VIP Interview with Jae Won Jung, writer and director of the Short Film ‘Shadow’

Today, we introduce Jae Won Jung a talented screenwriter and director. Her short film Shadow is a creative and philosophical mystery thriller that examines the meaning of existence through the main character’s monologues on life and death. In this interview, we talk about the inspirations and creative process behind the making of this thought-provoking film.

Could you tell us more about your background and your short film Shadow?

My name is Jae Won Jung, and I am the screenwriter and director of the film Shadow. It is an honor to be able to interview with New York International Film Awards Team. To briefly introduce about film Shadow, it began with an aspiring documentary filmmaker Jae-ha who receives an unexpected and incomprehensible offer. The request bespeaks him to secretly chase and film a strange woman’s daily life for three days regarding return that he will be received a huge amount of money. Jae-ha accepts the offer, and the film started as he begins filming the stage actress, Sun-Woo. In my film, varied theatrical elements were included and implied.

What brought you to filmmaking? And when did you first realize that you wanted to become a film director?

First of all, as a person who believes that film is a comprehensive art, I don’t think that there is only one reason why I make films. So, I think the numerous experiences I have had since childhood have helped me greatly in making movies. It feels like each and every process what I had gone through has come together to form a good thing that has brought me to this point.

Looking back, I think the idea of ​​wanting to make a movie came very naturally. First of all, from my parents, I could have the opportunity to live in Munich, Germany when I was child. At that time, my parents were able to learn and experience various cultures by traveling to various cities in Europe.

I believe that these experiences as a child had a different influence on developing a deep artistic desire within me.

My parents always made environment for me to listen the classical music every morning since I was child. And my parents and I naturally started talking about music, and the conversation seemed to naturally connect to literature, history, and culture. I think I learn so many things from my parents. And I think the advice, humor, and sensible conversations my mom gives me on a regular basis have helped me take another leap forward. These conversations become the inspiration for the day and the material or ideas for writing. It’s like a chef at the market constantly researching and looking for ingredients to make good dishes.

Not only my parents tried to teach me that what I saw as a child was not everything, and that rather than defining the essence of something, but also my parents inspired me to create my own world and develop my own perspective by myself. Of course, that this is not the way my parents intended me to become a film director!

So, my parents’ educational style really helped me see things without prejudice and think differently while studying in various fields and had a great influence on me building my own philosophy in my own way and own language.

Due to that influence, I think I am able to express about things in life that may be a little abstract, but approach towards to the essential things a little differently than others. I think I could naturally become a film director as I grew up learning the process of expressing various artistic desires in this environment.

And I also strongly believe that the decisive factors that led me to direct and write a movie were the characters and special events I met in the time and space of New York. The circumstances and atmosphere of New York inspired me to pursue the seriousness of film directing and writing. I think going to New York was incredibly the biggest turning point in my life. There were many difficult moments after I decided to make movies, but I never gave up on my dream.

Thankfully, people around me encouraged me for no reason, telling me that one day you would become a film director and make good films. I persevered really hard to keep my dream, and everything in New York helped me to grow up so that I could make movies. I think it all started naturally. The various fields I have experienced since childhood have made me who I am today. And my mother always supported and praised me for creating good work that contained my sincerity, and also told me that one day, people would recognize my sincerity through my works. When I heard that, I was so moved that i cried. My mother’s sincere support was always a great motivation in helping me get back on my feet whenever I was going through a really difficult time. Everything that allowed me to start my film career was possible thanks to the love of my parents who always believed in me.

The director Jae Won Jung and the official poster of ‘Shadow’

You are multidisciplinary artist engaging in various forms such as photography, painting, and sculpture, video installation work, in addition to film directing and screenwriting. Do you believe these diverse aspects converge when you’re shooting a film, or do you prefer to keep some of these elements separate?

As I mentioned in the question above, I think film is a comprehensive art. I developed my sensibility by studying phenomenological and philosophical photography, film, and abstract painting at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago

I think, I learned how to express myself through various media by learning diverse media such as painting, installation, and sound as well as photography and film, without being limited by my major.

And it influenced my directing of film Shadow without being bound by the typical format of film shooting, such as incorporating theatrical elements into the film or focusing on mise-en-scène.

And I shot the film as the Director of Photography for film Shadow. So, I can say that I was greatly influenced by what I studied in the fields of painting, photography, and film, sculpture, video installation. The composition and colors certainly seem to be greatly influenced by painting.

In particular, I was greatly inspired by the paintings from my favorite painter, Edward Hopper, in terms of colors that determine the perspective and atmosphere in the film. I believe that my studies and experiences in various fields of art have helped me establish a larger direction and insight for my films and my own unique visual language. So, I think that when I shoot the film as a multidisciplinary artist, my experience in these different artistic fields comes together.

Gus Van Sant, Wim Wenders, David Lynch, Peter Greenaway, Wong Kar-wai, and Alfred Hitchcock are all known as film directors who majored in art. And just by looking at the films of these directors, it seems that their diverse experiences in art are combined into one when directing and shooting films.

You also wrote the script for the short film Shadow. What is the inspiration behind it?

As a writer, I continue to write short stories. And based on that short story, I started working on scripts for plays and films. Where we were, which appears as the play that Sun-Woo is practicing in film Shadow, is also one of the play/film scripts based on my short story.

When I was attending to the master program of School of Visual Arts (SVA) in New York, I learned a new direction and caught a major turning point in writing the film Shadow script from screenwriter Alexander Dinelaris who won the Academy Award for Best Screenplay for the movie “Birdman”. Alex Dinelaris was the professor in my screenwriting class, and through his guidance I was able to implement the ideas for Shadow and capture the big picture of the film.

In Shadow I tried the idea of including Where we were as a play within the film. So, Shadow contains a lot of theatrical elements. And while maintaining the structure and style of the thriller genre, I also tried to incorporate poetic, philosophical, and theatrical elements in it.

I completed the first draft of the film in New York. But around that time, I was going through a bit of a slump due to health issues, so I stopped writing for a while. At that time, from the strong recommendation of a friend who had seen the draft of Shadow, I could start writing again to complete the film Shadow. After changing some locations and adding detailed dialogue, the script for Shadow was finally accomplished in Seoul, Korea.

First of all, when I write most of scripts, I tend to describe most of the shooting scenes, describe specific scenes, and analyze characters. I imagine with all five senses in my own place. When I am writing, I try to describe and dimensionalize in great detail regarding temperature of the room, the character’s mood and even actions.

That’s why for me, spatial and temporal experience and character composition are the most important. And it seems like all of those things are created from my experiences and emotions. Therefore, my time-space experience and character composition really have a huge impact when I write. Once that part is decided, I start writing very quickly. In my head, even the main character’s unique movements and actions are already starting to be conceived. So, as a cinematographer, I strictly follow the completed script when filming.

When writing a script like this, I imagine most of the camera composition, camera colors, actors’ movements, and the flow of the film, and write it over time, and I think I start filming with the almost completed writing. I had the opportunity to travel to Munich, Germany right before filming Shadow. On that trip, I happened to meet a My first love, who was in the same class as me in the 6th grade of elementary school again after 20 years such as like the film ‘Past Lives’.

The friend I met when I was young and whom I had never seen since my friend left to Germany, and I lived in Korea, and then moved to New York. We lived in different times and places for 20 years, and by chance, we were able to meet and talk for the first time in 20 years. The amazing experiences and memories of that day were like fate to me. And I was so inspired to meet my friend that day. And those scenes have been remained in my mind for a long time.

Right before filming Shadow, I was able to come back and finish most of the lines in film Shadow, based on my memory. Originally, there were lines, but I was able to complete a monologue that focused more on Sun-Woo’s character. Sun-Woo’s character analysis was also completed in more depth. In this way, I think I was able to create more three-dimensional and specific lines based on my experiences. Perhaps, it is no exaggeration to say that the completion of the specific lines in the film Shadow came from everything that happened on that night in Munich.

Your cinematography is truly stunning in the film, especially during some of Sun-Woo’s monologues. It has a theatrical quality that aligns perfectly with her background as a theater actor. How does painting / photography contribute to the narrative of the film?

I tried to make the film Shadow as much an extension of my painting and photography work as possible. I was inspired by the big idea of filming from painting, and also I received advice from my professor, Painter Tsbi Geva, about the composition and placement in large-scale painting work, energy distribution, and working with the same proportions as film screen, etc. And those perspective was also applied to film work. I had a solo exhibition at a gallery in the New York Lower East Side. The title of the individual exhibition was “Light: Cut to Black“. In general film terminology, “(cut to black)” is usually used to create an abrupt transition, or sometimes to stop a scene. Since it is not a “fade” or “dissolve,” but rather a sudden transition to black. I brought these ideas, etc. to the painting. Painters Gary Stephan and Professor James Sienna, who were teaching me at that time, created the titles for the paintings by taking my background in film into consideration. I also attempted to convey various meanings as an extension of the painting work, and tried to naturally connect with theatrical elements to combine classic camera shooting techniques and aesthetic narrative camera work. And usually, when writing a script, I tend to write down time, space, camera technique, composition, character movement, etc. for each scene in very specific detail. Specific lines may be modified or added, but in some ways, I think I’m trying to pursue extreme perfection in expressing the content or scene from the beginning. As I was writing the film Shadow Script, I already had specific scenes in my mind to make a film, and I wrote them all in the script. Therefore, I tend to be very specific during the writing process about what kind of scene will appear. So I think I prefer filming it myself more than anything else.

As a director, where do you get your inspiration from?

I get inspiration from music I enjoy or unexpected events in life. I believe that writers and film directors must express their lived experiences in their own words. In that respect, I think my authentic experiences are the most important source of inspiration for me. I had the opportunity to travel to Munich before filming Shadow. Those unexpected times gave me great inspiration in completing film Shadow script.

Also, when I write, I look for and listen to music that allows me to feel and remember the moments I experienced. Then, those moments come back to life, and then I started to get inspired which often leads me to write detailed lines or scenes.

The biggest inspiration I got to make the film Shadow was came from Adagietto from Symphony No. 5 in C-sharp minor by Gustav Mahler’s. To me, this music seems to maintain a distance between certain emotions without crossing the line between each other. And within the second theme melody of this music, “Funf Lieder nach Gedichten von Friedrich Ruckert,” the sentence which is “Ich bin der Welt abhanden gekommen” also gave a motif for the film. Mahler’s music explores death, life after death, salvation, existence, and sadness, that is, the polar opposites of life and death. That part is the same as trying to explore the meaning of existence through the protagonist Sun-Woo’s monologue about life and death in film Shadow. So, film Shadow was really influenced and inspired by Adagietto from Symphony No. 5 in C-sharp minor.

What was the message you wanted to deliver through this film?

I am interested in and write about the dark and bright parts of human inner side, that is, the exploration and reflection on the duality of human nature and human psychology.

I tried to think about the meaning of life and death through Sun-Woo’s monologue. Sun-Woo metaphorically expresses the duality of human psychology through light and shadow. Ultimately, in film Shadow, I wanted to reflect the duality and finitude of humans through the disappearance of shadows along with the disappearing light.

And in the film Shadow, we wanted to use Jae-ha’s voyeuristic gaze as a metaphor for the psychology of the audience watching the film.

I thought that the camera angle and movement in the space divided into inside and outside the camera would give the audience a sense of participation.

So, I thought that by combining classical camera techniques and aesthetic narrative camerawork while combining theatrical elements, the audience would be able to enjoy the thrill of a unique voyeuristic perspective.

Which directors inspire you the most?

‘Birdman’ by Alejandro González Iñárritu, ’The Handmaiden’ by Park Chan-wook, ‘M’ by Fritz Lang, ‘Paris, Texas’ by Wim Wenders, ‘Blue Velvet’ by David Lynch, ‘Persona’ by Ingmar Bergman While watching the above films, I think I received encouragement and stimulation while writing the script, directing, and making the film Shadow. I was really inspired by the female protagonist (Seo Rae) of “Decision to Leave” by Park Chan-wook, which I recently watched. I think I really learned a lot from watching the distance between emotions and compassion for the characters, and director Park Chan-wook’s mise-en-scène. I also thought that the female protagonist, Seo Rae, had some similarities to Sun-Woo from the film Shadow. I thought it would be good for the audience to feel a sense of mystery and danger in the gap/distance of empathy where they can appropriately feel sad for Sun-Woo, even if it is not desperate. However, actually I’m influenced more by music, real-life experiences, and other artistic fields mentioned above than by films. In particular, I was greatly inspired and motivated by Edward Hopper’s painting that I saw at the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York for the composition, the colors, and the perspective from which Jae-ha secretly takes pictures of Sun-Woo in the film Shadow. The sad and tragic ending was greatly influenced by “The Seagull” Play by Anton Chekhov and “The Raven” Poem by Edgar Allan Poe.

In the film, we see the poster of a play, ‘Where We Were,’ giving us the sense of a play within the play. Is it a real play? If so, could you tell us more about it?

‘Where we were’, a play within a film, was originally created as a play and a film script. Some of it was included as the part of the film Shadow.

It is a play and a film script which is about, a long time ago in New York, an actress and a photographer met by chance and talked to each other until morning and contained the time since then.

So, before filming, I thought that the actress should have a deep understanding of the plot of the play ‘Where we were’ and the characters’ emotions. There were many parts of ‘Where we were’ that were abstract and difficult to digest, so the actress was required to have great understanding of ‘Where we were’, which is a play within a film, including character analysis, dialogue, voice, and play structure. So, I had to constantly communicate with the actress. As we communicated with each other, actress Se In Park’s character, Sun-Woo, became more and more concrete.

Actress Se In Park cleverly did her filming without making a single mistake on set, and I really enjoyed every moment of filming with her.

Because the filming was done with such strong trust, actress Se In Park played the monologue scene and Sun-Woo’s character from the film Shadow just as I wanted.

Korean actors and movies have been receiving a lot of attention recently. Is there a specific actor or actress you would like to work with if you get the chance?

Actors/Actress I’ve always really liked are Chinese actress “Tang Wei” and Japanese actress “Chizuru Ikewaki” and “Yu Aoi”. These days, many great Korean actors and actress the film industry are receiving a lot of attention, I really work with korean actor Suk-ku Son and Teo Yoo but I really want to find and work with great actors who are not yet well known in Korea.

What are you currently working on? Where do you see yourself in the next 10 years?

These days I am a multidisciplinary working on painting, installation, and photography. I have a plan for solo exhibition at a museum in Korea in this summer.

I can’t really predict what I will be like in another 10 years from now. However, I will continue to work hard as an artist and write as a writer just like now. And I would like to direct a feature film based in Korea and the United States using a script I wrote. And I think I will definitely write and film a romance thriller related film in particular.

Just as I have learned a lot from really good mentors, I want to teach students based on my diverse experience and many things they do not know or have never experienced.

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