Condensation
Director Kwon Seongmin looked as though he was already planning to remake the short film Condensation into a feature. He even added that, naturally, the current shoot for Condensation and its submission to the Busan International Film Festival would still be carried through properly.
Jeong Taewoo, the CEO of Munbak Film, wore a grave expression.
A plan for later. To remake the short Condensation into a feature film...
It was not unusual for a short indie film to be remade as a feature, in other words, as a commercial film. In fact, there were plenty of cases where that had worked out. Usually, the process began after a film had done well at a festival such as the Mise-en-scene Short Film Festival.
Though there were more failures than successes, of course. It was, by definition, a gamble.
Jeong Taewoo adjusted his glasses and studied Kwon Seongmin’s face.
Leaving out the embarrassment, he seems serious enough.
It looked genuine. To be honest, the round-faced Jeong Taewoo was a little impressed. For a young man who was about to direct his first-ever shoot, that level of ambition was something else. Given Kwon Seongmin’s usual gentle impression, it was a rather bold decision.
Did he get ambitious, or did someone give him advice?
Short films and commercial features were worlds apart in scale, in the process of production, in everything. The initial budgets alone were as different as heaven and earth. And yet he had thought about a feature remake, which meant Kwon Seongmin’s desire had already started reaching outward during Condensation.
But for now, the Busan International Film Festival mattered more.
If Condensation manages to do something at the Busan International Film Festival... then that’ll create a strong synergy when it moves into commercial territory.
The title of being a Busan International Film Festival-submitted work had a considerable effect on audience numbers. And if it won something, even more so.
Sensing that the mood had grown serious, Kwon Seongmin waved both hands.
“Ah, no, no, I’m not thinking about it that seriously yet! It’s more like... maybe I could try it?”
Even as he spoke hurriedly, Kwon Seongmin somehow found himself thinking of one of Yoon Dayeon and An Jihee’s managers. That flat, impassive face. Kang Jaeha. The reason Leon Entertainment’s actors had been cast had a lot to do with him.
It was because that manager, Kang Jaeha, had enjoyed Condensation.
The reason Kwon Seongmin thought of him was simple. There had been something Jaeha had casually let slip to him. It was when the Condensation auditions had ended.
“Director, have you ever thought about taking Condensation to feature length?”
When Kwon Seongmin had nearly jumped out of his skin, Manager Kang Jaeha had added one more line.
“Condensation... from what I can see, it has pretty good odds as a commercial film too. Your writing’s solid, Director. Well, that’s just my opinion.”
From that moment on, the idea of a feature-length remake of Condensation had kept circling in Kwon Seongmin’s head. It had all started with Kang Jaeha’s remark. Of course, to the eye, Jaeha had sounded casually offhand, but to Kwon Seongmin it had landed with real force. Judging by the result alone, it had hooked him properly.
But had Kang Jaeha really said those things without thinking?
Anyway, as Kwon Seongmin waved his hands, Jeong Taewoo’s mouth curved slightly.
“Do it however you want. I’m curious to see what Condensation would look like as a feature too.”
“Ah, really?”
“Yes. Of course. I agreed to produce it because Condensation was interesting. So, were you revising the overall plot?”
“Yes. If I’m going to remake it as a feature, I need to add more scenes first, and the character arcs need to be expanded too, and then...”
As if he already had the whole thing mapped out in his head, Kwon Seongmin kept talking without pause. Then, as though something had suddenly occurred to him, he asked,
“What do you think the investor would say if I brought up a feature-length Condensation??”
“Hmm.”
Jeong Taewoo stroked his chin.
“Hard to say. I can’t predict him yet. CEO Lee Chanhoo has this oddly unreadable feel to him.”
“...That’s true.”
“Still, if the remade screenplay turns out well, or if it gets selected as a final entry for the Busan International Film Festival, then he’ll probably look favorably on it.”
“Hmm. Just submitting to the Busan International Film Festival is already a huge deal for me, but... I guess that still won’t be enough.”
Jeong Taewoo patted Kwon Seongmin on the shoulder and offered him encouragement for the time being.
“Still, give it a shot. No one knows how the result will turn out.”
About two hours later.
The location was near Suwon Station in Gyeonggi Province. A shabby room salon on the third floor of an old building was crowded with people, more than fifteen of them at least. It was the Condensation filming crew. In other words, this room salon was the first shooting location for Condensation. The one leading the staff was Director Kwon Seongmin.
“The space is cramped, so let’s keep the lighting to a minimum. Let’s go with the room lights for now.”
“Understood, Director.”
They had already scouted the place and blocked it out in advance, but changes on set were common on any shoot.
For reference, this room salon had recently gone out of business.
So the furniture and fixtures were still all in place. They had rented the place out at considerable effort. Building a set would have been much easier, but for a short film like Condensation, it was rare to go to the trouble of constructing a set and filming there. The shooting schedule was short too.
Anyway, the setup was taking place in the VIP room, the largest of the rooms.
“I’ll set up the glasses and liquor!!”
Inside the room, all the usual props of a room salon had been laid out. And then Lee Chanhoo arrived at the set.
Whoa. This is legit.
Lee Chanhoo was no stranger to film sets, but perhaps because it had been a while, he looked genuinely surprised. Director Kwon Seongmin spotted him and immediately greeted him.
“Ah! You’re here, Investor!”
“Yes, Director.”
Soon, Jeong Taewoo also greeted Lee Chanhoo. Chanhoo glanced around almost at once, searching for the squad leader, Kang Jaeha.
“Aren’t the actors here yet?”
Kwon Seongmin answered quickly.
“No, they’re already here. They’re in the back room getting dressed and doing makeup.”
“Ahh. And the managers?”
“Huh? They were just here a moment ago.”
Then, from behind them, a flat male voice cut in.
“Why? Is there some problem?”
They turned, and Kang Jaeha was standing there. Kim Daeyong, the chief manager, and road manager Ryu Jinwoo were with him too, and when Chanhoo confirmed Jaeha’s presence, he broke into loud laughter.
“No, no, nothing like that. I was just wondering if the actors had arrived.”
With a grin that made him look like a troublemaker, Chanhoo spoke to Jaeha with his eyes.
The sight of the squad leader acting like a manager is hilarious. I’m getting hooked, seriously.
Kang Jaeha brushed past him and murmured very quietly,
“The investor came empty-handed? Go buy something to eat or what.”
Chanhoo silently answered, Yes, sir, and went back outside. By the time the filming setup in the VIP room had been completed...
“Actors, please come in!!”
First, Yoon Dayeon approached Kang Jaeha. The strong scent of perfume made Jaeha turn his head. Dayeon, dressed in a revealing black one-piece club dress, awkwardly cleared her throat.
“W-what? Do I look weird?”
Kang Jaeha looked at her. The outfit exposed a fair amount from the shoulders down to the thighs, and her long straight hair had been given a bit of volume. Her makeup was heavy, matching the character. Jaeha answered with his usual indifference.
“I didn’t say anything.”
“What are you talking about. Your eyes are saying plenty. What is it, do I look weird? Should I change the color of the outfit?”
“If it’s something like that, the director will decide.”
When the two of them looked over at Director Kwon Seongmin, the answer came immediately.
“I like it! It’s exactly right for Junghee!”
Dayeon nodded and absentmindedly touched her stomach and upper arms.
“Did I gain weight? Why do I hate this so much? How do I look? Do I look fat?”
“Not really.”
“I’m asking how I look.”
It was clear she wanted to hear that it suited her, or that it looked pretty. Kim Daeyong stepped in and gave her both thumbs up.
“Dayeon, no, no, you don’t look fat at all. You look pretty!”
Dayeon glared at Kang Jaeha and muttered something like, Would it kill you to say I look pretty? before heading toward the VIP room where filming was about to begin. Behind her, An Jihee, her short hair swaying, approached.
“Um... Manager-nim.”
The temperature between her and Yoon Dayeon was clearly different, and Jihee was also wearing a club dress. It showed less skin than Dayeon’s, and its color was beige. Perhaps because it was the first time in her life she’d worn something like this, Jihee’s face was full of embarrassment and awkwardness.
“D-do I look okay?”
Kang Jaeha wondered why everyone was asking him, then gave a casual answer.
“It’s not bad.”
“Ah! Really? Thank goodness—”
Her expression brightened at once, and Jihee glanced down at her own outfit, her lips moving faintly. A subtle, wistful smile mixed into her face.
“Seeing this outfit... it reminds me of my days as an idol trainee. It’s kind of similar to stage costumes.”
“Could be.”
“But I’ve completely forgotten about being an idol now! I’ll really do well today!”
An Jihee also headed into the VIP room with determination.
Soon after, Kim Daeyong, bulky and warm-faced, patted Kang Jaeha on the shoulder.
“The actors really trust you a lot, Jaeha.”
“Do I seem that way?”
“I’ve felt it for a while. Jihee-shi looks like she just keeps trailing after you, and especially that Dayeon always kills her personality whenever she’s standing in front of you, doesn’t she?”
As Jaeha scratched his chin with his usual indifference, Kim Daeyong spoke again.
“There’s something about you that draws people in, I guess. In a strange way.”
Lee Chanhoo, who had been listening in from behind, nodded.
Yeah, there is. A solid feeling. Damn cold, though.
Inside the VIP room, the first shoot was just about to begin. Yoon Dayeon and An Jihee sat on the sofa. No, Junghee and Jisoo from Condensation. The character steeped in the filth of life was Dayeon’s Junghee, while Jihee’s Jisoo was someone newly dragged into that filth by reality.
Money, reality, two women meeting in the gutter. And then the plot continued into Jisoo’s quiet revenge after she had finally adapted to the gutter.
Yoon Dayeon and An Jihee checked their lines until the very last moment, and before long Director Kwon Seongmin, seated in front of a small monitor, felt his heart pounding as though it might burst.
Calm down. This is really starting now. We can’t screw it up from the opening shot.
At last, the moment had come when he could send the signal for the first shoot of Condensation.
And then.
-Shff.
After trading signals with the key staff, Director Kwon Seongmin spoke up.
“We’re going.”
He called the sign to the actors.
“Action.”
The filming of Condensation began.
Several hours later.
Director Kwon Seongmin’s voice rang out through the shuttered room salon.
“Cut!”
Yoon Dayeon, An Jihee, and the key staff, including the camera director, all turned their eyes to Kwon Seongmin. They were curious about the decision of the person running the set. Kwon Seongmin gave the two actresses a small round of applause.
“Good! OK! This time, let’s do the same shot with a different angle. Camera director, please give me bust shots instead of close-ups of both characters!”
“Yes, yes.”
The once-quiet VIP room came alive again. Camera angle changes, makeup touch-ups, prop rearrangement, the actors talking, and so on. After just finishing a check of the props, Director Kwon Seongmin glanced toward the back.
There he is.
Kang Jaeha was standing about two steps behind the cluster of staff, talking with Kim Daeyong. A little awkwardly, Kwon Seongmin started walking. He passed through the staff and went over to Jaeha. When Jaeha turned at the sound of his approach, Kwon Seongmin spoke carefully.
“Um, Manager-nim. The thing you mentioned lightly the other day.”
Jaeha asked back with his usual calmness.
“Which thing are you referring to?”
“On the audition day...”
As if it was still hard to say directly, Kwon Seongmin moved even closer to Jaeha and whispered.
“The advice you gave me on audition day. About remaking Condensation as a feature.”
Kang Jaeha remembered perfectly. It had been bait he’d let slip on purpose. Not quite manipulation, but enough to nudge things toward the outcome he wanted. Still, Jaeha reacted with mild nonchalance, as though he didn’t quite remember.
“Ah, yes. That happened.”
“You said Condensation had a good chance as a commercial film, and that my... writing was good, right? So I’ve been working little by little on expanding the Condensation script into a feature.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes. Without getting in the way of the current shoot, of course. Although, rather than saying I’m doing it just because of your advice, I’d say I want to take on the challenge myself.”
“I see.”
After hesitating a little, Kwon Seongmin pushed his glasses up.
“So... if the feature-length Condensation gets completed, would it be okay if I sent you the screenplay? Ah! Of course I’ll show it to everyone involved with Condensation, including CEO Jeong Taewoo, but since you also looked on mine favorably, I thought I’d send it to you too, if you’re curious.”
...
Kang Jaeha did not answer immediately. His face remained expressionless, but inside, he was rather satisfied.
Good. That’s how it should be.
The advice he had given Kwon Seongmin was not false. In fact, Kwon Seongmin really did have talent for building stories and had strong writing ability. The moment Jaeha read the screenplay for the short Condensation, he had felt that it was no ordinary work.
And Kwon Seongmin was also one of the people he intended to absorb into MEG.
If he’s going to grow any further here, I need to plant the seed early.
To Jaeha, Kwon Seongmin was not a director who should remain trapped in short films. Under ordinary circumstances, he might have ended his filmography as a washed-up or unknown director, but meeting Jaeha had changed that situation. He could grow much larger.
Anyway, he can’t keep circling around short films. Not this one.
So he needed to start practicing feature-length and commercial work now. But as a rookie director, he lacked experience. Rather than trying to write a completely new work, it would be better to expand Condensation into a feature.
As a result, Kwon Seongmin had begun moving exactly as Kang Jaeha intended.
Soon Jaeha gave him a quiet nod.
“Yes. Send it to me and I’ll read it.”
“Ah! Thank you!”
Jeong Taewoo of Munbak Film approached.
“Read what? Ah, is that the thing we talked about this morning, Director?”
The moment Kang Jaeha met Jeong Taewoo’s eyes—
Hm?
his vision wavered, and a strong sense of déjà vu rose up inside him.