Inside the Fast Turnarounds and Wild Stories of Live-Shoot K-Dramas
The more k-dramas I watch, the more impressive it is to know how the sausage is made.
Part of the fun in movies and TV is studying how they write and shoot; in the case of k-dramas, some are fully pre-produced, but the ones which aren’t are usually still shooting the middle episodes when the show premieres, meaning they still can rewrite, tweak, change the final episodes before they shoot and edit and mix and colour correct and master said episodes . . . which often air only seven to fifteen weeks from when the first episode. You can see a little more about the logistics here, but know that is a wild schedule even by reality TV standards, let alone a scripted drama with costumes and stunts and custom art and more.
In this post for Ramyeon and Chill, we look at how k-drama writers and production teams adapt everything from plot to product placement within weeks between the shows premiere and finale’s airing, but specifically how that impacts the final product, from plot cohesion to front-loading many action sequences (and re-using footage later) to requiring expositional scenes.
In a few week I’m going to look at W [also known as Two Worlds Apart], as it was an entirely pre-produced show, and see what some of the advantages or differences are in that type of show.
Meanwhile, both My Secret Terrius and W are on Netflix, best enjoyed with ramyeon and chill.
