Korea

Making my mark in Korean film

Today I joined the set of a Korean film as a movie extra.  The movie, now in production and tentatively entitled "Korean Peninsula," is scheduled for Korean theatrical release in Spring 2006.  Directed by Kang Je-gye, one of Korean’s most popular directors, the movie is the highly anticipated follow-up to "Taegukgi:  The Brotherhood of War" (2004) and "Shiri" (1999), two other films directed by Kang.  "Korean Peninsula" will chronicle Korean history from the Japanese Colonial Period to the present.  I do not know what the plot is or who will star in the film.  Kang’s last film, "Taegukgi," received international acclaim and was shown in limited release last year in the United States (the word "Taegukgi" is the name of the flag of the Republic of Korea).  I saw "Taegukgi" last August with my wife while we were in the Washington, D.C.  In my opinion, "Taegukgi" is one of the best war films of all time.  Very graphic, it is a poignant portrayal of the Korean War and the tragedies that befell the Korean people in the 1950’s.  I am really looking forward to the release of "Korean Peninsula."  Not only was it my big screen debut, but I anticipate that it will be an excellent film.  If you’re in the United States, watch for "Korean Peninsula" in limited release there next summer.  You might just see me if you watch the film.
 
I was an extra in just one scene.  If the scene isn’t delete in the final cut, I will likely appear briefly in the movie.  It is set in the Press Room of the U.S. Department of State, where the State Department spokesperson announces that the United States will not participate in the ceremony reopening the rail line between North and South Korea.  I portrayed a reporter listening to the spokesperson make the announcement.  I’m in the second row with a group of reporters.  My role merely consisted of talking to the reporter next to me, watching the spokesperson enter the room, and typing on my laptop as the spokesperson speak.  I don’t have any lines in the movie, but I did try to act like a reporter listening intently to the spokesperson.  The scene was similar to when I was in the actual Press Room last year; I even sat in the same place when I listened to former Department of State Spokesman Richard Boucher address our group.  I noticed several differences between the simulated Press Room and the real Press Room.  As with most movies, the set did not quite reflect reality, and the spokesperson did not follow established protocol.  You can’t too much from a movie portrayal.
 
How did I land this role?  My wife heard about the opportunity and suggested that I give it a try.  I responded to the casting call and was accepted as a movie extra.  I thought it would be a great way to experience Korean film, a very important aspect of Korean culture.  I was right; it was a great experience.  GINA Entertainment put out the casting call and arranged extras for the scene.  There were about 70 of us, and I was fortunate to be one of the primary extras in the scene.  I posted some photos of the day’s events in a photo album.  Unfortunately, I wasn’t allowed to take photos on the set, so the photos show the waiting period before the scene took place.  We gathered at 6 a.m. this morning and arrived on the set at about 7:30 a.m.  At 9 a.m. we went in for our first cut, and then at 11 a.m. we went in for the final cut.  Cameras shot footage from all angles to frame the scene.  By 1:30 p.m., we were finished and headed home.  We actually worked for about half an hour–not bad for a day’s work.  I did not see any famous Korean actors on the set, but I saw Mr. Kang, the director.  Known as the "Korean Steven Spielberg," he controlled the scene like conductor leads an orchestra.  I thoroughly enjoyed watching him and his crew work.
 
I hope I can do this again in the future.  It wasn’t my big break in show business, but it was fun to do a cameo.  I haven’t had such fun on the set of a media production since my wife and I were in the audience of "Late Night with David Letterman" when we visited New York City in 1998.  If you have a chance to work as a movie extra, I highly recommend it.  You wait around a lot, but it’s usually worth the wait.

A day at Seoul City Hall

Last night I went for a night on the town with a couple of friends and missed my usual blog session.  This was a reschedule of Monday’s get together that never materialized.  It was a lot of fun, and I didn’t get much sleep (I won’t tell you more than that–LOL). 
 
This morning I worked at the Information Fair for Foreigners sponsored by the organizers of Hi Seoul, an annual festival showcasing the City of Seoul.  The event was held just outisde the steps of Seoul City Hall.  About 40 organizations and businesses assembled to offer information to foreigners living in Seoul.  I managed a booth for about five hours and answered people’s questions about adjusting to life in Korea and public services available to them.  Many foreigners, mostly Americans, Koreans, Canadians, and an Australian stopped by to chat with me.  Representatives from most of the other organizations also visited my booth to let me know what services they offered.  The fair was fun and well organized, although somewhat typical of Korean public events.  Men dressed as palace guards paraded around Seoul Plaza, the greenspace in front of City Hall, simulating the Changing of the Guard ceremony repeated performed at Gyeongbok Palace.  They dressed in bright yellows, blues, and reds, some carrying long pikes, others royal banners, most bearing Korean musical instruments, drums, cymbals, and horns, which they played as they marched.
 
The event also featured the all-too-common Korean dance group performing choreographed hip-hop and R&B dance numbers on a stage.  These types of groups perform at virtually every festival in Seoul.  The loudspeakers blast deafeningly loud music that can be heard for blocks.  The groups usually include eight to 10 women and one man wearing parachute-style jumpers or body suits.  The dancers are all attractive, very fit, and dance well.  The event also featured an traditional Indian dance routine, a tae kwondo demonstration, and two clowns on stilts (they were very good).  The performances repeated over the course of several hours.  Although well done, I would have perferred to have the speaker volume a bit lower.  At times it was difficult for me to talk to visitors who stopped by my booth because the music was so loud. 
 
All in all, the event was successful.  My wife and son stopped by in the afternoon, and my son enjoyed all the kiddie freebies handed out at different booths.  The weather cooperated, vascillating between sunshine and cloud cover.  I needed both sunscreen and a warm jacket.  Although I had to work today, I could not have asked for a better assignment.  It was far better than being chained to a desk.
 
Blog Note:  Sorry Wade3016, regardless of your friend’s position with the company, she would not know what’s going behind closed doors in New York between MSN and AOL.  Executives are usually really tight lipped about these things–except for the one unnamed source who leaks it all to the press.  The media has an uncanny ability to sniff out news, and the Google, Comcast, and now Yahoo! reports that they will invest in AOL only corroborates speculation that Microsoft is also interested in AOL.

Koreans really do work long hours

I just got home from work.  Yes, I spent another long evening at the office.  I intended to go in yesterday for a few hours so I didn’t have to work late tonight.  Alas, I could not drag myself into the office on such a beautiful day.  Fortunately, I think this will be the only night this week when I need to work late.  I finished a couple of big projects that have been in work for months, and I got a good start on some new material that my boss will present to the Powers That Be when he returns to the United States later this month.  I’m excited that he will be taking the fruits of my labor on a roadshow.  Today was the busiest day I have seen since I moved to my new job.  Perhaps the holiday yesterday brought everyone out en masse.  I didn’t get much done during the day other than helping people.  Spending evenings at work isn’t fun, but often it’s the only time you can find time to get the job done.
 
The October 3rd edition of BusinessWeek Magazine features a great article analyzing what most Americans already suspect–many of us work more hours than we did just a few years ago.  It’s a great article; I highly recommend giving it a read.  Its hypothesis is that although work productivity is up, and workers have more tools at their disposal than ever to get the job done, there are more managers per worker than ever, and the old style of managing employees is impeding the development of global, dynamic employee networks.  The "Old school" or Dilbert’ "Pointy Hair Boss" style of management tends to emphasize micromanaging employees, engaging in "death by meeting," requiring layer after layer of management approval, submitted in triplicate and reported ad nauseum to all stakeholders, whether they care or not.  This hinders the free flow of information between employees who collaborate through network-style organizations.  This summarization of course is caricaturized.  However, it highlights the fact that Americans continue to work longer hours, and BusinessWeek offers some practical reasons why and possible solutions to mitigate this trend.
 
There’s good news and bad news for American workers.  Although American workers now work more hours per worker than any other G-8 nation, Korean workers work 30.4% more hours than their American counterparts.  That’s the good news.  The bad news is that between 1991 and 2004, Koreans worked on average 5% fewer hours, while Americans worked just 1.4% fewer hours.  According to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), here are the number of hours per worker in 2004 for select countries featured in the BusinessWeek article:
  1. Korea, 2,380 hours
  2. United States, 1,825 hours
  3. Japan, 1789 hours
  4. Great Britain, 1,669 hours
  5. Germany, 1443 hours
  6. France, 1,441 hours
  7. Netherlands, 1,357 hours

I frequently hear in Korea how hard Koreans work.  I do not know what the average productivity rate is for Koreans and can’t comment on whether Koreans work harder than Americans.  Working hard is product of both productivity per hour and the number of hours worked.  However, the statistic above shows that the average Korean works long, long hours.  A friend of mine who works for a major chaebol, or Korean conglomerate, logs an average of 14-hours per day at work and works on weekends.  The good news for Koreans is that the number of hours per worker worked each year has steadily declined since 1991.  Many Koreans no longer work half days on Saturday and head home earlier. 

 

Americans also work long hours.  BusinessWeek mentions that although the number of hours worked has decreased for traditional "blue-collar" workers in recent decades, the number has actually increased for office workers.  That’s why many of us feel like we’re working more than ever.  As America transforms from a manufacturing economy to a service economy, the tendency to work longer hours in the office intensifies.  I just hope we never work as many hours as Koreans do.