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Hi folks, During film school, I fell in love with Korean cinema, and decided to try to get work over there as some kind of Christopher Doyle-wanna be. Took me four or five years, but after some absolutely lovely attempts at doing indie stuff and being 'creative', I managed to get into the commercial industry there as a camera assistant and eventually focus puller, and from there, was working on films and TV dramas. Did that for about seven years. My wife and I decided to move away from Korea in 2017, and we ended up in Norway. The industry here is super close knit and everybody knows everybody. Camera teams are way smaller here, and so it was super tough for me to get a job as a focus puller or even as a regular camera assistant (the job is also a bit different here than what I was used to/enjoyed). I got into the lighting department (grip here is only camera related stuff, so we do stands and flags as well) and have been working pretty steadily on television and films here since then, usually as just an electrician, but have done a couple series as best boy as well. Got my C truck license and certification for person lifts (don't know what they're called in English, but those electric lift things people use to rig). The last year has been absolutely devestatingly slow. Corona came and went by here pretty fast, and Norway was one of the first countries to start filming, and 2021 was actually the best earnings year I've ever had. I think a ton of production companies just overspent, and the industry here can only support so much. I'm only available to work until June this year, and then I'm staying home to watch the new(ish) baby until he's old enough to go to day care. If the industry doesn't improve by Septemberish, that may be the signal that I need to finally get A Real Job. I love the work so much, and it is incredibly tempting to move back to Korea, where there is a lot more work, but three kids makes it tough.
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Apr 16, 2024 22:00
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| # ¿ May 12, 2024 14:26 |
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FreudianSlippers posted:How's the difference in on-set craft services between Norway and Korea? I think the biggest difference was the almost total lack of healthy snacks. It was basically snack foods, cookies, crackers, chocopies, instant noodles, tea, coffee, and water. Fruit is super expensive in Korea, so I get it, but it was disappointing. Meals tended to be eaten at restaurants instead of catered like it is here. I guess that means generally it was a higher quality level, since you'd get two decent meals, instead of boxed poo poo, but if you had any special dietary needs, it was a pain in the rear end.
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Apr 16, 2024 22:14
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a lovely king posted:In the UK only the very largest American films or TV have anything resembling craft. Norwegian craft service is usually coffee, tea, saft (like a watered down juice), fruit, maybe veggies, bread, sandwich stuff, crisp bread, and the infamous tubed cheese, mayo, and caviar. Biggest difference here is that they understand not everybody eats the same. Gluten free/vegan/whatever is possible, where it was basically impossible in Korea. quote:I'm also extremely into Korean cinema. Both Park Chan-Wook and Bong Joon-Ho shot in the UK since I joined the industry and I was gutted I didn't get on them, even for dailies. Had some friends on the Park series and they were in awe. I was almost on Okja as fourth AC on B cam, but all the cam ops and first ACs that wanted to go down a level to work with Darius Khondji pushed me out of that. Yes, fluency in Korean is a must if you want to escape the foreigner bubble. There's a ton of stuff happening in Korea that you just won't get a chance on if you don't speak the language. There are foreign productions but the overall level of English is not there and you will always be on the outside. That and your visa is important. Almost impossible to get a finding work visa so your best bet is to find a production you want to work on and get a visa through that. Doing that is also probably insanely tough if you are not experienced (both in film and in living in Korea) or get lucky. Maybe enroll in film school or start a business and invoice yourself out to productions (that's how I did it in Norway as a non European). I have Korean citizenship (I'm a white american by birth) so the visa wasn't an issue for me. Getting that first job was the problem.
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Apr 18, 2024 10:06
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