Become A Star

Chapter 9

It was a sunny day and the sky was clear blue on the first day of filming for Glooming Day. On the contrary, the atmosphere was extremely gloomy and melancholic.

The reason behind it was the nonchalant attitudes of Kwon Sung-Min and Song Jae-Hee. They were the actor and actress taking on the leading roles of Park Ji-Hyuk and Na Mi-Yeon respectively. Despite being only in their twenties, both were known to be talented at acting. The movie and drama scripts sent to their agencies had been piling up so much that it was impossible for them to have chosen this movie on their own accord. Since the movie was going to be a flop anyway, they did not even try to hide their intentions of doing a sloppy job and calling it a day.

"If that's how you want to act, then just go home."

However, Director Choi Yi-Geon was different. As much as he did not want to direct a movie that he was obligated to, it was still going to be something that would be credited to his name. He was not shameless enough to show the world substandard work.

"I knew that both of you were doing this half-heartedly during the table read, but I didn't know that you would be the same when the camera was rolling. I'll take full responsibility, so Kwon Sung-Min and Song Jae-Hee, get off the set. What kind of actors are you?! This is bullshit."

The young director in his mid-thirties was a handsome, intelligent-looking man. Incongruent with his good looks, which were good enough for him to become an actor if he wanted, Choi Yi-Geon's biting remarks were so harsh that nobody dared to say anything in response. He had not intervened during the two table reads before the first day of shooting and merely casually observed them. The smile on his face as he told Song Jae-Hee to act out her character the way she wanted had even made her blush.

As he used to study abroad, he had only directed two movies thus far. However, both movies were masterpieces that had accrued more than five million viewers each. Five million might not seem much in an era with several movies that accounted for over ten million viewers every year, but what mattered was the genre of the film.

Director Choi Yi-Geon's debut film had been a documentary about the story of an old monk and a child monk who lived in a temple. The old monk was preparing for his impending death, and had to teach the young monk about the world as the latter would eventually be left to live alone. The innocent young monk was still a child, rather than a religious person who practiced asceticism. Nevertheless, it had been more of a calm and beautiful story than a sad one.

The second movie had been one centered on family. It revolved around a mother and a son. The woman had given birth to a child as a single mother and got married eventually, while hiding her past. Several years later, her child, whom she had previously put up for adoption, went to look for her. Based on the plot itself, one would have expected it to be a 'makjang' drama, but it was in fact a story about the psychological wounds of an abandoned child, and the pains of a woman who had no choice but to abandon her child. [1] In the movie, the son left without telling his mother he was her son because he did not want to hurt anybody, and the mother turned her back on her son despite knowing who he was.

The calm flow of the storyline, without revenge or remorse, had left the viewers experiencing an indescribable pain in their hearts. The very fact that it had amassed more than five million viewers despite having deviated completely from standard storylines showed that Choi Yi-Geon was very good at doing his job as a director. Most of all, it was his ability to capture aesthetically pleasing visuals, as well as his understated editing skills, that had caused his talent to be greatly recognized. His amazing track record had led him to be chosen as the director of Glooming Day.

Woo-Jin's enthusiasm was also dampened by the cast's lack of motivation before the shoot. Like the other actors, he wanted to do the scenes half-heartedly and get them over with. However, when the director told the main leads off, that was when he realized his mistake.