MileApo : Catching Feelings

six

"Gahh..." Mile groaned as he got out of the car. The past month was packed with action workshops and fight scene shooting, and every muscle in every actor's body was sore. Except maybe for Apo, for whom martial arts and action scenes weren't a novelty. Spending the day expending all the energy he has sounds pretty much like a normal Apo day.

"Come on old man!" Apo called over from the front door to Mile's home. "We'll get as old as you by the time you get here," he scratched Chom Chom's head saying in a different voice, "won't we girl? P'Mile too slow."

"Your ass is too slow!" Mile swatted Apo on his ass with the bag of food he was carrying. "You know the passcode, why won't you just get in?"

"Are you hearing this Chom Chom!? He's asking us to do work. Should I order a beheading?" Apo held out his pet, making her look at Mile. Chom Chom complied for a few seconds as if considering the question and then meowed dismissively as if deciding Mile wasn't worth the trouble.

"Please, this way, your majesty," Mile bowed his head and gestured with one of his hands on his chest and the other towards the open door. Chom Chom immediately jumped out of Apo's hands as soon as the door opened into familiar territory and claimed her space among the cushions on the sofa.

Mile strolled over to the kitchen to set up the dinner they'd bought while Apo got the movie ready on the TV. They had been shooting the whole day and had decided to call it a day at around 8 pm. The actors were given a day off, so Apo and Mile decided to finally watch that movie they'd been talking about.

"P'Mile, why won't the TV turn on?"

"Ohh... The wiring to that side of the house isn't completed yet. Just use the TV in my bedroom, it's more comfortable there," Mile sounded from the kitchen.

"Yes sir!"

About an hour later, Mile showered, had eaten dinner with Apo, and was on his bed with the lights off, watching the movie. At some points, Apo would stop the movie and ask Mile what he thought would happen if Kinn were in that situation. Kru'Ning had given them both the homework of getting to know their characters deeply and what better way to do it than to put them in fake scenarios. Mile would say what he thought Kinn would do and then substantiate with his reasoning. Most of the time Apo agreed and sometimes he added his own thoughts. Ultimately, the movie time ended up as a teaching session given by the senior actor Apo to his inexperienced Phi.

"All the characters have an objective and a super objective in a story. So an objective is like what does he want right now and super objective is like what he wants in the long run." Apo explained to Mile the things he'd picked up during his acting career. "It's like a short-term goal and a long-term goal. And what drives the story forward are obstacles, so overcoming these obstacles is basically the short-term goals. Yeah?" Apo made sure Mile was following as he tried his best to explain the technicalities of taking up a role.

" So whenever an obstacle occurs in the story, the character would try overcome it using a tactic, and the kind of tactic the characters use in a story is what differentiates them. So before opting for a tactic, you'd have to consider the stakes. The stakes are what the character could possibly gain or lose as he tries to overcome this obstacle. So you need to understand what is ultimately important to the character so you can realise the stakes and create a tactic accordingly."

"Ahh..." Mile nodded along as he absorbed all that Apo said. "So for Kinn, I think, his super-objective would be to make his family greater. And he also seems to care what others think about him, especially his father. He's really concerned about his image." Mile turned to Apo for his approval before continuing, " But inside he's really soft and caring about others but he's afraid of being presumed as weak if he shows his softer side."