 |  |  | | Walking the path never treaded!
"After reading the script for Volcano High, everyone had the same reaction. Sounds like fun. But how are we going to shoot this?" -Director KIM Tae-gyun has a story that cannot possibly happen in real life. In the classroom, a piece of chalk flies around like a bullet. In the schoolyard, teachers and students perform energy fights in the air. How does one express this fantastic story? Volcano High boldly challenges the Korean screenplays that were fun to read but no one dared to visualize. | | LOG IN TO COMMENT ON THIS REVIEW! |
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| | | | Five years in the making - filming a second per day!
In January of 1997, the screenplay Volcano High garnered much attention at a screenplay contest for its unique genre, 'campus martial arts.' It took five years for to meet the audience on screen. That was because in order to realize the novelty of the screenplay through cinematic imagination, there was an overflow of requirements that had to be fulfilled such as the maturity of the Korean film industry, capital and technology, etc. | | LOG IN TO COMMENT ON THIS REVIEW! |
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| | | | A Budget of 6 million - it is okay not to call it a blockbuster!
Everyone's first impression of the screenplay, Volcano High was the same. "It looks like fun. But how are you going to shoot it?" However, compared with past blockbusters which relied on the star system and principles of the genre, Volcano High is closer to a film full of spirit to challenge and experiment. The bold casting of new faces and rejection of the star system, the traditional genre-shaking story line, the set and enormous investment into computerizing the wired action - from the story set-up to the last visualization, the unique Volcano High style completes the production. This distinguishes "Volcano High" from the other blockbusters in development that are springing up like mushrooms. | | LOG IN TO COMMENT ON THIS REVIEW! |
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This is what you call 'digital action!
How do you express teachers and students flying in the air, engaged in energy battle? How do you show a student who is knocked across the classroom by a piece of chalk hitting him like a bullet? Since the action in Volcano High unfolds inside a school, it has to be a new kind of action without being too forceful. In consequence, 'digital martial arts action' came to mind, which has been internationally popular. As already confirmed in and , the combination of new technology and Asian martial arts has created novel action which existed only in one's imagination. We term this 'digital action' or 'techno action' or 'fantasy action.' Volcano High unfolds three-dimensional action as actors run across hallway walls, speed action so fast that the eye can barely keep up, and power action as actors race across at impossible angles, all of which never tried before in Korean film. |
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| | | | A action style from comics
Volcano High is not real action. Scenes like where students and teachers fly and wage energy battles, run across hallway walls as if flying, break windows into dust and blow up light bulbs by applying pressure to their eyes cannot happen in reality. This is only possible in 'comics' where one can endlessly expand their imagination. The action of Volcano High is summed up as 'energy battle' and 'wired action.' Scenes of energy battles where the characters exchange palm energy, break vital linkages, call about whirlwinds remind us of the martial arts action in Bruce Lee flicks of the 70s. However, the energy battles of Volcano High utilize the latest computer graphics technology and is as smooth as the ripples caused by flying bullets in . The computer graphics also aid to complete the action, making it more dynamic and stylish. | | LOG IN TO COMMENT ON THIS REVIEW! |
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ABOUT THE DIRECTOR:
"A movie has to be fun regardless. You can move an audience with just the sound and visuals, you see..."
Looking at Director KIM Tae-gyun's filmography, it is hard to find links to Volcano High. However, if you look at it centered around the word 'imagination' then it becomes a different story. His debut film, , received praise as challenging new film language. It is remembered for scenes filled with cartoonish creativity. Critics also reviewed his second film, as bringing out fantasies hidden in our daily lives through a fairly tale-like touch. He does not try to explain the unrealistic events in his films in a logical manner. He just lightly jumps over them. His efforts which once created the popular phrase, 'magical realism,' hit a climax with Volcano High. He shows us rich characters in . In he presents his skill in telling a story following the characters' emotions. Based upon the above, Volcano High races for the limits of 'cinematic imagination.' For a record-breaking 10 month long shoot, Kim was always energetic and charismatic on set. Finally, he completes what he himself termed as a 'challenge,' the film, Volcano High. |
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