Chapter 46: Routes Through the Palace
Three days after all four lead roles had been cast.
Concept images and location-scouting photos for The Night the King Died covered the walls of a TS ENM art department meeting room.
The inner palace and main gate would use existing open sets.
Separate location candidates had been compiled for the deposed Crown Prince’s residence outside the palace.
At the center of the table lay a palace layout.
The production designer pushed a set of materials forward.
“We put together a first draft based on the storyboards you gave us last time.”
Geonwoo turned the first page.
“Which parts will need to be built from scratch?”
“A few interior spaces, and sections that can’t be connected using the existing sets.”
“The range isn’t final yet since the camera crew hasn’t joined us.”
The production designer placed three photos side by side.
All three showed similar palace corridors.
The pillars and walls looked alike, but the floors and door placements differed slightly.
“These three areas are our current candidates.”
“From the art department’s perspective, if we match the pillars and wall finishes, we can make them look like one connected palace.”
The producer studied the pictures.
“We’ll coordinate the filming method again with the camera department?”
“Yes.”
“For now, we only narrowed down the spaces we can realistically use from the art side.”
Rather than looking at the photos, Geonwoo pulled the palace layout toward himself.
“The historian comes out carrying the records from here, right?”
“Yes.”
“And the military officer joins from this side.”
Geonwoo traced the distance between the two points with his finger.
The historian moved while carrying the records left behind by the King.
The military officer followed behind him.
Princess Yeonhwi also left the inner palace with the young Prince.
The deposed Crown Prince, who had been living outside the palace, had already returned under the King’s summons before then.
Geonwoo picked up a pencil.
He drew the historian’s route first.
Then the military officer’s.
He also marked Yeonhwi’s path from the inner palace toward the main gate.
“What are we using for this section?”
Geonwoo pointed to the place where the historian’s and military officer’s routes began drawing closer.
The production designer pulled two photos closer.
“For the historian, the first area goes up to here.”
“After that, we’re considering this second location.”
“We can make them look like the same space.”
“Yes. If we conceal part of the doorway and match the finishes.”
Geonwoo placed the photos side by side.
They did look very similar.
“How are we showing that the two of them are getting closer?”
The production designer looked between the two routes.
“We can make the two areas look connected by matching the shape of the pillars and doors.”
“But the actual locations are different, right?”
“Yes.”
Geonwoo pointed at the doorway in the first photo.
“The historian passes through here.”
His finger moved to the next photo.
“Then if the military officer enters from this side, the audience won’t know how much distance is left between them.”
The production designer put the photos beside one another again.
“We can make it feel like the same space.”
“That isn’t enough.”
Geonwoo pulled the layout closer.
“Near the end, I want the audience to recognize that the military officer has entered the same place the historian just passed through.”
“That way, they immediately understand the distance between them is shrinking.”
He pointed to the next image.
“But if the next shot shows the military officer passing through a different gate, we won’t know whether he’s right behind him or still far away.”
The producer compared the two photographs again.
The production designer asked,
“Will the audience really remember the palace layout?”
“They don’t need to.”
Geonwoo marked a small point on the plan.
“They don’t need to know exactly which building it is.”
“I just want them to recognize that the military officer has entered a place the historian passed through moments ago.”
He made another mark along Yeonhwi’s route.
“The same spaces should appear again near the end.”
“When the military officer enters somewhere the historian just passed, the audience immediately feels that the gap is closing.”
The production designer uncrossed his arms.
“So you want to use the same area for a longer stretch in the latter half?”
“If possible.”
“The current set isn’t long enough.”
The production designer touched the plan with his pen.
“This is as far as it physically connects.”
It was short.
The producer asked,
“Could we extend it?”
“It’s not impossible.”
“But we wouldn’t only be building a corridor.”
“We’d need to match the flooring and the walls too, and if the camera pulls sideways, we’d have to build out the background as well.”
He pulled out the budget sheet.
“And we don’t yet know which direction the cinematographer will want to shoot.”
“It would be risky to start expanding the set now.”
Geonwoo studied the layout for a moment.
“Then let’s not decide on expanding it yet.”
The production designer looked up.
“But please don’t lock us into splitting this section between different locations either.”
Geonwoo pointed to where the historian’s and military officer’s paths began overlapping.
“From here until just before the main gate.”
“Let’s decide after looking at it together with the camera department.”
The production designer thought briefly, then nodded.
“Then we’ll need to look for more candidate spaces.”
“Please do.”
Geonwoo opened the production list at one side of the table.
“And let’s also look at what we can reduce.”
Several small spaces appeared in only one scene.
An auxiliary room in the inner palace.
A room where the military officer received reports.
A small room where the historian examined records.
The art department had marked each one as an independent set.
Geonwoo pointed to the first space.
“Do we really need three walls here?”
“That’s the current plan.”
“There’s no shot crossing over to this side, right?”
The production designer checked the storyboard.
“No.”
“Then if two walls are enough, please make it two.”
Next came the inside of the guard station.
“We don’t see the back here either.”
The production designer placed the floor plan beside the storyboard.
“You’re trying to save money here to spend it on the corridor?”
“We don’t know where we’ll spend it yet.”
Geonwoo said,
“First, let’s reduce the money we don’t need to spend.”
The producer pulled the budget sheet closer.
The production designer studied the production list for a moment.
“For the guard station, leaving one side open would actually make filming easier too.”
He erased one line with his pen.
“This room doesn’t need one of its walls either.”
Geonwoo nodded.
The production designer looked at him.
“When you first started talking about building a longer connecting section, I thought you wanted to increase the overall set scale.”
Geonwoo smiled.
“We should save as much as we can wherever we can.”
The producer chuckled.
The production designer smiled too.
“Then let’s do it this way.”
“We’ll search again for candidate areas based on these routes.”
“We’ll first see if the existing sets can solve it.”
“Yes.”
“Once the camera department joins, we’ll check the camera directions and only build what’s actually necessary.”
“Sounds good.”
The production designer removed one of the three photographs he had initially prepared.
“We’ll drop this location from consideration.”
“Why?”
“The doorway is on the opposite side.”
“We could hide it from the front, but it would be difficult to use continuously into the latter section.”
He pinned the remaining two photographs back on the wall.
“We’ll look again.”
After the art meeting.
Geonwoo sat with the producer in another meeting room.
The producer pulled the production schedule forward.
“Now that the art department is moving, we should start building out the rest of the crew too.”
Meetings with the cinematography and lighting teams were already scheduled.
They also needed an assistant-directing team.
“We’re considering several first assistant directors.”
“Mostly people with historical-film experience.”
Geonwoo nodded, then took out his laptop.
“There’s also one person I’d like to show you.”
