On the set of film "Into The Fire"

The cast of film "Into The Fire": (from left) Korean actors Cha Seung-won, Kwon Sang-woo, T.O.P. and Kim Seung-woo [photographed by Lee Jin-hyuk/10Asia]

Film "Into The Fire" - Four flowers blooming on ruined grounds

Quite often there are sets which have many sideshows. And sometimes you may even see sets where there are good actors in a flock. But it is truly rare to come across a set which stimulates all five of your senses. The set for film "Into The Fire," which is being shot at Hapcheon Image Theme Park, was one of such cases. What first greeted reporters on the set of a city in ruins was not the fancy cast -- which includes actors Cha Seung-won, T.O.P., Kwon Sang-woo and Kim Seung-woo -- but the smell of smoky gunpowder, sounds of gunfire loud enough to cause tinnitus and the vibrations from on-set explosions which spread through the air and one's entire body. Such things are what is probably needed to reproduce a war setting, however incomplete it may be.

That is why the commanding presence displayed by North Korean major Park Moo-rang (played by Cha Seung-won) and his countless North Korean military officers lined up together serves as more than a mere visual spectacle. The staff members shouting "When you hear a gunshot, bow down first and then fire again!", the slightly tired looks of the many extras who are playing roles as the North Korean army, and the smell of dust from their collective advances and retreats upon the director's cut sign, all come across as a complex and slightly distracting experience.

Hence in such a setting, one cannot hope for such a thing as a fixed photo line. The photographers, like snipers, sneaked into various parts of the building sets in ruins and pushed their shutters to get a shot of T.O.P.'s innocent smile, which one could not see in KBS TV series "IRIS." It was not without reason when one reporter roared, "Are you a war photographer!" to another who got covered with dust from an explosion scene to photograph Cha Seung-won, who looks even more benevolent in a full body shot. The 66 photographs from the set of "Into The Fire", a much larger number 10Asia usually snaps from film sets, are also the war trophies which were recovered by literally jumping 'into the fire.'

Asiae