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- AVENGERS 2: LEE Ji-seung, Producer of the Korean Unit
- by YOON Ina / May 28, 2015
- “Coordination is vital to shooting in Korea”
We had an interview with LEE Ji-seung, the producer of the Korean Unit of Avengers 2, about what to pay attention to when shooting a foreign film in Korea.(hereafter Avengers 2) became the second film to surpass ten million audiences after Interstellar in Korea. As a Marvel film, Avengers 2 became the most successful film, shattering the record of nine million viewers set by Ironman 3. Avengers 2’s huge success in Korea is attributable to the fact that the film nearly dominated theater screens in Korea. In addition, Korean audiences’ high expectations for the film played a key role as well. Last year, part of the film was shot in Korea, bringing much attention and arousing the interest of the Korean viewers. Korean audiences were curious about how the Korea they know will be depicted in a major blockbuster super hero film made by Hollywood filmmakers, and wanted to watch it themselves at theaters. Many media outlets carried stories about the economic effects of the film’s location shoot in Korea. After the release of the film, Korean scenes in the film have had many fans talking. We met professor LEE Ji-seung, the producer of the Korean Unit who oversaw the project from pre-production to shooting of the much-talked-about film.What play did you play in the shooting of Avengers 2?My main role was to oversee the Korean staff. I generally managed the Korean Unit along with the Second Unit of Marvel from the pre-production stage to rehearsals and to the shooting period. I will start from the pre-production process. In January of last year, I began staffing with the production manager, location manager and production accountant of Marvel. Marvel stressed that they wanted the best staff possible. We hired staff members in nearly all sectors such as cinematography, special effects, costume design and production design. The problem was the language barrier. This is because the staff members needed to be good at English as well as film production work. We selected five people or teams in each sector after reviewing their resumes. In my case, I took part in nearly all interviews. The final decision was made by Marvel.How many staff members were there?
I think you need to know the concept of the Second Unit. It is similar to what’s called the ‘B Team’ for production of a TV drama. Director Joss Whedon took control of the First Unit but not the Second Unit. The Second Unit took charge of shoots in Korea and South Africa. The South African Location Team and the Korean Location Team had 200 members each. This means that the Second Unit added up to a total of 400 staff members. The main team of the Second Unit is stationed for one month from just before the start of the shooting period to the end of the production. During the shooting period, Korean unit alone had 2,100 staff members. On the first day of the main shoot on Mapo Grand Bridge, we calculated that approximately 1000 staff had worked. The scale was so big that they created a new job called the PA manager for the management of daily production support. Literally the scale was huge.I think that such a big workforce was hard to manage due to basic problems like preparing meals. What troubled or worried you?That was the part that really set the Hollywood system apart from the Korean system. From the main shoot, they chose to shoot for ten hours without rest to maximize the use of time. Lunchtime was not mentioned in the timetable. The scale of the shoot was so huge that they needed a base camp for the staff with a parking lot for 300 to 400 vehicles. For example, during the shoot on Mapo Grand Bridge, the bank of the Han River under the bridge was used as the base camp. A big parking lot in Seocho-dong served as the base camp during the shoot in an area around Gangnam Subway Station in Seoul. Staff members constantly stationed at the base camp were able to have meals at the camp. But staff members at the shooting site could not leave their posts. Therefore, there was a catering crew to deliver meals to them. Also the meals were buffets since the project had multicultural workforce from Korea and Marvel. That was much different from the Korean system where lunch boxes or dining cars work like a charm.The base camps come across as unique. What roles did they play?The staff gathered at the base camps initially and necessary workers moved to shooting sites. Four toilet vehicles for men and women were needed as well as trailer cars for actors and stuntmen. It was very difficult to prepare trailer cars in Korea. But Marvel had to apply its internal rules to all locations. That means that they had to prepare trailer cars. In conclusion, they prepared them but it was extremely difficult to arrange. Moreover, they realized that it was impossible to obtain camera equipment and accessories that they demanded in Korea. They did not try to find them in Korea but had them delivered from the U.S. by airplane or ship. From the viewpoint of a Korean producer or director, that may be enviable and something worth learning. This is because that kind of practice means not giving up in terms of directing.
The main shoot period (from March 30 to April 14 of 2014) considerably overlapped the rehearsal shoot period (two weeks from March 17, 2014). Does this mean that they paid much attention to the rehearsal shoots?During the main shooting period, they shot 14 sections for 16 days. The rehearsal lasted for two weeks. Marvel attaches big importance to rehearsal shoots for quality and safety. They conducted the rehearsal in a deserted area in Goyang City and paid attention to small details. For the shoot on Mapo Grand Bridge, our very first shoot, they carried out a rehearsal that synchronized the speeds of cars.
Unlike the rehearsal, the main shoot must have required a lot of work as it was shot downtown.We had already taken care of legal issues. But the shooting permit could not excuse a possibility of making people feel inconvenient or uncomfortable. We informed people of the shoot by setting up information boards and attached information notices on Mapo Grand Bridge and roads in Sangam DMC two weeks before the start of the shoot. We also asked for the consent of locals in an area around Gangnam Station and Munrae-dong by visiting or meeting them since the two places are residential areas and have heavy foot traffic.What makes Marvel’s main shoot most different from Korean productions?First of all, Marvel has backup plans for all shoots. They study every possible situation and make back-up plans for them. They thought much about safety beyond imagination since the film is an action blockbuster. They demanded that shooting sites always have two fire engines, firemen, special safety specialists, an ambulance and a nurse. Without such a preparation, they would not begin to shoot. They were perfect about insurance. It is fortunate that increasingly more and more staff members sign the standard labor contracts in Korea. Of course, Marvel signed all of the Korean production staff members with standard contracts and granted them the benefits of four major social insurance policies. Most of all, they made overtime payments to the nail. Their strong emphasis on safety really impressed me. They also woke up many Korean staff members who previously didn’t have much thought about safety to the importance of such matters.
Globalization has encouraged Korean films to shoot overseas and foreign films to shoot in Korea. Jeju and Busan are two popular locations for Korea-China co-productions and Chinese films. What points should Korean filmmakers pay attention to when they work with foreign filmmakers?It is difficult to generally apply the Avengers 2 project since its shoot in Koreas was very extraordinary and its size was unprecedentedly huge. And Marvel sticks to their style too. But whatever the case is, as each country has its own unique way of filmmaking, it takes precedence over anything else to recognize other countries’ unique filmmaking systems and satisfy their needs as much as possible in terms of production. Needless to say, if a foreign filmmaker recognizes the current state of Korean film scene and coordinate matters accordingly, it will be more efficient. In collaboration, coordination outweighs above all, I think.
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