3rd Semester at USC Film School

I can't believe I haven't updated in such a long time! I guess I must have been busy. I am now about a month into my 3rd semester at USC and having so much fun and learning quite a bit. I am producing a documentary for a 547, which is a course where three projects are green lit. This semester, the greenlit projects are Lines, Living in Limbo, and Polar Opposites.

Lines deals with teens going to a skateboarding school in Venice, Living in Limbo explores the Iraqi refugees coming to and living in California, and Polar Opposites examines the reasoning behind the underground phenomena of women suddenly flocking to pole dancing.



I am co-producing Polar Opposites, with the fierce Meera Menon, aka Meownun. Apparently I'm not supposed to give away people's real names if they have a Jersey Shore nickname but I've already failed at that so many times so there. My Jersey Shore nickname is Jinnernut. The director, Caitlin Starowicz, was my directing SA my first semester and probably the most multi-talented, multi-tasking person I know. Does she ever sleep? Katie Walker, our cinematographer, can walk into any room, blink her eyes a couple of times, and form a vision in her head that we can only just stand and watch her realize it. Adair Cole, one of our sound people, is the only man on set so we give him a hard time but of course, if anyone can handle it, it's AY-DARE. Lindsay Ellis, our other sound person, can outwit anyone while innocently batting her lashes. She'll have super pole arms by the end of the semester from holding up that boom pole. Neil Williams, one of my partners in 508 (last semester) is one of our awesome editors. He can stylize anything to make it look visually enticing. Erika Edgerley is also one of our editors, and she brings characters and stories to life. We have such a strong team this semester and our documentary is so much fun. I'm sad we only have a couple more weekends of shooting left.


Being on a documentary set is so much different from a fiction set. The stress levels are much lower, the working hours (though it could be as strenuous as fiction depending on each project) are shorter, you meet subjects that could easily become your friends after the project is over, and there is a sort of adrenaline rush you get from the spontaneity of being able to create the story as you're going along. Of course, there are rules and thematic elements that cannot be changed for the sake of budget and time, but there is more freedom in shaping the story week by week and of course, in editing. I am super excited to see what the editors will do with the footage that we shot and at the same time, because we know that editing can be stressful if we don't have a vision, we are more responsible with footage allotments and planning to make sure we don't "hose down the scene," or shoot things with no purpose.

If you want to read more about our day to day process, please visit the blog that we made for our documentary. I'll be updating there for the rest of this project!

Our Blog: polaroppositesfilm.tumblr.com
Our Facebook Fan Page: Polar Opposites
Our Flickr: Plropposites
Our Twitter: PlrOpposites

Me, fooling around on set.

Go To Kenny now online

End of 2nd semester

Second semester came and went just like that. I've gained a lot of weight from my foodie documentary, I've made great friends with the best triad partners in the world, I learned what it meant to collaborate, give constructive feedback, TAKE constructive feedback, and hustle.

An upperclassman said to me that no one comes out of 508 with a good film - you come out with a reputation. I know this to be true. The first semester was all about getting to know each other, being on your best behavior. By the second semester, you're already in your groups and you emerge as a filmmaker. Perhaps a more positive way to say this is that when you come out of 508 you have formed your identity as a filmmaker.


I always knew I wanted to be a director but after this semester, I'm pretty sure this is where I am most comfortable being myself and the position that invigorates me the most. I definitely wouldn't mind producting or even cinematography (though I definitely need more training in the latter). But, as it stands, I think directing is my calling.

So, for next semester, I signed on to co-produce a 547 documentary called "Polar Opposites," directed by the lovely and talented Caitlin Starowicz, who happened to be my SA last semester. I'm so excited to embark on a semester long adventure into pole dancing, women empowerment, and making a great documentary. We're crewing up by this Wednesday, which is super stressful but also really fun. I can't wait to have a full crew so we can all go bond together.

Happy Halloween!!!

So for this year, my bf and I were torn between going as John and Kate Gosselin or Kanye and Taylor Swift.

My bf didn't want to buy Ed Hardy merch and we wanted to save money this year. I looked through my closet and I knew I had the outfit for Taylor Swift. All I had to do was buy the wig and the trophy. Introducing Jin Swift:

Glamour shot #1Glamour shot #2 w/ light sabre

Bf bought the glasses and the heart.

We hit the Yelpoween Elite party at the Viper Room. Free vodka drinks and beer until 8:30pm. We got there around 8pm so we didn't get to take full advantage but it was alright.

Here I am with my zombie hipster yelping friend.

And a vampire.

I thought we were friends!!

Waiting outside the viper room after the party.

Next, we hit the USC film school party. Of course, we rocked it out. There was a fog machine, an awesome dj, dancing and talking and even a photo set up to take dumb pictures!

Those really good pics are not online yet but here are a few shots I got from my friends and from my own camera.

Hanging with Darth Maul.

The ladies of SCA...well, a few of us, anyway.

Here we are posing like we wont the Olympics.
Represented countries:
Bolivia, U.S.A., Turkey

Red White and Blue!

With a pirate lover.

With best trio....er...triad.

Halloween is over but I think I'm keeping those contacts. Man, were they blue! I had a ton of fun on Halloween, ESPECIALLY because I made an effort to avoid the horror of LA traffic through west hollywood. Two years of We-ho parade was good enough for me.

That was a great weekend but now I must focus on sound editing, then shooting Joel's film. I need to learn cinematography before Friday night.

Cut the Fat - fight scenes/getting sick on set

(Ray, Grace, Ben)

Hey guys, I'm still recovering from the flu as I write this. I'm still so amazed that everything came together in the way it did. We had three overnight shoots from 10pm-6am and that second night I thought we were definitely going to go over. The sun was peaking into the horizon but we got our last shot in before 6:30am.

I'm so proud of the cast and crew for sticking it out. I know that half of them were sick, including myself. But, some amazing things were done in those three nights. My actors and actresses dedicated themselves to stunts practice 3 times or more a week for two weeks in order to do this fight scene. We had awesome stunts coordinators, one amazing double, and really awesome clothes, makeup and hair.

A lot of research went into the look of this film. I spent hours pouring over youtube videos, Asian pop star sensations, video games and cartoons. I was inspired a lot by Michelle Phan's videos as well. If you don't know her videos, they're addictive and fun to watch.

I had an awesome stylist, Mika, who helped me put the wardrobe together. She's a really talented designer who has her own line called Cuore. I buy a lot of stuff from her because she makes everything by hand, it's cute & unique AND they make great gifts. Check out her online store at cuore.etsy.com.

All the clothes were donated by Fashion Max, minus the dad's king costume & mom's ref shirt, which I rented from Universal's costume dept.

Here are a few of my favorite shots:



All photos by Alan Kwan.

Credits list:
Writer/Director: Jin Yoo-Kim
Producer: Joel Townsend
Cinematographer: Neil Williams
Production Sound: Joel Townsend
Editor: Joel Townsend
Sound Design: Jin Yoo-Kim
Composer: Taylor Hollyer
Sound Mixer: Valen Hernandez
Action Consultant: Ron Yuan
Action Design: Mike Wilson
Action Director: Sonny Sison
Stunt Coordinator: Kerry Wong
Stunts double: Marissa Labog
1st Assistant Director: David Ngo
Assistant Camera: Justin Madriaga
Set Photographer: Alan Kwan
Makeup Artist: Laura Monteleone
Hair Stylist: Max Lam
Stylist: Mika Yamamura
Production Assistant: Panida Rzonca, Mira Ahn, Scott Ackerlund, and Paul Rader

Cast:
Ray Chang...Dad
Clarissa Park...Mom
Aiko Tanaka...Esther
Junko Goda...Sarah
Grace Su...Grace
Ben Kim...Henry
Mike Moh...Theo
Clara Juhn...Mina

508 faculty:
Nina Sadowsky
Jeff Lengyel
Jeff Crum
Kenny Hall
Robert Miller

508 SA's:
Thenmozhi Soundararajan
Dennis Castello
Ali Mansuri
Katie Walker

Special Thanks:
The Yoo Family
Joseph Camerota
Fashion Max

Cut the Fat – house scenes

the house
Originally uploaded by jinyookim2004

Last weekend, we shot the “reality” house scenes. I was going for a Korean drama look and I’m pretty sure I succeeded through my grandmother’s house. Her family room is literally the perfect manifestation.

I also wanted to tie in the sister’s looks with strong dark eyebrows. Their wardrobe was to make them look pedigree. That is, all the sisters except Mina, the blacksheep of the family. The dad wears a bahama mama shirt to reflect that he is “celebrating” his birthday and to visually signify irony against his moody disposition. The mom wears the stereotypical polo with black pants. If only she had pink crocs!

Location Scouting

So we got our cast and location! Here's a few location scouting pictures I took:

The "warehouse" where the action sequence will be taking place. Imagine you are seeing each picture to the right of the previous picture.






This is pretty exciting. All the stunts are being worked out now and the costume and makeup are coming along nicely! We just need PA's to help us!