There is a popular cultural phenomenon that has assumed significance across the globe. You get a glimpse of the Korean culture and lifestyle as the narrative unfolds in its usually limited series format. To illustrate the idea, think of a romance novel that casts a spell on you and binds you to the screen through its vast disciplines such as cinematography to direction, production design, music production and far more.

There has been a considerable discussion internationally on the role that creative industries play as a technique. The discussion is on how small market industries can revive stagnant urban economies among those sectors that form part of the creative industries like the filming sector. Ultimately, these debates are conducted with reference to the massive industries. Little attention has been placed on the role of the arena within the developing entertainment industry, especially in South Africa. In order for our showbiz industry to occupy space, we all must observe what the Korean market is doing so well that the Eastern entertainment industry is exceeding the Western demand. Korean dramas have succeeded in having relationships with other economic and social geographies. The rise of on-demand streaming platforms like TvN (A Korean streaming channel that has also been introduced through one of South Africa’s broadcasters – DStv) and Netflix has widened the reach and recognition of South Korean dramas. More people started talking about the world stage of The Republic of Korea after the Oscar wins of Parasite (2019). The Korean drama series, referred to as K-Dramas, is not far behind and has increasingly gained an audience through its profile and quality. It has won investments/endorsements and fans across the world. These shows have a good range of themes, from Romance (Start-up), Fantasy (Goblin), High school dramas (Love Alarm) to Mystery, Historical and Action. The increase also takes credit from the worldwide pandemic.

Whilst the world’s lockdown(s) did force lots of families/individuals inside and into the clutches of streaming platforms, it also built the desire for “new” forms of content that viewers might not have otherwise tried out. There are a limited number of series and films on Netflix that one is instinctively drawn to. It is with such an outcome then that the supply of your typical form of content has dried out, many people look for something significantly different, instead of more of the comparable. This is often where Korean dramas benefited greatly from the increased viewership. People that had never watched anything like this particular genre before are now being exposed to Korean titles on a more regular basis. This suggests that certain series or films were quick to spread like wildfire through “word of mouth”. The overwhelming majority of Korean dramas on Netflix have an incredible production value. This not only makes each series extremely desirable to watch, but it provides a comforting level of expectation from viewers. Knowing that a series is well-created makes it more appealing to watch. To achieve a good series, it is all dependent on aspects like the set design and costume choices all the way to the technical part of the filming and final production process. It feels like every single Korean series on these platforms has benefited from a large number of resources, effort and details that are placed into making them a spectacular overall production. One of my favourite hit series (Goblin) was one that truly hit this nail on the head when it comes to the assembly of the production. There was high-resolution cinematography, many extras in well-executed makeup styling, historically-accurate costumes and highly detailed sets. All of that gave the look of a Hollywood blockbuster film. Amongst others there was ‘The World of the Married’ being one of the many dramas to come out in 2020 and make a large impact to the point where more people invested their time into watching K-Dramas. This series made a large impact on social media platforms like Twitter. These productions are accompanied by a dedicated soundtrack that plays throughout the series. The standard of the music and editing is incredible across different series, which is remarkable considering the sheer number of various studios involved in these productions.

Another major element that the Koreans implement in dramas is the casting. The actors and their performances are largely a critical part of any series or film. It can often be the difference between a great show and an average show. The casting and the acting in the majority of Korean dramas on Netflix are, for the large part, phenomenal. It is a spectrum, from romantic series that make you fall for the main characters to horror genres that give you the chills.

The acting is almost always on point. These artists truly embrace their characters and it has become rare to see a less-than-stellar performance from any of them. It appears to be almost effortless for most actors to capture the emotions in their characters. Their performances are the reason why most stories are so compelling – nothing ever appears forced. With the rise of the entertainment industry in Korea, I find that the South African entertainment industry could learn prospective points from the moves that the Koreans have implemented into their work. In the words of Guerrilla

Filmmakers Guild – “The South African Industry is non-sustaining. It is in a creative stalemate; it is propped up by grants and is a by-product of the TV and commercials business.” Our industry should be preparing to take a position in proper production design and costume, make-up and styling departments. It should be compiling an aesthetic department generally for all productions. This would be where research and colour palettes deeply rooted within the Mzansi aesthetic could play as another character altogether in all productions. This factor in itself can change the value of productions. K-Dramas emphasize this factor and I find that it brings up the value of their productions. Speaking of aesthetic choices, the Korean industry knows its aesthetic. The rest of the world takes what they present. They do not compromise or attempt to duplicate pre-existing aesthetic choices, especially when it does not feed their production. As an example, K-Dramas typically go for the hyper-real aesthetic: curated almost sterile sets, heavy lighting, shallow depth of field, and a pastel colour grading. These elements make K-Dramas seem dreamy, often mimicking Anime. These dramas also seem to have a shiny and polished (vibrant) look. The directors and cinematographers have the ability to experiment with their camera techniques more, this comes about because of the limited series format of K-Dramas. Directors are free to play with different set-ups without the fear of destroying the visual consistency of a sustained project. Furthermore, the aesthetic they go for in styling is of the favoured Asian trends that have taken the world by storm. Through their castings aesthetic aspect, they implement the glassy dewy skin. The way they style their hair is additionally specific to the Asian community as well as the tailored cool girl/guy modern “fit”. All these choices though not anything exceptional alone, together make these productions exceptional. It is in a sense unfair to compare K-Drama to Western series as an example because Western limited series are very much a different beast. These premium projects have far more money for much less screen time. This allows the production to invest more time, equipment and design for each scene and much more.

The incontrovertible point remains – the fact that K-Dramas stand out without having as much production budgets because the Koreans found their “sweet spot” the way Peaky Blinders stands out besides the various American versions of ‘gangster’ films and series. It is all about the “sweet spot”. One of the reasons that I find the South African industry remaining small is because productions do not take breaks in between seasons. This is often crucial for everyone in the production. It gives writers an opportunity to refresh, find better ideas and obtain the prospect to work on characters. It gives crew members the opportunity to work on different sets to figure out new ways of delivering a narrative through the inspiration of said seasonal production. This alone shows how having breaks could present the opportunity to create more series, thus creating more job opportunities.

Lastly, what the Korean creative space does is collaborate in regards to brands working with productions. Sponsorship marketing in Korea has continued to grow and become one of the fastest-growing forms of marketing in the world. Both (Brand marketing and K-Dramas) are a global phenomenon that have the potential to provide income for the brand business. Large brand companies in South Africa should reach out to productions and invest their products in the space of these works. Brand marketing is good, it creates the opportunity for regulations to loosen its rules on how companies compete in the marketing sector within the country. It also opens the opportunity for international companies to want to invest their brands in our productions. Let me use Samsung for a practical example, almost all of the K-Dramas have Samsung smart phones. This brand is recognizable all over the globe for its quality and sleek designs. It becomes an “eye cleanser” for people outside Korea to associate themselves with the assembly of the production even though the spoken language does not cater for the said audience member. Our productions could use these forms of “eye cleansers” to assist in finding a way into the global production scale.

There are heaps of fans around the world and the majority, from a generalized point, are teenagers and young adults. However, the K-Drama fandom is growing and therefore the explosion of Korean content on Netflix is also the foremost subjective one. I feel we all could learn a tad bit in terms of finding and understanding the primary target audience (the people of our country). We could stay faithful to it and by so letting the authentic work open itself up as a reminder of this country to the rest of the world.