(Korean Movies) White Night, 2009

Korea's top box office actors Han Seok-gyu, Son Ye-jin, and Go Soo are cast!
Creating a new and fascinating character that goes beyond the existing image!
Korea's leading actors Han Seok-gyu, Son Ye-jin, and Go Soo joined in the 2009 movie <Train to White Night – Walk in White Darkness> (hereinafter referred to as Train to White Night). Son Ye-jin, who won the Best Actress Award at the 2008 Blue Dragon Film Festival and the Best Actress Award at the 2009 Baeksang Awards, became a Korean screen queen. . In addition, actor Han Seok-gyu will play the role of 'Han Dong-soo', a detective who uniquely understands the dark and sad fate of two men and women and pursues them, showing a completely different human charm from the sensitive and nervous detective shown in previous films. Go Soo, who is appearing in a movie for the first time after being discharged from the military, is preparing to return to the screen confidently by showing his deep eyes and masculine beauty through the role of 'Yohan', a cruel murderer with sadness. All of these protagonists are fascinating characters that go beyond the existing image in the movie <Baek Nights>, and they are expected to radiate a different charm that has not been seen in any other works.

A scenario highly praised by the original author Keigo Higashino!
Exceeding the original work, 2009's most anticipated <Train to the White Night-Walking in the White Darkness>
The movie <Hundred Nights> is being made into a movie based on the original novel by Keigo Higashino, Japan's best mystery writer. The original author, Keigo Higashino, is a Japanese 'King of Mystery Fiction', characterized by a provocative setting that catches the eye from the first sentence, a quick development that goes to the end with a dry style, and a deep understanding of social issues. His works, which cross various fields such as authentic, socialist, science fiction, and medical mystery, have since debuted in 1985, and 14 out of 60 works have been made into movies or dramas, gaining popularity. The novel <Baek Nights>, published in 2000, topped the bestseller list for four weeks at the time, and was made into a Japanese drama in 2006 and became very popular. In 2009, the movie <Baek Nights>, which will be reborn in Korea with a new character and a dramatic story that goes beyond the original, was written by Park Yeon-sun, who is famous for the drama 'The Age of Love' and the movie <Teaching Students of the Same Age>. A new adaptation of the elaborately intertwined story with a focus on mysterious characters. I am looking forward to it.” <Baek Nights>, which has been a hot topic even before production due to its high-quality screenplay, is considered as the most anticipated work of 2009 not only by Chungmuro, but also by movie fans and novel fans.

Mystery structure from an observer's point of view
The story structure begins in earnest as the two viewpoints intersect
When all the puzzles are put together, the truth is revealed!
The interesting thing about the movie <Baek Nights> is that it is a film that comes from a third point of view. In the case of a normal movie, most of the way they develop the story from the perspective of the main character as the narrator. However, <Baek Night Train> is very unique in that it tells the story of Miho (Son Ye-jin) and Yohan (Go Soo) from the perspective of the third parties, Dong-su (Han Seok-gyu) and Si-young (Lee Min-jung). The actions and expressions of the main characters are also observed from a third person's point of view, so it's a mystery that you can't understand the meaning and intent at all. Its unique structure is revealed in earnest on the surface of the water, and it is also from the point where the viewpoints of Dong-soo and Si-young, the observers, intersect, that the story becomes a stem as if a puzzle is put together. The actions, expressions, and gestures of Miho and Johan, who seemed to be lined up without meaning before, are cleverly interlocked and combined, and the secret relationship between the characters is also gradually revealed. The source of the emotions that each character has cherished for a long time and the truth of the incident 14 years ago will come as a sensational shock to the audience as well as a deep emotion.

[ Production Note ]

The color of the person, the world of visuals that started from the core!
Mise-en-scène not to show (art) but to feel (psychology)
Meeting a director from an art college means sophisticated visual aesthetics in the film industry. It goes without saying that the director's aesthetic sense and artistic taste lead to a stylish visual in the film, which is the total set of all visual media, pleasing the eyes of many audiences. Therefore, it is a point where anyone can expect that the sophisticated and sophisticated visuals will stand out in <Baek Nights>, the first feature film directed by Park Shin-woo, majoring in visual design at Hongik University. However, it is unexpected. The art of <Baek Nights>, captured from his point of view, was not simply mise-en-scène to show it in a sophisticated way. The psychology of each character is at the center of all work in <Baek Night Train>. In the beginning, due to the nature of the film, in which the story unfolds from the crossed gazes and different desires of the four characters, Han Seok-gyu, Son Ye-jin, Go Soo, and Lee Min-jung, director Park Shin-woo set the keynote as to derive the synesthetic distinction from each character's color. In other words, the director, who defined the characters in different specific colors with a concentrated message from the scenario stage, decided the overall concept such as art, costumes, and lighting with each character's color, and the staff of each part started to image it. Large and small components such as walls, windows, curtains, furniture, clothes, and accessories, as well as small props and spaces such as statues placed in corners, passageways connecting spaces, and iron barrels, are composed of color.

Dongsu in green, Miho in white, Johan in black, Siyoung in yellow
Art, costumes, lighting… The beginning and the end of everything, color!
The four main characters of <Baek Night Train> are the four colors. Miho (Son Ye-jin) is white, Yohan (Go Soo) is black, Dong-soo (Han Suk-gyu) is green, and Si-young (Lee Min-jung) is yellow. White and black are the colors set in the opposite image of Miho and Johan, who are clearly distinguished in the world. White, the color of light, and black, the color of darkness, meet the characters of Miho and Yohan to create a stark contrast, and lie on the same line with 'white darkness', which is the key keyword of the movie. Here, Miho uses blue and Johann red as the second color, showing Miho's identity, which is invisible to the world, and Johan's intense love. In addition, Dongsoo's green signifies guilt and uncomfortable truth at the same time, and Siyoung's yellow signifies a passageway that connects the past and the present and organically entangles the characters. The colors of each character are more clearly revealed in the lighting that encompasses the overall image of the space where the emotions of the actors are clearly revealed and the expressions are close-up. In this way, art functioned as the most effective tool to show the emotions and identity of characters in <Baek Night Train>, and at this time, color played a visually intense role and contributed greatly to enhancing the synesthetic perfection of the film.

Introduction of the most innovative and unusual technique in Korean film history!
Animatics, the birth of 3D video content
There are many processes that go through the making of a movie. Of course, the importance of the intermediate process in which the on-site staff, actors, and directors work together as one unit cannot be overemphasized. However, if the production of the movie itself is not approved, the sweat and tears of countless staff and actors at the site cannot exist. In that sense, a very innovative and surprising method was introduced in the first production of <Baek Nights>. That is the 'Animatics' 3D video continuity.

An animation continuity with space, set, actor movement, and even dubbed lines!
A decisive role in film investment confirmation! A realistic guide to the production site!
Director Park Shin-woo had a meeting with investors and actors in a very unique way before making the decision to make a film. After the first greeting, I sat down at the table and pressed the Enter key with one finger. And I got the consent of 'yes' from the other party. That was the animatic continuity of <Baek Nights> that I worked on in 2D and 3D.
Based on the scenario of <Hundred Nights>, the 2D storyline, in which the actors' lines, fingerprints, and actions are perfectly drawn, was made into a video, and a live-action movie was pre-animated. This is a hint from the case of <Star Wars> and <The Matrix>, where live-action blockbuster movies were animated in Hollywood. I worked on an animation version of the White Night Train. Through this video continuity, which perfectly expresses the images of all spaces and sets, the movements of the actors, and even the dialogues dubbed with the use of voice actors, investors and actors at once raised concerns about the limitations of being a new director and how to image the original work. picked up What's even more surprising is the fact that the actual running time of the animatics and the movie is only about 5 minutes different. The simulation result, which cannot be more accurate than this, served as a very realistic guide for the staff in each field to produce <Baek Nights>, and the spatial image that existed in the storyline was also expressed on the actual screen.

I've been waiting for this one movie!
Passion poured out by professionals in each field, the result of all that work <Baek Night Trip>

Produced by Kang Woo-seok, Midus Son, and director Park Shin-woo, a problematic director from the mise-en-scène
Director Kang Woo-seok, who has been ranked as the number one power in the Korean film industry for over 10 years with his commercial code, sensuous eyes, astute production and challenging spirit that is not afraid of change. His interest in the top project <Baek Nights>, which he chose in 2009, is natural in a way. Moreover, his rant, “You will feel the extreme pleasure and satisfaction that commercial films can provide,” further amplifies the expectations for the film. Park Shin-woo, a problematic director who is already attracting attention as a large rookie from the mise-en-scène scene along with Na Hong-jin of The Chaser through the 4th Mise-en-scène Short Film Festival Jury Prize <Not for minors>. He showed enthusiasm for <Baek Nights> to the extent that he went directly to the screenplay, production of 3D video continuity, and casting actors, and he is a director who has strong convictions in his directing and decisions to the extent that he cannot even think of it as his first feature film.

Drama <Love Age> script, <The Chaser> shooting, <Miryang> <Birth of a Family> lighting
<Apple> <Fucking Mr. Robin> Art, <Bat> <Mean Street> Music
Writer Park Yeon-sun, who persuasively expressed delicate emotions and stories through the drama <The Age of Love>, took on the script and perfectly harmonized the psychology and stimulating materials between the characters. Director Park Shin-woo and Na Hong-jin, director Lee Chang-jae of Team B filming <The Chaser>, who was close to seniors and juniors from a video studio, participated. In <The Chaser>, he expressed the night streets of Seoul, which is raining, tracking and tracking, in accordance with the thriller structure. Director Chu In-sik, who expressed the depths of the character through the intensity of light through works such as <Miryang> and <Birth of a Family>, took charge of the lighting, and through works such as <Apple> and <Mr. Director Song Hye-jin, who created a lyrical synesthetic image to express, took charge of the art. Director Jo Young-wook of <Bat>, <Mean Street> and <Oldboy> was in charge of the music, who has refined the film's implicit message and extreme emotions with only music in the Korean film industry. As such, it is expected that <Baek Night Trip>, a movie made by the staff, who are considered to be artisans in each field in the Korean film industry, will be the best credit in their profile.

Total production preparation period of 2 years!
A tricky hunting process that scans the metropolitan area except Seoul and Gangwon, Gyeonggi-do!
The spatial background of <Baek Night Train> required a different concept and atmosphere depending on the past and present tenses and for each character. Also, it was clear that the space in the movie was not at all easy because it had to be a space that accurately matched the color and image of each character and could give emotional resonance to itself rather than simply requiring a specific building or place.
For this reason, the production team took a full two years of hunting, setting, and pre-production. In the beginning, local locations with a rural background were eliminated, and under the basic precondition of a unique atmosphere that was neither too rustic nor modern, locations around Gyeonggi and Gangwon were searched for as candidates. In particular, the production team had an animatics continuity, a perfect guideline for the filming location, which was helpful in selecting the location, but at the same time, it served as a strict standard, and internal self-censorship was inevitably severe. Even so, the size and location of windows and doors, the arrangement of ceilings and passageways, and the location of small items… This is because the director's ok sign did not fall unless it was a place where all the elements fit perfectly.

6 months to find one filming location!
From remodeling to design and design of a real cafe for the perfect place!
In the case of a cafe and a wine bar, where Miho and Johan, grown up as adults, face each other across a street in the beginning of the film in <A White Night Train>, it was a very important filming location because it is the point where Dong-soo and Si-young, who pursue them, respectively, intersect. In order to recruit this place alone, the production team spent about six months scouring all cafe streets in Gyeonggi and Gangwon, including Seoul, Bundang, and Ilsan, and in this way succeeded in recruiting the perfect place. But variables always come at unexpected moments. Two weeks before filming, the cafe, which was empty at the time of casting, signed a contract and started remodeling into a restaurant specializing in pasta.
There was no hesitation in recruiting a filming location again, but the problem was that the production team decided that it would not be possible to hire a filming location with a more perfect composition than this. Therefore, after consultation with the art team, the production department came up with an innovative plan to design the interior of the restaurant as a modern and simple Johann's wine bar in the movie. The restaurant owner also saw Song Hye-jin's detailed blueprint and sophisticated color arrangement based on black, and the restaurant remodeling work was carried out according to the blueprints and design drawings. Thanks to the excellent team play of the production department and the art team, <Hundred Nights> was able to express the perfect filming location in the film.

[ Behind Story ]

This is a relationship!
Casting actors that are more cinematic than movies, behind-the-scenes stories!
If there is an original novel or drama, especially if it is a work that has already formed a lot of fanatics, the most problematic part is the casting when making it into a movie. Casting that can satisfy the two preconditions of having the power to create a unique character for the movie alone without damaging the image of the original is in most cases Mission Impossible. However, <Baek Night Trip> was very different even if it was different. Han Seok-gyu, Son Ye-jin, Go Soo… In any movie, if three actors appear together, it's the best combination that can't help but get interested, and it's 120% synchro with the original character! Among them, in the case of Son Ye-jin and Go Soo, as soon as the news about the domestic distribution rights of <Baek Nights> was announced, they were each ranked first in the virtual casting that netizens expected, so it was the best casting enough to welcome fans who knew the original work with both hands.

Director Park Shin-woo and actress Son Ye-jin, the relationship that started in Daegu 10 years ago
Han Seok-gyu, Son Ye-jin, Go Soo… The casting of <Baek Nights>, which makes the hearts of the audience flutter just by its name alone, hides a behind-the-scenes story that is more cinematic than the movie. Son Ye-jin is the best female lead that the PD, director, and film company representative all longed for. At that time, despite the fact that it was not possible to see the scenarios of other films due to filming and drama shooting, the production team emphasized that it was a project that could only be done by Son Ye-jin, so as not to give any scenarios to other actresses. Son Ye-jin, who was interested in the original novel itself, was deeply attracted to the density of the characters and the story in the scenario that was adapted from the essence of the novel. decided to do
Immediately after the final decision to make a film, Son Ye-jin at a meeting with the director was so surprised that she unknowingly made a bad sound. A rookie director standing right in front of him was a neighborhood older brother who was close enough to go to the reading room with Son Ye-jin when he was in Daegu high school. It was a passing relationship while I was in school, and I could not even imagine that my close brother and sister, whom I had never even heard of after leaving Daegu and coming to Seoul, would meet as a new director and lead actor 10 years later. Before Son Ye-jin decided to make a film, thanks to director Park Shin-woo's request to not comment on herself, she said that she had a deep connection with the movie <Baek Nights>, leaving Son Ye-jin, who recognized him at the meeting.

A handwritten letter from the director that moved Han Seok-gyu's heart
In the case of Han Seok-gyu, the director took the initiative and actively persuaded him to appear. Hearing that it would be difficult for the actor during the screenplay stage, the director went to write a lengthy letter explaining why this character had to be Han Seok-kyu with his own hands. Han Seok-gyu, moved by the director's heartfelt letter, decided to meet the director in person, and the rookie director in his early thirties, who was just about to direct a feature film, which seemed impossible at all, met for the first time in a cafe with the best male actor in Korea. .
In this meeting, the director explained the importance of Dongsu's character, which was not conveyed on the paper, and the triangular composition of fate in which Miho, Johan, and Dongsoo were organically intertwined, and actively explained that Han Suk-kyu should be on that axis. Thanks to the director's efforts, even though Han Seok-gyu, who has already acted as a detective character several times, found the starting point of a completely new, but capable, Dong-soo character, <Baek Night Train> achieved the best casting structure that everyone expected to be impossible.