VICTON leader SeungSik plans, shoots and edits everything from his self-produced SEUNGSIK LOG vlog to lookbooks, behind-the-scenes videos from the recording studio and even fellow VICTON member SeJun’s cover song. He says he never starts making a video until he’s made a thorough plan, plotting out in advance what he wants to do depending on the format, including the color tone, the background music and every last sound effect. Here, we discuss all the steps SeungSik takes from dreaming up ideas to editing that make SEUNGSIK LOG come to life, and about the performer-creator himself.

How he got his start with making videos

SeungSik: I got started because of the fans. There must be some aspects of me that fans want to see through video, and they also might miss me a lot between promotions, and I wanted to meet those needs. I’ve always found ways to communicate with them through lives and photos but putting out videos is more special and I thought it would feel especially unique if I edited them myself, so that’s how I got started. It suits my skill set more than I expected so I kept on doing it.

It’s all about direction

SeungSik: I think it’s really important to have a sense of direction even when you’re making just one video. It’s not in my personality to go in without a plan and just say, Let’s just shoot this. I never get started unless I have a plan carefully laid out. For example, if I’m making a lookbook or something to do with hairstyles, I want it to be fun even if it’s a little rough. Actually, I think the videos have to be fun to watch if fans are going to watch more of them, regardless of if we’re in them. That’s why I’m usually always trying to make them fun. But then there’s my vlog, where I try really hard to show fans the things they don’t normally get to see. Since they mostly only see us when we’re on stage, they must be really curious about what we’re like offstage. And for the Japan vlog I did, my aim was to show off where I went and I gave a sense of how Japan felt by using a color filter. Then, for the cover video I shot as a birthday present for SeJun, my main focus was to make sure he looked really attractive in it. (laughs)

The creative process behind SEUNGSIK LOG

SeungSik: I usually start by making a plan using the ideas that come to me when I spend time alone, then I dedicate a day to filming, then edit it. I edit it using Premiere, which I’m learning on my own through YouTube. I don’t have enough time to invest in regular studying so I usually just learn things by looking up whenever there’s some effect I want to use. The effect I use most is a Gaussian blur. Sometimes there’s other people in the shot when I’m filming, so I use that to blur them out. It’s kind of hard but it’s important to do it.

The video he’s most proud of

SeungSik: There’s a bunch, but the hairstyling one really stands out in my memory. At the time I thought I knew what I could do to make it a little easier to make that video, but I ran into a lot of problems when I actually did it. So I decided that from then on I’d plan my videos in a little more detail. I think about that time a lot. And I’m proud of it. Another one is the lookbook video. I actually packed a bag with clothes for the shoot the day before and brought that with me. I felt like I sort of became a stylist and felt really proud. I thought, I’m just shooting one video, but look at how much effort and planning I put into it. Lots of are asking for a part two (laughs) which I’ll get to work making again if possible.

“Carry on,” the intro song for SEUNGSIK LOG

SeungSik: I thought a lot about what song to use for the intro. I know it’s SEUNGSIK LOG but I wanted the other VICTON members to be in it a lot so I decided on “Carry on.” The lyrics are about all the things they wanted to say to me. So it means a lot to me, plus it’s my kind of song, so that’s the one I chose. I use the last part of the song, where the instruments drop out and it’s just my voice with a little bit of reverb. I really like how the intro cuts to black right at that part so I’ve been using that all along. If I ever change the intro … I never really though about it, but I might change it to one of two of our other songs: “Here I am” or “Dear. young.” I always try to use songs for the intro and background that have some meaning to them and those two songs hold a lot of meaning for me, too.

Making music vs. making videos

SeungSik: First off, I love how for both of them, they give you a clear sense of satisfaction and accomplishment from making something from nothing. But what’s different about them is how, compared to videos, producing music and writing songs is a little more abstract, which makes it harder. Video’s abstract, too, but it’s a little easier to deal with comparatively speaking since it’s visual and you can see what you’re working with directly.

Asking the other VICTON members onto SEUNGSIK LOG

SeungSik: I haven’t made a plan yet, but that’s always been my intention. I hope we can try it someday. I want to try shooting a cool live clip for SeungWoo and HanSe. I’m not nearly as good as the professionals, obviously, but I definitely want to try that because I think it’ll make for a good memory. As for SuBin, he’s already got a channel called Subey Soop, so I haven’t given enough thought to having him on yet since I’m the one busy learning from him. (laughs) For SeJun and ByungChan, I really want to do a vlog for them. I actually told them before, “If you guys shoot a vlog, I’ll do the editing for you.” They haven’t sent me anything yet, though. (laughs) There’s one more idea I always having rolling around in my head since I think it’d be fun, and I don’t know if we could do it on SEUNGSIK LOG or not, but I’d like to try having a sports competition with the other members.

How making SEUNGSIK LOG has changed him

SeungSik: I definitely pay a lot more attention to how other videos are edited when I watch them now. For example, now I pay close attention to the camera composition and what fonts they use and how a different font size changes how it feels. And the biggest difference of all is that now I know how much effort goes into making one video, so I see creators in a different light. So when I used to be on TV or in other videos, I didn’t think about the places they can cut it, but now I can tell when there’s a good place to cut and say something that fits the situation. I could feel how that changed the atmosphere. I see it as a good change.

ALICE is a source of inspiration

SeungSik: It’s really all thanks to the fans that I’m able to do so many different things of things on SEUNGSIK LOG. It’s because the fans always say, “I want to see that on SEUNGSIK LOG.” I hold onto all those ideas and when I look at them I think about how fun they would be. Then I film those ideas and the result is lots of different kinds of content. The secret is honestly the fans. ALICE is my source of inspiration.

A thumbnail for the life of Kang SeungSik

SeungSik: Every SEUNGSIK LOG video has a thumbnail made from a collage of four different photos. First, I would put my family, because they give me so much strength and I get so much comfort from them and they’re what keep me going in life. And I would put a picture taken with the other members because it really means a lot to me that I met the other members and debuted right after I became an adult and that’s what made me able to meet our fans. And I think the most important picture would be one where I’m alone, and I would use a picture of my everyday, offstage self. And last, I would make sure to use a picture of me onstage today since I made the dream I had of being on stage ever since I was little come true. Those are the most important parts of my life and the things I like most.

The third anniversary of SEUNGSIK LOG is right around the corner

SeungSik: When I first started out, my goal was actually just to give the fans something fun to watch, even if it was rough, but after the behind-the-scenes video for my cover version of “Merry Christmas ahead,” I felt like I wanted to give them something better made, so I watched other people’s videos as reference for making my intro and I learned how to do color correction. I think that really improved my videos. I currently ask the label for help making videos like “ShingalGO!” that would be too much for me to do on my own, but I want to be able to do videos like that all by myself someday, too. I’m also learning to play guitar lately and I really want to put some of me playing guitar in sometime. A little later on I’d like to try making my own channel. It isn’t something I thought about last year, but it’s a bigger hobby for me compared to back then, and now I’m a lot more confident since I can see that lots of people like what I’m doing.