pneatan

[For your knowledge: NO ROMANCE IN THIS STORY.]



This is the best boy friendship short drama I have watched, till now.



It follows the two boys' emotional journey from mutual enmity to understanding, acceptance and brotherhood.

A story highly recommended for teenagers and young people.



THE ACTING

The acting of the two main leads was convincing and mature. Mature enough to achieve the following:

At the beginning, express the great differences of the two characters while at the same time conveying an undertone of them sharing something deep in common.

Then, during their dramatic journey, they managed to portray their respected characters' gradual tranformation, but not only as separate characters. They managed to show how the two characters gradually found their common inner ground and grew more on their similarities than their differences.

Since their physique is very different to help achieve the impression of such similarity, the fact that they managed to succesfully portray the journey of this complex relationship displays their professionalism and their potential for a wide range of roles.



The secondary characters were good as well, some with more feeling layers (such as the butler) and some more



The script is well written, without plot holes and, apart from the magic of soulswapping, nothing else happens which is not logical. Their is a part where things go more slowly than I would have liked (but it might have been my anxiety from watching c-dramas instead of working!).

The dramatic journey is smooth, the main characters' development and the secondary characters' as well, is gradual, while there are enough moments of comic relief, intertwined with dramatic tones to balance the many-many touching scenes.

The misunderstandings with the father and with their classmate do get resolved more quickly than they ought to have, but that is a comment for a film, not a series, let alone a short drama produced under pressure.





THE CASTING-DIRECTING-EDITING-CINEMATOGRAPHY



The casting was formidable!!!...but you certainly expected this objective critique, didn't you?



The directing is fine, makes sense all the way, without any of the annoying cheap decisions of short dramas. Au contraire, there are some optically pleasing decisions (frame-in frame, and camera angles mostly) and many scenes with really good staging.



I think the editing follows the directing, both on a technical level (it makes sense!) but aesthetically too. Since transitions are normal and there isn't a hint of the annoying unstoppable jumpcutting without a cause.



The cinematography is technically robust, whith very good lighting choices, interesting depth of field in various scenes, while the colour is vivid and balanced all throughout the drama.



SCENOGRAPHY-COSTUMES-HAIRSTYLING-MAKE UP



The scenography is aesthetically coherent and the spaces match the characters well, without exaggerations or optical storysigns for dummies. (Ok, there does appear a hillarious portrait somewhere in the story, and yes, it is an optical exaggeration, but I think it suits the script at that point, as it provides comic relief, and it undermines the portaryed character's authority). (And yes, it is so absurdly hillarious that I have been thinking whether it is an inside joke towards the portrayed actor and not the portrayed character!).



The costumes are generally alright, very well matched to the characters. But not only – they are moreover well chosen in relation to the settings too (a rarity in dramaland). They also follow the plot quite beautifully as the main characters and their loved ones trasform.



The hairdos of main and second characters are just...perfectly suited! Just that, what more can be said?



The makeup is also fairly good and it did not follow the usual unneeded extremities of dramaland . The secondary characters have good make up too, which is also rare, and a rest for the audience's eyes. It would have been nice if a less white tone was given to Li Pei Yang's complexion; though the principle of contrasts does work in this story, the contrast seemed a bit more than needed in some scenes. But that is a little drop in the ocean.



THE SOUND

The sound? The sound was good in the video I watched (unbelievable, nay?)!





ALL IN ALL

If not addicted to kissing scenes it is worth your while,

and the two actors are good professionals.





P.S.: When refering to dramatic journey, I mean the inner, emotional, journey of the whole story, or of the individual characters.