Episode 112: Joining
The props team took off their aprons and opened the windows.
As the cool breeze came in, their hearts felt refreshed. Today, they didn’t feel cold; instead, they felt invigorated.
They wiped the solid, tough bristle brushes with dry rags and washed off the paint soaked in oil.
Cleaning up after finishing a painting was the final task.
“Yaaahoo! Feels great!”
“Now that the live painting team has joined the props team, work is a breeze!”
“Having more hands is the best!”
The team members laughed and hummed a tune. The only one dissatisfied with the current situation was Little.
Other live painting artists were thrilled that they didn’t have to see Fraser often, but Little was pouting.
A staff member with glasses asked,
“Hyung, what’s bothering you so much? You didn’t even want to film anyway, so isn’t this good news?”
“Yeah, yeah. Now you won’t have to clash with Director Fraser anymore!”
The team members were curious about the new artist coming in.
“By the way, who’s the new person joining us? I heard they’re really expensive? Totally different from us.”
“They must be really good! Rumors don’t spread for nothing.”
Seeing the team members agree and chat, Little got angry.
“What’s so good about them! Even if they join, they’ll keep making mistakes. It’ll be a miracle if they don’t cry.”
The props team thought of Fraser upon hearing Little’s angry voice.
His sharp, torn eyes and fierce gaze made their bodies shrink instinctively.
“Well, it won’t be easy to get an OK on the first try, right?”
“Of course. The only one who can get an OK on the first take is John Ford. He’s a genius actor.”
“It would be funny if John Ford got an OK but the stunt double kept messing up.”
Little chuckled and said,
“Right. And how can an Asian be John Ford’s double? Their height is completely different.”
“Hmm, but it should be fine since there aren’t any full-body close-up shots, right? Only hands will be shown.”
“Whatever! Director Charlotte must have no eye for talent.”
As they were chatting, there was a thudding sound from the door.
It was the distinctive footsteps that Charlotte made before entering.
Has the newcomer finally arrived?
The art team held their breath in an instant.
Creeeak- the door opened.
Charlotte entered and greeted them.
“Everyone, I’m here to introduce the new artist. You’ve probably heard the news.”
A tall young man entered behind her.
He had fair skin and clean features. His deep black eyes were mysterious.
Although he looked young, he had an air of elegance about him.
“Hello.”
His low and gentle voice tickled their ears.
Little was taken aback by Kang Lim’s unexpectedly good physique.
His well-defined shoulders looked impressive.
“Ahem… Hello.”
The others looked at Kang Lim with shining eyes.
They hadn’t expected such a young man.
Or maybe he looked younger because he was Asian.
“Wow! Welcome!”
“Your skin is amazing. Incredible. How old are you?”
“…Ah, thank you. I’m twenty by American age.”
“Wow!”
Charlotte pointed to a few paintings and said,
“We have a busy schedule, so there’s no time for chatting. Please take care of things from now on. And we need to move right to the set, so gather the props. These are the paintings to be used in the industrial exhibition scene.”
“Yes, Director.”
The team moved the art pieces framed in antique frames.
They were the paintings needed for the scene of the art competition held by the king, the French Salon.
Kang Lim looked at the works with fascination.
They couldn’t have borrowed them from the Orsay, so the artists must have copied them.
‘Wow… They’re all so talented. They look exactly the same.’
Among them, one painting stood out.
Manet’s Luncheon on the Grass.
In the middle of the painting was a naked woman.
There were almost no shadows, and her pale skin contrasted simply with the dark background, boldly revealing her body’s silhouette.
The woman was among well-dressed bourgeois men.
While they chatted, the woman stared directly at the viewer.
When you meet her eyes, it feels like she’s saying, ‘Why, can’t I be here?’
Because it depicted a realistic body rather than an ideal one, this work was rejected at the Salon competition.
It was because it depicted a prostitute instead of a god from the Bible or mythology.
The painting subtly exposed the corruption of the emerging bourgeois class of that time.
‘The protagonist will appear to buy this rejected work.’
The protagonist, Christian, who was reincarnated in the 19th century, anticipated that there would be collectors like him in this era too.
Someone who can foresee which paintings will appreciate in value… Being ahead of the times is a necessary ability for art investors.
‘But the problem is… that rival was too rich.’
The character Percy, created by Fraser, is the protagonist’s rival.
Christian keeps losing in the competition to buy paintings, tasting bitterness…
Kang Lim opened his notebook and sketched out the scenes he imagined as a floor plan.
He drew a diagram of the camera’s positions and movements, intending to compare them on set.
Before filming, Charlotte moved to the makeup room with Kang Lim.
Since Kang Lim had to stand in as the protagonist Christian, his hands had to be made to look exactly like John Ford’s.
Charlotte checked Kang Lim’s hands and said,
“They’re really white and long. They look like Chopin’s hands.”
“Thank you.”
“We need to make them look like John Ford’s, so they might get a bit rougher.”
She handed him some sweet chocolate and smiled.
“When you get to the set, the cinematographer will explain the movements. You’ll be matching movements with John Ford. For now, wait while getting your makeup done.”
“Yes, understood.”
Kang Lim’s heart raced naturally.
John Ford, the most handsome actor in Hollywood. Though hidden by his looks, he was an incredible actor.
People loved his romantic performance in Romeo and Juliet, but Kang Lim preferred his crime thriller scenes.
His acting range was so broad that it was hard to believe it was the same person.
‘This is my first time seeing him in person.’
As Kang Lim sat and fiddled with his hands, the door burst open, and people came in.
They were familiar faces. One was an artist from the props team earlier, and the other two were the Brian brothers, who handled special effects makeup.
The two brothers, with their dark skin and strong perms, greeted him brightly.
“Haha, hello!”
“You’re Kang Lim, right?”
Kang Lim quickly stood up and shook their hands.
“Yes, nice to meet you.”
“You’re John Ford’s double, right? Looking forward to working with you.”
“Same here.”
“Please sit down. My brother will take care of you.”
The Brian brothers were pioneers who devised new production methods even before special effects makeup existed in movies.
Right after graduating from college, they created spaceships and control panels for sci-fi movies and even made the skin of aliens from distant planets.
Although there are many makeup tools now, it was really challenging to make things look natural back then.
From creating metallic skeletons for robots to remote control mechanisms, they made it all possible.
They even brought the animals in Jurassic Park to life.
‘Even now, the makeup they did doesn’t look odd… The alien tentacles were really the best.’
As Kang Lim explored the various makeup tools, Todd Brian approached him.
“We’ll be putting on a silicone mold. Could you show me your arm for a moment?”
“Yes.”
He wiped Kang Lim’s arm clean with an alcohol swab and dried it.
“This is a mold of John Ford’s hand. It’s a simple task, so it won’t take long. It just takes time to set.”
“Wow… It’s really realistic. You painted it all by hand, right?”
“Haha, of course. We made a thin mold and painted it. We have a collection of every artist’s hand that appears.”
A silicone mold was put on Kang Lim’s hand. The artificial skin was so thin that muscles could be seen through it.
It was made by directly molding John Ford’s hand, so even the shapes of the veins were different. As time passed, the mold clung to his hand, giving a peculiar feeling.
“Oh. This is really amazing…”
“Thank you.”
“But what’s that? How did you make it?”
Kang Lim pointed to a mannequin in the makeup room. It was a model that looked exactly like John Ford’s face.
“That’s for potentially dangerous scenes. You know the scene where the crazy artist pushes the protagonist off the second-floor terrace?”
“Ah, yes. I read that in the script. I thought it would be shot with a wire…”
“Yes, the director will decide after trying both methods. It’s our job to always prepare dummies for dangerous scenes.”
“You’re thorough.”
“Not at all. The method is simple.”
Todd explained the details while putting silicone on Kang Lim’s left hand.
“The method to make this hand is the same. First, we attach cotton cloth to the hair. Then, we apply sticky silicone. We don’t want the actor’s hair to fall off. Just like now, we dye the hair and sew it later.”
“Aha.”
He mimicked digging his nose and said,
“The important thing is to make sure to pierce the nostrils with a spatula when applying the silicone. If the actor can’t breathe, they’ll die.”
“Right…”
“Yes. After that, we wrap it tightly with plaster bandages to fix the silicone. You know it gets hot as it dries, right?”
“Of course. It must be quite uncomfortable for the actor.”
“It’s really suffocating. That’s why it must be done well the first time. After removing the bandage, the facial features must come out accurately. Especially, to avoid air bubbles, the silicone must be applied very meticulously.”
“Then you coat it with soapy water and mold the face again with silicone, right? After that, it can be mass-produced.”
“Yes! That’s right. You know well. Are you interested in special effects makeup?”
Kang Lim looked around. The artist who had come in earlier had blood flowing from his leg.
“No, I’ve done some sculpture work before. Of course, I haven’t done any painting like this, so it’s fascinating. It’s amazing.”
“It’s similar to drawing. Making wounds isn’t difficult.”
“Oh…”
George handed a pile of forearm molds to Kang Lim and said,
“Want to try? We have plenty of makeup materials. It’s almost the same as women’s cosmetics. The skin is like foundation but with more diverse colors. Fake blood is mainly made by mixing artificial dye with honey. So the actors playing Dracula say it’s sweet.”
“Wow, interesting. No wonder it looked sticky. But can I do it with this hand?”
“Yes, wear gloves to avoid staining. I’m done, so I’ll go help my brother.”
Impressionist artists often got injured while working outdoors.
Monet, Renoir, and Sisley actually got hit by a discus while painting landscapes and bled a lot.
Monet painted his fellow artist with a cast, and it was for that scene that special effects makeup was needed.
Kang Lim inspected the artist’s calf.
The wound was already open, and the surrounding skin was peeling.
‘Is this what they used?’
Kang Lim applied a thin layer of latex like tissue paper over the mold.
He spread it with makeup glue and rubbed it gently, causing it to tear and look like peeling skin.
‘Wow… This glue is quite unique. Totally different from wood glue.’
Kang Lim spread the glue a bit thicker. Over time, it became completely transparent, revealing the skin of the mold.
‘If I cut this, it’ll look like a split wound.’
Kang Lim used scissors as thin as tweezers to cut the glue. This created a gap, revealing the skin underneath.
It looked just like a torn wound.
‘Should I apply fake blood to this?’
Kang Lim mixed red food coloring with a bit of blue. He wanted to depict cold, red blood.
He applied honey to the open wound and mixed some glue to create clotted blood near the torn skin.
He applied brown food coloring mixed with foundation to the roughened latex, making it look like a scab had formed.
He even tried injecting the dye into the mold with a needle, creating a bite mark.
Kang Lim experimented with liquid lipstick, baby powder, glue sticks, and various other materials.
Exploring this new world was enjoyable.
“Is Kang Lim ready?”
How much time had passed? Charlotte’s voice was heard.
She was holding the suit Kang Lim needed to change into.
Todd answered while looking at Kang Lim.
“Yes! Kang Lim has been ready for a while. He can go now.”
“Thank you for the makeup, Todd.”
“No problem. Good luck with your first shoot!”
Kang Lim removed the gloves and separated his hand from the mold.
Responding to Todd’s encouragement, he stepped outside.
After the stand-in actor’s broken leg makeup was finished,
Teddy Brian came to clean up the tools where Kang Lim had been sitting.
The desk was covered with traces of various experiments. It looked like the scars of war, quite overwhelming.
“Oh my God…”
Teddy Brian covered his mouth as he looked at the wounds on the arm molds.
From sharp scars like those made by a freshly cut knife to decayed skin resembling mold… One arm mold was completely destroyed.
“Todd? Todd! Did you do this?”
“What…”
“Are you crazy? Since when did you get so good? From now on, you should do all the wound makeup alone! You could even make a corpse with this!”
Todd returned to his seat with a shocked expression and said,
“Hyung… I didn’t do this.”
“Then who did?”
“…Kang Lim did it earlier.”
They looked into each other’s eyes and knew instinctively.
Today’s shoot would be extraordinary.
