[Lee Jong-gil's Autumn Return] The Wizard Behind the Screen Who Makes Even White Breath the Star

Korean Society of Cinematographers 'Cinematographers Ask and Cinematographers Answer 2'

Movie 'Namhansanseong' Still Cut

The river was frozen solid. Snowflakes scattered wildly in the air. Kim Sangheon (Kim Yoon-seok) headed toward Namhansanseong, undeterred. An old boatman (Moon Chang-gil) helped him climb onto the ice.

"Since I know the ice path well, I thought that if Qing soldiers come in, I could guide them and maybe get some grain."

"You are a subject of Joseon. Why did you hand over the king yesterday and now intend to hand over the Qing soldiers tomorrow?"

"After handing over the royal carriage yesterday, I did not even receive a handful of millet."

A long silence followed. Only the fierce wind brushed past the ears. Even the screen felt cold. The frozen ice, the winter field battered by snowstorms, the bare trees of the winter mountain swaying in the cold wind?all appeared vast and expansive. The camera captured the frozen riverbed from a wide angle.

Directed by Hwang Dong-hyuk, the film Namhansanseong (2017) begins chillingly. Kim Sangheon asks the old boatman to accompany him to Namhansanseong, fearing that Qing soldiers will invade the fortress. The story deals with the Byeongjahoran of 1636, portraying King Injo (Park Hae-il) and his retainers' 47-day isolation in Namhansanseong. To the old boatman, their struggle is insignificant; survival is a greater concern.

"I will return to where I lived."

Kim Sangheon draws his sword. Without hesitation, he slashes the old boatman who looks back. The brutal scene blends with the wintry landscape, appearing static. The calm continues until Kim Sangheon heads back toward Namhansanseong. The spreading of the old boatman’s blood on the snow is captured from a high angle, foreshadowing the calamity approaching the Baekui people.

The original author Kim Hoon described this scene as "a perspective that coldly observes passionate and intense things." "The camera pulls back to reveal the frozen mountains and rivers. It coldly points out that the death and killing are tragedies occurring in the homeland’s mountains and rivers."

The person who visually expressed what Kim Hoon intended in the novel was cinematographer Kim Ji-yong. With this work, Kim Ji-yong became the first Asian to receive the Golden Frog Award at the Energa Camerimage Grand Prix, the world’s only cinematographer award festival. He was praised for vividly portraying the heated debate between Choi Myung-gil (Lee Byung-hun) and Kim Sangheon and calmly illuminating the lives of commoners, effectively conveying the atmosphere of a time without dreams or hope.

Kim Ji-yong’s visible achievements were not widely recognized domestically. This is because the media and critics mainly focus on actors or directors. There is a tendency to regard key staff such as cinematographers and art directors as technicians rather than creators.

A cinematographer’s role goes beyond framing camera angles and adjusting lighting. To capture actors’ emotions well, the cinematographer must also become an actor. They must become a counterpart to synchronize emotional breathing to achieve natural acting. When framing shots, they must consider the editing before and after the cut. They select positions and lenses while thinking about the rhythm of the entire film.

The cinematographer is also a storyteller who realizes stories not expressed in language within the screenplay through images. They must contemplate the film as deeply and broadly as the director.

“Cinematographers Ask and Cinematographers Answer 2,” published by the Korean Society of Cinematographers, is an interview collection that reveals the diverse roles of cinematographers. It details how representative cinematographers in Chungmuro prepared and made films. Among them are Kim Ji-yong of Namhansanseong, Kim Woo-hyung of 1987 (2017), Jo Hyung-rae of Believer: The World of Bad Guys (2016), Jo Young-jik of Jane of Dreams (2016), Park Jung-hoon of The Villainess (2017), Go Rak-seon of Taxi Driver (2017), and Joo Seong-rim of Crime City (2017).

The core concept Kim Ji-yong devised during the storyboard process for the opening of Namhansanseong was the precarious walk of Kim Sangheon and the old boatman on the frozen river. He positioned the actors so that their backs faced the sun to effectively express a sense of unease.

"I hoped for a scene with a heavily overcast sky and falling snow, but unfortunately, neither the first scene with Choi Myung-gil and Kim Sangheon received weather’s help. The space was so vast and on actual ice, so there was no way to control natural light. Therefore, from the preparation stage, we scheduled the shooting order so that if the weather was clear, we could shoot with backlighting."

To emphasize the cold, Kim Ji-yong adhered to two main color tones: a metallic cold tone felt even at midday, and a warm orange tone represented by light sources like old-fashioned lanterns. The former harmonized effectively with natural light, the rough textures of costumes, and the white breath of actors, conveying a realistic feeling.

"Since we filmed in a cold location in midwinter, most of the time it naturally came out that way. The cinematographer’s role was to set the lighting direction appropriately to make it visible. Adding makeup that made frost appear on the actors’ beards around their noses and lips from their breath made it look truly cold."

This was possible thanks to thorough pre-planning. After deciding to use as much natural light as possible, they meticulously checked camera positions, lens choices, and even actors’ movements. Using natural light is different from not using lighting; more effort is required to capture it realistically on camera.

"When shooting natural light, scheduling is the most important. The sun moves relentlessly without waiting. Often, I am ready to shoot, but the overall production is not yet prepared (or vice versa). I have to guide the entire production so that everyone is ready at the time I want to shoot the shot. Even on cloudy days with diffused light, we use black cloths to control contrast. We block negative fill (auxiliary light) or cut diffused light as much as possible."

The resulting images are filled with human wandering and anguish. The powerless King Injo, the trampled and crushed commoners, and the bickering retainers all come across as heavy and solemn throughout. Thus, the faint sprout of hope emerging amid defeat and humiliation is highlighted more poignantly. It is truly a magical effect where language transforms from abstraction to existence.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.