘Though it probably would have been easier and faster to blow up a real building.’
But this set was better since it could be restored for reshoots.
The planning and art teams, who had worked tirelessly to create this set, beamed with pride at the astonished faces of Seojun Lee and the other actors. The moment was captured perfectly by the making-of camera.
“Now, you'll be acting up there. Do you like the set?”
“Yes! This is going to be so much fun!”
Seojun’s eyes sparkled.
‘A set that actually collapses!’
He could act splendidly on a set full of green screens, but acting on a set with mechanics like this was even better. His heart pounded with excitement, eager to start.
“The other actors loved it, too. We'll rehearse before restoring the set, then shoot. Anything close to the actors will be handled with CG, but we'll be using these practical effects for everything else, so you must stick to your blocking precisely.”
“Yes!”
In the meantime, the set was slowly being restored. The machines were activated to lift the fallen pillars and walls from the floor and put them back in place, and the display cases were returned to their original positions. Once the props scattered on the floor were cleared away, the set looked almost back to normal, except for the cracks on the walls.
Seojun and Kim Jongho let out another gasp of admiration as they watched the set return to its original state.
“/So this is why they call it Hollywood./”
“/This is a first for me, too, Jongho Samchon./”
Their awe was short-lived.
Seojun, Kim Jongho, and the Korean-American actors began reviewing their blocking on the now-active set.
Even the extras with relatively simple movements were repeatedly reminded of their paths by the staff.
After everyone had confirmed their blocking, the ‘complete restoration’ of the set began, and the art team sprang into action.
They reversed the machines to return the large pillars and walls to their original places and moved the display cases and props back to where they belonged. A special quick-drying paint was applied over the cracks on the walls where the paint had peeled off.
Finally, broken props were replaced with spares, and the dust from the collapse was thoroughly cleaned up, returning the set to its initial state.
“/Incredible…/”
In just twenty minutes.
Seojun and the other actors gasped as they looked at the perfectly restored set.
* * *
“Ready, action!”
KABOOM!
The massive explosion roared once more, snapping Lee Hyunwoo to his senses.
His first thought was of his mom and dad. He wasn't sure if he was seeking them out for comfort in this terrifying situation or to save them. All he knew was that he had to find them.
“Mom, Dad…!”
They were close by. Lee Hyunwoo ran towards the south gate.
In contrast, everyone else was fleeing in the opposite direction, away from the south gate where the explosion had originated. Black smoke was beginning to spread, and the thud of falling objects echoed through the air.
As if sensing the abnormality, an announcement began to play over the Galleria Mall's speakers.
[Everyone, please evacuate the south gate area…!]
Lee Hyunwoo pushed his way through the crowd moving against him. The people made it impossible to run, and his anxiety grew.
The screams of people, the cries of children, the sound of things breaking, shouts of "Run!", and the urgent voice from the speakers swirled around Lee Hyunwoo.
A thick sense of dread clung to him, and his breathing grew ragged.
“…Mom! Dad!”
It wasn't a long way, but he kept bumping into people. He was jostled and his feet were stepped on, but he didn't even register the pain. His only thought was to get to his parents.
* * *
The shock of the loud explosion was momentary.
His mom and dad started moving too. Pushed and shoved by the people running from behind, they moved with the flow of the crowd.
But the building was collapsing faster than people could run.
CRASH!
A pillar fell in front of them. His mother, startled, collapsed to the ground, and his father pulled her back up. A red stain was left on the floor. A child’s cry was heard. Everything was chaos. There was no time to worry about others.
[Everyone, please evacuate the south gate area…!]
Clinging to a rough but large hand, his mother came to her senses.
“H-Honey. What about Hyunwoo? Our Hyunwoo?”
“He'll be fine. The amusement park is on the north side. For now, we need to…!”
Just then.
His parents spotted their son, alone, pushing his way against the fleeing crowd.
Looking like a lost child on the verge of tears, their son’s eyes met theirs, and he broke into a radiant smile.
His son’s relieved smile made their hearts plummet.
The roar of the collapse behind them and the sight of their son running towards them made their hands and feet turn ice-cold, their vision turning white.
“Lee Hyunwoo!!”
His father shouted, his face contorted fiercely.
At his father's roar, Lee Hyunwoo flinched. But his feet, heading towards them, didn't stop. He had to get there quickly, help his dad, and get his mom out. He had to help.
Something large fell from the ceiling, blocking the path ahead of them. People scrambled over the debris to escape. CRASH! Another piece fell. Screams filled the air. Terrified that it would crush Hyunwoo, his mother screamed.
“Hyunwoo! Don't come this way! Go back!!”
“M-Mom…”
“Lee Hyunwoo! Get out of here! Go!”
His father, helping his mother up, yelled and waved his hand at Hyunwoo.
The desperate gesture filled Lee Hyunwoo with a sense of dread, and he forced his halted feet to move again. He was almost there.
Screams erupted from behind him. The sound of the collapse was getting worse.
His mother sobbed, her leg refusing to work, likely hit by shrapnel. Bright red blood pooled on the floor.
*Hyunwoo. Don't come. Please don't come this way.*
*Honey. Hyunwoo. Our Hyunwoo…*
As his mother tried to unclasp their hands to send him away, his father gripped her hand tighter and shouted. His father's hand, slick with sweat, was trembling.
“Lee Hyunwoo! Go! Don't come this way!”
Behind his parents,
Darkness yawned open, approaching them like a gaping maw.
Lee Hyunwoo bit his lip and ran faster. He heard screams. The collapse was accelerating. Just a little more, a little faster.
“Go--!”
KRRRUUUMBLE!
With a terrifying roar, the image of his teary-eyed father and his immobilized mother was completely obscured by a fallen pillar. The pile of rubble completely blocked his path, and Lee Hyunwoo felt his breath catch in his throat.
* * *
“Kim.”
At Director Jeffrey's call, Kim Jongho walked over to him. It was the first time the director had called him during a shoot, and he couldn't help but feel nervous.
“When you say '/garago/,' can you put the accent on the 'go'?”
The Korean words flowing from a foreigner’s mouth still felt unfamiliar. Even with Seojun's interpretation, Kim Jongho didn’t quite understand the director’s intent and asked.
“What do you mean?”
“When I heard it earlier, the '/go/' sounded just like the English word 'go'.”
Director Jeffrey smiled and elaborated.
“For an American audience, Korean is a foreign language, so they might not understand the other words, but,”
He continued with a grin.
“They'll definitely understand 'GO!'”
If that was combined with the raw emotion of a grieving father, the audience would be able to feel a closer connection to the emotions of the Korean family, which might otherwise feel distant.
“Oh.”
Seojun and Kim Jongho nodded in understanding.
“/It's like a pun./”
“/Yeah, you see it in a lot of ads./”
*Run-GO, Play-GO.*
A copy line from some ad they'd seen somewhere came to mind, and Seojun and Kim Jongho couldn't help but laugh.