Friends on the journey

So here it is the third week of shooting, I believe, not quit sure because I am writing during what is actually the fifth week of shooting and a lot has happened. One thing that was exciting is that our press coverage started up on the movie. Our lead star Jay Park aka Jay Baum, a Seattle Washington Korean American, is a big time pop star here in Korea. Korean pop music is referred to as something called K-pop, un be knowns t to me J Baum is something of a pop culture phnom, being a singer/b-boy dancer. So with J’s popularity there has been some great media that I have been able to take part in. Hence the picture below from one entertainment publications here in Seoul.
http://jaypark.net/jaebum-interview-on-set-of-hype-nation-%E2%91%A1/

One thing that I will be interesting to see is our visual effects and how they are handled when it comes to wire work, and background replacement because it is in 3D, I wonder just how much it will differ from regular 2D films. Since it is 3D everything to some degree is a visual effect, and I say that because of the many rules for framing and lighting that repeatedly play during shooting and the fact that 3D is simply two camera setup that is simultaneously shooting. I would say the biggest difference between my opportunity on IronMan2 as a operator and this job would be the immediacy of seeing at least one layer of visual effects from live camera work. Even after the initial 3D shooting there is a layer of depth grading or 3D layering that happens in post that we are able to move around and expand on need be. This dynamic aspect of filmmaking is cool, but as I have repeatedly heard a good 2D image is a great 3D image. One of my closest collaborators besides Yung Lee(Jason) and Christian Strickland is my award winning Gaffer Junha Shin(Jun).
Jun is a 27 year veteran in the film industry here in Korea, his been a Gaffer/Lighting Director for about 20 years. I must say I was quit ignorant to Jun when we first meet I only knew that he was well regarded here in South Korea, but not to the extent that I’ve come to know, I bring him up in this blog because of the individual that he is. We , the American guys on the crew, regard him as Yoda. Jun is a very wise intuitive man especially when it comes to lighting and delegating work. He never gets loud, doesn’t use a light meter, and his body language lets you know when he is done with lighting to let me know to come and check it out. The role of the Gaffer is he sets out to accomplish the goal of the cinematographers light language in the film. We usually talk a lot in pre-production, look at examples of different types of work be they photos or films, and connect it all with the mood of the film. I have had a few interpreters onset so then Jun and I can communicate, but to think that even with them there are many a times the he and I understand through the language of light and cinema just what needs to happen.
Now one thing that caught me off guard was the non use of a light meter, by him as the Gaffer. I know in the states its a major NO NO , for an electric or 1st AC to have a light meter and or even a Gaffers glass, tools that are exclusively for the DP and or Gaffer onset to look at (Gaffers Glass) and measure light (light meter). But here the electrics and AC’s all have meters and will pull them out to measure things from time to time. It completely caught me off guard and I didn’t know how to react. It was a cultural moment to understand that this is how they as a crew operate within their electrical/grip dept. , which by the way is the same dept. here in the sense of rigging and power. The grip team is strictly about cranes and dollies that push me around for camera movement. Jun keeps a certain tone that has a amazing flow onset, even if I decide that something needs to be changed last minute for the story.
One thing that I love about the relationship between he and I is when our ideas kinda have static, and if it is about major story point I usually win. If its about pure aesthetic and will not have the best lighting continuity I will give in. Its a back and forth that is amazingly easy dance, of collaboration. Jun’s ability to foresee things and to always make himself seen on set has garnished him the name Yoda, Jedi master who takes on a few of us to teach things to once in a while. Jun never truly raises his voice, nor gets too excited about things, he stays truly even. A great lesson to relearn a few times a year when working in this business.
This experience makes me reflect on the many people that I have had a pleasure to meet on this terrific journey of life. Its just like Lord of the Rings as I walk through the wilderness and uncertain paths, I meet people at perfect times that give so much to prepare me for each step of living this dream. Jun is a great friend and a awesome Gaffer that has gone above and beyond being on set. He has been gracious enough to take my wife and I out to eat, join us for dinner at my favorite Tofu restaurant, and has even shared a gift of a tremendous laser pointer for me to have.
Thank you to the higher power, the Universe, Great energy, God, Christ like conscious, or whom ever you believe, but thanks is in order to the Universe for Jun has been nothing but a great and talented human being.