pappabearbooks Chapter 215: Advance (4)
Chapter 215: Advance (4)
The set of ‘Blood Hunt’ was in the midst of being cleaned up after all filming schedules had concluded. For those working in the film crew, a crank-up was always part of the job, but every single one of the dozens of staff members handling the wrap-up wore smiles on their faces. It was understandable.The end of filming always brought a sense of euphoria to the entire crew.
To the point where the hardships they had endured seemed to disappear from memory.
Of course, the greatest reward would be when the film was finally released, but a crank-up still delivered a hefty dose of dopamine to the staff.
Anyway, after giving instructions to the assistant director, the master director Yoo Ji-heon, who had been surveying the set, moved his hands over his face.
“Phew-”
He let out a breath mixed with relief.
“This film also wrapped up well.”
On a film set, the director must not only lead everything but also bear full responsibility. Capturing good shots was important, of course, but
‘In the end, having no incidents is best.’
Finishing without any trouble was the best.
There were still critical post-production tasks like editing left, but Director Yoo Ji-heon allowed himself to feel momentarily relieved. He recalled the shooting period.
“......”
Especially this ‘Blood Hunt’ had been a project that involved more change than usual for Director Yoo Ji-heon. He hadn’t written the script himself but had chosen a script by another screenwriter and had even cast that screenwriter as a key figure within the work.
At that moment, Kang Rojun’s insane visuals flashed through Yoo Ji-heon’s mind.
“No one can predict audience numbers, but if it performs decently, that kid will take a step up both as a screenwriter and an actor.”
Though he used the words ‘a step’, Director Yoo Ji-heon actually believed Kang Rojun’s explosiveness would be several times stronger than that.
“He’s so multi-talented... the extent of amplification will likely be several times broader than others.”
At that moment, staff from ‘BG Pictures’ who had been helping with the clean-up and providing support approached. Perhaps Manager Jang Hak-seon hadn’t come today, as a lively female employee stepped forward to offer congratulations to Director Yoo Ji-heon.
“You’ve worked so hard, Director-nim. Congratulations on finishing the shoot smoothly.”
Director Yoo Ji-heon rose from his seat and responded.
“It’s not like I did anything amazing. Why’d you come all the way to the site? Anyway, thank you.”
“It is amazing! But like Manager Jang Hak-seon said, it really did wrap up quickly, didn’t it?”
“Hmm, the actors and staff did well. I just piggybacked on their efforts.”
“Oh come on- there you go again.”
The female employee then took out her phone and opened the calendar before continuing.
“It may be a bit early to talk about it, but we need to start planning the angle for promotion and marketing. Do you have an estimated timeline for post-production editing?”
Seasoned Director Yoo Ji-heon stroked his chin.
“Hmm. I dropped by the editing room here and there during filming whenever I had time, and the initial storyboard edits are roughly underway, so I think we’ll be done by October.”
Since it was mid-August now, Director Yoo Ji-heon was estimating about a three-month period. This seemed quite fast, as a hint of surprise spread across the female employee’s face.
“Oh, really?? You even started those early processes during filming! That’s our Director-nim for you!”
“Don’t flatter me.”
“Oh come on, there you go again. Anyway, if it's October... if we consider the maximum to be late October or early November.”
“No, we’ll somehow get it done within October.”
“Oh! Then maximum by late October! That means we can aim for a release in early next year.”
Again, Director Yoo Ji-heon shook his head.
“No, let’s push it a bit. November. If November’s too tight, then we go for a December release.”
A few hours later, at night. GN Entertainment.
It was a quiet night after everyone had left for the day. A light was on in one of the practice rooms in GN Entertainment, which felt almost lonely. Inside was Kang Rojun. His short-sleeved shirt was drenched with sweat, likely from ongoing practice.
“Ugh, if it gets any wetter, I might be able to wring it out.”
Muttering to himself, Rojun approached the mirror and briefly checked his face’s condition. Nodding in satisfaction, he operated a nearby laptop again. The song ‘Royal Procession’ started playing. Although he had already mastered the vocals, choreography, and everything through training, he continued practicing.
-♬♪
About two hours passed, and it was already past midnight. But Rojun was still brimming with energy. After finishing his ‘Royal Procession’ practice, he immediately moved on to acting practice. For the role of ‘Choi Si-baek’ in ‘Tale of the Strange Moon’.
Like shadow boxing, he imagined a counterpart in front of him and delivered his historical drama lines.
His acting was, without a doubt, outstanding.
Along with his learning, he practiced whenever he had time, and with the addition of the stat score for ‘Acting’, it was only natural. Even if he were suddenly thrown into the Joseon era, no one of that time would find Rojun strange.
By the time he wrapped up his acting practice, it was 2 a.m.
Rojun ran both hands through his sweat-drenched black hair and let out a small breath.
-Swish.
He recalled the schedules starting from this morning.
‘An interview in the morning, then the final concept shoot for ‘Royal Procession’, followed by group choreography practice - going to be a busy day again.’
Muttering to himself, he headed straight to the gym. After completing his Daily Mission, checking coins, and enhancing his stats, Kang Rojun finally washed up and settled in the studio. As someone who felt no fatigue, Rojun picked up his phone before starting work. Articles were displayed on his phone screen as he searched for something.
《‘A Tranquil Day’ Episode 4 airs today, will ratings drop again?》
《‘Vanguard’ Rojun and Do-kyung boosted ‘A Tranquil Day’ to 19% ratings, now dropped to 14%/ Photo》
It was about the drama ‘A Tranquil Day’, which had aired its fourth episode today after Rojun and Do-kyung’s appearance had ended. Thanks to the power of ‘Vanguard’, ‘A Tranquil Day’ had set a new personal record with a 19% rating, but the moment Kang Rojun and Do-kyung were gone, the ratings dropped. Into the 14% range. Of course, 14% was still very high for variety shows overall.
《[StarTalk] ‘Vanguard’ is a guaranteed hit! Proven by ‘A Tranquil Day’》
With these results, 'Vanguard' had essentially pulled about 5% of the viewership rating. In other words, whether in broadcasting or elsewhere, they would now be even more desperate for ‘Vanguard’. Although the ratings drop for ‘A Tranquil Day’ was a bit regrettable, the skyrocketing value of ‘Vanguard’ was something that made Kang Rojun feel good.
“Let’s get to work.”
Wearing a faint smile, Rojun turned on his laptop and placed his hands on the keyboard. Time to carry out his planned tasks. He began with composition. At this point, composing had become second nature to him, and Kang Rojun was currently finishing ‘Song No. 5’ and had moved on to ‘Song No. 6’. Aiming for overseas markets, but without pressuring himself while staying relaxed.
Next after composing was writing lyrics.
For reference, Kang Rojun was currently working not only on his own lyrics and compositions but also on collaborative offers from various singers and entertainment agencies. In this industry, Rojun had already gone beyond being a rookie and was establishing himself as a hot songwriter and lyricist.
‘Seriously, what would I do without the “Vitality Booster”?’
As he worked on writing lyrics and composing, the morning sun began to rise. But Rojun’s side jobs didn’t stop.
-Tatatak!
Lastly, he began writing Episode 1 of Season 2 of ‘Tale of the Strange Moon’. Since the story was already somewhat organized, his fingers moved quickly. The one who interrupted Kang Rojun's deep focus in the studio was Manager Kim Ki-baek, who peeked his face in carefully.
“Rojun - let’s get going?”
“Ah! Yes!”
Springing to his feet, Kang Rojun flipped the switch to his main job, ‘Vanguard’.
He then joined the members and began the day’s schedule.
Around the time ‘Vanguard’ dropped by the salon, the coordination teams were quite excited from the morning.
“Oh! Amazing! 13 million subscribers!!”
It was because of Vanguard’s YouTube channel.
[Channel name: Vanguard]
[Subscribers: 13.01 million]
[Videos: 80]
Subscribers, which had grown slowly for a while, had suddenly spiked. Not just that - the same was true for Vanguard’s official SNS channel.
[@Van_guard official]
[Posts: 174]
[Followers: 11.03 million]
[Following: 4]
Both platforms had easily surpassed 10 million. The recent explosive growth of Vanguard’s YouTube and SNS channels was largely thanks to one thing above all.
“Wow… ‘NOIR’ and ‘Reddit’ firepower is killer.”
“It’s overseas, the exposure volume is on a whole different level.”
‘Vanguard’ had been featured in the famous overseas fashion magazine ‘NOIR’ and the global community ‘Reddit’. Even in a short period, the impact reached millions. Thanks to that, Kang Rojun and the other ‘Vanguard’ members were all smiles from the morning.
"I'm overflowing with energy to handle the schedule!"
“Si-hoo hyung sounds kinda fake excited.”
“No! I’m seriously full of energy!”
With that, ‘Vanguard’ jumped into their schedule, full of vitality. Time flew by quickly, and the calendar that had marked mid-August soon flipped to late August.
Monday, August 30.
What stood out most was that ‘Blood Hunt’ had already entered post-production editing.
《Director Yoo Ji-heon begins editing for ‘Blood Hunt’ written by Rojun... Production presentation on the 31st/ Photo》
《‘Blood Hunt’ written and starred in by Vanguard’s Rojun, BG Pictures says “Goal is to release within this year”》
They had officially begun the promotion and marketing. As articles and materials were being distributed, the production presentation for ‘Blood Hunt’ was held on the following day, the 31st. In a spacious hall, Director Yoo Ji-heon, Jung Tae-soo, the other cast members, and a large number of reporters were present. Unfortunately, Kang Rojun was unable to attend this production presentation.
However, the atmosphere was as if Rojun were right there.
“Director-nim! What was your first impression of Rojun’s script??”
“It was so enjoyable I read it multiple times in full. It was the first script in a long while that I liked right away.”
Reporters fired off many questions about Kang Rojun.
“Tae-soo-ssi, as the lead actor, you acted alongside Rojun. Can you share a brief impression?”
“Rojun-ssi is really good at acting. How should I put it - he was the youngest on set, but in terms of acting, he gave off the vibe of a veteran.”
“Ooooh.”
Even after the presentation ended, the reporters remaining in the hall chatted among themselves.
“That picky Director Yoo Ji-heon couldn’t stop praising Rojun.”
“That just shows how much he values him.”
“Honestly, when I heard it was Rojun’s first film script, I thought it might be rough, but apparently, it turned out way better than expected.”
“Aren’t you curious about his acting too?”
“If even Jung Tae-soo says Rojun gave a performance that shattered his super handsome image with a bold character, then yeah. Still, audience opinions could be different.”
“Oh right, there’ve been plenty of times when directors and actors raved about acting and then the audience trashed it after release.”
Kang Rojun came up often in the conversation.
“Anyway, Rojun’s about to mark another ‘first’, as a screenwriter appearing as an actor. Regardless of the box office result, that’s a rare thing.”
“By the way, aiming for a November or December release this year feels super rushed.”
“They’re probably trying to hit the year-end rush, or maybe the early next year line-up is too competitive.”
“How many viewers do you think it’ll draw?”
“Not sure. Right now, ‘Vanguard’ is considered a guaranteed hit, and people are curious about Rojun’s script and acting. Maybe around 3 million?”
“That’s a bit stingy.”
“What about you, Reporter Park?”
“3.5 million?”
“Not much difference there.”
The reporters predicting audience numbers were generally.
“Movie theaters are having a hard time lately.”
“True. All the recent releases have been flopping around the 1 million mark.”
“Even with Rojun in it, pulling 3 million viewers would be respectable.”
They expected under 4 million viewers.
Meanwhile, in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province.
I an open historical drama set in Yongin. A large-scale set where various historical dramas had been filmed. Looking only at this set, it truly felt like the Joseon Dynasty.
At such a historical drama set, filming teams including cameras, lighting, sound equipment were visible along with many people.
Familiar faces were visible here and there.
At that moment, a familiar song resounded powerfully throughout the historical drama set.
-♬♪
It was ‘Royal Procession’, which began with a cheerful gayageum melody. Then, a moment later, the camera that entered inside the palace filmed someone. A man seated on a dazzling throne adorned with hints of gold. It was Kang Rojun, wearing a neatly tied topknot and a modernized navy dragon robe.
As ‘Royal Procession’ played, Rojun sat in the chair, staring indifferently at the camera right in front of him.
The camera shifted from Rojun’s front to the side.
On the monitors watched by numerous staff, Rojun’s sharp jawline and calm, almost eccentric poker face were captured clearly. Several staff members let out silent gasps internally.
‘If we had a king like this, he could’ve seduced princesses from other countries with just his looks.’
‘Look at that face... his nose bridge and jawline could cut through glass.’
‘He was smiling with his eyes just a second ago, now he’s completely in character, he’s a pro now.’
‘...Even with this rough image, how is he still super handsome? It makes no sense.’
Soon, Kang Rojun slowly rose from the throne. The camera backed away to capture him in a full shot.
-Swish.
Rojun gazed even more solemnly into the camera, taking slow, deliberate steps. The song ‘Royal Procession’ continued to echo.
-♬♪
The filming of the official music video for ‘Royal Procession’ had begun.