By Park Jin-hai
Song Jae-jung, 45, who wrote the country's first augmented reality-gaming drama "Memories of the Alhambra," said her drama was inspired by tech mogul Elon Musk and the "Pokemon Go" game.
"I happened to read Elon Musk's autobiography and his life story inspired me to create the male lead of the drama," the writer said during a press conference at FKI Tower in Seoul, Tuesday. "I seldom read storytelling-focused books like novels. Instead I read humanities books and magazines. I'm drawn to stories of real figures and how they live this world… some extraordinary figures living abroad."
The fantasy thriller tells the story of Yoo Jin-woo ― played by Hyun Bin ― a young CEO of a private equity group that invests in the IT industry, who happens to play a genius AR game and realizes how enchanting and realistic the AR gaming world can be.
But the game gets bugged and its virtual world encroaches on the real world, turning the game's magic into a curse; when a player gets injured in the game, they suffer real pain. Killing an opponent in the game's world causes real death.
The 16-part weekend drama with two more episodes left brings drama aficionados into the experimental world of AR with high-end computer graphics, cinematography and fast-paced storytelling. Its viewership averages 10 percent.
"When I first played Pokemon Go, I thought it was really cool. It gave me an eye-opening moment," said Song, who calls herself part of the "game generation."
"Before I thought I would not be able to depict virtual reality in my drama if I didn't secure a budget as big as films like Avatar or Ready Player One. But Pokemon Go made me think I may be able to write a virtual reality story using AR technology."
Her idea expanded and made her wonder what it would be like if people faced an advanced version of Pokemon Go in the streets. "Some may get frightened and others may fall in love with it. Maybe some could feel as if they don't have to go through the troubles of finding dates or friends. I was overwhelmed and frightened by the technological development," the writer said.
Song started her career as a sitcom writer in 1996. She has worked on various sitcoms including "Soonpoong Clinic" (1998-2000) and "High Kick!" (2006-2007).
She became a drama writer in 2010 and her freewheeling imagination and atypical writing style has made her one of the most-sought-after writers today. Her previous two popular fantasy dramas "Queen and I" (2012) and "Nine" (2013) tell time-slip stories. "W-Two Worlds" (2016) goes back and forth between the real world and another dimension, the world of the webcomic.
The writer says her unique drama plot stems from her over-10-year career as a sitcom writer. "As a young sitcom writer, I spent many years away from drama. I was not a big drama fan and was more into books and films. I didn't get the proper training to become a drama writer. Unlike other mini-series drama writers, I write each episode thinking of a separate small story with an ending like a sitcom. Then elements of the films and books I've seen and read get incorporated," she said calling herself a "hybrid writer."
"I take the liberty to choose what can be told, say, a human falling in love with an alien, but I pursue realism in expressing human feelings. So depicting their feelings leading to love should be done as realistically as possible," Song said.
She added that while she was working on the drama, she was really impressed by Korean digital special effects technicians' skills.
"I was afraid of taking on the challenge of AR gaming genre. Since there was no prior drama to take reference, people I've talked with painted different pictures in their heads. But when I first saw the first episode, it was really beyond my expectations how realistically those technicians embodied the AR world in the drama," she said. "Memories of the Alhambra introduced the AR genre to viewers, applying only basic gaming concepts like doing missions, level-ups and alliances. I think maybe I can tell another gaming story in my next project applying more advanced gaming rules."
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| Writer Song Jae-jung speaks about her fantasy thriller "Memories of the Alhambra" during a press conference at FKI Tower in Seoul, Tuesday. Courtesy of CJ ENM |
"I happened to read Elon Musk's autobiography and his life story inspired me to create the male lead of the drama," the writer said during a press conference at FKI Tower in Seoul, Tuesday. "I seldom read storytelling-focused books like novels. Instead I read humanities books and magazines. I'm drawn to stories of real figures and how they live this world… some extraordinary figures living abroad."
The fantasy thriller tells the story of Yoo Jin-woo ― played by Hyun Bin ― a young CEO of a private equity group that invests in the IT industry, who happens to play a genius AR game and realizes how enchanting and realistic the AR gaming world can be.
But the game gets bugged and its virtual world encroaches on the real world, turning the game's magic into a curse; when a player gets injured in the game, they suffer real pain. Killing an opponent in the game's world causes real death.
The 16-part weekend drama with two more episodes left brings drama aficionados into the experimental world of AR with high-end computer graphics, cinematography and fast-paced storytelling. Its viewership averages 10 percent.
"When I first played Pokemon Go, I thought it was really cool. It gave me an eye-opening moment," said Song, who calls herself part of the "game generation."
"Before I thought I would not be able to depict virtual reality in my drama if I didn't secure a budget as big as films like Avatar or Ready Player One. But Pokemon Go made me think I may be able to write a virtual reality story using AR technology."
Her idea expanded and made her wonder what it would be like if people faced an advanced version of Pokemon Go in the streets. "Some may get frightened and others may fall in love with it. Maybe some could feel as if they don't have to go through the troubles of finding dates or friends. I was overwhelmed and frightened by the technological development," the writer said.
Song started her career as a sitcom writer in 1996. She has worked on various sitcoms including "Soonpoong Clinic" (1998-2000) and "High Kick!" (2006-2007).
She became a drama writer in 2010 and her freewheeling imagination and atypical writing style has made her one of the most-sought-after writers today. Her previous two popular fantasy dramas "Queen and I" (2012) and "Nine" (2013) tell time-slip stories. "W-Two Worlds" (2016) goes back and forth between the real world and another dimension, the world of the webcomic.
The writer says her unique drama plot stems from her over-10-year career as a sitcom writer. "As a young sitcom writer, I spent many years away from drama. I was not a big drama fan and was more into books and films. I didn't get the proper training to become a drama writer. Unlike other mini-series drama writers, I write each episode thinking of a separate small story with an ending like a sitcom. Then elements of the films and books I've seen and read get incorporated," she said calling herself a "hybrid writer."
"I take the liberty to choose what can be told, say, a human falling in love with an alien, but I pursue realism in expressing human feelings. So depicting their feelings leading to love should be done as realistically as possible," Song said.
She added that while she was working on the drama, she was really impressed by Korean digital special effects technicians' skills.
"I was afraid of taking on the challenge of AR gaming genre. Since there was no prior drama to take reference, people I've talked with painted different pictures in their heads. But when I first saw the first episode, it was really beyond my expectations how realistically those technicians embodied the AR world in the drama," she said. "Memories of the Alhambra introduced the AR genre to viewers, applying only basic gaming concepts like doing missions, level-ups and alliances. I think maybe I can tell another gaming story in my next project applying more advanced gaming rules."
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