Park Chan-wook, Apple team up for short film 'Life is But a Dream'

From left, cinematographer Kim Woo-hyung, actors Yoo Hai-jin, Kim Ok-vin, director Park Chan-wook and actor Park Jeong-min pose during an online press conference for the film, "Life is But a Dream." Courtesy of Apple

By Kwak Yeon-soo

Park Chan-wook has teamed up with Apple to create a short film "Life is But a Dream" shot entirely on the latest iPhones.

The 21-minute "Life is But a Dream" opens with a spooky scene then slowly reveals itself to be part fantasy, part martial arts and part musical. It also features "pansori" (a traditional Korean musical narrative) and "madanggeuk" (a traditional Korean outdoor play) to tell a supernatural-based tale featuring both a ghost wedding and funeral.

Shot on the iPhone 13 Pro, it follows the story of an undertaker (Yoo Hai-jin) who digs up an abandoned grave to steal a coffin for the burial of a warrior (Kim Ok-vin) who had died saving a village.

While digging, he accidentally awakens the ghost of an ancient swordsman (Park Jeong-min). When the ghost tries to take back its coffin, it rouses the warrior's spirit. The two ghosts initially fight over the coffin, but eventually decide to get married and share it.

"It's not easy to dive deeper into genre experiments in a full-length feature film because it costs a lot of money and there is a lot of pressure. When making short films, I have creative freedom," he said during an online press conference for the film, Friday.

Park is now best known for his feature films, but he has continued to make short films even after achieving box office successes with "Oldboy," "Thirst" and "Handmaiden."

"In 2011, my brother (Park Chan-kyong) and I made a 33-minutes long film 'Night Fishing' on an iPhone 4. I have great memories about working on a short film, and they motivate me to keep making more short films," he said. "Night Fishing" won the Golden Bear for short film at the 61st Berlin International Film Festival.

A scene from the film "Life is But a Dream" / Courtesy of Apple

The internationally acclaimed director elaborated on the meaning behind the title. "Coming up with a great film title is always tough. 'Life is But a Dream' actually has a double meaning based on how you interpret it ― either life can be empty but beautiful, or life is beautiful but somehow empty," he explained.

Park and cinematographer Kim Woo-hyung utilized the iPhone 13 Pro to capture visually stunning scenes. The two previously worked together on AMC's series "The Little Drummer Girl."

"Everyone wants to work with Park. It was an honor to work with him again. Shooting with an iPhone 13 Pro was a fun experience. The biggest difference is that the iPhone doesn't require any ancillary pieces of equipment. It was very lightweight, which made it very accessible for any situation that came up," Kim said.

The production team employed several features of Apple's iPhone 13 Pro, including the cinematic mode, macro video, night mode, ultra-wide camera and optical image stabilization. "We were able to create cinematic shots and moods just like the movies when they use traditional camera equipment," the cinematographer added.

Actor Yoo said collaborating with Park was one of his dreams as an actor. On appearing in a film shot with a smartphone, he said, "Honestly, I didn't have high expectations about the final product of the film. I wasn't so confident about the quality of the film, but I realized that it was just my needless worrying."

Kim Ok-vin, who rose to fame through Park's "Thirst," explained how the filming process was different when shot with the technologically advanced smartphone.

"I initially had some doubts about whether or not the small lenses of an iPhone would be able to capture the scenes properly. But I came to enjoy working with the iPhones on set due to their mobility. I became less conscious of the cameras' presence, and that helped me focus more on my performance" she said.

"Life is But a Dream" can be streamed for free on Apple's official YouTube channel and AppleTV+.

Park will be directing HBO's upcoming series "The Sympathizers."

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