I Will Live As An Actor

Chapter 69

Editing.

Belsrucas, a master of the film industry, said this. Editing is the stage that completes the film. 

You have to decide the number of frames per second, and objectively look at and decide on everything that makes up a scene from thousands of shots.

If the actors and the director present outstanding acting and directing to understand and persuade the audience, the editing must not only convey the intention of the actors and the director, but also offer the best storytelling to the audience.

No matter how much of a masterpiece it is, if there is too much fluff, the audience will only feel bored and dull. In that sense, the editor Go Sang-deok was racking his brain.

“Hmm.”

He watched the original footage of the film ‘The Priest’s Confession’ without missing a thing. 

Before editing the film, he read the script to understand the film, and even watched the film backwards to clearly know the director’s intention. But the more he did, the more he felt like he had no hair left.

“The ratio is quite low, isn’t it?”

The ratio of film shooting is usually 10 to 1. 

For example, it means that they shoot 10 times to make one cut of a scene. 

Usually, Hollywood follows a ratio of 20 to 1 or 30 to 1, while the Korean film industry has a ratio of 10 to 1. But even then, they often say that it is too much.

“What’s going on? It’s not like Director Shin Seong-hyun.”

Among them, Director Shin Seong-hyun, who directed the film ‘The Priest’s Confession’, was known to have a ratio of 20 to 1, and he was a stubborn director who insisted on re-shooting. 

He kept shooting until he got a satisfying scene. That’s why some of the actors who appeared in Shin Seong-hyun’s films called him stubborn, artistic, and an all-night director.

But for some reason, the ratio of this film ‘The Priest’s Confession’ was about 5 to 1. 

And that was mostly because of the supporting actors and extras. 

That’s because the scenes where the main actor appeared were rarely re-shot more than three times.

“There’s nothing to cut out.”

He seemed to know why. 

The scenes where the main actor appeared were flawless, not only in the first draft, but also in the re-shot scenes. 

The reason why he re-shot was not because he didn’t like the main actor’s acting, but because he changed the angle and shot it. 

That was when.

“Editor Go!”

Director Shin Seong-hyun entered the editing room. He brought food in both hands, and was surprised to see Editor Go Sang-deok, who had dark circles under his eyes.

“What, Editor Go, are you sick or something? Why do you look like that?”

“You should know best why I look like this, Director. This is it, how the hell do you want me to edit this? I can’t even get a clue.”

“What? Is there a problem with the shots?”

“No, it’s too perfect. That’s the problem. No matter how hard I look, I can’t find a scene to cut out. And I can’t show the film for half a day either. Oh, man. Do you know how many days I’ve been staying up?”

“Well, I can’t help you with that problem. Don’t whine and I’ll buy you some meat. Cheer up, Editor Go.”

“Is this the time for jokes? I’m going crazy here. This is the first time in my editing career that I can’t do anything but worry for days. The first time!”

Director Shin Seong-hyun smiled faintly. 

Editor Go Sang-deok was the second to none in the field of film editing in Chungmuro. He was a small master of commercial film editing, who was so competent.

If it wasn’t for their personal friendship, he wouldn’t have been able to take on Shin Seong-hyun’s work, as his schedule was so tight. And he was so distressed that he made such a sound.

“Director Shin, by the way, how’s the music? I mean, the music that will oversee the overall flow, not the mixing. I don’t think any music director can handle this. I got goosebumps all over my body watching the video.”

“Director Choi Yul agreed to do it.”

“Choi Yul? The music director who won the Grand Prize for his debut work?”

Huh.

Editor Go Sang-deok exclaimed. He had edited Shin Seong-hyun’s works before, but he had never seen a case where he caught two rabbits, both commercial and artistic. 

That’s because Shin Seong-hyun’s works were always criticized for being biased towards artistry.

I was personally sorry, but on the other hand, I liked Director Shin Seong-hyun more because of that. 

The Korean film industry needed to have at least one stubborn artist like him in order to develop. However.

“You’ve gathered a dream team.”

This work had been polished to perfection even after countless revisions. Seeing that, Director Shin Seong-hyun cautiously asked.

“How does it look to you, this work?”

Editor Go Sang-deok was a master of film editing, but he was also better than anyone at assessing commerciality. 

They say the arm bends inward, and film directors have a hard time looking at their own work objectively. 

On the other hand, editors have the role of looking at the film from the audience’s perspective.

Among them, Editor Go Sang-deok’s eye was so excellent that he was called a fortune-teller in Chungmuro. 

He looked at the editing screen with a serious gaze, and saw the lead actor’s piercing eyes in a black Sudanese outfit, and said firmly.

“It will make a mark in the adult film genre.”

***

On the snow piled up on the woodpile, chubby sparrows are leaving cute footprints with their fluffy feet. It’s because of the millet I sprinkled to keep them from starving in the winter. 

Sitting on the porch and watching the snowflakes blooming on the thin branches like this, my mind becomes calm.

“Mother didn’t even tell me to come down.”

It would be a lie if I said I wasn’t disappointed. 

I wanted to go down to Namhang for the first time in a long time since the film shooting was over, but I gave up when my mother told me to rest and discouraged me. 

She said it would be too busy for me to join the market, which is a big deal for the New Year.

“Grandfather is busy too.”

Grandfather is busy preparing for a new work. 

He is the kind of person who has to build everything from scratch with his own hands, from location scouting to all the basics. 

He’s been traveling around the country lately, so it’s hard to even see his face. So.

In this spacious mansion, only the sparrows and I are left alone.

Even my uncle, who used to show up several times a day, went back to his main job as a national actor.

He lost the title of national first love, so he said he would claim the title of national last love. 

Anyway, he doesn’t look like a legendary actor when I see him normally. It was then.

“Who are you?”

A stranger enters the mansion. 

He’s so big that he looks like a male bear walking, and the sparrows who were pecking at the millet on the woodpile fly away with a start.

“Bong-chui hyung, what are you doing today?”

It’s Bong-chui hyung, wearing a thick black parka. He’s even wearing a military hat that I don’t know where he got, and he looks like a real bear.

“The CEO said he wanted to see you for a bit. He said he’d call you, but you didn’t answer?”

“Oh, I guess I didn’t hear it because I was thinking about something else. But why does the CEO want to see me?”

“He said he had something to tell you, but let’s go first. Oh, and you haven’t had lunch yet, right? This is really delicious.”

He hands me a bag of roasted sweet potatoes. 

They’re so brown and ripe that they’re still steaming in this cold winter. 

I take the roasted sweet potatoes and cut them a little and sprinkle them on the woodpile.

Then the chubby sparrows come down again and peck at the roasted sweet potatoes. 

They still glance at Bong-chui hyung, who looks like a male bear, as if they’re conscious of him. It’s so cute.

“Variety show?”

I heard a story that made me doubt my ears as soon as I entered the CEO’s office.

“I know you don’t do variety shows, Young-guk.”

“Well, yeah. And I still have months left until the movie opens, so I don’t have any reason to appear for promotional purposes.”

“That’s the thing, do you remember the movie you shot as a child actor, The Man of August?”

Of course, how could I forget? It was the work that made me determined to live as an actor.

“Do you remember Jung Ji-yong FD, who filmed with you at the time?”

“Ji-yong hyung?”

I still remember the composition of the shooting team for The Man of August. Especially FD Jung Ji-yong was from Busan and was famous for being a PD, but he was also close to me.

That’s understandable, since he took care of me, who was only fourteen years old at the time, with such sincerity. He was like a big brother to me. It was then.

“Who’s there?”

A golf ball flies over the snow-covered woodpile and lands on the porch. The sparrows fly away in surprise, and I look up to see who it is.

It’s Ji-yong hyung, wearing a red golf cap and holding a club. He smiles brightly when he sees me and waves his hand.

“Hey, Young-guk! Long time no see!”

Jung Ji-yong was a rising star in MBS’s drama department.

He had climbed up the ranks from an assistant director to the youngest producer in no time. But he ruined his career with one failed project and was transferred to the variety department. 

He agreed to take on a pilot program there, and he begged me so much to help him out that he even contacted my agency. He wanted me to ask you a favor.

It was not uncommon for drama producers to be demoted to the variety department. 

Honestly, the variety producers would resent the term ‘demotion’. But it was almost impossible for anyone to move from the variety department to the drama department. 

So the term ‘demotion’ was not entirely inaccurate. He must have been desperate.

“He became a producer from a floor director in just three years. That’s an incredibly fast promotion. How could he be demoted so easily?”

“He rose too fast, and he made a lot of enemies along the way. As soon as he became a producer, he took on a project that turned out to be a disaster. He was exiled to the variety department. If he doesn’t perform well there, he can say goodbye to the drama department forever. I heard that a famous producer got furious at him. He said it was ridiculous to send him to the variety department for ruining one project. But the drama director said it was better than sending him to the countryside to film a documentary.”

“From Jung PD’s perspective, this is his last chance.”

The MBS drama director was kind enough to consider Jung Ji-yong’s situation. 

After all, if he was sent to the countryside, it would be very hard for him to come back to Seoul. 

Especially in the drama department.

It was not a centralized system where the Seoul drama department had jurisdiction over the whole country. But if he showed some decent results in the variety department, he might have a chance to move back to the drama department.

“I understand.”

“Don’t you want to know what the pilot is?”

“Anyway, you must think that you owe him a favor. When you came to Busan to see me, you said that Jung PD helped you a lot.”

“Kid, I knew you would say that. And there’s one more thing I have to tell you.”

What now?

“Young-guk, aren’t you the playwright Jung Yong-dae?”

“Are you talking about Jung Yong-dae, the playwright who won the Korean Literature Prize?”

“Yeah, I see you know him. These days, kids don’t care about theater, so they don’t know him well. He wants to meet you in person. He stopped advertising and refused any interviews while he was filming The Priest’s Confession. But as soon as the filming was over, there were so many people looking for you, Young-guk.”

I couldn’t shake off the nervous feeling. I was more surprised than when Jung PD asked me to help him with the variety pilot program. How could I not know Jung Yong-dae, the playwright? When I entered the theater and film department at the university in my previous life, the professors praised him endlessly. He was the man they talked about.

They said he was the second Shakespeare of Korea, and that was not an exaggeration. But according to the professors at that time.

‘He said he had written his final work.’

What was going on?

***

The playwright Jung Yong-dae couldn’t control his trembling heart. 

He had been in a severe slump for the past three years, unable to write anything. He felt like he was stuck in a quagmire, unable to write a single word.

 He was on his way to meet the person who had inspired him to write again, and his heart was overflowing.

“Hello, I’m the actor Jang Young-guk.”

Wow, he was handsome. How could he look so manly? He had a different vibe from when I asked my junior to take me to the movie set. He wore a black cassock and looked like a priest with a solemn and charismatic aura. But now he looked like a warm-hearted college student.

Well, an actor should have a big gap between his public and private persona. That gap was filled by the actor’s acting skills.

“Young-guk, do you know me?”

“How could I not? Jung Yong-dae is one of the most famous playwrights in Korea. I was surprised when you said you wanted to see me. I heard that you only write theater plays.”

“You flatter me. I got a little fame thanks to the Korean Literature Prize. And it’s true that I only write theater plays.”

“Then why me?”

Young-guk was puzzled. He had nothing to do with theater in this life. He had only filled in for someone in the theater troupe Hyeseong once, but that was just a brief incident.

“I’m not good at beating around the bush. I’ll get straight to the point. I would like you to star in my play.”

“Me? As you know, I have never properly learned how to act in a play.”

“That’s not true. I was deeply impressed by your performance at the Hye-seong Theater. To be honest, I didn’t even expect you to meet me like this. As you know, theater is not a profitable business, so I can’t pay you as much as you want. All I want is a one-time play performance.”

“A one-time play performance? Are you planning to submit it somewhere?”

“Mr. Young-guk, do you know the Daehan Theater Festival?”

The Daehan Theater Festival.

How could I not know? It’s the stage that every theater person in Korea dreams of. 

It’s also the stage where countless theater groups in Korea present their works at the same time. But the selection process is so complex and difficult that it’s hard to even get in with an average work and actor.

I also tried to appear as an actor in the Daehan Theater Festival in my past life, but I couldn’t even get in. After all, I didn’t have much theater experience to be called a theater person.

“So you’re thinking of putting up your next work at the Daehan Theater Festival.”

“Yes, and I desperately need your help for that. Actually, when I wrote this work, the person who inspired me was none other than you.”

“I’m flattered and a bit nervous that you got inspired by me. I remember that my performance at the Hye-seong Theater was very short.”

Playwright Jeong Yong-dae shakes his head. Time is not important for inspiration. 

At that time, he was in a long slump and even considered suicide. Young-guk’s theater acting was like a lifeline from heaven for him.

“Can you tell me what the plot of this play is?”

Young-guk asked curiously. What kind of inspiration did he get from him that made him pick up the pen again after he was known to have attempted suicide?

“Mr. Young-guk.”

Jeong Yong-dae moistens his dry lips and adds.

“Do you know the greatest Casanova of the Joseon Dynasty?”