A Shared Understanding
Jo Yong-jin and Bae Su-chan were discussing how their characters would think and act in the next scene.
Watching them, a small light bulb lit up in my head.
'Have I ever had a conversation like that?'
Directing actors is different. It’s different from receiving feedback on character interpretation from the writer.
I’d always thought that the actors’ chemistry isn’t created before the camera rolls.
Acting can be done alone, but you can’t create a play by yourself.
I’d always believed that, yet I was missing this.
'Where is Ye Na-ri?'
The next shoot was a scene that highlighted the relationship between Cheon-young and Ji-sook. So far Cheon-young had only shown a strong side somehow, but in front of Ji-sook she would cautiously reveal a weak side.
Because it was an important shoot, Ye Na-ri was sitting and resting a little apart from the set. From a distance her tense demeanor was clear.
I approached her and spoke lightly.
“Sister, can I sit next to you?”
“Huh? Of course. Where’s the manager?”
“He’s over there. It was boring for the manager uncles to play with each other, so I came here.”
“I see.”
Ye Na-ri gave a stiff smile. I added a few more words, but it didn’t seem to ease her tension.
Fortunately she didn’t seem annoyed, but… she looked a little hesitant.
I waited quietly while basking in the sun with a comfortable face, breathing in time with her unstable rhythm and slowly exhaling more than she did. After repeating this several times, our breathing speeds gradually became the same.
The method I often used to relieve the other person’s tension had worked.
'What should I say?'
Just as I was trying to phrase it so it wouldn’t sound too acting-wise, Ye Na-ri, who had relaxed a bit, asked first.
“Sua-ya, um… there’s Cheon-young, right? You like Ji-sook a lot, don’t you?”
“Ji-sook? Of course. Cheon-young sees Ji-sook as the only person she trusts in the world.”
“I see. Thanks for telling me.”
Looking at Ye Na-ri’s still hesitant expression, I got a clue.
'Cheon-young and Ji-sook should be the closest, but Ye Na-ri’s Ji-sook might not know me as Cheon-young well.'
I know Cheon-young and Ye Na-ri’s Ji-sook inside out, but they don’t. They wouldn’t know unless I told them.
Let me test it.
“By the way, in this scene Cheon-young is worried that Ji-sook might leave her someday.”
“Cheon-young? Why?”
“Cheon-young doesn’t know why Ji-sook loves her so much. So she’s anxious. If her situation improves, she might think Ji-sook is done and leave.”
Ye Na-ri protested with a surprised face.
“Ji-sook didn’t just pity Cheon-young and treat her well…”
“Cheon-young knows that too, but she hasn’t experienced unconditional love. So she doesn’t understand why Ji-sook loves her so much, and because she doesn’t know the reason she’s worried that Ji-sook might leave.”
“Ah…”
“What about Ji-sook? What are you thinking in this scene?”
Since she was still thinking, the answer came quickly.
“Cheon-young would have hidden those worries, right?”
“Yes. Because worrying itself could burden Ji-sook.”
“Then Ji-sook wouldn’t know Cheon-young’s worries either. Ji-sook and Cheon-young know each other well, but it’s hard to know even the things Cheon-young hides in her heart. But if Cheon-young shows those worries, Ji-sook would immediately notice and try to relieve them.”
“Then thanks to that, Cheon-young can relax too.”
“Ji-sook will also watch out so Cheon-young doesn’t have those worries anymore.”
Ye Na-ri was smiling now. Her face was more confident than before.
I might have needed this. Not just thinking about my character and the opposing character, but communicating and interacting with the actor playing that character.
Sua and I received feedback on our opinions until just before filming.
“Production starts!”
Assistant director Seo Ji-wook shouted.
Soon filming began.
Before the important shoot, Hong Il-beom called Su-a.
The girl who had been talking to Ye Na-ri came running with a light step.
Seeing her big eyes sparkle and curve happily, Hong Il-beom felt a bit embarrassed.
'It wasn’t what I expected.'
Hong Il-beom gave feedback to the actors before and after filming. It was obvious what Su-a, who waited for Hong Il-beom’s feedback, was expecting.
“The reason I called you is…”
“Director, I know what you want from me!”
“Advice— what, what?”
Sua always acted with intense immersion and breathing that made the opposing actor get caught up, and Hong Il-beom had tolerated it, but this time he wanted her to ease up a bit.
Sua confidently said what she had realized in the meantime.
“I won’t get any NG this time? Watch.”
She seemed to have even noticed that the opposing actor’s NG was related to her.
I thought she was smart, but this much?
Hong Il-beom let out a dry laugh and nodded. He wondered how much the child had grown alone.
And he was again amazed by Su-a.
“Why are you looking like that?”
“Just.”
“Really? You held me when I said let’s sleep together?”
“…”
“It’s okay. Everything will be fine.”
“…”
“Yang Ho-gun seemed quite smart, and Kang Geon-bok is harmlessly immature looking. Jo Yong-jin is a bit anxious, but… you always follow my words well.”
The camera was fixated on Su-a’s face. Without any lines, the rising tension and anxiety of Cheon-young were expressed through subtle expression changes.
The surprising part was that Cheon-young, who had been planning strategies on equal footing with the protagonist Yang Ho-gun until just before, showing a weak side in front of Ji-sook was not at all strange.
It was because the breathing between Cheon-young and Ji-sook had harmonized perfectly.
“I’ve always been curious about one thing.”
“Huh? What?”
“You… had many chances to run away. Why didn’t you abandon me?”
Surprised by the unexpected question, Ji-sook was startled, but soon stroked Cheon-young’s head with a gentle hand.
“Because I believed a day like today would come.”
“But… an annoying, high-maintenance kid like me…”
Cheon-young fidgeting with her feet made a clinking sound of chains. It was ad-lib not in the script, but Ye Na-ri naturally received it. A faint sadness was on Ji-sook’s face.
“Cheon-young. Even if I have to go often, it’s not annoying at all. Because you’re such a good kid. You’re just in the wrong place.”
“…”
“If I just get out of here, you’ll become a good, pretty, ordinary kid. I’ll let you run wild in the fields, taste various foods, count the clouds in the sky, and live with me.”
Anxiety slowly left Cheon-young’s face, and finally a small smile appeared. It was the first and last smile in the movie.
After appreciating the smile for a long time, Hong Il-beom called cut.
As expected. If it was Su-a, she would solve her worries.
As the elementary school summer vacation ended, my filming was scheduled to be packed on weekends. Hong Il-beom dismissed my claim that I could skip school.
“Playing and interacting with peers at school is also an experience that becomes the foundation of acting. Studying hard is important too. …If your peer relationships are not smooth—”
“It’s not like that.”
There’s no problem with my peer relationships. I’m acting carefully so nothing will be blamed later.
The problem is if classes are too boring, but.
Anyway, today being Friday, as soon as school ended, I came down to Gangwon-do. After resting at the lodging, waiting for the next shoot, Ha Ji-hyun from the PR team, who accompanied me for the first time in a while, took my photo.
“Is it hard coming to Gangwon-do every weekend?”
“I just sit in the car. The manager uncle who drives me has it harder.”
Answering that way, Ha Ji-hyun took one more photo with a face that looked like she was dying to be cute.
Since the day I joined, she’s looked at me like that. How long will she keep looking at me as cute? Although I don’t care much since I work well, she’s a strange person.
I asked while ignoring the photo.
“Will the photo taken today be posted on Inble?”