Today is the first day of filming, but I don’t have any scenes.
We were waiting for the crucial solo shoot of Heavenly Yuah.
Our drama may be a drama, but our filming schedule is quite relaxed.
It’s not like we have a rigid broadcast lineup; most of it is planned to proceed with pre-production.
CG alone requires quite a bit of post-production work, and without pre-production, it would be impossible.
CG needs quite a lot of post-production, and a Steam Punk world without CG simply couldn’t exist.
“So, did Director Bang get even more upset?”
The schedule was relaxed, and yet we requested separate coordination. Moreover, since we had no qualms about it and suggested they cancel if they wouldn’t use it, it seems even a meticulous Director Bang had every reason to be frustrated.
“Yes? Mr. Siwoo doesn’t have any shoots today, right?”
“Yes, I just wanted to observe how the filming is done.”
“Hmm, that’s a good idea.”
As I mentioned before, today is a day without my scenes.
However, I decided to head to the set with Heavenly Yuah.
There are two reasons for this.
I wanted to see how today’s scenes, which would be heavily infused with CG, are filmed.
And to calm down Heavenly Yuah, who seemed rather agitated.
Calmly dealing with a frustrated Heavenly Demon has always been an important task.
If you leave a furious Heavenly Demon alone, there’s a 99.999% chance of an accident. Having someone nearby decreases its frequency.
Sure, Heavenly Yuah isn’t a Heavenly Demon, but she does have a prickly personality type that needs someone nearby to entertain her.
And the person who can handle such a difficult job is, to the level of a Heavenly Demon Master, someone like me.
It’s not easy to find someone who can smoothly execute the high-difficulty skill of subtly soothing without making it obvious.
“What’s life? If there’s something to do, just do it.”
For the sake of the investor who has poured hundreds of billions into this drama, I consider this service basic.
It’s not like my old habits as a writer are returning.
The scene that Heavenly Yuah is shooting today is an opening-like sequence.
The scene where Violet, receiving a request to go on a mission to Joseon, departs from the U.S.
Among the entire drama, this scene is pretty significant, as it’s the one that most clearly represents the Steam Punk identity of this series.
According to the drama’s setting, Joseon is a place where steam technology was introduced late, thus its Steam Civilization hasn’t fully blossomed.
If Joseon were more advanced in Steam Civilization than Europe or the U.S., that would be an unforgivable historical inaccuracy.
Of course, we’re still planning to add various Steam Civilization artifacts to the late Goryeo Dynasty-era studio, but it might not be enough to give the overwhelming impression we want.
In contrast, the U.S. in our drama’s world is the place with the most advanced steam machinery engineering, the holy ground of Steam Punk.
From the first scene, showing Violet, or Heavenly Yuah, departing from the U.S. for Korea offers the best imagery to prove that this is a Steam Punk series.
Even with just a few close-up shots of New York, the epicenter of Steam Civilization, it will firmly convey to viewers that this is a Steam Punk drama.
“This is going to be plastered with CG, and it will take a long time. That’s why we need to shoot this scene first.”
Today’s filming location is the “Dream Metaverse Studio.”
One of the few large-scale CG filming studios in Korea, it was optimized for fully CG videos.
I’ve never experienced filming in such a studio, so I couldn’t help but follow Heavenly Yuah to see how everything works.
Though I’ve heard that CG filming is rather simpler and anticlimactic, I wanted to confirm that with my own eyes.
*
As soon as we arrived at the shooting location, everyone was busy preparing for the shoot.
Heavenly Yuah would also emerge later after receiving care at her designated location.
This is an aside, but dramas featuring actors like Heavenly Yuah typically attract various product placements (PPL).
However, this drama was a Steam Punk series with an ambiguous setting, so it couldn’t accommodate PPL.
For the Writer, the lack of PPL makes writing easier, but from an investor’s perspective, it can only mean increased expenses, which isn’t pleasant.
Of course, Heavenly Yuah, who’s more an actor than a pure investor, might prefer just adding more funds rather than compromising the artistic integrity with unnecessary PPL.
The reason I bring this up is that this work contains the only PPL in the series – Heavenly Yuah’s costume.
I mean the Violet outfit she’s about to debut in.
“This is Violet.”
“…Oh. It’s stunning.”
“Right?”
The leather top in a violet color reminiscent of her name and a cowboy hat.
With thick leather belts worn in two layers.
Holsters for revolvers attached on either side.
And extremely, incredibly short leather hot pants as the bottom part, along with stylish leather boots – completing the Violet costume.
In my personal opinion, though it’s somewhat fantastical, it does a great job capturing the Steam Punk vibe.
“By the way, what’s the PPL?”
“Oh, the top, the belts, and the shoes.”
“Hmm… That top doesn’t seem like something that would sell.”
“That’s a reformed version. If it feels realistic enough, they say it’s okay. If you remove the decorations from the neck area, it can resemble a formal women’s jacket.”
“…Is that so?”
The reformed violet leather top and vintage-style belts.
Finally, the leather boots are apparently the only PPL in this drama.
To me, these seem like items that aren’t easy to pull off visually.
Moreover, everything appears to be luxury goods.
Anyone who buys based on the Heavenly Yuah look might end up returning the items or wearing them only once before they gather dust in the closet.
Isn’t this just a form of fraud?
Of course, it’s a kind of fraud we certainly don’t have to take responsibility for.
“Well, I’ll head out for the shoot then.”
With a perfect Steam Punk pose, Heavenly Yuah entered the studio following Director Bang’s instructions.
The first scene to be filmed shows a discontented Violet arguing with Scarlet, the director of the Arcane Goldberg Company, before ultimately departing for Joseon.
This marks the beginning of our drama.
“Alright, let’s start the shoot. Scene, 1-1-1. Action!”
-Hmph, where the heck is this small country that not even anyone knows about? There’s no gold mine there. If you keep giving me such missions, I’ll feel betrayed. I’m Violet! The greatest female private detective at Pinkerton, Violet!
Inside an office building where steampunk airships fly past the windows.
Having already been deceived twice with missions to remote locations, Violet confronts her employer Scarlet with great agitation.
But Scarlet, who has never once let Violet find a flaw in her, deftly persuades her with charm.
-Understood, Violet. The pride of Pinkerton, the reliable Violet. Only someone like you can take on this task.
-Violet, hmm… Can’t you give me something decent for once…
-Nah, nah. This one’s for real. It’s from Sacramento, a legitimate gold mine. I trust you, that’s why I’m assigning it to you. You know there’s a bonus, right?
Regardless of Scarlet’s skillful persuasion, Violet’s expression doesn’t soften.
She had already been deceived twice before with similar stories.
Both the last and the one before that sent her to Mexico and the Russian Empire.
And now it’s an even more distant place – a small country in the Orient called Joseon.
At this point, even the relatively simple Violet finds Scarlet’s words hard to believe.
-Nah, but this time it’s for real. The Joseon royal family guarantees it. Even if it’s a small country, it’s the royal family after all.
-Eh… The real royal family?
Even decayed as a sardine, the royal family is still a royal family.
Violet doesn’t know that the royal family of Joseon has long lost its real power.
-Ok, I’ll take this job.
-Good. Violet. Please investigate the Yun Mountain gold mine in Joseon. I trust only you.
With a smirk, Violet exits the office.
Scarlet, smiling as she sends Violet off, immediately sighs and shakes her head the moment Violet leaves.
-You annoying troublemaker. Please, don’t show up in front of me for even a few years. Just die already or something.
The tough and explosive way Violet handles situations has made her infamous in this industry.
Her real code name is Violet, yes, but she is better known by the nickname Ruin Maker.
Meaning that wherever she goes, only ruins are left behind.
A ticking bomb that even Scarlet, the next owner of Arcane Goldberg Company, doesn’t dare to touch, is Violet.
We can’t afford to terminate our contract with her, fearing someone might hire her just to wreck our enterprises.
Instead of risking bloodshed by needlessly provoking her, it’s best to keep her as far away as possible to avoid any accidents.
-Joseon? Where is this place? What about the gold mine?
With that, Scarlet, assured that she won’t see Violet for at least two years, starts reviewing her documents while humming a tune.
“Ok.”
The filming was wrapped successfully in one take.
There might be some additional shots with different angles, but the essential part was neatly polished.
To me, it seemed quite tidy.
Graceful haughtiness is Heavenly Yuah’s defining charm, but when portraying Violet, only the straightforward and rough Pinkerton detective Violet remains.
For an actor of Heavenly Yuah’s caliber, it is a very natural act, after all.
“…By the way, why is Selly over there?”
“Yes, Selly? She occasionally takes on side acting gigs.”
“…Side gigs?”
But what was more surprising was that Violet’s counterpart, Scarlet, was none other than Selly from our company’s guard team (the pool-theft girl).
What’s she even doing there?
“There are foreign extras, but they seemed unsuitable as substitutes due to the need for natural emotional expression.”
“Ah, that’s…”
“Wasn’t I good?”
“So… Why were you good?”
Upon reflection, Selly’s acting was better than expected.
Especially the scene where she sighs wearily after dismissing Violet was particularly natural.
Is this… what they call living acting?
It seems Selly has unconsciously learned how to act by observing Heavenly Yuah.
“Indeed, Selly, you did great.”
“Ah, Ms. Yang Writer, you’re…”
Looking closely, it seems they recruited volunteers among the guards for foreign bit parts.
Yang YuLi conducted the auditions.
Apparently, the Flame organization is managing to self-sustain in ways that are quite impressive.
“It’s finally time to bring this out.”
While I marveled at Flame’s incredible self-sufficiency, Heavenly Yuah had moved to another area to check the props.
And in the large case that Heavenly Yuah opened with a meaningful smile was…
A Gatling gun with a gun barrel over 1 meter long—a rather grand weapon.
“…Is this a prop?”
“Yes, this one really fires. Of course, they’re toy bullets.”
“Wow…”
-Tu-tu-tu-tu-tu-tu
“Eh?!??! No way, this toy is more than just a toy though, right?”
What kind of toy has firepower like this? And besides, it’s incredibly heavy!
“Of course, the king of toys always turns out to be Yang toys. We ordered it separately.”
My goodness. You quietly have a thing for these kinds of things, don’t you?
Moreover, the sleek black coloring looks distinctly like Heavenly Yuah’s style.
Surely, this woman isn’t about to start shooting the Gatling gun out of frustration…
I can only hope that Heavenly Yuah’s self-control is more human-like than that of Heavenly Demon and that she doesn’t resort to wildly firing just because she’s upset.
