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KWAK Tae-yong always describes his work as ‘technical art’ as it covers a vast scope of work which goes beyond simple special effects makeup such as attaching prosthetic material to the face, to tasks of creating dummies and special props and even animatronics. Around 130 films have required his expertise. We asked him a few questions about his journey through the world of VFX. 

I was always interested in miniatures, and in 2000, I started my career in film by doing miniature work on the film Libera Me.

The collaboration with computer graphics has expanded the range of expression. If the emphasis in the earlier years was on recreating the same image, now we’ve entered a stage whereby the texture and effects are considered as well. And with the addition of motion to the special effects makeup, we’re able to extend the length of a sequence without any interruption. Technical advancement has also introduced new genres and accordingly new characters such as robots. Nevertheless, there are still so many fields that we’ve yet to cover. 

Creating something to look realistic is a given. However, you also have to consider how the audience is going to accept what is being shown. In the case of horror, you can present something cruel to the extent that it isn’t disgusting or unpleasant. When you’re working on a project, you always have to contemplate the level of what you’re showing and suggest it to the director. Perfectly deceiving the audience shouldn’t be a priority. The most important thing is making things look natural. You shouldn’t create something that stands out. 

 

You get a sense of unfamiliarity when you see a real corpse because people are more used to seeing one in a film. It’s ironic that people consider an actor pretending to be dead in a film closer to what a corpse really looks like. So when we were creating the dummy figure of Gwanghae, we gave it a slightly shuddering effect as if the actor was pretending to be dead. I think people accepted this as more natural. 

It’s really difficult to work with synthetic skin. We’ve been testing various materials for a long time to upgrade the technology we have, and the extreme results came out in Assassination. I’m rather satisfied with the end results. 

During a discussion after reading a screenplay, you realize that people are painting different pictures. That’s why you constantly need to exchange opinions and adjust your ideas. And through this process, you accumulate experience along with as much references as you can get. 

The directors you mention attempt new things. I guess it’s like they satisfy the desires we feel while working on a film. Their work always entails a number of dilemmas, but they also enable us to grow. Fortunately I guess they haven’t been disappointed as they keep working with us. (laughs)

There was just the description of something ‘attached to a satellite’ in the script. The key point in the film was the robot’s emotional connection to Hae-kwan (LEE Sung-min), and we tried to express the robot’s emotions by making its head move and moderating the speed of its movements. 

It’s difficult to prepare large-scaled films in a short time span. Our company’s strong points lie in the fact that we always have 15 full time employees on standby. We are equipped with such infrastructure. And when we have the time, we add additional dummies to our collection of several dozen in our storage.

Not too long ago, we worked on a TV program called Reincarnation commemorating the 20th anniversary of Korean folk rock singer KIM Kwang-seok’s death. We had to create the effect of bringing the late singer back to life through an actor who looked like the musician, especially with the help of special effects makeup. It was a project that I’m extremely proud of. 

When film school students ask for help, we work for free because it’s non-commercial. If there are any props we have that they need, we try to lend it out if possible. I guess the word has gotten out because we’ve been receiving quite a few requests, and often from independent films. 

We are getting inquiries from China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, etc. It’s a good feeling as it indicates how much the reputation of Korean films has grown in the field of VFX. Nevertheless, our priority is Korean films.