'Descendants of the Sun' rewrites K-drama history
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Scenes from the Korean drama “Descendants of the Sun” / Courtesy of KBS
By Park Jin-hai
KBS’ latest romance drama "Descendants of the Sun" is writing a new history both here and in China.
The 16-episode drama starring stars Song Joong-ki and Song Hye-kyo is poised to become the next hallyu (Korean wave) success after a nearly two-year void since the hugely popular SBS drama “My Love from the Star.”
The fourth episode, aired Thursday, posted a 24.1 percent viewer rating, with watchers predicting that it could easily surpass the record of “My Love from the Star” which closed its last episode with a record viewer rating of 28.1 percent.
In China, “Descendants of the Sun” has reached 120 million views on Chinese online video platform IQiyi as of Thursday. Chinese online media outlet Sina, describing the drama’s growing popularity in China, said that "Descendants of the Sun" has become the most-mentioned Korean drama on social media, comparing it with "My Love from the Star," which starred Jun Ji-hyun and Kim Soo-hyun.
Local industry watchers say that the drama’s success has more meaning beyond skyrocketing viewer ratings.
Poster for “Descendants of the Sun” / Courtesy of KBS
Unlike other Korean dramas, where scripts are issued just a day prior to filming and editing is left until a few hours before the episode is due to air, this drama has adopted “early filming.”
For this drama, the greater part of the shooting took place, or will take place, before the first episode airs, or is set to air. Beginning filming early for a TV series is convenient for the producers and actors, because the actors don't need to pull all-nighters and can buy enough time to understand and build a character, while producers also have the time to make sure every scene is of high quality.
Local networks had tried “early filming” before “Descendants of the Sun,” but they were mostly unsuccessful.
“There were early filmed dramas before us, but they were largely made before they secured a broadcasting time and were weak on casting, lacking star actors and actresses,” said Bae Kyung-soo, a KBS chief producer.
Early filming increased costs, being completed before the sales of the drama were guaranteed, which could drive production firms to bankruptcy.
Bae said the starting point for the “Descendants of the Sun” has been different from other early-filmed dramas and that was made possible due to “China money.”
Although KBS remains tightlipped on the sales price of the drama, 5 billon won ― more than one-third of the total 13 billion won production cost ― came from China.
It has been said IQiyi paid nearly $250,000 to $300,000 for each episode, before filming began. The precondition for the purchase was that the show would be broadcast in China nearly simultaneously to in Korea. Each episode in China is aired to paid viewers one hour after airing in Korea.
The near-simultaneous broadcast was mostly possible because of early filming and because China regulates Korean drama imports, with each drama going through a preliminary review to be aired there.
Bang Yeon-ju, a culture critic, said the China money could be a double-edged sword. “The China money that flew to the local real estate market in the past has headed to the drama and entertainment industry. Early filming is great in that it improves working conditions for actors and actresses as well as quality of the drama,” she said. “But, the money could dissipate in two or three years. At the same time, if producers make dramas, being too conscious of Chinese viewers catering to their tastes, we could lose the uniqueness of our content.”
The number of Korean dramas exported to China has been increasing. According to data from the Korea Communications Commission and the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning, a total of 17,721 Korean dramas were exported to China in 2014, from 9,346 in 2013 and 3,389 in 2012.
The total drama exports soared to $47.23 million in 2014 from $9.7 million 2012.