“Director, Even So, Is It Really Okay for the Actor to Shoot Handheld Himself?”
Assistant director Yeo Min-seok was actually quite puzzled.
He knew Director Ra Ho-chan's intentions, but this wasn't some fleeting insert shot that would pass by in seconds. No matter how much handheld shooting heightened the realism and on-site feel as a directing technique, when a person held the camera themselves, the frame was bound to shake constantly. If that shaking didn't perfectly match the situation even slightly, it would only shatter the audience's focus instead.
The line between immersion and distraction was paper-thin, especially in a shoot like this with minimal equipment where any flaws would stand out glaringly. Even for a first-person protagonist POV, Yeo Min-seok believed it was best handled by staff far more skilled at operating gear. Woojin's voice could be dubbed in via ADR or simultaneous recording anyway.
“I get what you mean. It makes sense. But for this scene, the actor Baek Woojin has to hold the camera himself.”
“How can you be so sure?”
“There's no one who can shoot this scene better than Woojin himself.”
“Pardon? What do you...?”
“You'll see. Just watch.”
Ra cut off his junior's surging curiosity with a single stroke and focused on the screen atop the table. Yeo Min-seok quietly followed his gaze to the monitor. For now, I'll just observe, he thought.
Soon enough,
※ Scene #24
12 Years of Waiting
Pop! The sound of birthday fireworks bursting filled the house.
Before the echo even faded,
“Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you! Happy birthday, dear Baek Woo-hee~ Happy birthday to you!”
The birthday song took its place.
Baek Woo-hee’s 29th birthday. But oddly, the cake in Baek Seong-ho's hands held one long candle and seven short ones.
Clap, clap, clap. Their mother clapped to the beat alongside Woo-hee's joyful laughter. Though not visible in the frame, Baek Seong-ho's expression watching his wife and daughter must have been one unbroken smile.
“Fuu~!”
As the song ended and Woo-hee blew out the candles, “Here's your present—take it!”
“Eek! Hey, Baek Seong-ho!”
Baek Seong-ho, as if he'd been waiting, smeared birthday cream right on Woo-hee's face. She charged at him in mock fury(?).
“Sis, calm down first!”
“Come here nicely while I'm asking nicely!”
Baek Seong-ho fled in delight mixed with urgency, Woo-hee hot on his heels. Like a endlessly turning waterwheel, the two dashed around the narrow house.
“Daughter~ Son! Please settle down.”
“You think we're alive thanks to Mom?”
After the commotion, the siblings sat back down. Baek Seong-ho pulled the candles from the cake. Woo-hee, watching for the cake-cutting, suddenly frowned.
“Huh, what? I just saw it. One, two, three, four... Am I seventeen now?”
In that instant, ‘Wait, seven... teen?’ The number sparked a memory. Their mother and Woo-hee's eyes began to tremble faintly.
“Sis.”
Baek Seong-ho calmly handed her the prepared gift. “Open it.”
There were two boxes: a large one wrapped in flashy paper and a small, quite worn one.
Inside the large one was the pretty dress she'd been thinking of buying. An ordinary gift.
But,
“......?!”
When she opened the old box next—
Plop.
A tear from Woo-hee's eye fell onto whatever lay inside.
“This is...”
An MP3 player—the one seventeen-year-old Woo-hee had sung about desperately wanting.
Just seeing it sent her pupils wild. Baek Seong-ho plugged in the earphones and handed it to her. She shared one with their mother, then tremblingly pressed play.
Moments later.
Szzzzzt.
Ahem, ahh! Is this thing recording right?
A bit different from the voice lingering in Woo-hee's distant memories, but enough to mercilessly stimulate her tear glands while curving her lips into a smile.
She later learned the voice belonged to none other than Uncle Young-jae. A file Woojin had asked him to record separately.
Haha, now that I'm actually doing it, it's kinda embarrassing... Ahhhh!
The audio cleared its throat awkwardly for no reason. Then,
“My beloved daughter, Baek Woo-hee! It's Dad. Uh... I don't even know where to start. First off, happy birthday, Woo-hee! Dad's always so grateful to you... and sorry.”
The recorded voice slowly delivered words packed tight with his sincerity.
With each syllable echoing in her ear, Woo-hee—who'd been covering her mouth with one hand in rapt focus—soon clutched her face with both, shoulders heaving. Their mother silently patted her daughter's shoulder, head bowed.
“The most precious thing in the world to Dad is our family, but I'm sorry I couldn't pay enough attention. I always say we should spend time together, but it's never easy. Even I think... I'm a pretty lousy dad. But our daughter never complains, not wanting to burden me. How did such a kind, admirable girl come from me? I'm shocked every time. Haha!”
A hearty laugh. It revealed the voice's owner as an ordinary father, unable to hide his proud smile boasting about his daughter.
“Is it because Dad doesn't talk much with Woo-hee usually? I have so much to say. Anyway, our daughter!”
That was when it happened.
—(Fire alert. Fire alert. All units deploy immediately...)
Aigoo, it's not done yet... Anyway, Dad'll grab that Kim's fried chicken Woo-hee loves and cake and come home early today. I love you, my daughter!
[Playback complete. (1/1) Replay?]
The audio cut off with the message on the tiny MP3 screen.
Even in leaving his final words to his beloved daughter, the father was chased by time. Having heard the vivid recording in full, the weight of the duty and responsibility he'd carried his whole life sank fully into their hearts.
“Dad...”
The ever-plucky Woo-hee finally crumbled.
She buried her face in her mother's lap and couldn't lift her head for a long while.
Alone for twelve long years... Because she was the eldest daughter, the big sister, she'd hidden her own deep wounds to ease her mother and brother's grief even a little!
The sobs of that fragile woman filled the now-silent house once more.
“...Cry as much as you want. If you need to cry more, let it all out. It's okay. It's... okay.”
“......”
“Mom, sis, me too. Just until today—only today. So tomorrow... we can smile.”
Baek Seong-ho approached his sister, voice trembling, as if applying ointment to a wound or scratch remover to a blemish. These flowing tears would wash away the long-held han in their hearts clean.
His hand overlaid their mother's on Woo-hee's back.
A tear-soaked birthday party. It started with three, but ended with four.
* * *
“Ah... I'm seriously going insane.”
With filming still underway, Director Ra murmured softly to himself while wiping his moistened eyes. Yeo Min-seok finally tore his gaze from the monitor.
It was too heartbreaking, too raw—he couldn't bear to watch anymore.
“Min-seok, what do you think? From your view.”
Yeo Min-seok, steadying his emotions, whispered back. “My throat's so choked I can barely speak. But, Director.”
“Yeah?”
“Woojin's mom and sister are actresses too? Their acting was...”
“Ah, no, of course not.”
“Huh?!”
Yeo Min-seok nearly shouted.
“Non-actors performing like that?”
“Heh, you got one right but missed the other two.”
As Yeo Min-seok tilted his head, Ra pointed at the monitor. “That wasn't acting.”
“Pardon?”
“What we just saw? Not acting.”
“What do you...?”
“It's Woojin's real story.”
Yeo Min-seok jumped in shock.
“I knew already because Woojin told me after the audition. I just didn't tell anyone else.”
“Why?”
“Didn't feel right spilling Woojin's family story myself. Plus, I was curious about reactions from people like you who didn't know.”
Ra adjusted his glasses and continued. “Now you get why I said no one could shoot this better than Woojin?”
“I kinda feel it, but not exactly yet.”
Yeo Min-seok scratched his head.
“Hard to explain in words—just watch.”
Ra spoke in a low voice. “Scenes shot by staff are, strictly speaking, all fiction. Made-up situations for acting. Even if based on real events, the 'reconstruction' itself is fiction. Not 100% real. Right?”
“Yes, that's correct.”
“But what Woojin just shot? It's not total fiction or half-fiction from real life. It's 100%, pure reality.”
Ra added, “Actually, on the day his sister turned seventeen, their firefighter father passed away on duty. Holding that belated birthday party without him had been his wish, and now he's getting the chance—with his dad's name on it.”
“Ah... so that's the backstory. That's why the protagonist's name changed so suddenly.”
“Yep. Baek Seong-ho is Woojin's real father's name. And we made a promise beforehand.”
“What?”
“Just one take for this scene.”
In acting, the situation must always feel 'first-time' from the character's view. Meaning, the more takes, the more unconsciously familiar it becomes. Pulling off 'first-time' naturalness repeatedly is what true 'actors' do—applying that to total civilians, even extras, is absurd.
So for non-actors, the first take is usually the best. Especially in explosive emotional scenes like this.
“For a single take, who feels that situation most real? It has to be the one it actually happened to, right?”
“Ah...”
“In that moment, no one can capture Mom and Sis more vividly than us—only Woojin.”
With those words, Yeo Min-seok fully understood why Ra had insisted on 'actor-held handheld' despite his and the DP's objections.
“Gives me chills. Had no idea. Woojin's dad was a firefighter...”
“Back at casting, I wondered why an actor getting love calls everywhere picked a nobody director like me. Why he's working so hard... Once I knew his story, I threw myself in harder too. Kid's younger than us, but damn impressive.”
Ra turned back to the monitor. The screen still showed Woojin's POV: his hand comforting his mom and sister.
“By the way, when's cut...?”
“Dunno.”
Hm?
“For this scene, I don't have the say. It ends when Woojin says 'okay.'”
Yeo Min-seok nodded.
Moments later, the camera angle in the monitor dipped downward, the frame filling with floor. A kind of signal.
Woojin had given the 'okay.'
Seeing it, Ra called out cheerfully, “Cut, okay!”
“Mom, sis... you did great.”
Woojin spread his arms wide, embracing his mother and sister.
A hug brimming with relief, years of pent-up emotions finally washed clean.