Final battle scene of ‘Code Number: 7’.
Finally, Jeon Woo-chi unveils his demon horns and forces the awakening of the sealed body of ‘Uma King’ to attack the city of Rivelt.
From the strange beast, Jangsanbeom (It seems like Jangsanbeom’s setting is already out of the window here.), to the other members of Half bl**d, even the Taoists join forces to stop Uma King, which serves as the ending of this movie.
Here, several hidden backstories are revealed.
For instance, that Number Zero Woohee, the daughter of Uma King, established Half bl**d in this city in preparation for Uma King’s possible awakening.
The reason why the Half bl**d agents have trusted Jeon Woo-chi so far was because he was the concealed Code Number: 1 of Half bl**d.
Moreover, Jeon Woo-chi’s declaration to awaken Uma King and obliterate all monsters in the city has a price — his soul, which makes him a walking dead since the moment Uma King is forcibly awakened.
Even his affiliation with Half bl**d was merely to confirm the seal of Uma King; it’s clear this character is completely out of his mind.
“But all that doesn’t really matter. The script’s ultimately written by the director and the writers, but the most important thing for me is the battle scene itself.”
Since I have to fight half of the battle in tiger form, I’ve been practicing ‘eurung eurung’ rather than worrying about anything else.
“…Huh? What nonsense are you talking about? In this day and age…”
“Hey, didn’t you see the script? ‘White Sua, transformed into a tiger, joins the battlefield.’ So you need to prepare.”
“But… I thought it was obvious that it would just be CG.”
“It will be CG. You just need to act accordingly.”
“…Something feels off.”
The first time I told them that they’d have to wear a tiger mascot head and act as a tiger.
Their expression was nothing but pure shock and dismay.
They even looked at me quite seriously, suspecting if I was messing with them.
So I said one thing.
“Hey, you’re pretty sharp.”
“…Right? Just kidding. Oh, come on, you knew this was going to happen. Who would ever wear a mascot costume like this in this day and age?”
“…And you almost fell for it?”
“…What?”
“What? What is this look from a newbie at the director’s instructions? Acting’s a joke to you? Whack!”
Suddenly changing my tone after pretending it was all a joke, seeing the subject’s brightened expression…
The guy was thrilled almost to the point of fainting.
His endorphins must be sky-high right now.
“Good lord. You’re really serious?”
“Then why would I eat expensive food just to joke around with someone like you?”
“No, why do we have to do this in an age when CG can handle it all?”
“Even though there’s CG, actors are different. Jangsanbeom is at the center of the battle, and having someone in the middle holding it down helps the other characters maintain their positions. There are quite a number of participants in this scene.”
“But still… geez, really.”
Fact is, there’s no real need to go this far.
But having someone in the middle to stabilize the shot really does make shooting easier, and Director Nam agreed with this.
Alright. Having suitably persuaded them, now I’ll guide them through their tiger acting.
“Alright, look. You need to give a realistic tiger performance. First of all, put this on.”
“…No way, you’re asking me to wear this?”
“If you want CG, you need to wear the CG-specific gear.”
“But this… isn’t it too much?”
Honestly, even I was slightly shocked.
When I initially requested the final version of Jangsanbeom, I asked the production staff for something specific.
I asked them to prepare a tiger costume that one could wear to act in.
Truthfully, there was absolutely no need for an actual tiger suit.
A simple set of motion capture tights would have sufficed for shooting.
But then, that won’t produce a pretty behind-the-scenes video.
There should at least be one promotional fun event while shooting, so I asked them to prepare a special outfit, and the production team seems to have gone a bit over the top.
They prepared not one, but two full tiger mascot costumes complete with tails.
I couldn’t say anything in front of the subject, but I was genuinely startled by how exaggerated it all turned out.
“This looks more like a grasshopper than a tiger.”
“Shut up, stop complaining and put it on.”
After forcibly dressing the subject in the green tiger mascot suit, I proceeded to train them for tiger acting.
This part was done seriously.
If I don’t put in effort, this subject will act negligently.
Besides, the CG team will overwrite this scene entirely, so it isn’t exactly a problem anyway.
But it’s no fun without enthusiasm, so it was better to make them act with the utmost passion.
“Here, ROAR!”
“…Roar.”
“Louder roar!”
“Why add a roar? We’re not gonna record the sound anyway.”
“It changes the vibe. You need to emit fierceness, you know. It helps the acting of other actors.”
“Man, seriously… ROAR!”
“Good.”
Green mascot outfit, quadrupedal tiger ROAR —
It’s completely hilarious, seriously.
And on the side, one of the staff filming behind-the-scenes video gives me a discreet thumbs up.
This mojiri’s antics (for lack of a better word) are being documented in real-time.
*
-Cough… It’s not over yet. As long as inequality and insecurity run rampant in this city, another Jeon Woo-chi will surely arise. Ke ke ke…
“OK. Great job everyone.”
With the fall of Uma King and Jeon Woo-chi, the final battle scene concludes.
Mojiri and I, having transformed into the full version of Jangsanbeom, gave our all in performance.
Truthfully, I didn’t expect to act wearing this for the whole time.
A quadrupedally walking tiger mascot running around in the middle of action scenes looks absurd to anyone.
It may seem good in theory, but in practice, it might make some people burst into laughter.
However, perhaps due to the enthusiastic performances of me and mojiri, no one was seen laughing at us.
Not only me, but this mojiri subject turned out to be a better actor than expected.
Of course, his acting, which involves quadrupedal walking as a tiger may seem a bit absurd,
but factually, he displayed a level of acting skill above par.
“That was impressive, who could have acted like that? Such a remarkable guy.”
“It feels as if he’s acting by observing a real tiger. It’s strangely realistic.”
“Elder Yoon gave a similar performance once. One couldn’t do that without prolonged observation and thinking. He truly doesn’t seem like a young actor these days.”
Just at this moment, a strange feeling arises as Seo Jin-seob’s observation of our tiger performance makes him nod in satisfaction.
It seems our passionate tiger acting left a significant impression on him.
Truthfully, mojiri was overacting on principle to mess with me, but it appears as the youthful passion of an actor trying not to overlook any unseen detail.
Well, if they want to misinterpret it that way, it’s not a bad thing.
If a veteran actor like Seo Jin-seob even casually comments “That kid really tries hard,” then for someone like me who’s not well-connected here, it’s like wearing a good shield.
Mojiri gets humiliated, yet scores points with veteran actors.
Things are working out better than expected.
Not too long after, footage of mojiri acting was revealed as behind-the-scenes content online.
The scenes of sibling performance were intended to prove his acting skills.
And the tiger Roar video was shared as light-hearted fan service.
Reactions were extremely positive.
-Ha-young’s acting is great. It’s obvious she got in based on her abilities. Just look at her skill tearing things apart…
-Our Ha-young is world-class. She even tears whatever she can?
-LOL, what is this? What kind of CG is this? Is this how they do things these days?
-Oh, there’s White Si-u. He’s also acting alongside as the older brother. This seems to be real brother-sister affection.
Judging by my standards, this subject isn’t really a great actor.
But his ability to act as a troublesome sibling was near professional-level, and because the character fit him so well, he is getting better reviews than expected.
Honestly, our Writer Ok even managed to make an insufferable character like Tae-Kyu likable.
If we couldn’t bring out the potential in someone like this, that would be more bizarre.
“And the tiger performance…”
Actually, this is surprising. Perhaps this subject is better at portraying the four-legged beasts than human characters.
Is it because his character is animalistic?
Fact is, it’s an accomplishment to have played a tiger throughout a large action scene with dozens of participants.
Even Seo Jin-seob himself was amazed at the end.
Of course, it happened because I did well, but considering how mojiri matched my performance, we should recognize his potential.
“Hey! What’s this?”
“What’s all the commotion about?”
“Isn’t this supposed to be like that?”
“The behind-the-scenes footage. Why make such a fuss about this?”
“This is clearly intentional. I checked. With modern CG, we don’t need to go this far.”
“Ah, you checked into that too?”
And shortly after the video was released, the newbie storms into my waiting room.
Apparently, he’s not completely dumb and looked into the situation.
He must have become sure after noticing the video being widely shared.
But I am no less shameless than he.
“What? My people are freaking out too.”
“What’s freaking out?”
– No, our actor, you’re at it again with that White Si-u routine.
– This time as a tiger…
– But he’s actually good at it. Intensely focused and captivating.
– You’re an idiot actor! ㅠㅠ
“Did you see it?”
“What’s this? You’re an idiot anyway.”
Come on, this bratty one.
But I have reinforcements on my side now. Two of them.
He clearly didn’t check his surroundings due to being too furious.
“Ah, were you there? Senior Luna, Senior Heavenly Yu-ah.”
The newbie’s face is riddled with embarrassment upon realizing late that the seniors were present.
He probably was trying to put on a pretense, but ended up being caught in the act.
But for these two, his pretense doesn’t matter.
We’re all trying to gain favor here.
And as I predicted, both seniors are actively cheering him up.
“Maybe it’s a good opportunity. It shows that you can deliver a passionate performance in any scene.”
“Since you’re just starting, you might need something impactful, right?”
Hmph, that’s how you do it.
With two seniors he respects cheering him on, his expression gradually softens.
And their words aren’t entirely false. In my opinion, this tiger performance might significantly help in his acting career.
Well-known idols with a certain level of acting ability and a passionate spirit are the most appealing to PDs.
I’ve been such a great bloodline mate.
The newbie should bow to me twice — not that it’s necessary. That’s something done only for the dead.
