In this blog post, I’ll summarize the experiences and insights I gained from studying film directing in high school, as well as through school activities and collaboration.
Academic Experience and Reflections
In high school, I enrolled in the Animation and Film Directing Department to study filmmaking and directing professionally. During middle school, I had studied documentaries and short films on my own and created works through self-study. Despite my limited skills at the time, I was accepted into the program because the originality of my screenplays and my potential as a filmmaker were recognized.
After enrollment, I was satisfied that I could systematically study the fields I was most eager to explore. The school was equipped with facilities that would be difficult to access on my own—such as professional studios, sound rooms, and broadcast control rooms—which significantly improved my working environment.
The curriculum covered a broad range of topics related to directing, from video planning and screenwriting to filming techniques, advancements in production technology, and video analysis. Rather than simply listening to lectures, I was able to immediately apply this knowledge through hands-on practice with my peers.
When working through the entire process on my own, I often failed to notice shortcomings in the screenplay or errors in filming techniques. In contrast, when directing with classmates, our ideas became more diverse, enriching the screenplay, and we were able to share our knowledge of filming techniques and experiment with various methods. Additionally, we could immediately identify and correct errors in scenes on set, which significantly improved our work efficiency.
In addition to using professional equipment and collaborative learning with my peers, the experience of working directly with the latest filming techniques and a variety of cameras was a tremendous asset. Personally, there was a time when I was satisfied with using only smartphones, but after working with dozens of types of HD film cameras at school, I realized that video direction is not simply about capturing reality, but rather the act of designing what to “show” and how to do so.
I came to believe that, beyond simply revealing a subject, the production’s purpose and intent must be embedded in the very way it is presented, and that the director’s ability to express this is crucial. Through this process, my foundational skills as a director and my ability to identify and solve problems grew significantly.
Major Campus Activities and Reflections
Through the university’s “One Student, One Creative Enterprise” program, I gained the experience of founding a company and serving as its CEO. Reading the program description gave me the confidence—despite my youth—that I could run a company on my own, and the program’s purpose of helping students planning to work in the cultural industry prepare for business operations aligned perfectly with my own goals. I founded a video production company called “On Film” and drafted a business plan.
In the business plan, I set the goal of producing videos that embody our company’s unique identity. My usual focus has been on content that promotes Korean culture, cultural heritage, traditional culture, and the Korean Wave, and my hobby of exploring and collecting classical cultural heritage sites naturally became the foundation of my plan.
Specifically, I chose documentaries and short films as my main genres. Since short films were a genre I had frequently experimented with, and documentaries were a field I had just begun to learn at the time, I devised a plan to pursue both genres simultaneously.
I began by personally visiting Seoul’s major cultural heritage sites—Gwanghwamun, Nakseongdae, Heunginjimun, Sungnyemun, Dongnimmun, and Changgyeongmun—to identify the distinctive features of each structure. Through these field trips, I realized that because the nameplates were written in Chinese characters or the exteriors lacked clear distinguishing features, people often couldn’t connect the names of the buildings with their actual appearances. Motivated by this observation, I decided to produce educational cultural content primarily targeting teenagers.
We categorized the content by genre based on the public’s level of familiarity with each cultural heritage site. For well-known sites such as Gyeongbokgung Palace, Gwanghwamun, and Dongnimmun, we determined that a documentary calmly conveying information was more appropriate than a format designed to spark curiosity; thus, we produced documentaries that introduced the interiors and features of these structures in detail. On the other hand, for lesser-known sites such as Nakseongdae and Heunginjimun, we chose the format of short films designed to spark interest, in order to clearly convey their locations and characteristics.
The completed documentaries and short films became On Film’s flagship productions. To promote them, we posted the videos on school bulletin boards to attract students’ attention and shared updates on youth communities and cultural heritage education forums. We also sent the videos directly to the websites of organizations promoting these cultural heritage sites so they could be used as reference materials, and we felt a great sense of fulfillment upon receiving messages of appreciation from several of these organizations for the high-quality content.
Writing About Examples of Consideration, Sharing, and Collaboration, and My Reflections
While running On Film, some of my friends were also running their own businesses through the same program. One of them ran a company producing “killer content” related to the Korean Wave, and we decided to collaborate on content development based on our shared interests. It wasn’t easy to handle the entire process alone, and we believed that collaboration would lead to better results.
We shared our business plans with each other and exchanged opinions on our objectives and project details. My friend was planning Hallyu content centered on music and performances, and when we realized our filming locations at Gyeongbokgung Palace overlapped, we coordinated our schedules and equipment to film together.
On the day of the shoot, I took charge of recruiting foreign participants to assist with my friend’s interview footage, while my friend filmed the interview scenes with a camera. We reviewed the footage together and kept trying to improve the interview clips, and throughout that process, our shared filming know-how and feedback were a huge help.
After finishing the interview shoot, we collaborated on my documentary project. My friend used a smartphone to look up relevant information and explain the structure and features of Gyeongbokgung Palace; based on that explanation, I was able to meticulously film even the hidden details. Thanks to this complementary collaboration, we were able to successfully complete our respective projects and produce higher-quality content.
Efforts and Preparation Related to Motivation for Application and Career Plans
My motivation for pursuing a career in video production goes beyond mere interest; it stems from a desire to influence society through cultural content. The “One Person, One Creative Enterprise” program provided me with a valuable opportunity to explore my potential as a future cultural business leader, and by establishing my own company, I gained confidence in my career path.
While preparing for my career, I gained practical experience by drafting business proposals, managing online communities, and promoting my work. I also gained hands-on experience with the school’s professional equipment, learning to use HD film cameras and various filming tools, which helped me develop the ability to strike a balance between creative direction and technical execution.
The experience of collaborating with colleagues on set and exchanging feedback—which helped me develop my planning and problem-solving skills—will be a valuable asset as I grow into a cultural content creator. My goal as a director goes beyond simply creating videos; it is to naturally integrate clear production objectives and intentions into both technique and expression, and I plan to continue preparing myself in that direction.
