Impossible is made possible as Korean dramas increasingly use VFX

Television

Published: 02 Jan. 2024, 14:20 Updated: 02 Jan. 2024, 17:57

Impossible is made possible as Korean dramas increasingly use VFX

The opening scene from the JTBC drama ″Welcome to Samdal-ri,″ featuring a deepfake rendition of the late broadcaster Song Hae [JTBC]

“National singing contest!” The iconic voice of Song Hae rings out in the first scene of the JTBC drama “Welcome to Samdal-ri,” which first aired on Dec. 2, as a younger version of the late TV host appears on screen.

Song's appearance in the scene set in 1994 was created using deepfake technology. Deepfake technology uses deep learning to compile and analyze external data to create realistic images and videos of a certain subject.

For the scene in “Welcome to Samdal-ri” where the main characters Jo Yong-pil, played by Ji Chang-wook, and Cho Sam-dal, played by Shin Hye-sun, participate in the Jeju Island edition of the “National Singing Contest” as kids, the production team of the drama series collected past videos of the program to train the artificial intelligence.

As a result, Song — who died in June 2022 — was figuratively able to make a cameo appearance. A sense of realism was added to the scene as Song had actually been a TV host at the time, and the viewers’ joy grew at the unexpected appearance of the nostalgic face.

Visual special effects (VFX) are not often used in the opening scenes of dramas, which can be pivotal in determining the success or failure of a series.

“We wanted to use technology to convey the drama’s warm production intention to hold on to the simplicity and affection of people in a world where many things are disappearing without a trace,” the production team of “Welcome to Samdal-ri” told the JoongAng Ilbo, an affiliate of the Korea JoongAng Daily.

The application of VFX technology in Korean dramas has been gradually expanding. Until now, the technology had been used sparingly for visual splendor or grand aesthetics in fantasy films and the like, but nowadays VFX is used for a variety of purposes, such as more effectively conveying characters' emotions. In drama directing, VFX has become an essential element, parallel to actors’ performances and the screenwriters’ scripts.

In the tvN drama ″Castaway Diva,″ a scene where the protagonist Seo Mok-ha, played by actor Park Eun-bin, talks to a seagull is depicted through VFX technology [DIGITAL IDEA]

In the drama “Castaway Diva,” which aired its final episode on Dec. 3, VFX technology is used when main character Seo Mok-ha, played by Park Eun-bin, who is rescued from an uninhabited island after being stranded by herself for 15 years, realizes what has happened to her and falls into a deep despair.

“You know that a singer’s career lifespan is short, right? You are practically 60 at the age of 31,” another character says to Mok-ha, who aspires to become a singer after being rescued from the island.

Another scene in ″Castaway Diva″ where Mok-ha experiences deep sadness is expressed through VFX technology [DIGITAL IDEA]

The moment Mok-ha realizes that her dream of becoming a singer is likely no more than a hopeless illusion, water begins to rise from the floor where she is standing, and in an instant the entire space is submerged, symbolic of the sense of helplessness and loss.

“That was an important scene in the drama as it was the first obstacle that Mok-ha faced after escaping from the island,” the production team said. “We needed to visually express the connection between the overwhelming feelings of that moment and the feelings of isolation experienced on the island by Mok-ha.”

A scene from ″Castaway Diva″ that makes use of VFX technology [DIGITAL IDEA]

As such, the emotions of characters in dramas, which traditionally depend on actors’ performances through tears, facial expressions and other actions, can now be more artistically conveyed through VFX.

In the Netflix original series “Daily Dose of Sunshine,” which takes place in a psychiatric ward, anxiety from panic disorder was expressed as a character submerged in water, and helplessness from depression was realized through characters’ feet being buried in the floor.

Similarly, in the Tving original series “A Bloody Lucky Day,” the main character’s hallucinations were portrayed by distorting the faces of the people around him.

A scene from the Netflix original series ″Daily Dose of Sunshine,″ where a character's anxiety attack is expressed through water filling up the space and submerging the character [NETFLIX]

“Awareness of the usage of VFX technology has increased among drama directors,” said Park Seong-jin, CEO of Digital Idea, who has been working on VFX for 26 years. “Scenes like those in ‘Castaway Diva’ when the water is rising or the scene where a character talks to seagulls would not have been able to be produced without VFX or else they would have been scrapped in the idea stage, but now directors know they can ask for such scenes to be created using VFX.”

Park’s company, which previously focused on VFX for films, began working more on dramas starting in 2016 with the drama “Guardian: The Lonely and Great God” on tvN. At the time, Park would take charge of the VFX production for one drama per year, but nowadays he says that the number has increased to three or four.

“As the number of film directors turning to dramas or original productions has increased, the genres of dramas themselves have also become more diverse,” Park said. “With that, attempts to apply film techniques to dramas have also increased.”

It is true that fantasy and hero drama series have increased significantly in recent years. This year alone gave rise to the JTBC drama “Behind Your Touch,” Disney+’s “Moving” and tvN’s “The Uncanny Encounter” season two, all of which deal with supernatural powers, and Tving’s “Duty After School” and Netflix’s “Sweet Home” season two, which feature fantastical creatures.

Shifting drama production environments also affects the use of VFX technology, according to Park.

“There are more pre-produced dramas now than in the past,” Park said. “I am currently producing a drama set on a space station, and we’ll be working on it for a year and a half — until winter next year. There is more VFX used in dramas than in films, and the expectations for the end result have also been raised.”

The JTBC drama “Strong Girl Nam-soon” was also a pre-produced drama.

“From the setting in Mongolia at the beginning of the drama to the scenes where Nam-soon knocks down adults much larger than she or stops an airplane — these were all scenes that could not have been realized without VFX technology,” Park said.

BY EO HWAN-HEE [kjdculture@joongang.co.kr]