Korean advertising magazine "Adinformation" Interview

1. A `Mongol` of Korean Air that you filmed already won Grand Prix at KAFE ( Korean TV Ad Festival ) last year and got `the best picture` prize at TVCF Award which was held on Feb. 19. The image of Mongol you took had a great reputation from Korean advertising people and Korean consumer. How do you feel about this?

I’m thrilled!
It is super heartwarming for me at this coldest winter in China.
As a director/cameraman of this commercial, I feel proud myself and also proud for the team that I was working with: Bo Hwang, Wookie, both from LGAD, and the entire hardworking production team from New Life Films in Shanghai, China.

2. When you filmed at Mongol, what did you put a emphasis on?

The beauty of Simplicity.
I’d rather not to mention about the greatness of the land, which was too much cliched.
The first morning when I looked up above me I was awed.
The color of the sky couldn’t be purer and the sunlight was all crystal-clear that it was almost hurting your eyes.
While I was filming from day to day, I also enjoyed the loneliness of jogging by myself at 6 am before sunrise in the vastness of the prairie. One morning, in the absolute silence of the earth, I prayed to God that please reward me a successful filming experience and do not let this whole thing end up just a mediocre tourism ad that carried no soul, nothing but beautiful images.

3. What was the most difficult problem at Mongol?

Luckily enough we didn’t encounter difficult problems in any kind.
I only hoped that we’d be able to stay a bit longer.
The real challenge was from me.
I could not help but kept wondering to myself what could be done differently when it seemed like almost every subject in this Mongolian prairie had been shot nicely years before by other great foreign directors.
I just tried my best to capture the essence of what I carefully observed during the short stay and to deliver the core idea better within the limitation of a 60 sec TV commercial.

4. How was working with Korean staff? Had fine teamwork? What did you do for the fine teamwork?

The production team was a Chinese-Mongolian alliance.
No Korean production staff involved in this project.
But I really did enjoy working with Bo and Wookie.
They made this filming a very joyful trip.
We cracked dirty jokes from time to time, made fun to each other, and laughed and laughed almost every minute during the shoot.

5. What do you think the special feature of Korean staff?

Last time when I worked with an all-Korean team, it was 3 years ago.
They were doing things fast and quietly, which was unusual to me.
Chinese/Taiwanese crews are more likely to shout out loud when pacing up is needed.
Korean team never made any unnecessary noise when they worked.
They worked hard and played hard.
They are really first class.

6. What is the biggest difference a Korean filming system between a system that you was familiar with?

Generally speaking production system are the same all over the world.
It is so universal.
Director and the production team are alike:
We are all passionate to our job and we are not pseudo-intellectuals but all hardworking blue-collared people.

7. Had you seen other Korean commercials before or after you took `Mongol` of Korean Air? How was that? What is the difference Korean advertising between any other Asian ad?

I have watched so many of them.
Some Korean commercials are really world-class that I wish I have done them.

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