When shooting large-scale action scenes for action films or dramas, it is common to hire a professional stunt team and coordinate with them.
It’s the same for our drama.
Director Bang, who has deep expertise in action scenes, already had an action team he had worked with multiple times before, and reportedly decided to work with them again for this project.
Since Flame had no intention of getting involved in the production side, there was no reason to oppose the choice.
The place we are heading to now is ‘Victory,’ an action school located near Seoul.
This school is the first choice for actors who want to learn action acting.
This place is devoted to nurturing professional action teams by training different classes of stunt performers, and also offers specialized training for actors who wish to learn action acting.
While the depth of training is less intensive than the professional stunt courses, it still offers a comprehensive basic action curriculum, making it quite popular.
In particular, actors who need to hastily prepare for action scenes always end up coming here.
“Let’s begin with a review of the basic aspects of action acting and move straight to practical training. Mr. Siu, you should be able to breeze through the basics quickly, right?”
“Well, we’ll have to see as we go along, but I don’t think it will take long. By the way, will you be joining us, senior?”
“Yes, it’s been a while since I’ve done any action acting.”
“About three years?”
“Exactly. Even though safety-related aspects require experience regardless, a review is necessary. Though with some tricks, we can just check through and move on.”
“I see.”
After all, action acting is just acting, focusing more on performance than real combat skills.
It’s about how to perform impressive movements without getting hurt.
Given that, our aim here is to learn exaggerated and somewhat impractical actions, which seems to be the goal of this training.
Thinking about it now, showing the umbrella technique to Director Bang was indeed a good decision. It already gives me a sense of what’s needed for good action acting.
However, since even Chun Yu-ah, who already has experience in action acting, is participating in the basic training, it’s a bit unexpected.
That girl can do anything physical, so normally she wouldn’t need to attend this kind of training again. This shows that the Heavenly Demon here is rather reasonable.
It’s better for me to train with someone than alone, so I didn’t point this out.
“Ha ha, nice to meet you, Yu-a.”
“Hello, Director. And this is Baek Si-u, who will also be appearing in the drama.”
“Nice to meet you.”
“Yes, nice to meet you. I’m the action director, Jang Su-hong.”
Upon arriving at Victory, a robust middle-aged man greeted us.
He was filled with muscle, with a shaved head, giving off an aura of immense strength.
After all, the combination of baldness and a muscular physique is universally associated with strength in any universe.
This person is Jang Su-hong, the principal of Victory Action School and an action director.
He is also the action director joining our drama project.
A living witness to Korean action films, many renowned action films were directed by him.
The seasoned members of the Victory team directly managed by Director Jang have played significant roles in numerous action films.
Despite being in high demand, he managed to join our project, thanks to a fortuitous timing.
“Ms. Yu-ah, I’ve met you a few times before, and Mr. Si-u, this is your first time here, right?”
“Aa, yes. I’m still a rookie.”
“That’s impressive for someone so new. Have you studied any swordsmanship?”
“Yes, something similar.”
“Excellent. To be honest, I was surprised after watching the video Director Bang sent. I’m really looking forward to working with you.”
Director Jang was quite friendly towards me, who was both a novice and an acquaintance.
He mentioned that he had watched the video Director Bang sent, stating his desire to work together on something great.
The video must surely be the one of me wielding an umbrella.
My demonstration of the New Religion and the Flame techniques, it appears, left a strong impression even on a veteran martial arts director like Director Jang.
Starting off with a high score wasn’t a bad move.
“Oh…”
“Mr. Nam Hyun-Ho.”
“That’s right.”
“A-ah, Hyun-Ho? Actor Nam has been practicing since a few days ago. He’s quite diligent, isn’t he?”
“Since a few days ago?”
Upon entering the indoors, we found the man already warming up on the mats.
It was Nam Hyun-ho, who would act alongside us in this drama.
Since our contract was finalized just a few days ago, it meant he came straight here right after signing.
Nam Hyun-ho, who apparently worked as a loan shark for the purpose of better acting, certainly seems very committed to his craft.
“Huh, so… you’re that Baek Si-u?”
“…Yes, nice to meet you, senior.”
“Alright then. Though I can’t say I’m pleased, but I get it.”
There was something odd about this man, as he was taking the wrong approach from the start.
While he greeted Chun Yu-ah very gently, he acted strangely around me.
Although Nam Gong Hyun-ho might be somewhat familiar to me from another world, here we’re meeting for the first time, and I don’t understand why he’s acting like this.
What is going on?
“Mr. Baek Si-u, come over here.”
My pondering didn’t last long.
Director Jang called me over to start the foundation of action acting training.
Thus, despite feeling somewhat unsettled, I began learning action acting diligently according to Director Jang’s instructions.
I managed to master the basics of action acting without much difficulty.
The training duration was only about 3 days.
According to Director Jang, this was an unprecedentedly fast progression.
“Actually, I was somewhat worried. There are many actors, good at physical activity but resistant to guidance.”
“Is that so?”
“They often have too much pride. They know their abilities. But Mr. Baek is agreeable, which is good. Now, it should be fine to start practicing with other actors.”
Upon hearing this, it seemed that younger male actors and those with significant experience often made it harder to teach them action acting.
Though they learn quickly, they tend to immediately attempt more complex stunts, making it difficult to rein them in.
This tendency was especially prominent when working alongside a beautiful female actress, making it a quite challenging experience for the instructor.
But in my case,
I’ve long surpassed the age of youthful vigor, and the high-level stunts in this field hardly impress me.
I’d need something at least on the level of the Yi Hyung-Hwan technique to elicit a ‘wow.’ These stunts just seem like children’s play to me.
And the beautiful actress next to me is none other than Heavenly Yuah.
Where exactly am I supposed to channel enthusiasm here?
It’s not like anyone considers Heavenly Yuah to be anything but beautiful, but since we’re family here, it’s a different story.
Judging by my calm attitude, Director Jang seems to appreciate it positively.
As a result, starting from the second day, Director Jang began addressing me informally.
He originally only treated those he truly liked casually, so when he asked if I was okay with it, I said yes.
A robust, bald, and middle-aged man certainly has enough standing to speak informally with me.
This, of course, only applied to male actors.
Whenever Director Jang encountered Heavenly Yuah, he seemed paralyzed, unable to address her informally despite the age difference of 20 years, still addressing her formally.
Female actresses apparently remain “00-ssi” till death.
Our bald Director certainly seems easy to understand.
“That person is quite mischievous.”
While I was busy with basic training, Nam Hyun-ho was already practicing coordination with other stuntmen.
Each time, often performing tumbles or stretches, he would sneak a smirk towards me.
What’s this childishness? Are you still in elementary school?
“Mr. Si-u, do you know Mr. Nam Hyun-ho?”
“No way.”
“Then why is he acting like this?”
“I’m not quite sure either.”
At this point, even Heavenly Yuah approached me to ask why that person was behaving this way.
Since I didn’t know anything, I couldn’t give her a proper answer.
I found it just as puzzling.
Although his eccentric and slightly unstable behavior was obvious, his loitering around kept getting on my nerves.
At the very least, this guy was clearly insane.
The reason for his behavior was revealed more easily than expected.
It was during my first action scene practicing alongside Nam Hyun-ho.
My first action scene with Nam Hyun-ho was a confrontation.
A scene where Nam Seok-ho (Nam Hyun-ho), who was hiding near Pyongyang, is approached by Lee Myung (Baek Si-u) and is persuaded.
Mistaking Lee Myung for a bounty hunter sent to capture him, Nam Seok-ho immediately starts swinging an axe.
After pretending to go along with Nam Seok-ho for a while, Lee Myung ultimately subdues him, ending the action scene.
Since the scene thoroughly revolves around a duel between the two characters, coordinating breathing is crucial.
“Stop. Hyun-ho, you need to retreat.”
“Ah, I’m sorry, Director. I missed the cue.”
“Stay tense. You could get hurt.”
At this point, he starts playing tricks.
Since this isn’t actual combat, the scene’s development depends on both actors coordinating their predetermined moves with each other. If one actor deviates from the established choreography, the entire scene falls apart.
Just a moment ago, Nam Hyun-ho made a minor collision during a scene where he was supposed to retreat, causing a slight physical contact incident.
While my body is too sturdy for such contact to cause any issues, it did feel unusual.
To me, this clearly looked like intentional foul play.
“Wow, you’re quite something.”
“So are you, senior.”
“Just as Jo Yoo-shin said; you’re pretty arrogant.”
“…Do you know Senior Jo Yoo-shin?”
“A reasonably close friend.”
“Aha.”
As we clashed several times, wondering why he was behaving this way, the name Jo Yoo-shin naturally came up.
Jo Yoo-shin, whom I first worked with in a drama and got the New Religion punch from.
Just knowing that Nam Hyun-ho and Jo Yoo-shin were quite close helped me grasp the general situation.
Not knowing how they know each other, it’s safe to assume that Jo Yoo-shin probably vented various complaints about me to Nam Hyun-ho.
So, given the fact that I ended up working alongside Nam Hyun-ho, it was natural for him to want to show me his mettle.
“Alright. Situation clarified.”
The situation is pretty clear.
Then, it’s time for me to act as well.
And naturally, my conclusion is…
“Stop. Hyun-ho, are you alright?”
“Ah, yes. Huff huff… I’m fine.”
“Are you okay, senior? Ah, I slipped a bit.”
“Mr. Baek, that was quite dangerous just now.”
“Yes, I’ll be more careful. Sorry, Senior.”
Colliding, obviously.
During the scene where I was supposed to evade Nam Hyun-ho’s attack while retreating, I feigned a stumble and rushed forward, delivering an elbow strike to his ribs.
From the outside, it might look like the actors got tangled because their steps were mixed up, but in reality, Nam Hyun-ho is nearly unconscious from the elbow strike.
Nam Hyun-ho assumed he was more proficient at action acting, but that’s not the case.
And if we repeat such collisions a few more times…
“What, such madness… come see me after this.”
As expected, an actor-version of “Come with me to the rooftop” will follow.
“Good, now it feels like we can have an honest conversation.”
This simple guy follows my plans quite seamlessly, as I expected.
