“I hope what happened in the past can be embraced by this movie” 

The film SNOWBALL depicts the time when 18-year-old Kangy, Soyoung, and Aram, who left the boundaries of school and neighborhood, tried to lead their best lives. Based on a full-length novel by Lim Solah, the film is Lee Woojeong's feature directorial debut. Director Lee Woojeong directed short stories such as Hanna Song, See You Tomorrow, and Living in Seoul, a part of the omnibus feature film Romance in Seoul. She also acted in Dr. Jump and A Midday Picnic. Director Lee Woojeong won awards at the Busan International Film Festival and the Seoul Independent Film Festival. Also, she has been invited to various film festivals such as the Muju Film Festival and the Seoul International Women's Film Festival, etc. We interviewed her to talk about SNOWBALL.

How did you encounter the novel SNOWBALL?

The CEO of the production company Milestone Company recommended it because he thought I would like the story. It was a story that touched the part I kept trying to avoid. I really wanted to make it into a movie. It would be a small story, and it wouldn’t be a money-making story, but I told him I wanted to make it, and he gladly said to make it together.

I’m curious about the background of your decision to make the novel into a movie. What part of the original story in the book attracted you?

It was a story that touched the wounds of the past. I was comforted by Kangy’s continuous advance to get out of the past somehow. The comfort here doesn’t mean what is commonly said as caressing comfort. Kangy was desperately moving forward, and it really touched me back then.

Which part did you focus on the adaptation?

The novel and the film are unfolding the story in a way to recall the wounds Kangy buried in the past. We had to compress the story in less than two hours, following the emotions that Kangy was going through. And I focused on the feelings Kangy remembered. I thought the story would not become narrower when it jumped on the exact explanation of the situation or logic.

However, when I was describing the fighting scene, I had to be very careful while adapting it. In the original, the scene description is very detailed. I was worried if I could leave all of those details behind because those scenes definitely had their own power. Fortunately, I had faith that the actors' superb acting could fill the missing scenes, so I proceeded, reducing the violent scenes.

Why did you choose the way that the figures recalled the past?

The original work is written in a retrospective way and the story is connected to the wounds of the past. Since that part touched me, it had to be a retrospective way unconditionally. At the beginning of the shooting, the staff members asked me if we could change the time to the present due to the small budget. But I thought I could never do that. I hoped that the viewers would be able to reach the emotions of the time when they had no ideas about the truth buried in the past.

Unlike the original, the description of the economic gap according to the neighborhood where they lived and the depiction of the enthusiasm of Kangy’s family for learning have been reduced. Don’t you think they could have been the elements we could understand Kangy’s behaviors better?

I only left some nuance for those parts because I thought they were the part of the universal sentiments all of us could be relatable. The first impression I received when I first went to Eupnae-dong in the original book is that it wasn’t a very cinematic space. It wasn’t as dramatic as the hillside slums, which are underdeveloped and often used as filming sites. However, I thought this would fit the tone of our movie. I also thought it could be a universal deficiency for teenagers back then. From the background to the costumes the characters wore, I tried not to highlight poverty too much.

I heard that you cast three actors without auditions. I'm curious about the process of casting them.

As soon as I read the original book, I thought only Shim Dalgi could play Aram, so I told her to read the novel first. Every time I fixed the scenario, I sent it to Dalgi. She is the one who has waited for this movie the most. As for Actor Sungmin, I have her pictures on my cell phone. At that time, Sungmin’s performance record was hard to get. So we arranged a meeting to meet in person. As soon as I met her, I thought she was perfect for Soyoung’s role. Kangy’s character was vacant for the longest time. The CEO of Minah’s agency knew about our film, and he said he thought Minah was similar to the character named Kangy, so he asked me to meet her without a hitch. On sitting down, Minah talked about her thoughts and worries about SNOWBALL without hesitation, and I loved it. I remember that she said she wanted to take the role as much as she was afraid. Minah arranged a private gathering for the other two actors and they could become closer. I didn't join them to let them have a good time on their own, so I don't know what happened among them at that time. However, I was thankful and happy that the three actors already became so close from the moment we started filming. As the oldest one, Minah played a great role to make a strong bond among the actors.

I am curious about directing the scene where Kangy and Soyoung exchange emotions. It is a scene that changes the flow of the play, and the sound of sparkling candy splashing from Shooting Star adds an unrealistic feeling.

This is the scene where I thought the most about how to implement it. The basic premise was that I would not show everything as described in the book. If we expressed every scene in the movie, it should have some nude scenes, but we excluded those scenes. In the end, the camera only went back and forth between the two faces. I believed that the faces of Minah and Sungmin could be more than enough to express the sentiment of the scene. However, I thought of Shooting Star ice cream because I hoped there would be other helpful settings. The popping sound of the ice cream fills the sound of the movie. And basically, I love Shooting Star ice cream. (Laugh) It sounds like a flame. I thought the sparking sound would help when they exchanged looks. The sparking sound was added to the moment when Minah was lying down with a big bite of the ice cream while opening her mouth.

As an actor for yourself, you have a colorful filmography, too. I wonder how acting affects directing.

I’ve never thought as much about my acting as I’ve been greedy about directing. The reason I acted in movies was mostly when my close friends called me in a hurry to cover someone else's role. (Laugh) I just joined acting like I was playing with them. However, sometimes it is good to be able to be inside someone's scene while acting because I can have a chance to see how other directors do it. Watching them, I can learn how they handle a certain moment, and it is fun to see the actors up close, too.

How do you start a story when you write a scenario?

I always start a story from a scene. When a scene comes to mind and becomes stuck in my head, I make the front and back of the scene, saying, “Oh, why does this scene keep going around in my head?”

What was the scene that let you start SNOWBALL?

After reading the original, I couldn’t forget the scene where Kangy broke the street lamp. In fact, I regret the scene in the movie a lot. Making a film is interesting in that we can have better results unexpectedly when actors are acting. In SNOWBALL, I like the scene where Kangy and Aram talk on the overpass. I didn’t imagine it would be that much great in the scenario. The more I see it, the more I like it.

Are you writing a new scenario now?

It’s been a long time since I haven’t written any scenarios. I had to take care of so many things while preparing for the release of SNOWBALL, and I haven’t done most of them before. I’ve been busy solving every mission day by day. I continued to revise the release version until July. Unlike the screening version at the BIFF, I took out a lot of film texture from the release version. After screening in various conditions, I noticed that the film texture became very dark and even rougher in an environment with a poor projector. Considering the time when our movie is released from an objective perspective, it will be screened more in the small theaters, and that's why I removed the texture a lot.

I look forward to your next film.

I want to do it, too. I keep saying I'm going to make a funny movie next time. Frankly, I'm not a serious person. I want to do something more fun. When SNOWBALL is released, I think I'll find my way by looking at the scenarios that I wrote before.

How do you want this movie to remain in the audience’s heart?

While preparing and filming this movie, I couldn't give an answer, but I kept thinking about the word 'best'. 'Doing my best’ is used a lot as an energetic and cheerful expression, but life is not a sports game. I hope the audience can feel the things behind the expression. And when they think about the word ’best’ again, I hope that the movie can embrace what happened in the audience’s past.