With the director’s cue, Yeon-woo jumped from his spot and landed in front of the camera. The scene will be edited to show Yeon-woo, who was previously floating in the air, landing via CGI.
The camera director, carrying a gimbal, matched his steps and backpedaled according to Yeon-woo’s movement. A close-up shot captured Yeon-woo’s face as he grinned and handed over the smartphone to an extra actor.
Following the hand motion, the camera panned and began to move behind the extra who held the smartphone. The camera seemed to navigate fluidly between the actors, as if it were following the moving smartphone.
This scene was conceptualized as amateurs shooting a film together. The filming required focus due to its complex movement patterns.
“Great, this scene will have narration, so let’s keep going.”
Extras around Yeon-woo also pretended to film, holding reflectors and boom mics, acting alongside him. This was because the newly released smartphone model boasted features like video recording and a wide-angle camera.
A voiceover by Ryu Yeon-woo briefly describing the camera specs was planned to be inserted into this scene.
“Okay, cut!”
– Clap, clap, clap! –
The staff applauded at the satisfying “Okay” from the director.
“Let’s shoot a few more times following the same movement.”
They continued shooting, making slight adjustments to the camera’s focus and movement about four more times. The director then announced the end of the shooting with applause.
“It was great. I thought today’s filming would be complicated and difficult, but thanks to the actors, it went smoothly.”
“Wow, great work everyone.”
“Great work.”
Yeon-woo fist-bumped with the extras who had endured the complex movements, smiling brightly.
The director seemed to have a sudden idea.
“Um? Did we capture that moment?”
He urgently asked the rail camera director.
“Excuse me?”
“Did we capture the moment of the fist-bump?”
The camera director nodded.
“Yes, the camera was rolling then.”
“Great, we should use that moment too. It looked natural.”
Approaching Yeon-woo, the director spoke.
“The concept of this shoot is the ‘Vibrant MZ Generation,’ and you expressed it very well.”
“It’s because you directed so well, and the storyboard was excellent.”
Yeon-woo humbly bowed his head, prompting a smile from Director Lee Yong-soo.
“Yeon-woo, you’ll need to do additional print ads and panel shooting, so please bear with us a bit longer. Oh, but let’s eat first.”
The shooting that started in the morning had gone on through lunch and it was already 3 PM.
“Sure, let’s go together, Director.”
“All right, everyone, let’s eat.”
At the director’s shout, the cast and crew headed to the food truck prepared at one corner of the set.
Upon sitting at the table with their lunchboxes, the crew appeared from behind with a cake.
“Actor Ryu, congratulations on your first Commercial Film (CF).”
Yeon-woo, startled by the surprise, stood up from the table.
It was a common event prepared for models on commercial shooting sets, but Yeon-woo had not expected it as it was his first CF.
On the cake brought by the staff was a drawing of Yeon-woo made of chocolate.
“Wow, thank you. I never expected this.”
The staff, who prepare such events for every CF, felt a sense of satisfaction and happiness at Yeon-woo’s genuine gratitude.
“Please try the cake quickly, Actor.”
Suddenly, manager Min-soo appeared and handed Yeon-woo a plastic knife.
“It’s such a well-drawn picture of me in chocolate, it feels too precious to cut.”
Before cutting the cake, Yeon-woo took a photo with his smartphone.
Min-soo laughed and asked,
“Where will you post it? You don’t use social media.”
“That’s true. Haha. I’ll just brag about it to my friends.”
Yeon-woo cut the chocolate cake with the plastic knife and took a bite before sharing it with the extras and the staff.
“I’m a fan of you, I’m joined Woo’s!”
Now that the set had somewhat relaxed after the hectic shooting, the staff started to casually talk to Yeon-woo.
“Oh, really? Nice to meet you.”
The extras and the staff took selfies with Yeon-woo and ate lunch and cake together naturally.
The atmosphere on the set had become warmer since the morning and continued with the shooting of print ads and panels.
The sound of ‘OK’ and ‘Good’ filled the set where rhythmic pop songs were playing, along with the sound of camera shutters.
The full-body panel of Yeon-woo, which would be placed in front of ST Telecom branches all over the country, was so well-shot it needed no retouching.
Though it was simply a direct capture of the real thing, the photographer continuously expressed his admiration as he went on shooting.
“Wow, excellent. Keep smiling naturally.”
The shoot that began early in the morning wrapped up around 6 PM.
“All right, that concludes today’s shooting. Well done, everyone.”
With the sound of the director’s closing declaration, the set filled with the sound of whistles and applause.
“Today’s schedule was tough, but thanks to Yeon-woo’s smooth acting, it looks like we can have dinner at home after all, hahaha.”
At the director’s hearty laughter, Yeon-woo also smiled.
“Thanks to you, my first commercial shoot was cheerful and pleasant. Thank you, Director.”
With his consistently humble and friendly demeanor, Director Lee Yong-soo, who usually dislikes young actors, found himself appreciating Yeon-woo.
“Could you please give an autograph for my daughter, Yeon-woo?”
“Of course.”
Director Lee Yong-soo didn’t actually know whether his daughter was a fan or not, but he took the autograph anyway. Later, he saw his middle-school daughter’s delighted face and knew he made the right choice.
Yeon-woo went on to shoot a commercial for the outdoor brand ‘Tapers’ three days later. The shoot, which had him dressed in hiking gear and walking inside a special studio, was relatively simple compared to the telecommunications and smartphone ad, and he finished it easily.
Earning a good amount of money from the consecutive commercial shoots, Yeon-woo deposited half of it into his parents’ account as he had initially planned. His mother, Lee Sun-ok, who was strongly opposed at first, was teary-eyed over the phone upon hearing his thoughts.
Even after finishing a drama and shooting two commercials, Yeon-woo found it was not enough to afford a house in the skyrocketing Seoul real estate market. He could take out a loan, but it wasn’t urgent, so he decided to live in the company-provided studio apartment for the time being.
“In this life, I have to make money and live in a nice house like Jin-yuk hyung.“
Yeon-woo, who had directly experienced how everything disappears when one dies, was determined to live more flexibly this time. The next day, he was waiting for Min-soo in his studio apartment.
– Ding-dong, –
Hearing the doorbell, Yeon-woo opened the door.
“Min-soo hyung, welcome.”
“It’s my first time coming in here. Haha.”
Min-soo entered Yeon-woo’s studio apartment carrying a briefcase and tissue.
“Have you eaten? Should I make something for you?”
“No, I’ve already eaten. But here, take this.”
“You shouldn’t have.”
“Well, it’s my first time visiting, so I should bring something. It’s actually bought with the company card, so it might not have much meaning, but please accept the gesture.”
At Min-soo’s words, they both laughed and moved to the living room. Yeon-woo went to the kitchen, poured some juice, and handed it to Min-soo.
“Ah, thank you.”
Min-soo opened his briefcase.
“There are quite a few offers. Your previous work was successful, and you’re particularly in demand now because of the college entrance exam issue.”
What Min-soo pulled out were movie scripts and drama screenplays that had come in as casting offers for Yeon-woo’s next projects.
“Hmm, that’s quite a lot.”
“The industry now wants you.”
Yeon-woo read through each title one by one.
“Hmm. But these all seem to be rom-coms similar to my previous work.”
“Your image has been built that way, so it makes sense.”
Yeon-woo looked through multiple projects, contemplating.
Min-soo watched Yeon-woo and pulled out a few more scripts from his bag.
“If you’d like to try a different role, these scripts are available.”
Yeon-woo took the scripts from Min-soo and skimmed through them.
Min-soo added, “But these scripts didn’t come in with you specifically in mind, so we may need to arrange some pre-discussions and potentially go through auditions.”
Hearing Min-soo’s words, Yeon-woo smiled and responded.
“If it’s an audition, I’m confident. I can definitely win it.”
Min-soo smiled at Yeon-woo’s determination, who clenched his fists.
As Yeon-woo went back to the scripts, a particular project caught his eye.
[Master Plan] with a subtitle “The Deceivers”.
“Ah, that’s a film by Director Park Chan-hong. They’re probably in the middle of casting right now.”
Yeon-woo knew who Park Chan-hong was—one of the most successful directors in South Korea, even having a film with ten million viewers.
Yeon-woo nodded and started reading the script.
“Huh? This one?”
===
As he read the script, Yeon-woo was deeply engrossed.
‘Gwak Ji-cheol’ is a programmer from a once-successful cybersecurity firm.
And ‘Gangwoo Construction’, a medium-sized construction company expanding from Seoul to Gyeonggi-do, is actually a criminal organization running illegal gambling dens.
Upon hearing that a skilled retired programmer exists, the Gangwoo gang comes to Ji-cheol to request a program to control their illegal gambling operations. When he refuses, they harass his family.
Even after going to the police, the case ends with a slap on the wrist due to already-established corruption.
To get his revenge, Ji-cheol stakes all his assets to hire a fixer through the dark web.
And ‘Pierre Choi’, a brilliant scam artist who even tricks the Italian Mafia through arms deals, enters Korea.
Genius programmer Gwak Ji-cheol and genius scam artist Pierre Choi begin devising a big scam to rip off Gangwoo Construction from the ground up.
“This seems like an homage to the 1973 classic Hollywood film ‘The Sting’…but most importantly, it looks interesting.”
Yeon-woo, intrigued by the plot that reminded him of a classic film he enjoyed in his previous life, said,
“Min-soo, could you please look into this project for me? I’d like to try out for the role of ‘Pierre Choi’.”