Superstar From Age 0

Chapter 31: Superstar from Zero Years Old

Dad was home before them today.

The family enjoyed the curry with big chunks of potatoes and meat that dad had cooked for a long time.

They talked about what happened at the movie set.

It was his son’s first movie shoot in his life, but Lee Min-jun couldn’t go with him. He felt sorry and asked him many questions.

“How was the shooting?”

“It was fun!”

“Did you get praised by the director? You did great, right?”

“Yes!”

After the shooting was over, ryan, the director, stopped by the tent and lightly patted Seo-jun’s head.

He said he did well. Seo-jun smiled happily.

“I also took some pictures. Let’s look at them later while eating strawberries.”

After dinner, the three of them ate dessert while watching the pictures and videos that Seo Eun-hye had taken on the TV.

The first picture that appeared was Seo-jun sitting on a chair and Ryan Will sitting on the floor, shaking hands.

Seo-jun looked even smaller next to the huge Ryan in the picture.

Seo-jun stopped eating the strawberry.

“That’s the director!”

“He’s huge.”

“They say he’s over 190 centimeters tall in our language.”

“Wow… He would have been great as an athlete too.”

Then there were pictures of Seo-jun, Melissa, and Barren changing clothes. Seo-jun talking with Will Ryan in front of the chroma key. And then.

“This can’t be leaked. But they allowed me to take it from afar since it was Seo-jun’s first shoot.”

It was Seo-jun acting.

The video that Ryan Will, the director, showed them after the shooting, saying that actors should always monitor their performance, looked different from the one that mom took from afar.

It was amazing to see himself from a distance.

Sitting on the floor, getting up, stretching his arms.

It felt like someone else was inside his body and moving.

Lee Min-jun also clapped his hands, seeing Seo-jun disappearing into the chroma key with Melissa’s voice, which was faint but sharp.

Especially Melissa’s acting made Lee Min-jun’s heart ache, who had a son.

“Melissa, the actress, she’s amazing, right?”

“I thought so too. I can’t believe she’s been unknown until now.”

“What about me?”

Seo-jun turned his head quickly and looked at his mom and dad, who only praised Melissa.

Mom and dad opened their eyes wide and smiled brightly at their son’s puffy face.

“Seo-jun did well too!”

“You got an OK in one shot! You did really well!”

Seo-jun smiled and ate a ripe red strawberry.

“But when will it be released?”

“They have to do more shooting and some post-production work like CG… They said it will be released in late March or early April in our language.”

“I have to see it in the theater.”

Lee Min-jun, who was checking the schedule with anticipation of seeing his son’s first movie, was poured a cup of cold water by Seo Eun-hye.

“But since it was an audition and a shoot, I don’t know if they’ll use the scene with Seo-jun for sure.”

Seo-jun, who was eating strawberries deliciously next to him, was shocked.

‘No, how hard did I work, how much did I suffer from not smiling all day?!’

“Why?!”

“Yeah. Why? You said you got an OK, right?”

Seo-jun and Lee Min-jun asked Seo Eun-hye.

In the world of filmmaking, not every shot makes it to the final cut.

Many scenes are edited out, unnecessary parts trimmed, and the movie’s duration adjusted for optimal viewing.

This explains why deleted scenes and director’s cuts from various films frequently surface online.

Na-ra had warned Seo Eun-hye of this potential disappointment after watching the movie, to which Seo-jun responded by flopping onto the carpet.

“I worked so hard!”

Like a zombie doll, seo-jun rolled around on the carpet.

Despite his efforts, seo Eun-hye and Lee Min-jun could only offer a small laugh at his antics.

***

Two men in suits were walking somewhere, lightweight PinePads in hand.

“Shadowman, huh…”

Marina Studio, with its plethora of superhero characters, had Vice President Richard Bowen tapping on his PinePad.

Phelan was responsible for the Studio’s film division, shrugged his shoulders.

“It’s inevitable. Replacing Redbone’s actor would cause an uproar.”

“True, that’s a given.”

Redbone was a superhero movie produced by Marina Studio with an enormous budget, yielding equally impressive profits.

To maintain the popularity gained from the first installment, the original cast of Redbone was retained.

More funds were poured into production, along with the latest equipment and a significant workforce.

Plans for a simultaneous global release and extensive promotion were underway.

However, as filming for Redbone 2 reached its midpoint…

“Damn paparazzi.”

Richard Bowen frowned.

The lead actor of Redbone had been chased by paparazzi and met with an accident.

Fortunately, his life wasn’t in danger, but recovery to acting condition would take time.

This put a significant dent in the meticulously planned schedule for Redbone 2.

With equipment and personnel sitting idle, money was being wasted.

Left with no choice, richard Bowen and Phelan decided to fill the gap with movies from two up-and-coming directors.

A financial loss was acceptable; this was an opportunity to test directors who had been on Marina Studio’s radar.

The Studio sent out feelers to two promising directors.

One was Ryan Will.

A short film director known for his sharp portrayal of social issues like racial discrimination. His direction was commendable, but his talent for casting was particularly noteworthy.

The actors he chose brought their characters to life, leaving a lasting impression on the audience.

“I’m curious to see how his casting skills will translate to selecting actors for Marina characters.”

“The actors for Shadowman are mostly unknowns. Just by looking at their portfolio photos, I’m not sure if they fit.”

Phelan flipped through Ryan Will’s resume and the resumes and portfolios of the actors he cast for Shadowman with a flick of his finger on the PinePad.

Actors who performed well but lacked charisma.

Extras who appeared briefly.

What did Director Ryan Will see in these actors? Phelan’s expression wasn’t optimistic.

Richard Bowen, seemingly indifferent to Phelan’s words, kept tapping on his PinePad, displaying Ryan Will’s resume.

He spoke in an annoyed tone.

“I never liked the choice of Shadowman to begin with.”

“Well, shadowman isn’t popular, after all.”

Phelan nodded in agreement.

Redbone was among the most popular characters of Marina Studio’s comics, which is why it was turned into a movie and achieved global success.

In contrast, shadowman was virtually unknown, and Phelan wouldn’t have even been aware of its existence if not for Ryan Will.

As Phelan skimmed through the portfolio, he shook his head.

No matter how he looked, he couldn’t predict what kind of movie would emerge from the collaboration between Director Ryan Will and these actors.

“What about Sara Roth?”

Richard looked down at the resume that had just popped up.

Phelan opened the Sara Roth folder on his PinePad.

Another director. Sara Roth.

She was a director who had swept the short film festival awards with her action scenes that blended beautifully with the screen and music.

Especially, her action scenes that matched well with the music reminded people of music games.

She was a director who was perfect for a superhero movie with thrilling action scenes.

This movie was also her first feature-length commercial film.

“The actors that Sara Roth cast are quite well-known. They also have good acting skills. I wonder how her Greenwing will be.”

Greenwing.

A character with incredibly fast speed, and one of the most popular heroes in Marina.

Marina also recommended him, and Sara Roth agreed right away.

They looked forward to the world of speed that she would direct.

The two men arrived at the huge door. Phelan grabbed the door handle.

The big door opened slowly and they heard a buzzing sound.

A large screen was installed in the center and people were sitting in their seats.

It was a preview screening of the edited movies that was held inside of Marina.

Richard and Phelan sat in their seats.

Soon, the host came up and explained about the two movies and the two directors and went down.

The inside of the conference room darkened.

The logo of Marina appeared on the screen, and the faces of two superheroes looking at each other appeared on the screen.

[Greenwing VS Shadowman]

“Well, at least the promotional slogan is decided.”

With such a confrontation, the public would surely be interested.

“Then, let’s watch Shadowman by director Ryan Will.”

The applause sounded at the host’s words and the screen that Ryan had seen dozens of times appeared.

Ryan, who was sitting in his seat, couldn’t focus on his own movie that was being shown to the audience for the first time and was lost in his thoughts.

Ryan’s dream was to make a hero movie about justice that defeats the evil of the world.

He had no one to invest in him, so he made a short film at first.

It was a short film that showed social issues such as racial discrimination and income inequality bluntly.

Then, he finally got a chance. He got an offer from Marina.

[Shadowman]

It was Ryan Will’s first feature-length hero movie.

The protagonist, Mac, was an alien child who crash-landed on Earth. The other alien who crash-landed with him died quickly and the baby who couldn’t even walk grew up in an orphanage and went out to society.

It was a cold society for an orphan, but he liked this country, this world, thanks to his friends who loved him.

One day, a necklace came into Mac’s hand.

The aliens invaded the Earth to find the necklace.

Mac, who wore the necklace around his neck, used his power to protect the Earth. But some people went missing while Mac was fighting the aliens.

And at that time, there was one person among the missing who was the rival of Shadowman.

‘That’s William.’

Ryan Will wanted to make Shadowman a series, but it didn’t go as he wanted.

So he wondered whether to put this scene as a foreshadowing or not, and eventually decided to put it.

Because Ryan’s superhero’s, shadowman’s, enemy was only ‘William’.

Ryan thought of a boy’s face.

The black-haired, black-eyed boy stood with a cold expression, looking at Shadowman who wore a black mask.

Before he made the movie, william’s face was a white man with black hair, but after he saw Jun’s face, he only thought of Jun’s grown-up face.

‘I hope this movie succeeds so I can make the next movie.’

But even the rational Ryan couldn’t help but be optimistic about the success of this movie.

“Uhuhuhuhu.”

Because Richard Bowen, the vice president who crossed the line between illegal and legal for the Studio’s profit, was crying like a child who lost his mother.