PD Lee Byung-hun's BFFs
Background: Back in 2003-2004 a little drama called Dae Jang Geum (대장금) aka Jewel in the Palace aired in Korea. It was a huge success (that is if you consider getting ratings of over 40% successful). I happened to catch it about a year later on the interwebs and got similarly hooked as well. It was my first sageuk (the term for Korean historical dramas); I actually don't even remember why I decided to watch it. Something piqued my interest and I downloaded the first couple of episodes and BAM. Instant addiction. I actually bought all three dvd volumes from Yesasia and have had marathoned those dvds at least 3 times.
Needless to say it was so good I knew that if I watched a drama by Lee Byung-hun (the director of DJG), it was guaranteed to at least keep me interested if not love it. I soon learned that sageuk dramas were something of a specialty of his and found out that in 2007 he had a new drama called Yi San (이산 - 정조대왕). I semi-watched it concurrently as it aired, and although it was nowhere near as good as DJG I still managed to find some enjoyment out of it.
And now in 2010 LBH has a brand new drama called Dong Yi (동이) or Jewel in the Crown (they've got a thing for having the word "Jewel" in their English titles don't they?). Dong Yi so far is proving to be much better than Yi San, though I will reserve final judgment for when the drama finishes its run. What I have learned from watching these dramas is that you can spot an LBH drama a mile away. Here are some of the tell-tale signs:
1) One of the main characters is usually from a poor background and is scorned for being so, but usually is waaaaay smarter and resilient than most of the conniving, power-hungry aristocrats he/she comes up against.
2) The music - if you compare the tracks of the OSTs from DJG, Yi San, and Dong Yi you'll definitely hear a similar style of music that's used. Heck, some of the minor background tracks from DJG made their way into Yi San.
3) Scene transitions - LBH has this habit of starting scenes with some sort of action: people sitting down and sliding into frame, people repeating information that they just heard from someone and having that person confirm the information (e.g. "What? So-and-so killed someone?" --> "Yes sir, so-and-so killed someone"), reaction shots (horror, shock, etc.), people walking around to make the scene (usually a palace or army) look busy, people talking to each other to make it look like some huge gossip is going around, etc. etc. It's cheesy, but I sorta find it endearing.
4) Casting his best friends in supporting roles. Who are these people you may ask? Well click on the cut to find out!
I've actually only watched DJG, Yi San, and Dong Yi. I have not watched Huh Joon (also about a physician in Joseon era Korea). I found the screen shots online posted by a user named "donilpark" here: http://deiner.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=daejanggeum&action=display&thread=3143
I also happen to know that LBH has got way more dramas than the four depicted above, so I don't know for sure if the patterns I mentioned above have occurred in all of them, but I think it's safe to say they do. Either way, I think it's sort of a hoot to see these people over and over, especially so many of them. I know there's a couple of other people who I haven't posted, but I can't find comparison screen shots of them since their roles were so minor and I'm not about to sift through all those episodes just to find out (DJG had 54, Yi San had 77 and each episodes usually runs around 1 hour).
I actually like the fact that LBH has his own troupe of actors he uses in all his dramas because it helps me not hate them so much. I try not to confuse the character with the actor, but sometimes it's really hard to remember that if an actor/actress has done a good job of portraying his/her character. For example, I was surprised to find out that the man who plays Choi Pan-sol (Lady Choi(최상궁)'s uncle) in DJG is actually a pretty humorous fellow as was made evident in his bumbling eunuch role in Yi San and as the kind hearted music bureau official in Dong Yi.
I imagine that LBH has a big party at his house a few months after his last drama airs with all these people and goes, "Welp, time to make another drama! What do you guys think I should do this time?" LOL
Needless to say it was so good I knew that if I watched a drama by Lee Byung-hun (the director of DJG), it was guaranteed to at least keep me interested if not love it. I soon learned that sageuk dramas were something of a specialty of his and found out that in 2007 he had a new drama called Yi San (이산 - 정조대왕). I semi-watched it concurrently as it aired, and although it was nowhere near as good as DJG I still managed to find some enjoyment out of it.
And now in 2010 LBH has a brand new drama called Dong Yi (동이) or Jewel in the Crown (they've got a thing for having the word "Jewel" in their English titles don't they?). Dong Yi so far is proving to be much better than Yi San, though I will reserve final judgment for when the drama finishes its run. What I have learned from watching these dramas is that you can spot an LBH drama a mile away. Here are some of the tell-tale signs:
1) One of the main characters is usually from a poor background and is scorned for being so, but usually is waaaaay smarter and resilient than most of the conniving, power-hungry aristocrats he/she comes up against.
2) The music - if you compare the tracks of the OSTs from DJG, Yi San, and Dong Yi you'll definitely hear a similar style of music that's used. Heck, some of the minor background tracks from DJG made their way into Yi San.
3) Scene transitions - LBH has this habit of starting scenes with some sort of action: people sitting down and sliding into frame, people repeating information that they just heard from someone and having that person confirm the information (e.g. "What? So-and-so killed someone?" --> "Yes sir, so-and-so killed someone"), reaction shots (horror, shock, etc.), people walking around to make the scene (usually a palace or army) look busy, people talking to each other to make it look like some huge gossip is going around, etc. etc. It's cheesy, but I sorta find it endearing.
4) Casting his best friends in supporting roles. Who are these people you may ask? Well click on the cut to find out!
I've actually only watched DJG, Yi San, and Dong Yi. I have not watched Huh Joon (also about a physician in Joseon era Korea). I found the screen shots online posted by a user named "donilpark" here: http://deiner.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=daejanggeum&action=display&thread=3143
I also happen to know that LBH has got way more dramas than the four depicted above, so I don't know for sure if the patterns I mentioned above have occurred in all of them, but I think it's safe to say they do. Either way, I think it's sort of a hoot to see these people over and over, especially so many of them. I know there's a couple of other people who I haven't posted, but I can't find comparison screen shots of them since their roles were so minor and I'm not about to sift through all those episodes just to find out (DJG had 54, Yi San had 77 and each episodes usually runs around 1 hour).
I actually like the fact that LBH has his own troupe of actors he uses in all his dramas because it helps me not hate them so much. I try not to confuse the character with the actor, but sometimes it's really hard to remember that if an actor/actress has done a good job of portraying his/her character. For example, I was surprised to find out that the man who plays Choi Pan-sol (Lady Choi(최상궁)'s uncle) in DJG is actually a pretty humorous fellow as was made evident in his bumbling eunuch role in Yi San and as the kind hearted music bureau official in Dong Yi.
I imagine that LBH has a big party at his house a few months after his last drama airs with all these people and goes, "Welp, time to make another drama! What do you guys think I should do this time?" LOL