SF8: Manxin director No Duk shared the behind-the-scenes stories of the production.
SF8 is an SF Anthology series and will tell the story of a near-future where people dream of a perfect world with technological developments. Directed by No Duk, best known for films Very Ordinary Couple and The Exclusive: Beat the Devil’s Tattoo, SF8: Manxin is the story of those who chase after the true nature of fortune-telling service called Manxin.
Q1. How do you feel about participating in the project?
I’ve always wanted to do SF someday, but I couldn’t plan it hastily and only thought about it. So I felt like it was going to be a great opportunity.
Q2. How did you want to melt the subject of fortune-telling in the SF genre, and what did you care the most in expressing it in actual images?
Since it’s set in near-future, I thought it would be good to have similar operations with the current apps. Since fortune-telling service is ironically a program that worries about human beings, I tried to embody the image of an actual human.
Q3. Lee Yeon Hee’s new transformation is quite impressive.
Looking at her filmography, I thought that she might actually be a brave person who can confront her fear. Rather than casting her for certain images, I guessed that Lee Yeon Hee’s characters would match well with the images of To Sun Ho. So instead of creating something new, I focused on how to show what she already has.
Q4. What did you pay the most attention to when directing?
I didn’t want to drag the topic, and wanted to deliver it not too seriously but also not too lightly. The keyword “fate” could harm the characteristics of the SF genre, so I tried to express it boldly in art. I wanted to approach the costumes, makeup, and space more irregularly and convey lethargic and dystopia-like feelings that show “fatalistic view of the world” rather than typical SF-related images. Overall, we produced the film hoping that the “littleness of individual human beings in this great world” that we feel every moment in our lives will be revealed, but not in a gloomy view.
Q5. Which of the seven other works was the most interesting?
It was SF8: Baby It’s Over Outside. It was well-organized, and the details about pleasant and lovely characters were meticulous. Overall, I enjoyed it from the beginning to the end cause it held on to the sophisticated sense and the topic throughout the show.
Q6. What message do you want to convey through “Manxin”?
Some things just happen in life. It’s not your fault. The rest of your life will go according to your will. So take courage.
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