Rebirth: King to Superstar

Chapter 78 - Finding Out Problems

"What do you have in mind?" Joon-won whipped his head towards the man and asked. He really wanted to know. This was his second chance at life and he wanted to do something different, which was acting in movies. 

"Alright, I can not tell you the solutions. The judges sitting there might have also said something similar. If I tell you the solutions here and now, you might solve your problems quickly and get an audition or even maybe a role quicker. But you won't be able to evaluate and fix yourself properly from here on out. There will be many changes you might have to make on the fly if you get into the industry and for that self-assessment is important."

Joon-won nodded after a second and asked, "Alright then tell me my problems. Where do I need to make changes?" Knowing the problems was enough for now. He had 2 months' time to fix these problems which he was confident in. 

"Alright then let's start with the 2 most obvious one. Your facial expressions and body language. These are the most famous problems theatre actors come across. When students and new actors are taught we say them to exaggerate a lot." 

"And that is true. But only for Stage actors. This applies to stage actors because of the audience they perform for. It's a live audience and not each member in the audience is at equal distance from you. So you are taught to exaggerate your expressions and body language a lot so that every member in the audience can comfortably catch you."

"But this isn't the same case for movies. In movies, there is no live audience to exaggerate your expressions or body language for. The camera catches your acting at a very close range that it can catch even the very subtle ones people generally can't see."

"So now imagine an actor who was taught to exaggerate every action and emotion, to act in front of a camera which catches each and every movement including the sweat that drips from your face. It would look like a complete joke. You would look like a comedian, awkward and silly at close up." 

"No director would want an actor who looks awkward and silly even in serious scenes. Don't believe me? Watch the second act. This is a scene that needs you to show hate and frustration at their fullest. Now don't watch it normally. Watch it with the perspective that it's a movie. That means the camera is closer and clearer. There will only be you in the complete screen." 

Kar Jung explained the very first flaw which was noticeable in Joon-won's acting. It was something very common among theatre actors. He took the remote and played it back to the start of the second act. Joon-won looked at the TV as if he was a hunter searching for any movements from his prey. 

The video played, and it was Joon-won's angry and frustrated face that appeared on the screen. It looked normal and the old Joon-won before the conversation would have thought everything was alright and that he did it perfectly. But after getting reminded by Kar Jung. His way of observing changed completely.

He kept the normal way movies are taken in his mind and watched the tape. He imagines the camera to be right near his face, recording every movement he made. As soon as he thought and viewed the tape like that, he found the problem. His expressions look so exaggerated and borderline fake. There were too many unnecessary movements from him, which made it look worse and not compelling. 

He finally understood the reason for rejection. It was as they said. He wasn't ready for the movies yet. His acting was so cemented on the stage that he has not yet peeled himself out of it. He should start controlling himself better and act accordingly. If he lets himself free and runs wild, he won't make it. He needed to practice self-control.

"So, do you also notice it? That's how it looks if it's shot in a movie with a camera, probably worse." Kar Jung's words woke him up from his own internal realization. 

He nodded and replied, "Yes, I see it now. It would look so bad if it's recorded in a movie set making me look completely idiotic. Too much exaggeration to the point but looks completely fake. Now I understand why they denied me." He kept nodding while agreeing to the judge's conclusion.

"That's great because this is one of the main reasons you got rejected. Now there is probably another reason too." Kar Jung nodded, seeing Joon-won come to a realization and a conclusion. That was important for an actor. Now with him opening Joon-won's eyes, Joon-won would be able to observe better to look for more mistakes.

"Another reason?" 

Kar Jung nodded and replied, "Yes, there is another reason for rejection. It's your subtle hesitation and caution. It is at first glance not noticeable. Everything looks normal and your acting is great. But there is a subtle hesitation that is visible to experienced people and once on camera to everyone." 

With this statement Joon-won was confused. He understood the exaggeration part before, but now Kar Jung told he is hesitant? He didn't see any hesitation when he was acting in the clip. But he didn't want to rebuke Kae Jung. After all, he didn't notice the exaggeration part, either. 

"Now you probably don't see it as it's all normal in this clip. But once again remember you are acting in a movie and the shot is up close. Let's look at the same act again."

"Now, from what I see in this tape, it looks like you are trying to imagine the other roles of the story when you act. This is very good and important but also very detrimental to you as a theatre artist."

"As a theatre artist who acts before a live audience, your body adapts to the situation. Your body and brain is on high alert because of the audience and the need for the drama to be as seamless as possible. So the actors are generally looking out for any sudden mistakes or errors. You are looking out for these mistakes or errors because they are always sudden and you won't have another chance with the same audience once it's messed up." 

"So you try to adapt to any possible mistakes even if the possibility is really low. Like a missing prop needed in the scene or your fellow actor standing on stage missing a line. These things are very common on a theatre stage. These things happen very often."

"But that's not the same for movie acting. After all, this is no one chance scenario with the audience. In movies there are takes and if time is sufficient, a movie crew can take as many retakes as possible until it's perfect. So no one is hesitant or cautious at acting. They perform naturally and then even if there are problems there is something called post-production which involves editing or dubbing the few lines you got wrong in an actual take. You get second chances a lot." 

"Now with this laid down let's see your acting. Look at your eyes in the act. They are always on alert as if waiting for something to happen and that you are ready to react if it does. I mean you should never be like that. Do you know what it shows in movie auditions? It shows that you aren't focusing completely on the act. You should tone that down completely if you want to go further." 

Joon-won looked at the video, especially his eyes, and noticed the same thing. His eyes were most of the time not focused and looking around. It was as Kar Jung said. He imagined the other actors for better acting, but this completely backfired on him because of his past experiences. 

This extreme sense of alertness in acting came when he was acting back at the kingdom in his earlier days. At that time he did not have a solid group to act with and was always recruiting people on the fly if they at least knew a few basics to fill in the roles that were open to perform.

But this had a huge disadvantage. The people they recruited never had any solid experience. They were always scared on stage and often forgot their lines in the middle, making the whole drama come crashing down. This made him be on complete alert to jump in whenever he noticed the person was losing it and adopt on spot, to improvise and ultimately keep the play running. 

It seemed like even though he was not surrounded by amateur actors or an actor like in the audition, he still retained that alertness making it seem idiotic. He needed to start relaxing more when he acts to not be on alert and learn to just go with the flow. 

His thoughts got interrupted when Kar Mani walked in and called out to both of them, "Alright, both of you can come and have dinner. The food will get cold."