Life, Once Again

After Story 272

“Mr. Dongho there should be a cup that’s the same as this but orange, please bring me that.”

“Yes.”

“Miss Jiyeon. Please go over the list of books here again. According to my memory, there should be books titled ‘A Night in July’ and ‘Timefall’ on the shelf, but I don’t see them.”

“I’ll check.”

Director Han Haneul’s love for detail was the same as always today. Director Seok sipped on some vending machine coffee as he looked at director Han, who was making the set. There seemed to be a lot of things crammed into that small head.

“Director,” director Han called for him.

Director Seok finished his coffee before entering the set.

“If I don’t want the top of the bookshelf to show up when we shoot from above, we should lower the camera a little, right?”

“I think it should be okay even now.”

“How does it look in your eyes? I mean this room.”

“It feels complex even though the owner tried to make it simple? It feels like I’m back to when I was living by myself.”

“That’s good then.”

The crew brought some props. Director Han decorated the set herself along with the art team. Usually, most film directors would appoint a director for the art team and then do a final check, but director Han did everything herself. The art director looked rather annoyed at first, but now, he was on director Han’s side more than anyone else.

Director Seok stepped down from the set which was slightly elevated and stood next to the camera. Director Han, who was conducting everything from the middle of the set, seemed to be a veteran of the film industry who had been one for decades.

He thought back to when he was offered this job when he met director Na.

* * *

Director Na, who hadn’t contacted him in a while, told him that there was some good work to do and that he wanted him to be the camera director. At first, Director Seok decided to postpone all film work until later and just attend lectures until the start of the next year, but he decided to listen because it was director Na’s request.

“As this is a film where the entire investment comes from me, the production environment will be better than most other films.”

“That sounds good. Then there is no production company?”

“I’ve decided to form a production company for this one piece as a project of sorts and then disband it later.”

“Seeing how deep you’re going into this, you seem pretty confident.”

“To be honest with you, success or failure does not matter. What matters is that this film is being made and can be watched.”

Director Na’s mind was hard for ordinary people to understand. Success and failure were not important for a business that involved billions of won? He just decided to ignore what he said.

The person in front of him was someone who would use money like firewood if it was to satiate his desires. There was no need to try to understand him. It was better to just let it slide, thinking that it was his nature.

“Just what kind of director managed to receive your full support? There was no news in this regard in our industry.”

“It’s just the starting phase and there aren’t many people involved, so there’s nothing that rumors can be made about. Plus, there’s no need to make back the investment, so it’s been even more quiet.”

Director Na added with an expression that looked very proud and needed all sorts of other descriptive words to describe his face.

“The director is Han Haneul and the lead actor is Han Maru. Oh, Miss Haneul is both the director and an actor.”

“Who? Han Haneul?”

“Do you not know her?”

When he asked back after hearing the name Han Haneul, director Na expressed his disappointment without hiding it. Director Seok spoke immediately,

“I do. Isn’t she an actress? A really pretty one?”

“She’s not just pretty. She’s good at acting too.”

“Yes, that too.”

He flinched when director Na responded aggressively.

“That actress is going to be a director?”

“That’s right.”

“You see, I’m not really picky with the work I do, but I cannot handle uncontrollable shooting environments.”

“That I know. But it will be okay.”

“Even if you say it’s okay, a young girl as a director on set would ruin the mood entirely ?for sure.”

Film director —?the title itself seemed to require artistic senses and creativity, but what a film director actually needed was stamina and persuasive power. Time waited for no one, so people needed to be on time, and as such, people needed to work whether it was night or day.

The working conditions were even worse than manual labor. For manual labor, there was a designated finishing time, but there was no ‘finish for the day’ in this industry.

‘Let’s take a break in some nearby jjimjilbang’ were the words closest to going home from work. There were some places that weren’t like this, but most of the shooting scene was hellish. There was a reason why some members of the production crew died from overwork.

Under such an environment, the people working there would naturally become sensitive and aggressive over time. That was why stamina, persuasive power, and charisma were a must for a director. If the environment at the set became uncontrollable, there were times when some teams would just quit on the spot.

A film shoot was rough, conservative, barely paid, and had no end to it. That environment only led to more ‘evil’ being born. The director’s job was to control that ‘evilness.’

Yet, an actress, who had never worked as a film director before and must have received the care of a lot of people as a star, wanted to hold the megaphone? Just imagining it made him feel grim. Unless the payment was ridiculously high, a shoot like that was bound to fall apart.

“It’ll be okay,” said director Na.

“Do you really think so? In a scene that doesn’t follow a standard contract, where the industry is dominated by sweaty men, do you think that actress will succeed? I am honestly worried.”

“I understand your concern. Of course. Anyone who works in this industry would be worried. So how about you decide for yourself after watching it? Oh, and also, we’ll sign a standard work contract with everyone throughout the shoot.”

Not long later, he met Han Haneul herself. It was an occasion where other people who needed to produce the film were present as well.

Director Seok accepted the offer to become the camera director at that time. Having met Han Haneul in real life, she was more decent than he originally thought, a lot more, in fact.

And ever since the shoot began, director Han displayed a surprising amount of leadership and put to rest all noise. Unlike her pretty face, her powerful voice was reminiscent of a decades-old veteran.

The power struggle usually seen on set never even began. There would be trouble if she pushed onward relentlessly, but director Han let them be loose in areas that were necessary so that there were no complaints.

It wasn’t just that, either. Her stamina showed no signs of running out. She moved with the production crew and left the scene later than any one. As everyone signed the standard contract, the work environment was better than most other places, but it was still taxing regardless. Despite that, director Han did not allow herself to loosen up.

Above all, though, director Seok fell for director Han’s talent. Director Han noticed things that only people who had been holding a camera for a long time would know and was considerate of him. When he asked the others, they all acknowledged director Han’s expertise.

While it was true that the overall film director had to know a lot of things, there was no need for them to dig deep into the expert’s field. They needed to know a lot, but just shallowly, just enough to give orders to the various groups.

However, director Han mentioned things that even they, as professionals, missed sometimes and surprised them. There was one time during a night shoot when a generator car malfunctioned and almost delayed the whole shoot, but director Han came in and fixed the problem. He could still remember the dazed faces of the lighting team and the manager of the generator car.

-I had an opportunity to learn about it.

That was what she said whenever she fixed a problem that popped out of nowhere.

Not only was her work skill exceptional, she was good at handling people. With that, there was no one who had a complaint towards her, at least, to his knowledge.

“It has gotten pretty cool now.”

“You’re here?” director Seok said as he looked next to him.

Han Maru was standing there holding a script.

“She’s doing a good job as always today, our director, I mean.”

“She’s more earnest than anyone on set. It puts pressure on me even. I can’t even rest properly.”

“Right. Let’s all gather up and tell her to take things easy,” Han Maru said with a smile.

“Mr. Maru. Come over here for a second.”

Director Han called Maru. Maru shook his head from side to side to resist but eventually went over when she gestured to him.

“Good luck,” said director Seok to Maru’s back.

Those two were a couple that suited each other, in a good way. One of them managed to surprise everyone as a director and the other managed to do so as an actor.

Han Maru’s acting skills were something he was well aware of. He won all sorts of awards and prizes in various film festivals, so that proved his skills to the public as well.

He was young but good. That was director Seok’s first impression of the actor Han Maru. However, having witnessed Han Maru’s acting in person, ‘good’ wasn’t the end of his skills.

How many actors of his age had that much depth to their acting?

As this was a fantasy film that dealt with repeated time, the actor’s acting was very crucial. The film could easily lose a sense of realism and make everything look bad, but Maru acted out everything perfectly as though he had experienced it himself.

The scenes where he expressed the weathering of his emotions across the repeated time seemed possible just because it was Maru. The reason why the character in the film was named ‘Han Maru’ probably wasn’t out of laziness, but a declaration that only Han Maru could digest such a role.

After set maintenance, the shoot began. After talking to director Han a lot, he grabbed the camera.

Usually, the director would be in front of the monitor, but director Han was also the actor in this film, so she was on camera.

Maru stood next to director Han, who sat on her bed in her room. The two of them said their lines as they looked at each other.

“We’ll start now,” said director Han.

The assistant director, who was sitting in front of the monitor, put the headphones on.

He sent a signal after the first camera came into focus. Camera, audio, slate. Along with the assistant director’s signal, the acting began.

A man and a woman smiling at each other. The woman’s eyes were filled with the comfort from being in her own room as well as goodwill. The man’s eyes were the same as he looked at her as well. However, the moment their gazes were no longer looking at each other, the man’s eyes were filled with a void.

Having spent nearly an eternity in the hamster wheel of time, just feeling despair was too much for the man. It was frustrating, pitiful, and yet flawless.

Despite that,

“Wait.” Contentt bel0ngs to N0ve/lDrâ/ma.O(r)g!

Director Han raised her hand. The members of the crew, who were immersed in watching them, let out sighs and relaxed.

Director Seok took his hands off the camera. From the look on director Han’s face, that?was going to start again.

“Mr. Maru, that’s not good. You can do better.”

“No wait, director. Wasn’t that really good just now?”

“It was good, sure, but the Han Maru I know can do better. You can twitch below your eyes a little more. And your tone here. It’s okay to put more emotions into it.”

“I thought that was just enough.”

“That’s not true at all. Mr. Maru. Listen to me.”

Director Seok shook his head and sat down on the chair next to him. The scriptor also came over and sat down.

“There they go again.”

“Yeah.”

.

“Everyone else thinks it’s good, but maybe that’s not enough in their eyes.”

“There are a lot of things that director Han wants from Maru.”

“The opposite is true also.”

“That’s true.”

Director Han crossed his arms. That was an indication that she was going to chat for more than ten minutes at least.

“Minseong, let’s make a bet with bread. Those two are at it again.”

Director Seok called for the lighting director. While the lighting director retracted a ladder, the voices of Han Maru and Han Haneul quarreling could be heard.

“That’s not it, Mr. Han Maru.”

“But it is, director. You don’t understand.”

It seemed they were unrelenting as always today.