Fill In The Blank (WATCHA original)

Song Hooryeong: Fill In The Blank is a documentary based on hypothetical psychological theory that claims the highly materialized lives of modern people can be broken down into nine items. The show places a spotlight onto each of the nine items that make up the life of one individual. It follows the journey of four K-pop idols who are trying to answer the question, Can you describe your life with these objects? They have an opportunity to pick eight items from a collection of objects chosen for them by people they know, and ultimately choose the one object that best represents them. The show aims to highlight the human side of the participants, including HyoYung from OH MY GIRL, Q from THE BOYZ, WOOYOUNG from ATEEZ and KIM CHAEWON from LE SSERAFIM, following them in their daily lives rather than their stage personas that we’re so used to seeing. The focus of the second episode is KIM CHAEWON. One guest describes her as being like a comb in that she always helps untangle complicated situations and find the best solution. Someone else associates KIM CHAEWON with a stone, becoming smoother as it‘s rubbed down by the waves and wind: “Like a stone that is yet to be shaped, CHAEWON has a flexible way of thinking. She’s open-minded about others but is self-assured, and that makes me think of a stone.” The ideas around objects like a comb and a stone that the people close to KIM CHAEWON associate her with overlap with each other to paint a picture of who she is. By delving into the stories behind these objects, the audience gains a little bit of a deeper understanding about KIM CHAEWON as a person, who tells us, “I don’t think there will ever be a day when I have no goals left.” Can a person’s life truly be explained using just nine objects? It could be possible by ‘someone’ behind these objects, someone who gave stories to such objects by being part of one’s life. Perhaps it’s possible when there’s other people to fill the objects with stories and imbue them with the life of that person.

Phantom

Im Sooyeon (CINE21 reporter): In Gyeongseong in 1933, the anti-Japanese organization Heuksaekdan makes repeated attempts to assassinate the top leaders of the Japanese Government General of Korea. An investigation begins to uncover the identity of the spy known as Phantom, who has infiltrated the organization. Five suspects are trapped in a remote hotel as part of a sting operation orchestrated by the new captain of the security force, Kaito (Park Hae-soo). They’re put in a desperate situation where they must accuse each other of being the Phantom in order to return alive. Phantom doesn’t aim to depict the tragedy of the era or the heroic tales of anti-Japanese movements; Its storyline up until the midway point of the film is also far from what you might expect from a closed-room mystery drama. Instead, the film leans into the possibility of it being labeled a genre film, first in its depiction of the members who would take death-defying actions for the organization, and then in the visual representation of 1930s Gyeongseong, where Korean, Japanese and Western architecture are mixed together. Just as with director Lee Haeyoung’s Believer, what is essential in Phantom is its style rather than its story. It romantically, and sometimes heroically, portrays solidarity between female characters with a chemistry that often extends beyond mere camaraderie.

“Crown Jewel” feat. Tachaya (H1-KEY)

Na Wonyoung (popular music critic): Tachaya Prathumwan, who was a runner-up on the first season of The Voice Thailand, has been working as a vocalist for over a decade. However, on H1-KEY’s track, his vocals are nowhere to be found. “Crown Jewel“ is a song that features a well-structured trap beat, with a build-up that bounces its way skyward before dropping sharply. At first glance, this song shows what is typical of the genre, featuring clever use of synth beats taken right from the tones of thick brass and tight string instruments. However, the most notable part of this song is that it showcases unique sounds that are not easily found by merely skimming through sample packs. Here is where Tachaya really shines, using the sound of the ranat and the jakhe, traditional Thai instruments. They are a type of xylophone and bowed string instrument, respectively. Incorporating the sound of traditional Korean instruments like the daegeum and the kkwaenggwari, “Crown Jewel” treats the listener to intriguing and unusual sounds within a familiar structure. Incorporating Korean musical instruments into the idol pop sound is nothing new, but it’s less common to hear such an international accompaniment from the sound of a third party—in this case, Thailand. The unique instrumental sounds of both countries are introduced at the beginning of the song and are pushed to the forefront during the buildup to the pre-chorus, the break between the first and second verses and the bridge after the chorus following the second verse. Being more than simply decorative, the instruments add a unique personality and tone to the track, just like “Rose Blossom” adds color to the grey buildings in the city. However, there is one strange dilemma that suddenly comes to mind as the song ends with a lingering gong-like lingering: Idol pop is the genre that led to this enjoyable song, but can these unique sounds truly exercise their power within the genre, against the all-encompassing power of idol pop that combine all ideas and instruments into one whole? It’s undeniable that “Crown Jewel” would still work without such instrumentation. This raises the question of how much local characteristics driven by traditional instruments can assert their power within the global pop genre.