The filming of the drama’s ending scene wrapped up at this Namyangju set location.
Having successfully mined gold for the royal family, Lee Myung secured a large quantity of gold bars and transported them to Seoul.
It was only natural that chaos would erupt in Seoul.
However, there arose one issue: Lee Myung’s already high prestige had climbed too far.
With Lee Myung’s name value now surpassing even the Emperor’s, the royal court decided to eliminate him.
It was judged that Lee Myung’s heroic exploits were negatively impacting the Joseon royal family.
Struggling to regain his senses amidst the bitter taste of ingratitude, Lee Myung was advised by Violet to leave for America.
The drama concluded with Lee Myung and Violet boarding a ship to America.
No matter how much Lee Myung lived for the prosperity of the royal family and Joseon, one couldn’t expect him to remain loyal after suffering the critical blows of ingratitude and the death of his lover.
If the story concludes this way, I believe Lee Myung’s journey to America becomes convincingly plausible.
“In the original work, Bison Choi and Nam Seok-ho simply lived happily ever after.”
Unlike the original work where a second season was unthinkable due to poor conditions, the addition of Heavenly Yuah to this production makes it quite possible that a second season will be produced, hence leaving the conclusion open-ended in this manner.
In fact, this feels like an outright announcement of a second season.
Of course, how this drama performs will greatly influence the situation.
“The Taebaek set finished construction much faster than expected. I thought we’d have to wait for a few days since the filming would finish ahead of schedule.”
“They’ve expedited the process according to the filming situation. Quicker filming is always better.”
Although there were issues with Moon Suyeon’s camp, it had no effect on the filming schedule.
Rather, the filming progressed considerably faster than scheduled.
Since there were no acting flaws and hardly any NGs, the production moved swiftly.
The staff were reportedly quite surprised.
They said it was the first time everyone in the main cast was fully focused only on “acting.”
With the schedule pulled forward, there was a commotion at the Taebaek set, which was still under construction, but thanks to the shortened filming period, all the saved production costs were reallocated towards accelerating the construction.
That’s why we could immediately proceed to Taebaek and film the remaining scenes.
Money truly is powerful, shaving off two whole weeks of the construction schedule.
After finishing the final filming in Namyangju and preparing to leave, Nam Hyun-ho quietly followed me and dropped a cryptic remark.
“Hey, we’ll have a ton of two-shots with Senior Heavenly when we move to Taebaek. How about it? Is our foolhardy army confident?”
“Ah… you’re right. Uh… well, we’ll see.”
Things would be different with the Taebaek filming.
Most of my filming in Namyangju was with Moon Suyeon.
While I did have some scenes with Heavenly Yuah, those were mostly her spotlight moments.
However, in Taebaek, there will be quite a few two-shots where Heavenly Yuah and I are the central figures.
It was a question of whether I could match the presence of someone like Heavenly Yuah, known as a top star detector.
“And most of the Taebaek filming will be action scenes.”
Having a lot of action scenes presents its own set of challenges.
Though action acting itself doesn’t seem like a big deal,
memorizing the choreography and executing it precisely can be quite tiring.
It’s more mentally exhausting than physically.
All things considered, this filming won’t be easy.
Hopefully, all the hard work will pay off well.
Surely it will, right? This drama is destined for huge success even though the actors and content have completely changed.
Still… it should be, right?
*
The company is in the midst of preparing for the field trip.
Since this Taebaek expedition includes me, Heavenly Yuah, Yang Yuli, and even the young actress who’s been causing quite a stir,
she having already chosen this path after showcasing excellent acting as a child actress, has decided to tag along to observe the seniors and develop her discernment.
Since her joining the entourage doesn’t significantly change anything, the company has readily accepted it.
“Will you be staying at the accommodation arranged by the production company?”
“Isn’t Sir Siwoo doing the same?”
“Well, I’m just a rookie. No need to make a fuss. But Senior Yoo-a…”
“Well, I don’t think a hotel would be much quieter. In fact, renting out an entire motel just for the staff might be better since only related personnel will stay there.”
“That could work.”
Taebaek is too far from Seoul for daily commuting, so for actors like Nana and Heavenly Yuah who appear in almost every scene, it’s far more efficient to stay at a nearby accommodation.
In my case, I’ve decided to simply stay at the lodging rented by the production staff, but it seems Heavenly Yuah plans to join us despite having a hotel booked separately by the production company.
While hotels may seem quieter on paper,
it’s not ideal with random guests around, so staying at the exclusive motel might be best.
“Perhaps. The production company has probably prepared everything thoroughly.”
However, if she wishes, arranging another room at the production crew’s lodging wouldn’t be difficult.
In fact, backup rooms have been prepared for supporting actors and extras to accommodate additional bookings.
If Miss Yu-a insists, she can stay wherever she pleases.
“But why is Senior Suyeon joining us?”
“Are you suggesting I stay behind alone?”
“…Senior Suyeon does have her own commitments, doesn’t she? She should be preparing a new album.”
“That’s right. Wouldn’t it be better for Miss Suyeon to only appear on her shooting schedule?”
While I have no objection if Miss Yu-a wishes to stay with the crew, it’s surprising that Moon Suyeon, who has no scheduled filming, is joining the Taebaek expedition.
Of course, she should be focusing on resting right now.
However, five audio professionals from Moon Enter have joined us to produce the next Luna album, full of high morale.
So when she decides to tag along, one can’t help but wonder how the album production will proceed.
Despite being given ample time off to work on the album, she insists on joining the filming.
It seems Miss Yu-a has a good reason for hinting at this.
“…The OST.”
“The OST?”
“I’m going for that. Didn’t we agree to have me sing the OST? I thought I might gain some inspiration from the filming.”
“Ah, if that’s the reason…”
“Then let’s go~ Miss Moon! Great~”
When Moon Suyeon first joined our drama, Yang Yuli heavily relied on her for the OSTs.
The production company was quite surprised. After all, it was no small feat to have Luna sing the OST.
However, Moon Enter opposed her joining the drama, and thus the OST plans were indefinitely postponed.
As the situation grew ambiguous, Phoenix began preparing separate OSTs.
There was one hitch, though.
For the male OST, featuring Lee Myung’s character, it was tentatively decided that Gio, the main vocalist of the accomplished idol group Nuclear which includes Lion, would sing it. But for the female OST, they struggled to find someone suitable.
They discussed various renowned female vocalists but none of them could satisfy Yang Yuli’s expectations.
Somehow, they managed to secure an agreement with a famous female singer for Violet’s OST, but negotiations for Wolhee’s side and the main OST hit a snag due to Yang Yuli’s persistent refusal.
Perhaps Yang Yuli, who based the character on Luna’s Falling Moon and aligned everything with Luna, couldn’t accept another singer’s voice.
As the OST production kept getting delayed, circumstances changed.
When she joined our company, she found the time and decided it would be best for her to sing the OST herself.
Falling Moon, which inspired Wolhee’s character, was already selected for Wolhee’s OST, and now she aims to take on the main OST as well, using that as an excuse to join this filming expedition.
Yang Yuli, who reveres Luna’s vocal abilities, naturally welcomed her with open arms.
“It’s strange. Isn’t Miss Suyeon usually against actions like this?”
“…What do you mean?”
“Location scouting for inspiration. I heard she doesn’t usually do that.”
“…I need mood changes sometimes too.”
“Even though you should be going to the hospital, you insist on coming to Taebaek?”
“I only need to visit the hospital twice a week.”
However, the clear-headed Heavenly Yuah accurately pinpointed her Achilles’ heel.
I remember an interview where Moon Suyeon stated that she finds inspiration not through direct visual observation but through imagination and feeling.
So this sudden need for location scouting feels a bit off, even to me.
“And we have Miju joining too. We need someone to look after her.”
This was an even weaker excuse than the claim about inspiration.
Our little actress is incredibly popular in the company.
All the security guards accompanying Heavenly Yuah are huge fans of her.
There will be no issue with Miju’s care even if Moon Suyeon doesn’t join.
Given how ridiculous the excuses are, it seems Moon Suyeon is determined to join the filming.
“…Alright. Please follow the on-site rules and always keep your manager close.”
“That’s what I should have heard earlier. I’ll behave, don’t worry.”
If she insists, there’s no reason to stop her from joining the set.
The excuse of doing it for the OST holds water.
Ultimately, Heavenly Yuah couldn’t prevent Moon Suyeon from joining the Taebaek expedition.
“So is Senior Suyeon staying at that motel too?”
“Am I the only one getting separate accommodation? Siwoo, you’re more cunning than you look.”
“…Why would we say such a thing?”
Still, why did she board my van?
It will take some time before her van becomes available, but shouldn’t she be riding with Heavenly Yuah?
To make matters more absurd, it seems that our fashion coordinator for this shoot, Joo Seo-jin, is observing my every move with eagle-like precision.
And I mean eagle-like precision.
Isn’t it customary to use smartphones during long car rides?
But while neither Moon Suyeon nor Joo Seo-jin so much as glance at their phones, both are watching me intently.
It feels like a subtle power play of some sort.
I anticipated that this shoot would be challenging, but I never imagined it would be exhausting before it even began.
