SCT-Novel Chapter 43: Phantom's Gaze
Chapter 43: Phantom's Gaze
chapter 43: phantom's gaze
༺ phantom’s gaze ༻
“the camera as... a corps?”
the unusual comment caught the attention of the surrounding dancers.
“when i watch ballet dancers, the angle at which they raise their limbs and the speed of their spins all align perfectly even when they’re not looking at each other. how do they synchronize so well?”
“well... when you focus, you can feel it...”
“even without looking?”
“yes. in the early stages of practice, we synchronize by looking at each other, but later on, it’s more about sensing the energy around us...”
the ballerinas who were listening nodded in agreement.
“if you can remember the movements of dozens in a group dance and feel their energy, then it shouldn’t be too hard for you to be conscious of the marks or camera positions. it’s just that you haven’t gotten used to it yet.
if you’re nervous, don’t think of the camera as the audience, but consider it part of the corps that builds this scene together. maybe that will help ease the tension?”
the depth of understanding and respect for ballet was evident in yoomyeong’s calm explanation.
the ballerinas, who were tense in this unfamiliar environment, felt ‘accepted’ by his warm advice.
“i didn’t really know until i tried studying it, but ballet is such a fascinating and beautiful art. it’s a shame that it has a limited fan base. everyone, please relax and show the beauty of ballet to as many people as possible.”
seeing the tension easing from their faces upon his words, the assistant director said to the director,
“is he really twenty-four years old? doing acting like that at that age is impressive, but how does he control the surroundings so well?”
“i’ve seen many prodigies come and go in the film industry, but he’s one of a kind. it’s not just a flash of brilliance; there’s depth to him. it’s amazing every time i see it.”
“i feel the same way. i’m looking forward to his scenes.”
“don’t just stand there with your mouth open. the director’s role is to expect more from a talented actor and bring out even higher quality.”
“is that so...?”
the afternoon shoot went much smoother.
everyone’s faces were noticeably more relaxed than in the morning.
in particular, seryeon’s expression became very natural. instead of trying to act out hwaran, the advice to simply express seryeon’s emotions proved immensely helpful.
and so, cut by cut, the scenes were completed one by one.
finally, the day to film ‘behind the stage’ came.
*
“wow... look at how the set turned out.”
“it looks amazing...”
it was a set that replicated the backstage of a grand theater.
dim lighting. stage tools were piled here and there, costumes which were hung carelessly, and props that gave off an eerie feeling.
to depict a scene where ‘moonlight’ seeped in, a high ceiling with small windows had been constructed.
true to a space where reality and unreality intersected, pointy red ballet shoes resembling blood and purple tutus were strategically placed throughout the set.
phantom didn’t appear on the bright practice stage or where people’s gazes could reach.
the blind spots of the theater were his main areas of activity.
under the moonlight’s glow, he appeared only in the shadows behind the stage, in front of a ballet dancer who, despite her talent, had been consumed by overwhelming ambition and had fallen into despair.
“we’ll start with a long take first. please clap the slate.”
“eight, three, one—”
clap—
scene 8, cut 3, take 1.
the encounter between hwaran and the phantom.
hwaran, trapped in the practice room at night and panicked, searches for a way out and ends up in the backstage connected to the stage. in the eerie backstage at night, she screams, and a beam of moonlight falls beneath her feet. then, the phantom appears.
“ready — action!”
the phantom, with half of his face covered by a mask and wearing a tunic as white as moonlight, extends his hand to hwaran, who was sitting down hesitantly.
“ah, you’re one of the children performing the swan dance. what was your name again?”
“yoon... hwaran.”
his voice was sweet, almost song-like.
although backed by the moonlight, there wasn’t a single shadow on his face, thanks to the front lighting.
however, in harmony with that mysterious ambiance, his face seemed to give off a light of its own.
“after swan lake, the next performance will be giselle.”
even before the viewers could sense the ominous hint at the end of his kindly spoken words...
ding—
the clock struck twelve, and the music, initially at a very low volume, gradually increased.
as the staff silenced even their breathing for the live recording, all eyes were on yoomyeong as he began to dance.
“ah...”
the ballerinas who were watching held back their gasps.
it was albrecht from giselle.
of course, he couldn’t execute the vibrant jumps or the dazzling pas (steps) like the professional ballerinas.
however, the movements of the upper body, where expression was relatively more critical than technique... were astonishingly beautiful. it was hard to believe he wasn’t a major in the field.
ra— raa—
as the music crescendoed, a series of pirouettes followed.
watching this, the male dancer responsible for yoomyeong’s stand-in doubted his eyes.
“afterwards, phantom rebukes her, telling her not to speak nonsense, and they practice the pas de deux. director, can you capture this?”
just then, cinematographer choi, who had been lingering around after finishing his lunch, cheekily chimed in, “i’ll shoot it.” he excitedly returned with a sub-camera.
the pas de deux of the two.
having practiced daily for two months, the dance flowed effortlessly.
once the dance ended, they huddled close and played back the recorded file on the spot.
“ah... phantom’s gaze.”
unlike social dances, ballet, being a performance dance, often focuses its gaze on the audience. seryeon also mostly looked in the camera’s direction, making eye contact with her partner only when necessary.
but at that time, the phantom’s gaze...
it looked down at her with a poignant intensity.
as a pirouette turned her back in, his expression turned cold again the moment their eyes met. however, as the pirouette spun her away, phantom’s persistent gaze immediately followed her.
in that expression, there was a myriad of dramas...
even seryeon became curious about the rest of phantom’s untold story.
“what do you think? hwaran can continue believing, as she has, that phantom is a perfect being. it’s just an additional subplot for phantom.”
she had been confident she wouldn’t be persuaded, but...
in the end, she nodded in agreement.
*
“practice is over!”
exhausted, yoomyeong laid sprawled on the studio floor, while seryeon entered the attached shower room, saying she would rinse off.
even after the shooting had started, the two would visit the studio to practice ballet and their acting whenever they found the time.
just when yoomyeong was so tired that he was about to drift off to sleep...
vrrr— vrrr—
his phone, set to vibrate, buzzed noisily on the floor.
it was a text from the cinematographer.
[if you’re done practicing, come over. the director and i are having drinks at samsong fried chicken up front.]
the somewhat pompous director ki and the laid-back cinematographer choi were an oddly fitting duo. with a smirk, yoomyeong brushed his hair back and relayed the message to seryeon as she came out.
“the director and the cinematographer are having chicken and beer. they’re asking us to join. what do you think?”
“ah~ beer! if i drink it now, i can die peacefully. let’s go!”
she enthusiastically raised both hands in welcome, and the two left the studio.
it was mid-april.
on a clear spring night, cherry blossoms in full bloom gently swayed in the wind, as if waving.
they quickly crossed a few alleys and arrived in front of the chicken restaurant.
“over here—”
a hand swiftly rose above the inner partition.
though the hand greeted them warmly, by the time they reached the table, the two people were engrossed in a discussion about filming and didn’t even look up.
“two 500cc beers, please.”
after yoomyeong and seryeon ordered their beers, they joined the ongoing conversation.
“phantom’s emotional development has become a subplot, but the starting point of those emotions isn’t clear.”
“as yoomyeong mentioned, i think it’s understandable without any explanation why the phantom, who lurks in the corner of the theater and only thinks about ballet, is obsessed with hwaran.”
“that’s how we, who know the story, see it. but from a viewer’s perspective, it might not be so obvious. there should be a visual hint.”
“well...”
“moreover, phantom must have taught numerous ballerinas over time. there should be a reason why he’s particularly fixated on yoon hwaran.”
“true... we need something to signify her ‘uniqueness’. there should be a scene that justifies that.”
upon hearing that, yoomyeong thought of the cherry blossoms he’d seen that had been in full bloom on their way here.
“what about the outside?”
“the outside?”
“one of the things that confines phantom is not just the darkness, the night, or the moonlight, but also the ‘interior’ of the theater. what if hwaran leads him outside for the first time?”
ah—
director ki’s expression lit up with realization.
he fervently scribbled on the back of a storyboard that was next to him.
“let’s see... between scenes 38 and 39 would be perfect. let’s make it 38.5...
after the lesson, hwaran suddenly grabs the hand of the phantom, who is trying to disappear. ‘don’t you feel suffocated staying inside all the time? let’s take a walk together!’ while other students had only seen him as a frightening and intimidating figure... phantom was taken aback by hwaran’s playful demeanor. after hesitating, he steps outside, touching the ground outside for the first time.
hwaran’s laughter bursts like a budding flower, and he’s introduced to the unfamiliar fresh air.”
with the momentum of the pen racing across the blank paper, yoomyeong interjected enthusiastically.
“if we set it against a backdrop of nighttime cherry blossoms, wouldn’t it add more atmosphere? the practice room and the theater are both filled with rigid, square backgrounds, so having one scene in a dreamlike and surreal atmosphere would be a nice contrast.”
“oh— great idea! a pas de deux beneath the cherry blossoms!”
what stopped director ki’s fervently writing pen was...
“let’s go film it now! today is the peak of the cherry blossom season!”
the even more excited voice of director choi, his cheeks flushed from several glasses of beer.
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