Godsent Top Star [EN]: Chapter 149

A Tower Star Blessed by God 149. A Very Special Broadcast (2)

149. A Very Special Broadcast (2)

2022.03.29.

A heavy silence descended, so profound that everyone felt it instantly. Such brief words, yet they struck the heart with a weighty impact. There was no acting, no deliberate staging, just a quiet, understated voice. But the reverberations of that short phrase rippled through the studio, subtle yet powerful. A moment of silence, but its impact lingered. In a live broadcast, it might have been mistaken for a broadcasting accident. The silence shattered when Ki Han-hyang’s voice rang out, “Wouldn’t it be more realistic not to edit this part?” Whether the main PD [Production Director, the head of the production team] thought so or not, Ki Han-hyang’s eyes sparkled as she continued, “Everyone, this is it. Those who know me well know I can’t lie. This very moment you just witnessed is the core keyword of the movie! Those who have seen the movie will all agree! I just got goosebumps. Camera director, please zoom in here.” Ki Han-hyang even brazenly rolled up her shirt sleeves to show her forearms. The camera zoomed in for a close-up. “Those who haven’t seen the movie might not understand yet, but this is the real alpha and omega [the beginning and the end, signifying the most important part]. There’s a reason I requested this part!”

Frankly speaking, Ki Han-hyang wasn’t usually this enthusiastic. Even she felt it herself. But now, she couldn’t help but be passionate. It was obvious. ‘With Yeo-won and Joo-young right here, how can I not be excited!’ She could feel the slightly bewildered gazes of Yeon-woo and Yeon Do-hee. But Ki Han-hyang smiled contentedly, thinking, ‘I’m going to make sure our Yeo-won and Joo-young get the spotlight today. It would be a waste to miss this opportunity!’ If a movie is good, it will eventually become popular. If that’s the case, wouldn’t it be better to roll out the red carpet from the start? Ki Han-hyang’s passionate explanation continued. “Remember this. If you watch this intro and see it through to the end, you’ll understand what I mean. Remember to listen to the intro narration. There are always people who are late to the movie theater, right? Even with ten minutes of commercials, there are always people who are late. Of course, I know only some inconsiderate people do that.”

Indeed, how many rude people were there in the world! Ki Han-hyang despised such people. Those who lacked even the most basic respect for movies! The entire runtime of a movie is the culmination of countless people’s blood, sweat, and tears. -Just because I was five minutes late, you have to nag like that. You look like a grumpy squid……. Once, when Ki Han-hyang received such a comment, she poured out over five thousand characters of scathing criticism at the commenter. Did they know how much time went into those five minutes! At least several hours must have gone into it! Some crazy directors even spend days and nights on the opening. The beginning is a crucial stage for a movie to hook the audience. And they miss that beginning! The thought of such rude people appearing in this kind of work already made her head throb. “Many of you will agree. How rude and unsightly those inconsiderate people are. They disturb others’ viewing experience just by entering late. I don’t know how busy or important they are, but it’s so selfish. They’re late, but they don’t want to waste the movie ticket, so they have to watch the movie while disturbing others. ‘What harm will one person do?’ That kind of thinking! It’s very bad.”

Yes. This movie should never be missed from the beginning. And it shouldn’t be disturbed by anyone! Then she paused for a moment. ‘Oops. I promised the PD to tone down my words…….’ Compared to usual, this wasn’t even that bad. It was a very diluted, bland, and soft expression. She wouldn’t normally worry about this, but……. ‘I can’t let it harm our kids.’ She didn’t know when Joo-won and Yeo-won, characters in the story, became ‘kids,’ but Ki Han-hyang was serious. Fortunately, glancing at the PD, there seemed to be no problem. They had already agreed to appear on the show after hearing all sorts of things about her, so this much might not matter to them. Seeing the production team unfazed by these words, Ki Han-hyang continued, “If you think you’re going to be late, just give up. This movie is one you should never enter late. Watch it again later. Please don’t do the stupid thing of missing the beginning. Those who watch the movie will thank me. For teaching them that they shouldn’t be late.”

This was one hundred percent genuine. Ki Han-hyang couldn’t stand the thought of people who were late and missed the important elements that ran through the beginning and end of the movie saying things like, ‘This is boring? The romance is childish and no fun.’ ‘No! Why blame the movie when you were late!’ Missing the beginning because you’re late isn’t the only problem. It reduces immersion! This movie starts by connecting with the audience from the very beginning. It doesn’t present a very special, rare, and unique experience like a superhero stopping monsters from flying in from space. It draws out common and ordinary sensibilities that anyone has had at least once. The director rewrites the emotions of those common memories. And gives it a special meaning. To feel this specialness, you must never be late.

‘Okay. I’ve emphasized the most important thing, so let’s move on to the next.’ The charm of this movie isn’t just what I’ve said so far. Ki Han-hyang began to unravel the things she had discovered one by one. “A movie that is a complete story pays attention to every prop and background, right? ‘The Most Beautiful Days’ is the same. There is nothing that hasn’t been carefully considered. Especially pay attention to the background in the movie. The background indirectly reveals the psychological changes and current state of the characters.” Ki Han-hyang said, pointing to a place that would be CG-processed [Computer-Generated Imagery, visual effects created using computers] in advance through prior consultation. Have you ever heard the saying that late-blooming fangirling is scary? Ki Han-hyang was in that state. She wasn’t even aware of it, but fans who are immersed in something become obsessed with the object of their enthusiasm. Maybe that’s when it started. Ki Han-hyang’s words became incredibly fast. “For example, what you’re seeing now, the beginning part that was in the trailer, can have this meaning. A street full of office workers. But they don’t seem to care about each other. You can see it as just an everyday scene, but you can also interpret it as a kind of satire. Alienation of the individual. The protagonist’s bitterness, thinking that the world will go on without a problem even if I disappear, is expressed in comparison to the ordinary social scene.”

“The implicitness of the background continues to appear even after the beginning. The travel destination where the protagonist suddenly leaves is also unusual. Look at the ruined ruins. This signifies the protagonist’s mental exhaustion and latent hope at the same time. A similar metaphor appears in Hermann Hesse’s novel Demian. ‘The bird breaks out of the egg. The egg is the world. Whoever wants to be born must destroy a world.’ The destroyed ruins are an already broken world. The protagonist comes here. And she meets another protagonist who will show her another world. It is a place filled with despair and hope.” “The forest means that the two people have become free from the standards and norms set by society……” “You should also pay attention to the ‘water’ motif that appears continuously. Pouring rain, the beach, etc. Water evaporates through vaporization and then…… meets and mixes in different places to become one…….” Ki Han-hyang, who was rattling off the results of her hard work analyzing the movie, suddenly came to her senses. ‘Oh……! I was just talking about myself while leaving our kids standing there!’ Ki Han-hyang had never been conscious of anyone’s feelings in her life. Although her way of expressing things might be a bit controversial, she could confidently say that she had never said anything wrong. So, she wasn’t worried about the content, but there was one thing. Something was bothering her. ‘……Was I being too much of a fangirl?!’

For Ki Han-hyang, watching movies was both a hobby and a job. She had never liked any movie so wholeheartedly, with such passion, even if she felt a calculated sense of fun. Thanks to this, her first ‘fangirling’ was extremely clumsy. She had never been conscious of the other person’s feelings while talking about any review. But for the first time, Ki Han-hyang looked towards Yeon-woo and Yeon Do-hee with a pounding heart. And. ‘Gasp!’ She almost stopped breathing. Ki Han-hyang was sensitive to other people’s emotions. But being sensitive and being affected were completely different fields. Ki Han-hyang was the one who knew but didn’t care. But now things were different. Even Ki Han-hyang would feel hurt if the character’s real self disliked her. That’s why she was worried and looking at them, which was unlike her… But the eyes looking at her didn’t show any criticism or disgust. Rather, they were full of affection. It was the very gaze that had made Ki Han-hyang fall for the character Joo-young. ‘This is…… completely Joo-young?!’

The character in the movie and the actual actor are clearly different. She already knew that very well. The character in the movie who talked about a heartbreaking love that transcended death might actually be a terrible person who committed adultery like eating rice [as casually as eating a meal]. And the psycho who came out incredibly mean and stabbed the protagonist in the back might actually be a very kind person who couldn’t kill an ant and whose daily life was volunteering. -It’s her first debut work, how good can her acting be? Well…… her mask is smooth. The pool of male actors is narrow these days. That was how her one-sided first impression started. But after watching the movie, her impression of Yeon-woo was……. ‘A great catch has come out of nowhere. If she continues to grow like this, she’ll become a pretty good actress. As long as she doesn’t do anything to ruin her career in the middle, doesn’t have any strange scandals, and doesn’t self-destruct on SNS [Social Networking Service]…….’ She was a pretty decent, promising actress. That’s what she thought……. Once the boundary was broken, it felt like what had been kept in line until then was mixed up. If she liked Joo-young, now even Yeon-woo, who played Joo-young, seemed more and more likable the more she saw her? She didn’t know why, but she kept feeling affection……. For the first time in Ki Han-hyang’s life, who had been walking her own way alone, an actress appeared who was so friendly that she felt like she would become a fan.

While Ki Han-hyang was undergoing a huge mental change. Yeon-woo, who had confused Ki Han-hyang, was thinking something completely different. ‘How interesting. I heard she’s a famous critic, but her approach is quite unique?’