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Last summer, filmmaker brothers PARK Chan-wook and PARK Chan-kyong showcased ‘Decades Apart’ at the Seoul Museum of Art. Commissioned by the Fondation Cartier, the exhibition incorporated Immersive 3D sound created through 42 speakers into the 3D-photographed Panmunjeom set of Joint Security Area/ JSA (2000). A key figure of this piece which proved that sound is another unique art field is the head of Studio BLUECAP, KIM Suk-won. From publicly acclaimed works such as The Mimic, Fabricated City and The King to The Handmaiden (2016), Assassination (2015), The Terror, LIVE (2013) and TaeGukGi: Brotherhood Of War (2004), KIM Suk-won, who has presented exceptional auditory experiences on more than 200 films over the past 22 years, is definitely the leading force in Korea’s film sound post-production.

I am the head of BLUECAP and also a post-production sound supervisor. From basic dialogue-polishing to foley and sound mixing, I’m involved in the entire field of film sound which is a team process rather than an individually done job. 

I majored in civil engineering. I started doing music and advertisement part-time jobs while I was a university student. I enjoyed the work, but was planning to quit because I felt I couldn’t make a living out of it. However, the company head strongly persuaded me to take up a career in the music field, and that’s how I got into this business. Then about 20 years ago, I worked on the film Millions In My Account (1995) which I enjoyed so much, I just quit my other jobs to just focus on film sound. I liked the big speakers and big screen and how they blended in with the final result I came up with, and I also liked the fact that as the audience followed the storyline of a film, they had much room for imagination through sound. I felt sound had a large role in film. 

The Mimic uses sound to shock and terrify people. In fact, sound in most horror films is quite important, but for The Mimic, it was even more quintessential because the subject matter was based on sound. The filmmaker requested the sound to feel as if you could hear it right at your ears or as if it was coming at you. Not many Korean films have ever demanded this kind of work. 

There are so many. I believe I have worked on around 220 to 230 films so far. If the public responds well to a film, I believe the film sound was also done well. Among my recent works, I really liked PARK Chan-wook’s The Handmaiden. The film sound in The Handmaiden was enough for the audience to focus on the film, but for sound professionals it was the type of film that required detail and delicate precision for each scene. It gave me such satisfaction to do this kind of work. 

Normally films use 5.1 channel speakers. This is the same kind of system used in theaters. On a 5.1 channel, you can detect where the sound is coming from, but it’s difficult to give one the sense of sound hovering near your ears or passing above you. I introduced a new technology to PARK Chan-wook that could create this kind of effect. It’s not a program that can be completed and manifested on its own, but one that requires incorporating hardware and spatial elements. Mr. PARK wanted to recreate this through the exhibition and that’s how I got involved. 

It’s not perfect, but I was happy to hear that there will be another overseas exhibition. If we can upgrade this technology, I believe we’ll be able to use this in spaces for other diverse fields including film and performances. For now, 5.1 channel or Dolby Atmos are effective only in theater spaces. However there are many other spaces that are not designed this way. Ones that are round, long oblong and dome-style spaces, and especially expo venues rarely have theater-style spaces. The recently showcased immersive 3D sound is a sound format that could be applied flexibly in such cases. 

‘Never interrupt the story of a film’. Each film might differ in degrees, but they have their own element of entertainment. Sound should not become an obstacle in experiencing the entertaining factor of a film. Actually, a large portion of sound is created by using fake sources. The acting talents’ ADR uses recorded sources that are not done on-site, so it’s basically fake. A scene comes alive when the audience doesn’t notice what’s recreated and feel the scene is real. But if the job is done in a way that one notices what’s fake, it takes away from the entertainment factor and becomes a detriment to the film. I am happier when the audience can be immersed in a film rather than commenting on the sound. 

If a theater’s sound system is in Dolby Atmos format, the sound mix needs to be modified as such. But in order to maximize its effect, the producers and filmmakers need to design, shoot and edit the film with this type of sound format in mind. That way it they can make the most of things, but usually, they seem to think just mixing the sound in Dolby Atmos will change everything. It’s like they consider the new format as simple another upgraded technology, but that’s not how it works. Just because TV definition has been upgraded to UHD, it doesn’t mean a low-definition image that was made in the past willl come out well on a TV screen you have now. Likewise, everyone involved in the filmmaking process needs to understand sound and study how to improve it. 

If you think creating film sound is about reading the audience’s minds and finding the right sound by predicting their responses and emotions, then it’ll be a tough job. How can you possibly read what each and every one of the audience members are thinking? It’s easier to think you are expressing what you’re feeling as another audience member and a human being, just like everyone else. I create sound by trusting my emotions and thoughts. I believe I was able to work on many projects because people could relate to the sounds I’ve created. The moment I start thinking about ‘how I can make the audience laugh or be surprised with this great sound’ is when I cross the line. I have to feel things for myself without being aware of other people’s feelings.