Friday 27 February 2015

Let's Have A Moment - Hyun Bin's Elevator Scenes

Hyun Bin and elevators ... what comes to mind? Perhaps the claustrophobic Kim Joo Won in Secret Garden? I was reminded of Secret Garden too at some point in Hyun Bin's latest drama Hyde, Jekyll and Me. I'm only going to mention a scene from episode 16 of Secret Garden and episode 1 of Hyde, Jekyll and Me ... word of warning to avoid spoiling it for anyone :P

Sometime last year I finally got around to watching Secret Garden after a friend who doesn't usually like dramas recommended it to me. It was good ... I think I marathoned it in 2 or 3 days! One of my favourite parts of the drama is when Kim Joo Won (Hyun Bin) finds himself trapped in an elevator. I can't even count the number of times I've rewatched that part. You can watch it here, it's just a couple of minutes at the beginning of episode 16 :)

Secret Garden Episode 16

 

Wasn't that intense?! I loved it. Maybe it's cause I've noticed an affinity for situations where the male/female lead gets saved from danger by the other lead ... I hope this isn't a sadistic side coming out of me! Nonetheless Hyun Bin's superb acting definitely brought this scene to life. Look at his face turning red, eyes popping out of his head and veins bulging out of his neck! Wow it looked so realistic.

I'd basically forgotten about that scene until I saw Hyun Bin gasping for air in an elevator yet again ... this time in 2015. It starts soon after the 49:00 mark.

Hyde, Jekyll and Me Episode 1



Despite his discomfort being less pronounced this time around, Hyun Bin has aced the elevator scene yet again! I felt a strong sense of deja vu when I came across this HJM scene for the first time, and it was only a while later that I realised it was because of the Secret Garden connection.

I always wondered how tiring it would be to film this type of scene, since it seems like they're forcing their body to actually go through what their character is experiencing. Today, in an effort to relieve my Hyde, Jekyll and Me cravings, I was watching BTS videos and came across Hyun Bin struggling while filming the elevator scene :'( The exact bit I'm referring to is not long after the 1:10 mark.

Hyde, Jekyll and Me BTS




Watching that BTS really made me appreciate how much effort actors and actresses put into creating the best drama they can for us ... so much of what happens doesn't get aired!!

Anyway I hope this post hasn't been too pointless ... I just had two scenes I liked and there was something in common between them ... I guess this turned out to be a tribute to Hyun Bin's ill fate with elevators! Hahahaha :P

Tuesday 24 February 2015

Top 10 K-Drama OSTs (as of Feb 2015)

Helloooo! Welcome to my first post :D Hopefully I'll be able to think through what I'm going to say carefully and avoid making this a pile of word vomit :L

After quite some time agonising over my iPod I've finally managed to pick my top 10 Korean drama OSTs as of now! The first 6 or 7 are quite straightforward - everyone has their favourite OSTs - but then you get to the latter 3 or 4 and you realise that you've got about 20 songs sitting at the same like-level. Uh oh. Anyway this is my top 10 ... if I spend any more time thinking about this I'll find another song which belongs here more than one of these. I'll try to write a little description under each song.


10. A'ST1 ft. T-Max - Something Happened To My Heart (Boys Over Flowers)

Pretty sure every K-drama fan has heard of Boys Over Flowers! A lot of people don't seem to like it because it's overrated or overly cliché, but I remember enjoying it when I watched it :D I've watched the Taiwanese, Japanese and Chinese versions as well (the Taiwanese twice actually! the first time when I was too young to remember *sigh*). The Taiwanese and Korean versions stand to be my favourite :)


9. Suzy - Don't Forget Me (Gu Family Book)

Gu Family Book is one of the only historical Korean dramas I've watched. It's also one of my favourite Korean dramas! And it probably houses my favourite OST album overall - you'll see quite a few Gu Family Book OSTs popping up here.

I recognised Suzy's voice during the drama since I find it quite distinct. I think Suzy's a good singer, although her voice is a little ... unstable? I'm not qualified to give an expert opinion ... apart from the fact that this song is really hard to sing!!! Every single time I try to (whether it be in the shower or on my imaginary stage *ahem* my room *ahem*) I end up screeching like a strangled car tyre.




8. Hyorin - Hello, Goodbye (You Who Came From The Stars)

You Who Came From The Stars! Another drama home to quite a few good OSTs. Not much more to say about this other than it's a good song :)




7. Choa - Words I Couldn't Say Yet (Bride Of The Century)

Bride of the Century revolves around a rumour circulating about a prestigious family, that states that the eldest son's first wife will die the day after their wedding as a sacrifice to a ghost protecting the family. Lee Hong Ki from F.T. Island plays the male lead ... lo and behold he's the eldest son of that family. There's more to the storyline but I don't know where to start without spoiling it so I'll stop there :P

This is the female version of this OST; Lee Hong Ki sings the male version. I prefer the female version since it was the really nice voice of the female singer which brought this song to my attention. Ha 'nice' ... that's the extent of my vocabulary sorry. It was because this song highlighted how good Choa's singing was that I first paid some attention to AOA!




6. The One - Best Wishes To You (Gu Family Book)

Choi Jin Hyuk (an actor in the drama) sings an acoustic version of this song. When I first listened to both versions I didn't notice major differences ... but having listened to them many times I prefer The One's version :D Choi Jin Hyuk did a really good job though since he's an actor taking on a song sung by a super experienced singer like The One!




5. Jiyoung - Rainbow Rose (Rainbow Rose)

I struggled quite a bit deciding whether this song would make it into my top 10 ... I decided that it would, and surprisingly when I was ordering the 10 this landed at 5! It's just a really catchy song you'd bob along to ... okay okay, me liking Jiyoung might have played a teeny role. But it's still a bright and cute song that puts a smile on your face :)




4. Eunji & Seo In Guk - All For You (Reply 1997)

Yessss how can anyone not like this song??? The way Eunji always makes singing look so easy amazes me! Their voices blend together really well ... and what can give more feeeeeels other than the much loved female and male leads singing a song together? And doing a really good job at it too?




3. Jang Jae In ft. NaShow - Auditory Hallucination (Kill Me Heal Me)

This is the only OST in this list that comes from a drama I haven't finished watching. Because it's still airing. I know I'm not the only one who loves this OST because the moment it played during the very first episode the comments section was filled with people asking about this song. It was a mix of the song itself sounding beautiful and it being used really well in the drama.

Kill Me Heal Me is a drama about Cha Do Hyun (Ji Sung) who suffers from DID and has 7 different personalities. These include the violent Segi, bomb expert Perry Park, the teenage girl Yona, suicidal Yoseob, young child Nana, Mysterious X (yet to appear) and himself. While the other personalities take advantage of whatever time they're given, Segi is set on eliminating Cha Do Hyun and taking all of his time for himself.

I don't usually check up the English translation of song lyrics (I know, how did I even compile this list without considering the lyrics) but I did for this one when I heard a lot of praise about the lyrics going really well with the drama. And they do. Which is why I gave that drama summary up there. I mean hearing "There are so many things hidden inside of me ... It put me to sleep, tied my hands and feet and trapped me in a dark room" just makes me want to give Do Hyun a big hug :'( And you can basically feel the male lead's frustration in "the memories of love that I threw away, they have been deleted and thrown away".

Since this is quite a new OST it's my latest jam ^^




2. Yisabel - My Eden (Gu Family Book)

Woohoo Gu Family Book strikes again! The male and female leads of this drama basically don't appear in the first two episodes, which instead looks at what happens in the leads' parents' generation. This OST goes with male lead Kang Chi's (Lee Seung Gi) parents' love story, and I think it's perfect for it. As well as sounding really delicate, beautiful (the amount of times I've used this word ...) and almost magical (fittingly for a historical fantasy drama), there's an underlying tone of sadness which forebodes the tragedy that unfolds. I get all them feels again listening to this song :'(

... oh and the song's in English, which is a plus :D there's a Korean version but I don't think I've heard that one yet (oops).




1. Chen - Best Luck (It's Okay, It's Love)

I actually had a hard time deciding between 1st, 2nd and 3rd but in the end EXO Chen's Best Luck got the top spot! A bit of a happy change from the other two.

This song seems to hold a "sing along really loudly" command for my brain (maybe cause I actually can for once) and the whole song just makes you feel really good and empowered (for loss of a better word)! My favourite bit is the looooong note during the last part of the bridge and the chorus following it, cause I can imagine myself belting that bit out on the top of a mountain eheheheheee ... talk about empowered!!





And that's it!! Seriously this post has taken me way longer to write than I thought it would. Hope you guys like my top 10! Let me know your opinions and what other OSTs you think should be on this list :D Catch you next time ~~~