"Wandering Moon" Director Lee Sang Il: The many decisions that are required every day, what do you ultimately rely on? [Director's Interview Vol.206]

room to come from outside of yourself

Q: I think the roles played by the lead actors Hirose-san and Matsuzaka-san, as well as Yokohama-san, Tabe-san, and Shiratori-san, were quite difficult, but the director's decision to give OK to such difficult performances was also the same. I think. Where do those criteria come from?

Lee: Whether it will fall in your stomach or not, whether it will come (into you) or not. There are some emotional things like that... If I were to be there from a point of view close to that of the person involved, would I be able to receive anything? In order to capture this, I try to be as close to the performers as possible, as close to the camera as possible.

I don't think it's OK just because I can say the lines properly and do the movements I planned, but whether there's a sense of The Truth to it, even things I hadn't imagined, and whether I can feel it. Hmm, I wonder how other directors get the OK (lol).

Q: So you're watching the performance next to the camera instead of looking at the monitor.

Lee: That's right. I had a small monitor set up for me, and while checking the angle of view, I watched the actual performance as close to the actors as possible.

“Wandering Moon” (c) 2022 “Wandering Moon” Production Committee

Q: It seems difficult to choose between what you imagined and what goes beyond your imagination.

Lee: It's not that easy to exceed imagination. Rather than surpassing it, I wish I could discover something. It's okay to be unexpected. If 60 to 70% of what you imagined is what you imagined, there will always be room for new discoveries and things you didn't notice. Since it is created by people acting, there is always something that comes out of the actors and staff. I want to leave as much room for that as possible.

When everything goes as I imagined, I can give it an OK, but it's just a normal "round". When something unexpected or unexpected occurs, it becomes a double circle or a triple circle. I guess they want to keep that in mind to see how the personalities of the actors and staff will react. To put it more bluntly, I think he wants to squeeze as much out of people as he can (lol).

Q: By the way, are the cuts that are connected in editing the cuts that were approved on set? Or does it change with editing?

Lee: Basically, we give the OK on-site, but if something doesn't feel right, we keep making changes. During editing, I look over all takes, but I think that in the end, the OK takes from the set are often used. Still, things may change.

Hong Kyung Pyo has animal-like and sharp senses.