The Face Genius Actor

Episode 060

Director Yoo Sung-hyo’s first preliminary edit was quite high in quality.

As expected from a director who had attracted 8 million viewers, you could feel his emphasis on mise-en-scène.

His skill was especially evident in scenes depicting the passage of time.

A single flower petal, a drop of rain, a flying bird, wind rustling through lush leaves…

His ability to maximize beauty without missing a single small detail was remarkable.

‘His skills are really solid.’

From the beginning, Director Yoo Sung-hyo had a strong sense of having grown step by step from independent films.

He was a case of starting with independent films, shining in commercial films, and then moving to dramas.

The camera work and composition of shots were also close to textbook perfect, without any apparent flaws.

At first glance, there didn’t seem to be anything to criticize.

Originally, it was harder to stick to the basics than to dazzle others with flashy tricks.

From this perspective, Director Yoo Sung-hyo’s skills were nearly flawless.

However, I found the reason for “Let’s Live Together, Princess”‘s failure in Director Yoo Sung-hyo’s first preliminary edit.

‘It’s generally excellent, but… too slow…’

As mentioned before, romantic comedies had their own acting method specific to the genre.

Similarly, there was a directing method specific to this genre, and its core was ‘pacing’.

Like watching a Hollywood action movie, it needed to create a sense of speed by cutting and pasting many shots.

Otherwise, the boundary between romantic comedy and the often-compared melodrama genre would inevitably become blurred.

But the first preliminary edit I received from Director Yoo Sung-hyo showed many shortcomings in this aspect.

While the camera work and shot composition were close to perfect, it felt too static.

It fell significantly short of the pacing I had experienced through the Method Mask.

‘Even when two people are conversing, it lingers on one person’s face for too long.’

At this rate, it seemed we couldn’t expect much from the music aspect, which is a crucial element of romantic comedies.

In romantic comedies, it was as important to maintain and change the overall mood of the drama with music as it was to have fast-paced visual composition.

Not only should music be used more than in other works, but it should be able to change the flow of the drama with a single song.

Looking at romantic comedy dramas that have received enthusiastic responses from viewers so far,

You could tell how emotions are amplified, how comedy beats occur, and when it’s the final scene, all through the music alone.

This conciseness also contributed to the pacing of romantic comedy dramas once again.

‘I wonder if the director understands this aspect?’

I quietly shook my head.

Music hadn’t been added to Director Yoo Sung-hyo’s first preliminary edit yet.

But no matter how I thought about it, it was hard to believe that the work I was expecting would be done.

Just looking at the static camera work and shot composition, I could see at a glance what Director Yoo Sung-hyo was aiming for.

‘The director wants to highlight and capture in his work what we might commonly miss in everyday life.’

This was how Director Yoo Sung-hyo created beauty through his scenes.

Also, the works Director Yoo Sung-hyo had directed so far contained more natural sounds than music.

Even when music was used inevitably, it only appeared briefly to heighten the mood.

And this style of Director Yoo Sung-hyo was very incompatible with romantic comedy.

It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say they were almost at opposite ends.

‘I guess it can’t be helped… After all, the director doesn’t have much experience in this area.’

In fact, this was Director Yoo Sung-hyo’s first time directing a romantic comedy drama.

He always directed what are commonly called “genre works”.

Even the movie that first attracted 8 million viewers for Director Yoo Sung-hyo was a historical piece titled “Namwonseong” set during the Japanese invasions of Korea.

He didn’t even have experience in the comedy genre, which could be considered similar in terms of pacing.

‘That’s why he produced the first preliminary edit like this. Probably no one will say anything separately, so it will continue like this.’

The problem was whether there was anyone who would speak up separately.

Director Yoo Sung-hyo was a skilled professional who had attracted 8 million viewers, and the first preliminary edit actually had many advantages.

Also, Director Yoo Sung-hyo himself was a person hard to find fault with, apart from his skills.

He gave a strong impression of considering others before himself.

The title of a director who had succeeded at the box office.

An actual product that wasn’t bad.

The image of a director with a good personality on top of that.

These things combined and merged to blur the point of the problem.

If I hadn’t known that the failure of “Let’s Live Together, Princess” was predetermined,

I might have overlooked this problem and passed over it carelessly.

‘The fact that the atmosphere on set is too good probably makes it difficult to mention drawbacks first. I’m in a dilemma too.’

Certainly, it was burdensome to take the lead in such an atmosphere.

But I was convinced that this was the decisive reason why “Let’s Live Together, Princess” couldn’t achieve good results.

Because of this, my deliberation didn’t last long.

With the thought that I needed to somehow bring this problem to the surface, I called Cindy first.

Fortunately, Cindy answered my call with a happy voice.

-Si-joon! What’s the occasion? You’re calling me first?

* * *

The next day.

I had a meeting with Cindy at the EM Entertainment building.

EM Entertainment was established by Kim Sung-hee, who had been Cindy’s manager since her debut, with investment from a large corporation.

Perhaps because of this, they were using a subsidiary building of a large corporation located in Gangnam.

It wasn’t a large building, but the modern interior was impressive.

The meeting was attended by me, Cindy, Kim Sung-hee, Yeo Kyung-chan, and Song Jin-ah.

I had already shown the first preliminary edit to Yeo Kyung-chan and Song Jin-ah before the meeting and received their opinions.

At first, the two didn’t grasp the problem with the first preliminary edit.

But when I added an explanation, they quickly realized that the pacing was different from typical romantic comedy dramas.

While the three of us gathered our opinions like this, what mattered most was actually Cindy’s thoughts.

Fortunately, Cindy’s thoughts didn’t seem to differ much from ours.

“After hearing Si-joon’s story yesterday, I checked the first preliminary edit again… There’s definitely a problem.”

Cindy said this with a serious expression.

“What aspects seemed strange?”

“It feels too static. Unlike a romantic comedy, there are very few scene transitions, and the camera movement seems slower than usual.”

As expected of Cindy, who has extensive experience in romantic comedies, she pinpointed the problem with the first preliminary edit.

Kim Sung-hee nodded beside her, seeming to agree.

I let out a sigh of relief internally and responded to Cindy’s words.

“I felt the problem at the same point and that’s why I called you yesterday. Although the music hasn’t been added yet…”

Before I could finish speaking, Cindy answered.

“There might be a bit of a problem, right? I was worried about that too. Given the director’s work style so far, it’s quite possible.”

Even about the music part.

Cindy’s opinion completely aligned with mine.

It was a situation where I couldn’t help but feel relieved.

I was confident as I had my reasons, but.

I had been worried about what if what I thought wasn’t the problem with “Let’s Live Together, Princess”.

Also, if Cindy supported my opinion like this, it would be easier to appeal to Director Yoo Sung-hyo.

It was a fact that five people’s opinions would inevitably feel more objective than one person’s opinion.

Above all, even Director Yoo Sung-hyo couldn’t easily ignore the opinion of Cindy, who was known as a guarantee of success in romantic comedies.

I had a good feeling that things would unfold positively.

Cindy, also seeming pleased that our opinions aligned, clapped her hands once and spoke.

“Since we all think the same, it would be good to organize our opinions and talk to the director. By the way, Si-joon, you’re amazing.”

“Pardon?”

“You have no experience in romantic comedies, yet you immediately identified the problem with the first preliminary edit.”

“Ah…”

“I was just happy on my own thinking the shots came out well, not noticing that. I really wouldn’t have known until Si-joon told me.”

Cindy praised me with sparkling eyes as if I were really something special.

I couldn’t help but feel a bit flustered.

As I said earlier, if I hadn’t known the future of “Let’s Live Together, Princess”, I wouldn’t have been able to identify the problem with the first preliminary edit either.

For this reason, I quickly waved my hands and answered.

“Ah. I was just lucky.”

“You say it’s just luck that you found a fatal problem no one else could identify?”

“That’s why it’s luck. Please just think of it as a cow accidentally stepping on a mouse while walking backward.”

“Anyway, Si-joon is too modest for someone so handsome. In any case, I’ll talk to the director about this separately.”

Cindy clenched her fist, showing her determination to resolve this issue decisively.

Her appearance was very similar to when she said she would ask why the script for “Let’s Live Together, Princess” didn’t come to me.

‘That time, things were resolved well too.’

Thinking this, I hoped that this issue would be resolved smoothly.

* * *

After the meeting with Cindy.

I focused on practicing for Part 2.

I was curious about how the problem with the first preliminary edit of Part 1 would be resolved.

But I had done everything I could regarding this matter.

So now it was right to calmly wait for the results and focus on practice.

Part 2 was filled with content about Han Ji-hoon being confused about the existence of his first love and Lee Young.

Although the DNA was clearly different, for some reason he kept seeing his first love in Lee Young.

So Han Ji-hoon realizes that he can’t push Lee Young away even if he tries to, and.

He makes the impulsive proposal, “If you have nowhere to go, want to live with me?”

This was the crucial final scene of Part 2.

‘Han Ji-hoon’s performance is important in Part 2. So I need to finish practice well.’

I was in the middle of thinking this and dedicating myself to practice when.

Suddenly, a phone call came in, and when I checked my phone, it was Director Yoo Sung-hyo.

I pressed the call button with an ominous feeling.

“Hello.”

-Ah. Actor Lee Si-joon. This is Yoo Sung-hyo.

“Yes, Director. Hello. What’s the matter?”

-Well… The reason I’m calling like this is…

“Yes, yes.”

-I heard that you first mentioned that there seems to be a problem with the first preliminary edit… Is that correct?

I couldn’t help but be momentarily flustered upon hearing Director Yoo Sung-hyo’s words.

It felt like something hadn’t gone quite right.