If there's anything I'll be happy to admit, it's definitely to having a sweet tooth. Buy me a cream mocha? You won me over. Match it with a chocolate chip cookie, or chocolate cake? Please, you spoil me!
So, it comes as no surprise that I started the day with a cream mocha coffee, and an injeolmi cheesecake. Injeolmi [인절미] is a Korean traditional rice cake made from glutinous rice and coated with bean flour. Not exactly the healthy breakfast I would recommend to have, but it's been a long time since I visited the cafe' making this cake, which is appropriately named 'The Pie Hole'. Their chocolate cake is heavenly, but, alas, there was none to be had at the time I visited.
Yummy indeed
Quaint decor
I was keen to go shooting yet my nerves were playing up. I reckon I haven't shot anything for Seoul Stories for almost over 3 months, so this was exciting. However, I've been working at a place where I relinquished almost, if not completely, all of my control over the shooting aspect, and that, unfortunately, left a bit of a psychological mark.
Being back in the "director's" role, so to speak, felt like a daunting task. Unlike my micromanager of an ex-boss, I make sure I allow enough space for my subjects to experiment and suggest ideas themselves. Here I am already double-guessing myself, wondering if it's going to be okay, if I'm going to film all the material that's needed. It is definitely a question of getting used again to this amount of freedom and reclaiming my confidence. With that mind, off I head towards south eastern Seoul, in an area known as Jamsil [잠실].
On the way
I met the subject at the destination, went to their home to record their interview and film them at work. I took my sweet time to get as many angles as possible. Part of this shoot's challenge was to not show the face of the artist since they requested to remain anonymous. Then we headed out around the area, to shoot them in their surroundings.
The artist's shadow
At Seoul Olympic Park
These are some stills from the shoot with a rough basic grade on them. I did focus a lot of time on the work aspect, so when we went out, it was almost 4.30pm and since winter is approaching, the sun tends to set quite early here.
All in all everything was going okay, however, I have to admit I wasn't totally convinced with myself. The locations were great, the subject as well, yet something felt... off? Missing? The subject was nice enough to assure me that I didn't need to film everything in one go, which is ideal. It's just that sometimes I try not to take as much time from my subjects, knowing that they too need to attend to their day-to-day plans. I wouldn't be surprised that it must also be a residue from my previous workplace. In any case, just having the artist telling me it would be okay helped me attenuate my uneasiness even more.
Lotte World Tower
We agreed to meet the next day (today!) to shoot the day stuff. The artist and I being both Mediterranean, we decided to go for an evening coffee at a place nearby. Another mocha coffee in my system.
We discussed some of the points the artist made during the interview. That is something I was extremely satisfied about - it gleans into the charm of not just Seoul, but Korea in general, for creatives like us. The artist also provided a bit of a socio-political observation of the way things are going back in Europe. I thought to myself "This video won't be that shit after all!"
Evening coffee
It was time for the last leg of filming. Seoul at night, at least for me, changes character almost completely - hundreds of people socializing, eating and drinking the night away, updating each other with the latest gossip, letting steam off and just washing away the stress of the day with shots of soju. Of course, we also didn't miss out on some BBQ action ourselves.
Juicy, juicy pork belly
Jamsil at night
Bokehlicious
The neon signs are just dazzling, and contribute so much to the atmosphere. Ah yes, you must be wondering who this artist might be. Well...
I can only tell you to wait until the video is out on the Seoul Stories YouTube channel. You can check the other episodes in the meantime! Until then I'll keep you posted with other projects and updates... and I am also quite late to the shoot! I'm off and catch you later!