Long take.
It was a filming technique used fairly often in movies and dramas. Normally, scenes were shot by changing the composition and cutting repeatedly, but a long take was filmed continuously from beginning to end without interruption.
Of course, it came with both strengths and weaknesses.
The greatest advantage of this technique was that it gave a scene a vivid sense of life and momentum. It hinted at and amplified the emotions and atmosphere surrounding the characters, while adding realism that made the audience feel as though they were breathing alongside the protagonist. In other words, it heightened the viewer's emotions and senses.
At the same time, it also carried quite a few disadvantages.
First of all, the difficulty of filming it was extremely high. Almost extreme, in fact. To get a clean scene without any NGs, it often had to be reshot over and over again, sometimes dozens of times. On top of that, even the slightest awkwardness would immediately stand out and lead to criticism from the audience. It was the kind of method that depended heavily on the actor's ability and skill. If an actor's performance was lacking, a long take was nearly impossible.
Even so, long-take scenes were commonly seen in Hollywood.
That was because, despite the obvious drawbacks, the advantages were too attractive to ignore. Ethan, the stunt team leader, had proposed this long-take method to Song Manwoo PD, and it had been clearly written on the first line of the revised storyboard he brought with him.
A ten-minute long take.
It was by no means an easy decision. In truth, there was no real need to insist on filming something that difficult. But Song Manwoo PD felt differently.
'…So it's a long take.'
He was interested.
'That temptation is hard to ignore.'
Director Song Manwoo, who had decades of experience behind him, had already filmed countless long takes. He had even used one in his recent work Profiler Hanryang, and Kang Woojin had appeared in that scene as well. But Song Manwoo PD knew that this would be Kang Woojin's first time attempting an action long take.
'Still, if it's Woojin, he'll definitely pull it off.'
And on top of that, Ethan's vast experience was now right in front of him, which meant the odds of a powerful scene being born were very high. After spending a while examining the revised storyboard, Song Manwoo PD turned his head. The action director had been looking at the same thing.
"What do you think?"
"...I want to try it. Honestly, if we can pull off an action scene as a proper long take, I think it'll overwhelm everything else."
"I know."
"But ten minutes? A ten-minute long take? That sounds excessive."
"Well, that's something the action director will have to discuss with them. The real question is whether we can do it or not."
"Even if I told you it was impossible, you'd still do it anyway, wouldn't you?"
A smile spread across Song Manwoo PD's face.
"I'm already hooked."
"See? Sigh. I can already tell the road ahead is going to be rough. I'll have to speak with the cinematographer too, not just you."
"Leave that to me."
And it was not simply a matter for the cinematographer alone. In order to bring Ethan's proposed ten-minute long take to life, a large number of teams would have to be mobilized. Not just the camera crew, but lighting, props, art, sound, and everything else as well. Put simply, it was almost the same as preparing everything from scratch all over again. Of course, Choi Nana's script would remain the foundation, and Ethan Smith's versatile touch would be layered on top of it.
The workload would obviously multiply several times over, but Song Manwoo PD's smile only deepened.
'How could I possibly give up a ten-minute long take, a large-scale battle scene like this?'
To put it rather bluntly, the long-take sequence gave off the feeling of overwhelmingly crushing more than thirty opponents.
'The rapid and varied use of pistols, rifles, bare hands, and different props is just a bonus.'
The storyboard Ethan had brought was already captivating enough to catch Song Manwoo PD's attention, but now it had become even flashier and more intense. And the speed? Not only the long-take scene, but the entire rhythm of the storyboard had doubled. The texture and impact of the action were rough, yet fluid at the same time.
'As expected… his Hollywood experience is no joke.'
Ethan's action design had both a trendy edge and a raw, unpolished charm.
It felt like the storyboard of a Hollywood action film.
The upgraded storyboard was specialized for CQC. It almost felt as though it had been made for the sole purpose of highlighting Kang Woojin.
As Song Manwoo PD flipped rapidly through the pages, he liked every scene he saw.
Especially—
'The tempo control is excellent.'
The storyboard was a masterpiece of fast movement woven together with delicate, carefully measured breathing. At that moment,
"What do you think?"
Ethan, seated across from him, asked in English with a serious expression.
"If there's anything that needs adjusting, I can correct it right away."
Song Manwoo PD smiled and shook his head.
"No. First, this needs to be finalized and refined."
"Then there are two things we need to make clear first."
"And those are?"
"The budget is the first issue. As you can see from the storyboard, elements that weren't in the original version have been added. Different kinds of rifles, props, special effects, things like that."
As if money were not a problem at all, Song Manwoo PD responded immediately.
"Don't worry about the money. If I have to, I'll use my own savings."
"...The second issue is the actor."
"The actor?"
"Mr. Kang Woojin. Even in Hollywood, there are many actors who avoid long takes. It's extremely important to hear his opinion before we move into actual filming. We'll also need to refine the storyboard scenes further after talking with him."
At that, the smiles on Song Manwoo PD's face and the action director's face both deepened. Song Manwoo PD pulled out his phone and spoke.
"That won't be a problem either. Since we're already talking about it, let's handle it right now."
"Right now? No matter how you look at it, the actor will need some time to think about it."
In fact, even in Hollywood, when a difficult long-take proposal was given to an actor, it could take a full week just to get an answer. Ethan had seen that himself. But Song Manwoo PD acted without the slightest hesitation.
"Ah, Woojin, sorry to bother you for a moment. Are you busy? Could I talk to you briefly?"
He had already called Kang Woojin. Then Song Manwoo PD switched the phone to speaker mode and asked,
"Ethan from the stunt team brought over a storyboard design, and he's suggesting that we shoot an unplanned ten-minute large-scale battle scene as a long take. What do you think?"
Kang Woojin's reply did not take even a second.
"That's fine."
After that,
Song Manwoo PD, Ethan, and the entire Beneficial Evil production team focused on the newly redesigned CQC storyboard. They informed the absent key staff of the situation and began working in earnest on the upgraded storyboard together with the action director and the others.
Of course, it was not something that would be finished immediately.
First, they had to create a new storyboard draft based on the version Ethan had produced, and after that, they needed to go to the real filming location in Bangkok, Thailand, scout the site, and finalize the storyboard there. The local extras would also play an important role.
It soon became clear what that meant. Resolving all the issues related to the overseas shoot in Bangkok was going to be crucial.
"Ah, and regarding the overseas location scout."
Song Manwoo PD informed everyone about the Bangkok trip, explaining that it would serve both as a location-scouting mission and as a multipurpose work trip.
"We're planning to leave around the 10th of this week. Please make sure the team members going along are fully prepared."
The departure date was set for around July 10th. Naturally, the stunt team led by Ethan would be joining them as well.
Time passed.
The 7th ended, and the 8th arrived. As usual, Kang Woojin was buried under a packed schedule all day long. On top of that, martial arts and close-combat practice for the filming of Beneficial Evil had been added to his routine as well. The other actors were already deep into their own practice, and Woojin, who had recently joined the stunt team's training sessions, had no choice but to take part too.
『Hollywood stunt team joins Beneficial Evil, a project aiming for the global market? "They're really going all in."』
『[Drama Pick] Rumors of overseas filming for Beneficial Evil followed by news that a Hollywood stunt team has joined as well』
Compared to the other actors, though, Kang Woojin had far less to learn. There was no problem at all with him skipping the basic training process. According to Ethan, who had essentially become Woojin's dedicated coach,
"For now, we'll focus on the long-take scene and complete the choreography using knives, guns, and props. Once the location scouting in Bangkok is done, we'll move into filming in earnest."
When Kang Woojin began firearms practice, he was handed a replica AK rifle. Woojin honestly found it incredibly fun to be holding something that looked exactly like the real thing.
'Damn… I've even fired one before while I was inside a reading experience. This is way lighter than the real thing. Still, this is seriously fun.'
He could not resist the attraction of the gun.
On top of that, Kang Woojin quickly became close with Ethan, the team leader, and the other stunt team members. The fact that conversation flowed naturally between them helped a great deal.
"Woojin, why do you always look so serious? I don't think I've ever seen you smile."
"This is just the expression I normally wear."
"More than your face, your stamina is what's really amazing. How are you always so steady with your breathing? Even we get winded sometimes."
"I don't know."
"Did they teach that in special forces too?"
"..."
Even after finishing practice, Kang Woojin still had to push through a schedule that continued all the way until midnight.
'If the void space didn't exist, I probably would've collapsed by now.'
Commercial shoots, photo shoots, interviews, filming for Kang Woojin's Alter Ego, filming SNS-related videos—his packed schedule continued without pause. And recently, there had even been the 20-million-viewer thank-you event for Island of the Missing, the film that had left a mark on Korean cinema history.
『The cast of Island of the Missing, a film that made history in Korean cinema, smile brightly and bow ninety degrees to fans / Photos』
『"Thank you for 20 million!" Director Kwon Gitaek, Kang Woojin, Ryu Jeongmin, and others reunite after a long time』
Naturally, Director Kwon Gitaek and the full cast of Island of the Missing took part, and after that, Woojin filmed an interview-style behind-the-scenes segment for Our Table. It was not large in scale, just about an hour spent talking in an office with PD Yoon Byeongseon and the Our Table production team.
His final task was filming a promotional video for the animation Boy Friend: Remake.
Boy Friend: Remake had already begun full-scale promotional activity. Kang Woojin, who voiced the male lead, also had to take part, but because he could not go to Japan due to his schedule, he had to film a separate promotional video in Korea instead.
Kang Woojin had to handle all of that within two days.
And somehow, he really did it.
By the night of the 9th, he had completed every task on his schedule.
'Wow… that's insane. Did I seriously pull all of that off?'
With that, Woojin's Korean schedule finally came to an end.
Meanwhile, in Los Angeles—
It was early morning in LA. Overall, the city was full of people busily heading to work. But many had already started their day. Among them, in a large recording studio packed with all kinds of sound equipment, there was a blonde woman.
It was Miley Cara.
And she was working there with several foreigners around her.
Music filled the entire studio. Sometimes Cara's voice blended into the track, sometimes it didn't. Dressed in a gray hoodie, Cara had arrived at the studio about an hour earlier and had been deeply immersed in work on her new album ever since.
"Shouldn't this part move a little faster in tempo?"
"Should we record it again?"
"Yeah. Let's go a bit faster this time. Try it and see."
"All right."
Inside the recording booth, Miley Cara was showing off her vocal ability. She had almost no makeup on today, but her blonde hair, which suited her perfectly, and her cynical expression were still captivating. After recording for several minutes, she leaned back against a soft sofa at the rear of the room, as if taking a brief rest.
Then she picked up her phone.
Just then, her manager handed her a bottle of water.
It was Jonathan.
Cara gave him a brief word of thanks and asked a question.
"Is the hotel ready?"
"Yes. Like you asked, I booked a five-star hotel."
"We need to take responsibility for everyone coming with him. Not just accommodation, but transportation too."
"I already handled it."
"Make sure you check everything carefully. They need to genuinely feel that they're being treated well."
After clearly stating her opinion, Cara glanced back down at her phone. On the screen was Kang Woojin's Instagram.
"This time, he's not coming as a chef. He's coming as a singer. As my guest."
At that moment,
her phone rang.
It was a call.
Cara tilted her head slightly to check who it was.
It was the famous Hollywood producer Joseph Felton.
Curiosity immediately flickered across her face. A phone call this early in the morning? What could it be about? In any case, Cara lifted the phone to her ear.
"Joseph?"
From the other side of the line, Joseph's voice sounded extremely cheerful.
"Haha, Miley. I saw your face on a giant billboard while I was on my way to work, and it made me think of you, so I called. How's the new album coming along?"
"Of course it's going well. Joseph, I heard you've been busy too."
"Well, I'm always busy. Especially now, with a new project underway. But Miley, isn't it about time you started thinking about your next project? You usually decide that around the time you start working on a new album, don't you?"
"So that's why you called?"
"I just wanted to know what was going on."
"I'm too busy to think about that right now. Besides, I need to focus on the guest who'll be arriving soon."
"A guest?"
"Mr. Kang Woojin. You saw the news, didn't you? He's coming because of the album work. He'll arrive tomorrow."
For a brief moment, silence fell on the line.
Then Joseph asked again.
"...Are you saying Mr. Kang Woojin is coming to LA tomorrow?"
And at that point, the scene returned to Korea.
For some reason, the domestic media was in an uproar, and Incheon Airport had turned into total chaos.
『[Star Photo] Kang Woojin spotted at Incheon Airport / Photos』
『Kang Woojin, star of the 20-million-viewer phenomenon, departs for LA to work on an album with Miley Cara!』
『Before departure, Kang Woojin gives a brief interview to reporters: "I'm really looking forward to working with Miley Cara."』
The reason was simple.
Kang Woojin had boarded a plane bound for LA.