KIM Tae-seong, Film Score Composer

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Interview

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KIM Tae-seong, Film Score Composer

May 22, 2019

Writerby KIM Su-bin
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“I want to take different approaches than other composers.”

With films Extreme Job, SVAHA : THE SIXTH FINGER, Idol, as well as the TV series Sky Castle, film score composer KIM Tae-seong found himself very busy in the first half of this year. KIM entered the film music industry when he was still in college by working on movie trailers, and before he knew it, he was a music director with 19 years of experience. Today, we meet with him.

You have been in charge of both The Priests (2015), which uses medieval liturgical music as its leitmotif, and SVAHA : THE SIXTH FINGER, whose score is based on Buddhist music from Tibet. What did you feel working on two scores that are so different in character despite both being religious music?

What I paid the most attention to in these two films is realism. For The Priests (2015), I was looking for a music like the ones used during real exorcisms. When I worked on SVAHA : THE SIXTH FINGER too, I researched what the actual esoteric Buddhist music sounds like and borrowed from it the energy, the authenticity. I even visited a Tibetan monk to personally record him. Before this film, no piece of music had ever given a Korean take on esoteric Buddhist or exorcism music. The fact that I can convince the audience by creating music the way I want made this job interesting.

The comedy Extreme Job and the occult horror SVAHA : THE SIXTH FINGER were released one after the other, and so it seems like you worked at the same time on two titles that greatly differ in genre and style. Wasn’t it difficult to differentiate the mode for each film?

Yes, it was. I was working on Extreme Job, SVAHA : THE SIXTH FINGER, Idol and the series Sky Castle at the same time, and all four of them have different genres and themes. Had I mapped out everything when there was no story to work with, the final products would have sounded similar. But since I fish out the music from the distinct stories of each work, it didn’t pose any serious problem. Whether it’s the melodies or the sound, they all take their power from the story. The work itself may be difficult, but I didn’t feel like I was starting from scratch.

You debuted in film scoring when you were in your early 20s, composing music for movie trailers. What work do you particularly remember from that time?

I think I learn more from movies that didn’t earned good results at the box office. No matter how often I say that there is a lot of things I want to say through my music, this is all in vain if I cannot satisfy the basics. Even though I think it’s wonderful when people maintain their own artistic vision while composing, it also takes a great deal of courage to tone it down. The protagonists of the movies, it’s the audience, and I learned that it is what we call the duty of the film crew to satisfy the audience. The film that still has the most to teach me even today and that I think I could now improve upon is A Tale of Legendary Libido (2008).

Is there any reason you decided to compose film scores?

Since I was a child, my memories of the films have always been associated with their respective scores. Most notably among them were films like The Goonies, Indiana Jones, Star Wars, Superman and Jaws. Back then, they would sell cassettes that contained all the sounds of the movies. These were mainly tapes for children. Since elementary school, I would listen to them and imagine how the music could interact with the story. And so I came to enjoy film music, and wanted to live out my passion. In middle school, I composed the score of a church play and found it interesting. In high school, I started making myself soundtrack cassettes like the ones I mentioned before. I would directly record the soundtrack of films like Love Letter and Hana-Bi, even their dialogues, and listen to the tapes until they would wear out. The way the music is applied to the picture or the story is in itself so interesting.

What would you call a good film score?

Recently, I’ve had a fixation on the idea of “different rather than better”. I strive to find ways I could distinguish myself. It’s not a matter of doing things better than what others did before, but I want to take approaches that others haven’t taken yet. Lately, I’ve been impressed by the music of The Favourite. I think that if it’s a female-fronted story set in the Middle Ages, the music will typically use classical instruments and orchestras, but for this one a lot of current music techniques were used. The way it creates tension with the repetition of minimalist instrumentation is amazing. I set out to experiment different things for SVAHA : THE SIXTH FINGER and the TV series The Guest, as well. I thought that since it revolves around the occult and exorcisms, the music should normally feature an orchestra or a chorus. However, the chemistry between the actors and their emotional paths were important for this series, so even though I stayed true to the fundamentals to instill horror, I also used lyrical songs for the scenes of exorcism. I spent a lot of time wondering how I could textually underscore the underlying sadness in unconsciousness. It was the same for the TV series My Fellow Citizens. I put KIM Chang-wan and the duo Hyungdon and Daejun in charge of performing the theme song. They all wondered why they were chosen to do this. Most soundtracks of TV series use a lot of ballads. However, for this series, I thought the intentional unsophisticatedness was important, and I wasn’t sure I had voices that would speak for ordinary people until I assigned the theme song to KIM Chang-wan, Hyungdon and Daejun.

I heard that you already have your schedule set for the next 3 years. Which projects do you have?

Mostly set, yes. This year I want to try taking different approaches than others. I’m currently considering doing something more creative. I’ve joined many good projects. I will compose the soundtracks for (Roaring Currents sequels) Hansan and Noryang (literal titles), as well as for Victory Ship (translated title).

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