By Honorary Reporter Oshini Jayamuni From Sri Lanka

Photos =  Jang Dongju, Yoon Rima

A key element of K-pop is music videos, and Jang Dong-ju and Yoon Seung-rim, aka Rima Yoon, are two of the brilliant minds behind the making of such videos. Both co-founded their own company, Rigend Film Studio.

Among their works are Seventeen's "Rock With You," Itzy's "Loco," Twice's "Alcohol Free" and NCT 127's "Superhuman," which feature the directors' transitions between cuts, dynamic angles and rhythmic editing.

The following are excerpts from a Nov. 10 interview with both directors.

How did you get started in directing K-pop music videos?
Yoon: I still vividly remember watching a music video in elementary school. I had dreamed of doing music videos since then, so I majored in visual design in college. I wanted to try directing a music video before graduation. After taking a semester off, I applied to this field as an assistant director.

Jang: I've loved movies since childhood. I felt the power of music videos to make viewers smile and thought of making a video in any genre. By chance, I took a part-time job as an assistant director of music videos and settled in this industry.

How did both of you start working together? What's the best thing about being a music video director?

We worked as assistant directors together under the same coach, and now it's been 10 years. The most attractive thing is the ability to generate feedback faster and quickly than in any other genre.

From Set of music video of Itzy's "Loco" 

How do you choose a project and what is the production process like?
We mainly choose to work with charming, fun and interesting artists who offer high freedom of direction. After receiving materials such as the sound source, lyrics and choreography video from the client, we devise the concept and confirm the concept plan. Following final confirmation, production is carried out. The directions of production ideas such as filming, lighting and art are visualized and communicated. After filming, editing and color correction follow, and the final video undergoes post-production processes such as 2D and 3D. 

Working with Itzy on the group's "Loco" music video

What's it like working with K-pop artists? Describe the atmosphere on a set. 

To be honest, most filming for music videos is hard because far more footage is shot than what appears in the video. No matter how short the video is, more than 20 hours is needed to complete filming and if a video is longer, it can take all week. So the artist and staff get exhausted at times. To keep the set energetic, we often shout "Fighting!" on the set. 

What is your main focus when making music videos for solo artists? 

The ability to communicate more directly with the artist than with a group seems better from the director's perspective. Since the song is by one person, we think that the most important thing is to understand the needs of his or her story and convey it out in our own way.

What difficulties have you faced in this field? 

Since this career combines many tasks such as creative, office and fieldwork, we struggle a lot with time. So lack of sleep and missing out on daily life are major difficulties.

Any final message to fans of your music videos and aspiring directors? 

If you like our work, we consider that a major driving force behind our craft. To aspiring directors, please create a music video in your own style instead of one that everyone makes. Think about moving people's emotions through the video and create a great work that even inspires us.

kalhong617@korea.kr 

*This article is written by a Korea.net Honorary Reporter. Our group of Honorary Reporters are from all around the world, and they share with Korea.net their love and passion for all things Korean.