Chapter Sixteen: Official Filming Begins

  Around 9 o'clock, all preparations were done, and the formal shooting began. Although Zhang Chengyuan arrived earlier, the camera would not start with him. The first shot was Zhang Dongjian's personal lens, followed by Zhang Chengyuan's cooperative lens, and finally Zhang Chengyuan's personal lens. As for the remaining close-ups of the Sinla noodles, they were unrelated to today's shooting.

  If the shooting progress is too slow, causing Zhang Dongjian to not finish filming today, then Zhang Chengyuan can only wait until tomorrow to film. This is not Zhang Dongjian being overbearing, but rather a rule in the entertainment circle. Junior artists have to give way to senior artists, those who are not popular have to give way to those who are popular and rising, while newcomers are definitely at the end of the line.

  Zhang Dongjian's first shot is: A young white-collar worker who supports his family alone comes back to work overtime in the middle of the night, and falls onto the sofa in the living room with a tired face.

  This shot wasn't difficult, Jang Dong-geon passed it in one take, and portrayed the physical fatigue and mental exhaustion of a young office worker with great nuance, showcasing his excellent acting skills. After filming this scene, not only did the staff praise him, but even the proud Jang Sung-won nodded in agreement, acknowledging that he was indeed too immature compared to Jang Dong-geon.

  After that, Jang Dong-gun also filmed several scenes such as eating ramyeon and praising its delicious taste, all of which were completed very smoothly with only one or two NGs, and it was Jang Dong-gun himself who was not satisfied and asked for a retake. Although Jang Dong-gun performed well, filming the same scene sometimes requires multiple takes to capture a better shot. In this way, while filming and selecting, adding lighting adjustments and makeup touch-ups, several scenes took up several hours, and before we knew it, it was already time for lunch.

  Inside the studio, everyone simply ate some boxed lunches, instant noodles and other fast food. Even a big star like Zhang Dongjian was no exception, eating while discussing the next shooting content and places that need attention.

  After finishing dinner, they rested for about ten minutes and started a new shooting. This time, Zhang Chengyuan also joined in.

  Filming begins: Jang Dong-geun is lying on the sofa, resting his eyes. At this time, Jang Sung-won comes in with a large bowl of steaming hot ramyeon. He carefully and joyfully carries the bowl to Jang Dong-geun's front, just about to speak, when Jang Dong-geun has already smelled the strong aroma of ramyeon, suddenly sits up, staring at the ramyeon with an extremely surprised expression, and exclaims in a very exaggerated tone: "Wow! Nongshim Ramyeon!"

  At this time, Zhang Chengyuan gently placed the noodles on the coffee table in front of the sofa and bowed his head to say: "Brother, eat noodles!" The voice was warm and affectionate, the expression was natural and not pretentious, just like he was really talking to his own beloved elder brother. After finishing this shot, everyone around nodded in recognition of Zhang Chengyuan's strength.

  Originally, there were no scenes with Jang Sung-won speaking lines, but Director Park Myeong-hwan saw the scene where Jang Dong-gun and Jang Sung-won stood together and thought they looked very harmonious, with their similarly carved handsome faces and charming personalities. When they exchanged glances and smiled, their expressions seemed identical, making them look like real brothers. He suddenly had an idea to show a stronger brotherly affection in the commercial, to convey the "family warmth" image of Nong Shim Shin Ramyun. After discussing with the advertising representative and production team, he gave Jang Sung-won more opportunities to perform, adding a few short scenes for more editing options.

  Doing so, naturally made Park Byung-ryul extremely happy and also brought a hint of joy to Jang Sung-won. On the other hand, Jang Dong-gun calmly stated that he had no opinion on the matter. For Jang Sung-won, adding one more line of dialogue could give him an extra chance to gain fame, but for Jang Dong-gun, filming commercials was not his main profession, just a side job to earn money. Losing a few seconds of screen time wouldn't shake his popularity or status, nor would it affect his endorsement fees. With his harmless personality, he naturally wouldn't mind these things.

  However, in the fiercely competitive entertainment industry, only a star like Zhang Dongjian with a broad mind would make such an seemingly insignificant concession.

  Next, Zhang Chengyuan cooperated with Zhang Dongjian to finish all the joint shots. In these shots, Zhang Chengyuan's part increased a bit, but no matter how much it increased, it couldn't affect Zhang Dongjian's position as the main character of the advertisement. After finishing these shots, Zhang Dongjian completed all his parts and he and his agent apologized and bid farewell to the crew on site, rushing to do other commercials.

  Everyone present understood that a big star like Jang Dong-gun would naturally have many schedules, and even if Jang himself didn't want to take them on, his management company wouldn't let him be too idle. After sending off Jang Dong-gun, the staff members didn't rest but continued filming Jang Sung-won's individual scenes.

  Zhang Chengyuan has very few personal shots, only two.

  One was: When Jang Dong-geon returned home and lay down on the sofa to rest, Jang Seong-won, who was studying in his room, came out and looked at his older brother, who was taking care of the household like a father, with an expression of gratitude, guilt, and heartache.

  When shooting this scene, because Zhang Dongjian had already left, Zhang Chengyuan could only fix his gaze on the empty space half a foot away from the sofa, imagining what it would be like if Zhang Dongjian was lying there, and exerting all his acting skills to express himself, and also using this expression for a close-up shot.

  This way of expressing complex emotions with eyes and subtle facial changes made Zhang Chengyuan suffer a lot. Because he had not practiced beforehand, Zhang Chengyuan performed very poorly, and after more than a dozen consecutive simulated shootings failed to meet the director's requirements, Zhang Chengyuan was scolded by Director Park until he was covered in sweat. After seeing that he could not guide Zhang Chengyuan to break through his acting skills, Director Park simply invited a professional actor from a neighboring studio to demonstrate to Zhang Chengyuan.

  This trick worked immediately, and Zhang Chengyuan, in order to avoid being scolded, simply used his yuan Shen to depict the eye movements and facial muscle changes of professional actors when performing, and then copied them all out. Although the results of the copy were not as vivid as those performed by professional actors, they were similar, and Director Pu finally let Zhang Chengyuan off.

  After one round, Zhang Chengyuan's spirit was extremely exhausted due to the forced use of his not yet fully recovered yuan Shen. This small setback also made Zhang Chengyuan realize that he still had a long way to go on the road to acting skills.

  Another shot: Zhang Chengyuan, wearing an apron, seriously cooking ramen noodles in a small kitchen. This was quite simple for Zhang Chengyuan, as he had been cooking instant noodles frequently and was almost tired of them! He moved quickly and accurately, adding ingredients with ease and familiarity, looking like a seasoned chef. Unfortunately, Director Piao didn't think much of this and just casually took a shot before saying OK.

  After finishing the two shots, today's advertisement shooting task was also completed, and what was left was post-production. Director Park let everyone pack up. When people had dispersed, Park Hyung-ryeol, with Zhang Chengyuan who had removed his makeup, solemnly apologized to Director Park: "Director Park, we've caused you trouble, please don't mind."

  Director Piao, who had just finished filming, seemed to be in a good mood and said: "This is not your fault, it's my temporary addition to the play. For newcomers, this is indeed a bit difficult. As for your artist, I still have high expectations. Who knows, maybe we'll have another chance to work together in the future."

  After exchanging a few more pleasantries, Park Byung-ryul and Jang Sung-won also drove away. In the car, Jang Sung-won was silent, thinking about what had happened today. Park Byung-ryul thought that Jang Sung-won was young and hot-headed, and had been scolded, so he comforted him, "Are you still thinking about being scolded earlier? Don't take it to heart, getting scolded by the director during filming is a very common thing. Unless you're a senior with status and position, even the most popular and biggest stars can't avoid this kind of thing. On set, the director is the biggest. You must remember this point clearly, no matter how angry you are, you can't go against the director. Your performance today was not bad." This "not bad" referred to Jang Sung-won being scolded many times without getting angry.

  "Today being scolded is what I deserved, but the feeling of being scolded is really not good. In the future, I don't want to give any director a chance to scold me. I will perform in a way that makes them unable to find a reason to scold me."