“Samjin Company English Class” synopsis by story arcs (no spoilers) and review

Jump to spoiler-free synopsis; Historical / cultural backgrounders and other information; Review (scenes and shots I like)

From Wikipedia: “Samjin Company English Class” (Korean RR: Samjingeurup Yeongeotoikban; lit. “Samjin Group English TOEIC Class”) is a 2020 South Korean comedy-drama film written and directed by Lee Jong-pil. The cast is led by Go Ah-sung (“Life on Mars”), Esom (“Taxi Driver”), and Park Hye-su (“Saimdang, Light’s Diary”).

The film was released on October 21, 2020, topping the South Korean box office for six days following its release, with box office estimated at US$11.56 million.

The film was invited to the 20th New York Asian Film Festival. It was featured in ’Standouts’ strand and screened at Lincoln Center and SVA Theatre in the two-week festival held from August 6 to 22, 2021 in New York.

The film, staff, and cast won the following awards:

57th Baeksang Arts Awards: Best Film

41st Blue Dragon Film Awards: Best Supporting Actress, Esom; Best Art Direction; Best Music

26th Chunsa Film Art Awards: Best Screenplay

Women in Film Korea Festival: Technical Award

Lead star Go Ah-sung was nominated for the Best Actress Award in the 57th Baeksang Arts Awards. Park Hye-su was nominated for “Best Supporting Actress” in the 41st Blue Dragon Film Awards. Writer/director Lee Jong-pil was nominated for Best Director and Best Screenplay in the 57th Baeksang Arts Awards.

Forbes articles about this movie: A Snapshot Inspired Lee Jong-Pil’s Film ‘Samjin Company English Class’; 20th New York Asian Film Festival Screens Several South Korean Films

How to use this spoiler-free synopsis

Based on the story arcs, I divided the movie into five parts, indicating the start and end of each part in minute marks. For each part, I narrated the main actions without revealing the twists and turns.

Part 5 is the movie’s finale (the last 23 minutes), so you can just read Parts 1 to 4, for example, to know what the movie is all about and then go watch the movie. (Part 3 is the midway point of the movie where it’s finally revealed who falsified the ___________ and who asked the Seoul National University lab to ___________.)

Part 1 (from 01:56 to 15:15): “Boys, be ambitious!”

1995 ...

Lee Ja-young (“Dorothy”), Jung Yoo-na (“Michelle”), and Shim Bo-ram (“Silvia”), are friends who have been working for the Samjin Company for the last eight years. Because they’re just high school graduates, they do menial jobs for the company such as preparing coffee, cleaning up the offices, and acting as go-fers for the predominantly male employees and officials.

The only male employee who’s considerate towards Ja-young is Choi Dong-soo, a junior official in the Production Management Team 3. But he gets reprimanded when his superior Mr. Hong hears him address Ja-young as “sunbae-nim.”

Bo-ra is a math genius who won the Mathematical Olympiad in high school; her mentor in the accounting department is the fatherly Mr. Bong.

Yoo-na is the know-it-all person among her fellow junior level employees; she’s rude and likes deflating her fellow employees’ hopes of being promoted. When Samjin Company announces that low level employees will be promoted if they score above 600 in the TOEIC exam, she warns her fellow employees that it’s the company’s first step in getting them fired.

After Managing Director Oh Tae-Young (the son of the company’s founding chairman) visits the Production Management Team 3 office, Mr. Hong orders Ja-young and Dong-soo to get Director Oh’s things from his former office in the company’s factory in Ok-ju.

Note: Part 1 spoilers are at the bottom portion of this post.

Part 2 (from 15:16 to 42:52): “Even a worm will turn!”

Despite his worries of being scolded by the higher-ups, Dong-soo gives in to Ja-young’s pleas to report to Mr. Hong that the factory is dumping into the river “phenol” (a toxic chemical used in the production of computer circuit boards).

During a meeting of the Marketing Department staff, the department head surprises everyone by asking Yoo-na if she has any idea as to who their model could be for their new marketing campaign. Meanwhile, Mr. Bong gives the goldfish to Bo-ram as a gift.

Mr. Hong’s inspection confirms that phenol indeed leaked into the river, but the water analysis report states that the level is 1.98, which is lower than the danger level of 3. Thus, Ja-young and Dong-soo are sent back to the village to convince the villagers to accept the company’s settlement offer of US $20,000 per villager. But at an apple orchard, Ja-young sees rotting apples on the ground and festering wounds on the orchard owner’s body.

Note: Part 2 spoilers are at the bottom portion of this post.

Part 3 (from 42:53 to 1:09:12): “I won’t stop!”

After receiving the genuine water analysis report (secretly sent by Ja-young, Yoo-na, and Bo-ram), Managing Director Oh Tae-Young creates a scene in the Production Management Team 3 office by breaking things and threatening the team’s boss, Mr. Ahn Ki-chang, with his golf club.

Ja-young finds out that Managing Director Oh Tae-Young contacted his father (Samjin’s founding chairman) after receiving the analysis report; she, Yoo-na, and Bo-ram decide to follow him to Samjin Hotel. While Ja-young and Bo-ram search his room, Yoo-na follows him to the bar.

When Managing Director Oh Tae-Young tipsily goes back to his room, Yoo-na races back to the room to warn Ja-young and Bo-ram. But on her way there, she’s accosted by two American guys.

Bo-ram visits Mr. Bong at the hospital and tells her about the falsified water analysis report. Meanwhile, Ja-young and Dong-soo are ordered to go back to the village because a pregnant woman has complained that phenol was found in her urine.

Note: Part 3 spoilers is at the bottom portion of this post.

Part 4 (from 1:09:13 to 1:27:28): “Smoking gun”

After the heavy rain, phenol leaks again into the river and affects the tap water in homes. Because of the public outcry and the media coverage, the Prosecutors’ Office investigates Samjin. But Mr. Ahn Ki-chang orders everyone to be creative in their lies and mental reservations when they speak to the prosecutors.

Ja-young and Yoo-na ask an investigative journalist for help, but the journalist says that they don’t have evidence that Samjim officials systemically covered up the phenol leak. Meanwhile, Bo-ram visits Mr. Bong again and tells him that she’s thinking of resigning from Samjin.

After studying the analysis report, Ja-young and Yoo-na decide to go back to Samjin Hotel where Managing Director Oh Tae-Young is staying. At the lobby, they see Mr. Ahn Ki-chang and follow him.

Note: Part 4 spoilers is at the bottom portion of this post.

Part 5 (from 1:27:32 to the end): “I can do it! You can do it! We can do it!”

Ja-young, Yoo-na, and Bo-ram get hold of another copy of the “Bear Hug Project” documents. After translating the documents and studying them at their TOEIC classroom, they find out that Billy Park schemed — through the phenol leak — to bring down the value of Samjin’s stocks. When Samjin Company merges with a Japanese company, Billy Park plans to immediately leave, the villagers will not get paid their settlements, and most of the employees will be fired.

As Ja-young, Yoo-na, and Bo-ram meet with their fellow low level employees at an eatery, Dong-soo and Mr. Hong arrive.

Note: Part 5 spoilers are at the bottom portion of this post.

Historical / cultural backgrounders and other information

1. “Samjin Company English Class” depicts the leak of a toxic chemical into a river. This is based on a 1991 incident in Korea.

“Chemical Leak in Korea Brings Forth a New Era” (The New York Times, 1991)

That was before one morning last month, when South Koreans turned on their taps and were overcome by a tremendous stench. It came from a caustic, highly toxic form of phenol, a chemical used in processing circuit boards, that had leaked overnight from a storage tank at an electronics plant in Kumi. It had coursed its way through the reservoir system of Taegu, South Korea’s third-largest city, which is about 200 miles southeast of Seoul.

“Water Shocks Rouse South Korea” (The Christian Science Monitor, 1991)

The latest shock made many Koreans gag, literally. An electronics factory owned by the Doosan Group, located upstream of 10 million people and a wild-bird sanctuary on the Naktong River, allegedly dumped some 30 tons of a dangerous chemical, phenol, in mid-March. The phenol is used to make most of the nation’s electronic circuit boards.

The plant had been dumping smaller amounts of phenol for several months, but the release two months ago was so massive that the obnoxious odor was strong enough in the tap water to compel a public outcry.

2. The main characters and their fellow low level employees take the TOEIC exam, hoping that they will be promoted once they pass.

“Koreans rank 2nd in Asia on TOEIC scores” (The Korea Times)

Koreans ranked second in Asia last year in terms of TOEIC scores, with only Filipinos doing better than them in the English capability test.

According to the Korea TOEIC Committee, Koreans scored on average 683 points ― on a scale of 10 to 990 ― in last year’s TOEIC, which is five points higher than the previous year. TOEIC, or Test of English for International Communication, gauges the English proficiency of non-native speakers of the language.

“TOEIC in South Korea” (Wikipedia)

Toward the end of 2005, there was a shift in South Korea, regarded as the second biggest consumer of TOEIC per capita. However, a person’s TOEIC score is still a major factor in hiring people for most professional jobs in South Korea.

Starting in 2011, Korean universities will no longer be allowed to use TOEIC and TOEFL scores as part of the admission process. However, many universities in Korea still require a minimum score of 900. This is apparently to discourage private English education (there are many private institutions that teach TOEIC-based classes). Another English proficiency test, TEPS (developed by Seoul National University, Chosun Ilbo), has been developed and may replace the status of TOEIC.

Review (scenes and shots I liked)

1. In two scenes, the film uses the change in lighting to signify that Ja-young realizes something.

At around the 1:05:16 mark, Ja-young and Dong-soo are in the village. While Ja-young is speaking to the SNU guy over the phone, Dong-soo is talking with the village elders. Ja-young finds out from the SNU guy’s description that it was Dong-soo who asked that the genuine analysis report be destroyed. The light on Ja-young’s face changes as the headlights of an off-frame car illuminates her. (The next scene shows Ja-young and Dong-soo in their car on the way back to Seoul.)

At around the 1:15:00 mark, Mr. Bong tells Bo-ram that the rain has stopped. In the place where Ja-young and Yoo-na met the investigative journalist, the light falling on Ja-young’s face changes (because the off frame clouds moved, allowing the sunlight to move across Ja-young). At this point, Ja-young realizes how the phone number on the faxed analysis report was changed. (Of course, in shooting this scene, the director and cinematographer did not wait for the cloud cover to move; they could have manipulated the lighting setup to get the effect of sunlight moving across Ja-young.)

2. In two instances, the film uses simple but effective transitions.

As Mr. Hong and his team investigate the phenol leak, the village foreman arrives. As he blows smoke from his cigarette, the shot transitions to the goldfish inside the bowl.

Ja-young goes back to the Production Management Team 3 office because she finds out from Yoo-na that Managing Director Oh Tae-Young (dragging along his golf club) is about to confront Mr. Ahn Ki-chang. Notice that as she walks on the corridor, the camera zooms in on a painting on the wall. The painting is “Fight with Cudgels“ (Spanish: “Duelo a garrotazos“) by renowned Spanish painter and printmaker Francisco Goya, 1746 – 1828.

3. “Visual cues” are explained in an excellent series of articles from “My Drama List” written by someone with the username “3GGG.”

Popular Visual Cues found in K-Dramas, Part 1: visual ways to establish a conflict, division, or fight between two or more characters

Popular Visual Cues in K-Dramas, Part 2: boxing to establish a character’s vulnerability, solitude, or fear; comfort and respite; change; danger; showdown

Popular Visual Cues in K-Dramas, Part 3: Dutch angle

Popular Visual Cues in K-Dramas, Part 4: Interpersonal cues (using cues simultaneously or one after another

Mr. Bong resigns from Samjin Company because he’s suffering from Stage 4 cancer. As he leaves the office, we see Bo-ram boxed in by the door, which reinforces her loneliness because of her concern for Mr. Bong and losing her mentor. The camera also pushes in on her.

Ja-young hastily leaves the SNU lab office when the official becomes suspicious of her request for a copy of the official analysis report on the phenol leak. After reading some inspirational posters on a bulletin board, she goes back to the lab office and timidly ask the official about the analysis report. Notice that she’s boxed in by the office door, thus reinforcing her nervousness and timidity.

Manager Kim is fired from her job in Samjin company necause she got pregnant. Notice the dividing lines between her and her boss; notice also that they’re boxed in separate frames.

4. In keeping with its feel-good and positive vibes (despite the phenol leak background story), the film uses a lot of warm colors — yellow, red, orange, and brown.

Relevant resources on color schemes and uses of colors in K-dramas and movies:

(a) “K-drama color: The power of the palette” from Dramabeans

(b) “The Power of Koreanovela Color Palettes in Storytelling” by Jess Convocar, May 2020: Using examples from K-dramas, the author explains the four uses of color: Color Sets the Atmosphere; Color Shows Time; Color Directs Attention; Color Helps Tell the Story.

Note: You might also be interested in the article “How to Use Color in Film: 50+ Examples of Movie Color Palettes” by Studio Binder, which has two excellent and free downloadable infographics titled “The Psychology of Color in Film.”

5. Aesthetic blur (motion blur)

At around the 1:42:17 mark (flashback), Ja-young, Yoo-na, and Bo-ram have been disciplined for leaking the phenol leak documents to the investigative journalist. On the street Ja-young stops walking, thinking about her pitiful situation, while the people around continue walking in a blur.

Note: Motion blur can be created in-camera or added during the post production.

Relevant resources:

(a) “What is Motion Blur, Is Motion Blur Good & Why Does it Happen?” (Studio Binder): Motion blur is the visual streaking or smearing captured on camera as a result of movement of the camera, the subject, or a combination of the two. The human eye naturally registers motion blur in real life, so a subtle blur in film often mimics reality better than if it were absent. When applied intentionally, this effect may be referred to as aesthetic blur.

(b) “Using Motion Blur for natural Movement”

(c) “Motion blur photography and shutter speed explained”

(d) “Blur and shutter angle explained”

6. Miscellaneous

In my analyses of the cinematography of several K-dramas, I’ve ranted against the overuse of highly dramatic Dutch angle shots. Compared to K-dramas, I’ve seen only a few K-movies, and so, I don’t know if K-movies have also gone berserk with their use of Dutch angle shots. Thankfully, the shot below is the only Dutch angle shot I’ve seen in this film.

In this blog and in my photojournalism seminar-workshops, I’ve always emphasized that using natural frames as a compositional device will immediately improve your photographs. The shot below shows Ja-young framed by the subway train’s doors.

Part 1 spoilers:

While about to release the goldfish into the river, Ja-young sees lots of dead fish. She recoils in horror as she realizes that the factory is dumping toxic chemicals into the river.

Part 2 spoilers:

Mr. Bong resigns from Samjin Company because he’s suffering from Stage 4 cancer.

Samjin Company’s CEO, Billy Park, accepts Yoo-na’s suggestion that he become the model for the company’s new marketing campaign. But Yoo-na’s rival in the Marketing Department accuses her of being a gold digger.

Ja-young can’t erase from her mind how phenol flowed into the river like a waterfall. With the analysis report, Bo-ram estimates that the amount of phenol that leaked into the river is much more than what the report indicates.

The TOEIC instructor tells Ja-young, Yoo-na, and Bo-ram that the "California Environment Research Institute" mentioned in the analysis report is actually a corn farm in Nebraska.

Ja-young finds out from an official at the Seoul National University lab that the level of phenol that leaked into the river is hundreds of times bigger than that indicated in the falsified report.

Ja-young tells Yoo-na and Bo-ram that the person who could have ordered the falsification of the analysis report is none other than Managing Director Oh Tae-Young. Despite their fears, Ja-young, Yoo-na, and Bo-ram decide to expose him.

Part 3 spoilers:

Mr. Bong reveals to Bo-ram that, on Mr. Ahn Ki-chang’s order, he falsified the water analysis report and prepared Samjin’s settlement offer to the villagers.

In the apple orchard, Ja-young meets the owner’s young daughter. The daughter says that her father’s very sick, but they don’t have any money for the medical expenses. When the daughter offers her an apple, Ja-young notices that the apple is rotting because of phenol; she reluctantly eats the apple.

Ja-young finds out that it was Dong-soo who ordered the Seoul National University lab to destroy the original report upon the order of Mr. Ahn Ki-chang.

Ja-young asks Dong-soo if phenol has leaked recently. Dong-soo replies that the leaks happen only when it rains.

Part 4 spoilers:

Ja-young and Yoo-na find out that the water analysis report was faxed from the Samjin Hotel where Billy Park and Managing Director Oh Tae-Young are staying. At the hotel, they see Mr. Ahn Ki-chang handing over some documents to Billy Park and his men.

Ja-young, Yoo-na, and Bo-ram convince Managing Director Oh Tae-Young that Billy Park set him up with the phenol leaks and that he’s the only one who can save Samjim. Managing Director Oh Tae-Young thus helps them get the fax records and the CCTV footages. In Billy Park’s war room, they find the medical reports of the villagers who were affected by the phenol leak. In a safe, they also find a bunch of documents marked as "Bear Hug Project."

At an eatery, Billy Park and his allies among the Samjin officials celebrate their impending victory.

Ja-young, Yoo-na, and Bo-ram trick Managing Director Oh Tae-Young and give the documents regarding the phenol leaks and the “Bear Hug Project” to the investigative journalist. To their dismay, however, the newspaper’s editor kills the story and confiscates all the documents.

With Ja-young, Yoo-na, and Bo-ram about to be fired and sued for violating their non-disclosure agreements, Mr. Bong pleads on their behalf and says that he will be responsible for everything.

Mr. Bong dies.

Part 5 spoilers:

All the TOEIC students work together with Ja-young, Yoo-na, and Bo-ram to translate the “Bear Hug Project” documents. Later on, through Ja-young’s suggestion, they enlist the help of Samjin’s founding chairman.

Ja-young, Yoo-na, Bo-ram, their TOEIC classmates, Dong-soo, Mr. Hong, and others rally Samjin’s shareholders to reject the merger between Samjin and the Japanese company.

Managing Director Oh Tae-Young, Billy Park, and some Samjin officials are arrested for violating the Water Quality Conservation Act.

Samjin’s new management increases the villagers’ settlement to US$130,000 and vows to clean up the river.

Six months later ... After passing the TOEIC exam, Ja-young, Yoo-na, and Bo-ram are promoted.

“Taxi Driver” synopsis by episode (Eps. 1-16, no spoilers) with in-depth analysis of its cinematography

(Click the picture above to view a bigger copy in another tab.)

Jump to synopsis of Episode 1; 2; 3; 4; 5; 6; 7; 8; 9; 10; 11; 12; 13; 14; 15; 16 (Finale); How I wrote these episode summaries without spoilers; Historical / cultural backgrounders and other information; Lessons in photography with in-depth analysis of the drama’s cinematography

From Wikipedia: “Taxi Driver” is a South Korean television series starring Lee Je-hoon, Esom and Kim Eui-sung. Based on the webtoon “The Deluxe Taxi” by Carlos and Lee Jae-jin, it premiered on SBS TV on April 9, 2021, and aired every Friday and Saturday at 22:00 KST until May 29.

Genre: action, crime, fantasy

The series is inspired by actual real life heinous crimes committed in Korea. The series received praise from viewers for its performances and storylines. The finale achieved the fourth highest rating of any Friday-Saturday drama in SBS history, with an average viewership per episode of 2.765 million.

“Taxi Driver” and its cast won the following awards:

2021 Seoul International Drama Awards: Outstanding Hallyu Drama Award

2021 SBS Drama Awards: Lee Je-hoon, Top Excellence Award, Actor in a Miniseries Genre/Fantasy Drama; Esom, Excellence Award, Actress in a Miniseries Genre/Fantasy Drama; Kim Eui-sung, Best Supporting Actor in a Miniseries Genre/Fantasy Drama; Cha Ji-yeon, Best Supporting Actress in a Miniseries Genre/Fantasy Drama

How I wrote these episode summaries without spoilers

1. I assumed that you will be reading these summaries and watching the videos chronologically.

2. I narrated some of the main actions in each episode without revealing the plot’s twists and turns.

3. At the beginning of each summary starting with Episode 2, I placed in a table a recap of the major twists and turns of the previous episode. But because you have already watched the video of the previous episode, they aren’t spoilers anymore.

4. I followed this structure all throughout, except for Ep. 16 (Finale) where I included spoilers. Reason — most people want to know if the drama has a happy/good ending or a sad ending before they invest the time in watching it.

Episode 1

Jang Sung-chul runs the Blue Bird Refuge Center, a foundation that helps victims of violent crimes and their families to stand again and have hope. To assist the foundation achieve its goal, the Deputy Chief Prosecutor of the Seoul Northern District Prosecutors’ Office assigns as its liasion a prosecutor named Kang Ha-na.

In secret, Jang Sung-chul runs the sophisticated “Rainbow Taxi Service,” which helps victims of violent crimes to seek vengeance against those who have wronged them. The main guy who carries out the vengeance is Kim Do-ki; helping them out are the taxi dispatcher Ahn Go-eun (a computer and electronics genius), Choi Kyung-koo (engineer and lead mechanic), and Park Jin-eon (assistant mechanic). Jang Sung-chul uses his regular taxi business as front for his revenge service.

Cho Do-chul is a sex offender, who is being released after ten years in prison. At the prison gate, he’s mobbed by reporters, photographers, and ordinary people protesting his release. He hastily rides a deluxe taxi, but the reporters and photographers pursue him in their vehicles.

Kang Maria is an intellectually impaired young woman who had recently left the orphanage where she grew up. But instead of the promised computer job in a “jeotgal” (salted fish) company, she’s forced to do manual labor by the boss and his minion. Like the other persons working in the company, she’s abused and maltreated. After being brought to a hospital for treatment of her injuries, she runs away from the hospital and climbs the railing of a bridge, thinking of jumping into the river below.

Flashback, February 2017 ... Do-ki tries to attack the suspect in a brutal murder, but the police officers restrain him. The suspect mocks him, saying he can’t do anything to him. Later on, Do-ki meets Jang Sung-chul, who gives him a card from “Rainbow Taxi Service”; the card says, “Don’t die, get revenge. We’ll do it for you.”

Episode 2

Ep. 1 recap: Do-ki kidnaps Cho Do-chul and hands him over to Chairman Baek Sung-mi (a notorious loan shark) and her men. Her clients who can’t pay back their loans are forced to give up their liver, kidney, and other body parts. After picking up Kang Maria at the bridge, Do-ki leaves her at a deserted street; through a video game, Kang Maria learns about the services offered by the Rainbow Taxi Service. With the boss of the “jeotgal” company and his minion knocked unconscious because of the drugged fried chicken, Do-ki searches the office, including its safe. On the minion’s cellphones, he finds pictures of Kang Maria being abused.

Flashing a briefcase full of money, Do-ki pretends to be a big buyer of “jeotgal.” To fill up the shortage in the number of "jeotgal" barrels that Do-ki ordered, the company’s boss tells his minion to buy the cheap “jeotgal” from China; they will then change the labels to make it appear that the “jeotgal” is produced in Korea.

Jang Sung-chul and Do-ki target the insurance agent who duped Kang Maria and the other people who have been forced to work for the “jeotgal” company.

Because she prosecuted Cho Do-chul, Prosecutor Kang Ha-na becomes invested in finding out what happened to him. As she studies the video footages of the frenzied group of reporters, photographers, and ordinary people as they mobbed Cho Do-chul, she notices something peculiar with the deluxe taxi that he rode on.

Episode 3

Ep. 2 recap: Do-ki dumps the insurance agent into a barrel at the “jeotgal” company. Later on, he rams the car of the corrupt police officer and flips it over on the highway. Do-ki hijacks the company’s purchases of cheap “jeotgal” products from China and bankrupts the company. After beating up the company’s boss, he turns him over to Chairman Baek and her group. Jang Sung-chul turns the “jeotgal” company into a cooperative run by Kang Maria and her fellow workers. He also reunites Kang Maria with her siblings. After studying the burned out wreckage of the deluxe taxi that Cho Do-chul rode on and the CCTV footages of the tunnel where the deluxe taxi disappeared, Prosecutor Kang Ha-na goes to Jang Sung-chul’s taxi company where she meets Do-ki.

The Deputy Chief Prosecutor of the Seoul Northern District Prosecutors’ Office berates Kang Ha-na and orders her to apologize to Jang Sung-chul; he also orders her to drop her investigation into Cho Do-chul’s disappearance.

A bullied boy from Sejong High School named Park Jung-min contacts Rainbow Taxi Service. As he’s driven to the video arcade by Do-ki, he remembers how he was bullied in school.

During their meeting, Go-eun tells Jang Sung-chul, Do-ki, and the mechanics that the father of the leader of the bullies is the president of the school’s alumni association and donates a lot of money to the school. Jang Sung-chul says that even though the bullies are minors, they should face the consequences of their actions: “Young age does not lessen the sin. No matter who throws the stone, it will sink regardless.”

While surveilling the bullies in a nightclub, Do-ki sees the leader of the bullies giving an envelope full of money to a tough looking guy. Later, while on the way out of the club, he meets Chairman Baek.

Episode 4

Ep. 3 recap: Kang Ha-na tries to make things up with Jang Sung-chul by joining in the making and distributing of kimchi, but Do-ki and Go-eun give her the cold shoulder treatment. The bullied boy Park Jung-min withdraws his complaint after the bullies come to his house and threaten to stab his deaf-mute mother. Do-ki disguises himself as a geeky substitute teacher. Jang Sung-chul secretly sends to Kang Ha-na all of the derogatory information about the “jeotgal” company, its boss, his minion, the insurance agent, and the corrupt police officer. The bullies set up Do-ki, with a frightened female classmate accusing Do-ki of having naked pictures of her in his bag.

After the principal’s announcement on the PA system, the angry dean leads Do-ki and the female student who complained about her pictures, away from the corridor and into the bullies’ homeroom.

Kang Ha-na and her team find out that the police officer’s car was rammed by an object usually attached to tanks and armored vehicles; at the isolated stretch of highway where the incident took place, she orders her investigator Mr. Wang to look for CCTV cameras along the highway.

Do-ki visits the house of the bullies’ leader and demands 1,500 US dollars from each of the bullies. The bullies’ leader agrees, but at the time and place of the payment, he brings along the thugs who pretended to be his uncles during his disciplinary hearings in school.

Episode 5

Ep. 4 recap: Go-eun plants the girl’s pictures and the magazine in the bag of the bullies’ leader. Do-ki’s team entraps the bullies by making them think the cigarettes they bought are actually marijuana. After fighting the thugs on the school’s rooftop, Do-ki kicks the bullies’ leader off the roof and onto an airbag on the ground. He scares the bullies into confessing to the police all the bullying they did to their schoolmates; eventually, they transfer to another school. Park Jung-min returns to Sejong High School; meanwhile,Jang Sung-chul visits Park Jung-min’s mother and tells her that his foundation will give Park Jung-min a college scholarship. Chairman Baek trafficks three college girls to an elderly man in a hotel room. After having dinner and drinks with Jang Sung-chul and the Deputy Chief Prosecutor of the Seoul Northern District Prosecutors’ Office, Do-ki escorts Ha-na to her house. Along the way, however, Do-ki loses consciousness as he has flashbacks of the day his mother was killed. At the hospital where she’s watching over Do-ki, Kang Ha-na finds out from her investigator Mr. Wang that there’s a drone footage of a deluxe taxi ramming the police car on the highway.

After watching the drone footage of the deluxe taxi ramming the police car, Ha-na goes to a small auditorium where a support group composed of families of crime victims are sharing their stories. Part of the support group are Go-eun, Kyung-koo, and Jin-eon; during the session, Go-eun walks out.

At the hotel, Chairman Baek assures the elderly man that she will provide him with a fresh cornea; as she leaves, she takes with her an envelope marked “Taesan University Hospital.”

At Chairman Baek’s private prison, Jang Sung-chul interviews Cho Do-chul to see if he has shown any remorse. But after hearing Cho Do-chul threaten those who filed charges against him, he threatens him back that he will expose him to his precious daughter’s husband and children.

Back at her office, Ha-na studies the case records of Seo Young-min, who was held captive and beaten up by Chairman Park Yang-jin of U Data (the biggest cloud content service in Korea). She orders her investigator to immediately schedule an interview with Seo Young-min.

The next day, the Deputy Chief Prosecutor of the Seoul Northern District Prosecutors’ Office orders Ha-na to drop the Seo Young-min case because the parties have settled. Ha-na blows up in anger after finding out that the lawyer who advised Seo Young-min to settle used to be a top official in the Prosecutors’ Office. But the Deputy Chief Prosecutor tears up the case records.

Jang Sung-chul picks up the torn records and the audio recording of Seo Young-min’s interview with Ha-na and gives them to Do-ki.

Episode 6

Ep. 5 recap: Go-eun takes the police officers’ exam to honor her sister. Chairman Park Yang-jin and his men kidnap Seo Young-min and beat him up with a baseball bat. At the hospital, Seo Young-min’s wife tells Ha-na that he was thrown off the bridge. Do-ki applies as a geeky employee with U Data; based on his interview, Chairman Park Yang-jin’s men appoint him as a manager. Ha-na and her investigator visit an island where someone who had filed a complaint against Chairman Park Yang-jin has fled. Ha-na tells her investigator that they should go after U Data for offenses other than Seo Young-min’s case. The next day, to her surprise, she meets Do-ki as he reports for his first day of work at U Data.

After seeing how the U Data employees act during a raucous meeting with Chairman Park Yang-jin, Go-eun wonders if Do-ki is in a company meeting or a religious service. Meanwhile, Ha-na is called into a meeting with the Deputy Chief Prosecutor, Jang Sung-chul, and the former prosecutor who convinced Seo Young-min to settle his case with U Data.

After finding out that U Data’s core department is the Strategic Planning Team, Do-ki asks Go-eun to get him transferred there. Meanwhile, Ha-na calls up Jeon Jin-won, the former complainant who fled to an island, and pleads with him to meet someone.

Chairman Baek orders that Cho Do-chul be brought to a room where a doctor will harvest his cornea. But after taking the nurse hostage and beating up the doctor, Cho Do-chul escapes.

Episode 7

Ep. 6 recap: Ha-na convinces Jeon Jin-won, the former complainant, to meet with Seo Young-min’s wife. Later on, she asks Jang Sung-chul to take Jeon Jin-won into Blue Bird Refuge Center. After finding out that the members of the Strategic Planning Team all have criminal records, Do-ki asks Go-eun to change his bio-data. He gets transferred to the team, but one of the team’s administrators plants an eavesdropping app and location tracker in his phone. After seeing Do-ki talking with Ha-na in front of the U Data building, Chairman Park Yang-jin orders his men to snatch Do-ki from the parking area. They threaten to cut off his hand, but later, welcome him to the Strategic Planning Team. Before leaving, one of men shows Do-ki the video of Chairman Park Yang-jin beating up Seo Young-min with a baseball bat. Using the armored deluxe taxi, Do-ki rams head on the car driven by the man who showed him Seo Young-min’s video. Through Do-ki, Go-eun hacks into U Data’s Gallery Server. But among the video files that she finds in the server is the video that drove her sister to death.

Flashback, 2016 ... Go-eun’s sister takes her own life when her sex video with her boyfriend is published on the Internet; her boyfriend says that his phone was broken into when he had it repaired. Despite all her efforts, she can’t have the video taken down.

After Do-ki refuses her offer to be her inside man in U Data, Ha-na presents the Deputy Chief Prosecutor with two letters — her resignation letter and a letter authorizing her to investigate U Data. The Deputy Chief Prosecutor tells her that she’s stabbing him on the back with that kind of a choice.

Chairman Baek’s right hand man tells her that they can’t locate Cho Do-chul through the GPS tracker; he also asks her if they should warn Jang Sung-chul that Cho Do-chul has escaped.

In a plush restaurant, Chairman Park Yang-jin berates one of his men for not reuploading the bestselling sex video of An Jeung-eun (Go-eun’s sister). He also meets two men who tell him that they’re working on a new sex video.

Disguising himself as a food delivery man, Do-ki enters the warehouse where the sex video is being filmed.

Episode 8

Ep. 7 recap: Do-ki batters one of Chairman Park Yang-jin’s men (the one who loves shooting videos) with a heavy tripod. Through his team of lawyers, Chairman Park Yang-jin tells Ha-na that U Data complies strictly with the law. With Go-eun emotionally and psychologically disabled after seeing her sister’s video and failing to delete it from the Internet, Do-ki tries but fails to delete all the sex video files from the Strategic Planning Team’s servers. Executing a search and seizure warrant, Ha-na and her team also fail to find the sex videos on the Strategic Planning Team’s servers. At the hospital, one of Chairman Park Yang-jin’s men sees Jeon Jin-won, the former complainant, talking with Ha-na and her investigator. Chairman Park Yang-jin orders Do-ki to pick up Jeon Jin-won. He also orders his men, who are on two cars, to intercept Ha-na and her investigator and to kill them, making it look like a car accident.

At the Seoul Northern District Prosecutors’ Office, Chairman Baek warns Jang Sung-chul to lock his doors, while her men loiter at the gates trying to use the GPS locator to find Cho Do-chul. Meanwhile, Do-ki brings Jeon Jin-won to the U Data Training Center.

The Deputy Chief Prosecutor arrives at the hospital and sees what happened to Ha-na and her investigator. When Ha-na insists that she needs to save Jeon Jin-won from Chairman Park Yang-jin, he orders her to go back instead to the Prosecutors’ Office. On the way to the office, Ha-na sees a deluxe taxi.

Unable to find the data center, Choi Kyung-koo and Jin-eon rush into the U Data Training Center, but they’re captured by Chairman Park Yang-jin’s men.

Episode 9

Ep. 8 recap: The Seoul Northern District Prosecutors’ Office wants to cut its funding for Blue Bird Refuge Center because of budget constraints. But Chairman Baek makes a generous donation to keep the foundation going. After receiving an emergency message on her pager, Go-eun goes to the U Data Training Center. After she finds the data center, Do-ki beats up Chairman Park Yang-jin’s men. He also shoots Chairman Park Yang-jin with a crossbow. As Ha-na, the officials from the Prosecutors’ Office, and the police officers are searching for the data center, the center explodes with Chairman Park Yang-jin in it. Jang Sung-chul is stabbed by Cho Do-chul.

The Deputy Chief Prosecutor visits Jang Sung-chul at the hospital and shows him Do-ki’s U Data ID that was found in the burned out data center. Later, he gives the ID to Ha-na.

Choi Kyung-koo loses all of his savings when he falls victim to a voice phishing scam. At the police station, he finds out that there are more than a hundred people who have been victimized by the voice phishing scammers.

Ha-na studies the history of Do-ki’s phone calls from the time that Cho Do-chul disappeared. Meanwhile, Do-ki, Go-eun, Choi Kyung-koo, and Jin-eon launch their operation against the voice phishing scammers.

Episode 10

Ep. 9 recap: Ha-na discovers that Do-ki’s cellphone was turned off on the days when Cho Do-chul and the men from U Data disappeared. Jin-eon disguises himself as a young man and begins working for the voice phishing scammers, who are led by a woman who runs a Chinese restaurant as a front for the scamming operations and a gambling den. At the Chinese restaurant, Do-ki catches the dealer cheating him and the other gamblers.

Do-ki (as “Mr. Wang”) sells his stash of 100 burner phones to Madam Lim, the boss of the voice phishing scammers.

While communicating with Go-eun, Jin-eon gets caught by one of Madam Lim’s men. Go-eun calls Choi Kyung-koo for help, but he says that he’s being followed by Ha-na.

Go-eun intercepts the calls that the scammers make using the burner phones that Do-ki sold to Madam Lim; after getting Madam Lim’s account number from the scammers, she waits for Do-ki to get the password from Madam Lim.

Ha-na continues to watch Choi Kyung-koo from afar. The next day, she follows Do-ki but loses sight of him; she ends up in the Chinese restaurant that’s the front for Madam Lim’s gambling den and scamming operations. She shows Do-ki’s picture on her phone to Madam Lim and asks her if she has seen him.

Episode 11

Ep. 10 recap: With Do-ki watching, Madam Lim’s men place Jin-eon inside a barrel. To gain Madam Lim’s trust, Do-ki kicks the drum into the sea. But Choi Kyung-koo saves Jin-eon later on. While at the Chinese restaurant, Ha-na learns from her investigator that the blood found in the destroyed data center matches Chairman Park Yang-jin’s DNA. Do-ki, Go-eun, and Choi Kyung-koo scam Madam Lin and withdraw the one million dollars deposited in her bank account. They use the money to reimburse the people who were victimized by Madam Lim and her voice phishing syndicate. Chairman Baek tells Jang Sung-chul that Cho Do-chul is dead. Do-ki drives the deluxe taxi into the passageway behind the taxi company; unknown to him, Ha-na is watching him.

Flashback ... Ha-na and her investigator interview a serial killer named Oh Chul-young.

Ha-na asks the Deputy Chief Prosecutor for an arrest warrant against Jang Sung-chul; she also says that they must search Jang Sung-chul’s house for the missing persons from Chairman Park Yang-jin’s company and from the voice phishing syndicate.

The Deputy Chief Prosecutor assigns Ha-na to work on a case that other prosecutors have refused to handle because the victim’s body has not been found. Later on, Ha-na gets into an argument with the police detective who reported the crime; she insists that there won’t be an indictment for as long as the victim’s body remains missing.

The pastor-father of the victim meets Do-ki after receiving the Rainbow Taxi Service flyer from Jang Sung-chul. When he shows Do-ki a picture of the suspect, Do-ki is stunned because he has met the suspect before.

Episode 12

Ep. 11 recap: Ha-na and the police officers fail to find the deluxe taxi or anything incriminatory against Jang Sung-chul or Do-ki. Later, she confronts Do-ki and says that vigilantism will do more harm than good. After learning from Do-ki that the suspect in the disappearance and alleged murder of the pastor’s son is Chairman Baek’s right hand man, Jang Sung-chul meets Chairman Baek and asks her about what happened to Cho Do-chul’s body. Meanwhile, Do-ki is stunned to find out that Chairman Baek’s right hand man (Gu Seok-tae) and the murder suspect (Gu Yong-tae) are twins. Ha-na pressures the witness to find out from Gu Yong-tae how he disposed of the victim’s body. Do-ki fights off Gu Seok-tae while the witness runs away from Gu Yong-tae and hides in a warehouse. Ha-na’s investigator Mr. Wang dies.

Flashback .... Ha-na’s investigator Mr. Wang fights with Gu Yong-tae inside the warehouse. The witness, Sim Woo-sub, disappears.

The Deputy Chief Prosecutor orders Ha-na to take a few days off and assigns the investigation of Mr. Wang’s murder to another prosecutor. Wracked by guilt over Mr. Wang’s death and unable to assure Mr. Wang’s mother that his killer will be brought to justice, she turns to Do-ki and the Rainbow Taxi Service for revenge.

With Sim Woo-sub still missing and Gu Yong-tae having an alibi based on the CCTV footage from the nightclub, Do-ki and his teammates focus their investigation on the pastor’s missing son. They find out how Gu Yong-tae could have used sulfuric acid to get rid of the missing son’s body.

At her office, Ha-na learns from the police detectives about the business relationships between Sim Woo-sub’s company "MH" and Nakwon Credit, Chairman Baek’s company. While the police detectives follow the new shipment of sulfuric acid, she schedules a meeting with Chairman Baek in a hotel. There, she’s stunned to meet Gu Seok-tae; she also sees Chairman Choi (the man who received Cho Do-chul’s cornea).

Episode 13

Ep. 12 recap: Ha-na prods Chairman Baek by saying that she’s an incompetent businesswoman. Later, after Jang Sung-chul tells her that Gu Yong-tae killed someone, Chairman Baek promises to deal with him. After Choi Kyung-koo and Jin-eon plant a tracking device on the shipment of sulfuric acid, Do-ki follows Gu Yong-tae. At the MH company office, he finds Sim Woo-sub’s corpse; his organs have been harvested. Gu Yong-tae escapes despite being stabbed on the leg by Do-ki. Later, dozens of reporters and photographers descend on the company premises as Ha-na and the police investigate the organ trafficking operations. Chairman Baek confesses to Jang Sung-chul that she started the organ trafficking operation by taking corneas and livers from the people that he asked her to imprison. She says that, unknown to her, Gu Yong-tae expanded the operations by kidnapping people. Jang Sung-chul tells her that Gu Seok-tae and Gu Yong-tae are working together. Chairman Baek tricks Jang Sung-chul and Do-ki; she takes all of the people Jang Sung-chul confined at the private prison and transfers them to another location.

Ha-na and the police detective go to the Bahamas embassy compound where she confronts the ambassador about his relationship with Chairman Baek. As she and the police detective are about to leave the embassy, Do-ki sets off the fire alarm by tossing smoke grenades all over the place. In the corridor, he meets Gu Yong-tae.

Jang Sung-chul arranges a meeting with Chairman Baek to exchange Gu Yong-tae for the criminals. But in the van that’s taking the criminals some place, the man with dyed hair from Chairman Park Yang-jin’s company and the boss of the "jeotgal" company overpower their guards. Somewhere along the highway, they release the other criminals, including the boyfriend who duped Go-eun’s sister into making a sex video.

Enraged by the criminals’ escape, Chairman Baek orders Gu Seok-tae to snatch Do-ki from the taxi company terminal.

Episode 14

Ep. 13 recap: During the scheduled exchange on the bridge, Chairman Baek double crosses Jang Sung-chul. But she, her men, and the criminals bent on revenge against Do-ki hastily retreat when the police arrive. Ha-na tells the police detective that Do-ki is an informant and not Gu Yong-tae’s accomplice. But the Deputy Chief Prosecutor refuses to release Do-ki. While trying to rescue Kang Maria, Go-eun gets hit on the head with a steel pipe wielded by her sister’s ex-boyfriend. Ha-na sets Do-ki free. At the secret basement, Do-ki shuts off the lights and uses night vision to overpower Chairman Baek’s men and the criminals.

Do-ki finds out that the ex-boyfriend is holding Go-eun and Kang Maria in his warehouse-studio. But he also gets a video message from Chairman Baek that she will smash Choi Kyung-koo’s fingers one by one if he does not immediately come to the secret prison.

Ha-na and the police officers arrive at Chairman Baek’s office to arrest Gu Seok-tae. But Chairman Baek and her men block their way.

After chasing the mini-truck driven by the boss of the “jeotgal” company, Do-ki arrives at the secret prison.

Episode 15

Ep. 14 recap: Chairman Baek takes the cornea from Jang Sung-chul’s left eye. The boss of the “jeotgal” company uses a mini-truck to ram the deluxe taxi driven by Jin-eon. Later, Do-ki uses the armored deluxe taxi to ram the mini-truck. Do-ki uses Chairman Baek as a hostage to set Jang Sung-chul and Choi Kyung-koo free. But as he collapses after fighting with Gu Seok-tae, he’s surrounded by Chairman Baek’s men. Ha-na, however, arrives with the police officers. At the docks, Do-ki, Ha-na, and the police officers catch up with Chairman Baek.

Oh Chul-young — the serial killer interviewed by Ha-na and her investigator — remembers how he hammered to death one of his victims; later, he sends by mail his handwritten and illustrated confessions to Ha-na and Jang Sung-chul.

With Gu Yong-tae and Gu Seok-tae blaming each other for stabbing and killing Mr. Wang, Ha-na charges both of them with Mr. Wang’s murder.

Jang Sung-chul tells Do-ki, Go-eun, and Choi Kyung-koo that it’s time to dismantle their revenge service and that he will take responsibility for everything. Later on, Do-ki takes Ha-na to the secret prison.

While Go-eun is busy deleting the videos that could be used to file additional charges against their team, Jang Sung-chul finds on his desk the handwritten confessions that Oh Chul-young sent to him. At her office, Ha-na also sees and reads Oh Chul-young’s confessions.

After talking with Oh Chul-young, Jang Sung-chul approves the last revenge mission for Do-ki.

Episode 16, Finale (with spoilers)

Ep. 15 recap: Oh Chul-young murdered a young girl, but the police detective tortured a guy named Kim Chul-jin into confessing that he murdered the girl. After 20 years in prison, Kim Chul-jin is released; now, despite the Deputy Chief Prosecutor’s apology, he wants revenge because the Statute of Limitations prohibits the filing of charges against Oh Chul-young and the police detective. Oh Chul-young proves that he really killed Do-ki’s mother by reciting her words during her last phone call with Do-ki. Oh Chul-young beats up a young jail guard (“Han Dong-chan”) who made the mistake of entering his jail cell. Unknown to him, the young jail guard is his beloved son Hyun-soo.

Sung-chul tells Do-ki, Go-eun, Choi Kyung-koo, and Jin-eon that in order to prevent Oh Chul-young from publishing his confessions as a book, they must ask his son Hyun-soo (“Han Dong-chan”) to stop him. But since Hyun-soo is a guard in the prison where his father is being held, Do-ki says that he could be a psychopath just like his father.

Jang Sung-chul confesses to the Deputy Chief Prosecutor about the revenge service that he provided to crime victims.

After telling Chairman Baek that there’s no evidence against Jang Sung-chul and Do-ki, Ha-na buries the case against them; the Deputy Chief Prosecutor resigns to take responsibility for her action.

One year later ...

Oh Chul-young appears in court during the retrial of Kim Chul-jin and confesses that he murdered the young girl; Kim Chul-jin is declared not guilty.

Go-eun becomes a motorcycle police officer. Choi Kyung-koo works with racing cars, while Jin-eon is a supervisor in a rocket company.

The appellate court upholds the life sentences against Gu Yong-tae and Gu Seok-tae and increases Chairman Baek’s penalty from ten years to 20 years.

While wandering around Korea, Do-ki rescues a young girl dumped inside a suitcase by her parents.

Historical / culturalbackgrounders and other information

1. The cases depicted in this drama are based on cases that actually happened in Korea.

“Shocking True Stories In Korea Behind Drama Taxi Driver”

“8 Taxi Driver Trivia To Know, Including Cases Inspired By Real-Life Crimes”

“Splashy Episode 5 & 6 ‘Taxi Driver’ Turns Out From a True Story!”

2. “Your Guide To Korean Taxis”

Deluxe taxis, also known as “model taxi” in Korean, are black with a yellow sign on the top. The difference of deluxe taxis from regular ones are the spacious passenger area, higher fare, and a higher standard of service. These deluxe taxis are usually found in front of hotels, bus terminals, and major city roads.

Lessons in photography from “Taxi Driver” with in-depth analysis of its visuals, cinematography, and editing

Index: A. Shots or scenes I liked the most; B. Visual cues; C. Short siding and lead room in one scene; D. Miscellaneous observations (Most beautifully staged scene in this drama; Chekhov’s gun or setup and payoff: leading lines, linear perspective, perspective distortion)

A. Shots and scenes I liked the most in “Taxi Driver”

(1) If there’s one thing that seems to characterize the cinematography of “Taxi Driver,” it’s the use of short tracking shots, as you can see in this scene from Ep. 12 where Jang Sung-chul and Do-ki rush to the secret prison.

From “What is a Tracking Shot? 25 Best Tracking Shot Examples” (Studio Binder)

A tracking shot is any shot that physically moves the camera through the scene for an extended amount of time. Tracking shots often follow a traveling subject, though they can be used to simply show off the scene. In the past, tracking was a term reserved specifically for lateral camera movement that almost exclusively took place on dolly tracks. A camera would “track-right” or “track-left,” while forward movement was referred to a ‘push-in’ or ‘dolly-in’ and backward as a ‘dolly-out.’

These terms are still used, but the vocabulary has changed along side technology. A dolly shot is now simply any shot that takes place on a dolly, which means a dolly shot can travel in any direction. Furthermore, tracking shots can be captured using any means of camera movement including 3-axis gimbals, vest stabilizers, drones, handheld, or any other tool used to physically move the camera body.

Perhaps the longest tracking shot on this drama is in Ep. 3; while riding in Do-ki’s taxi, the bullied boy remembers how he was bullied by three of his classmates. (But it’s actually not a single tracking shot; it’s three or four shots that were "stitched" together during post production.)

Another tracking shot that’s a bit long is the Ep. 8 fight scene where Do-ki uses a dumbbell in beating up the minions of Chairman Park Yang-jin. At first, the camera follows Do-ki from behind and from a high angle point of view. Then at one point, the camera goes ahead of Do-ki, turns, and now shows him from the front and from a low angle point of view.

How did the cinematographer pull off this tracking shot? Well, the picture below shows that the cinematographer was suspended from the roof or ceiling by a wire.

(2) Perhaps the most creative camera movement that I saw in “Taxi Driver” is in Ep. 12 where Do-ki goes to the building where the bodily organs are being harvested. The camera (probably mounted on a crane) first shows an overhead shot of the truck as one of Gu Yong-tae’s men unloads a barrel of sulfuric acid. As Do-ki attacks the man, the camera moves down and pushes in on him; Do-ki looks back (hero shot!) and continues walking to the building as the camera tracks him.

(3) In Ep. 12, Ha-na confronts Chairman Baek in a restaurant. Notice that at first, Chairman Baek is frame left while Ha-na is frame right. As you can see, the camera moves past Ha-na such that she’s now frame left while Chairman Baek is now frame right. That camera movement is straight out of Bong Joon-ho’s Oscar-winning movie “Parasite.” I think that the director and cinematographer of “Taxi Driver” used that camera movement to signify a change of beat in that scene. (Ha-na provokes Chairman Baek by saying that she’s not a meticulous businesswoman as she thought.)

In that scene from “Parasite,” Mrs. Park is stunned when Jessica tells her that her son has artistic talent. Jessica is frame right while Mrs. Park is frame left. The cinematographer deliberately “crosses the line” or disregards the “180-degree rule” such that Jessica becomes frame left while Mrs. Park becomes frame right.


Some resources about “beat”:

The article “How to Develop the Story Beats in Your Screenplay” defines what a “beat” is:

“A beat is a division within a scene in which the action takes a different turn, the momentum shifts, and one or more characters adapt to, or change, because of this shift. The end of one story beat and the beginning of another marks the moment that the actor must reevaluate how to portray the character. It’s a point when the character must choose a different approach, or tactic, on the way towards reaching his or her objective. As the word implies, the beat is the pulse of the film—it’s what drives the story forward.”

The article “What is a beat?” at https://screenwriting.io/what-is-a-beat/ states: “In screenplays, a ‘beat’ is the smallest unit of measurement. If a character sits down at a desk and picks up a pencil, that is two beats.”

For more information about “beat,” please surf to “Story Beats: How to Create the Backbone of Your Screenplay” and “Try Our Screenplay Beat Sheet (Free Template)”

(4) Shaky or wobbly camera to reinforce emotional tension

In Ep. 12, Ha-na realizes that she cannot prosecute Gu Yong-tae (for murdering her investigator) because he has a solid alibi. Thus, she turns to Do-ki for revenge. Notice that the shots of Ha-na and Do-ki are a bit shaky or wobbly; that’s because the camera isn’t on a tripod but is handheld. The wobbly motions reinforce the emotional tension in the scene.

Relevant resources:

“3 Brilliant Moments in the Visuals of Emotion” (CineFix)

“How To Convey Emotion Through Cinematography”

“Camera Movement Tutorial: How To Create Emotion” (The Slanted Lens)

“Sound in Filmmaking: How to Use Sound to Heighten Emotions” (New York Film Academy)

(5) Guided by the director’s vision, the cinematographer sometimes uses arc shots to transition to a flashback scene.

In Ep. 12, Do-ki and Go-eun are in the amusement park trying to figure out how Gu Yong-tae and his men are transporting the sulfuric acid. First, we see Do-ki and Go-eun. As the camera arcs around them, we then see Gu Yong-tae and his men loading the sulfuric acid into their truck.

In Ep. 12, Do-ki finds the room where the bodily organs are being harvested. As he looks around the room, he imagines how Gu Yong-tae used sulfuric acid to dispose of the bodies whise organs have been harvested. As the camera arcs around him counterclockwise, he turns around clockwise; the camera continues to track him as he goes to a drawer and finds Sim Woo-sub’s corpse.

Relevant resources:

“The Arc Shot — Examples and Camera Movements Explained” (Studio Binder)

“Arc Shot - Film Elementary” (scene from “Carrie” 1976)

B. “Visual cues” are explained in an excellent series of articles from “My Drama List” written by someone with the username “3GGG.”

Popular Visual Cues found in K-Dramas, Part 1: visual ways to establish a conflict, division, or fight between two or more characters

Popular Visual Cues in K-Dramas, Part 2: boxing to establish a character’s vulnerability, solitude, or fear; comfort and respite; change; danger; showdown

Popular Visual Cues in K-Dramas, Part 3: Dutch angle

Popular Visual Cues in K-Dramas, Part 4: Interpersonal cues (using cues simultaneously or one after another)

Ep. 3: After studying the burned out wreckage of the deluxe taxi that Cho Do-chul rode on and the CCTV footages of the tunnel where the deluxe taxi disappeared, Ha-na goes to the taxi company where she meets Do-ki. Notice that they’re boxed in by the frames either a door or window. When two or more characters within one frame, it could either signify unity or conflict depending on the context.

Ep. 3: Park Jung-min (the bullied boy) and the bullies are boxed in within the frame of the classroom window.

Ep. 4: The bullies are stumped when their plan to entrap Do-ki fails. They’re boxed in by the walls and the stairs.

Ep. 7: Go-eun is emotionally and psychologically devastated after seeing her sister’s video and failing to delete it from the Internet. Notice that she’s boxed in to reinforce her emotional and psychological conflict.


Ep. 8: Jang Sung-chul is boxed in by the walls to depict his emotional and physical tension after learning that Cho Do-chul is coming after him.

Ep. 11: Do-ki and Jang Sung-chul are boxed in by the walls of the secret basement to depict their dilemma as Ha-na’s investigation closes in on them.

Ep. 11: Ha-na and Do-ki confront each other on the street. Notice the lines in the background that divide them.

Ep. 16: Jang Sung-chul visits Oh Chul-young in prison. Notice that a line from the glass window divides them.

C. Short siding and lead room in one scene

If you have read my previous analyses of the visuals, cinematography, and editing of dramas (for example, “Flower of Evil”), you know that I have always ranted against short siding. Briefly stated, short siding occurs when the subject is frame left (looking to the right) but is placed near the right edge of the frame. Or vice versa. In lead room (aka “nose room” or “head room”), the subject is frame left (looking to the right) and is placed nearer to the left edge of the frame. Or vice versa.

In this scene from Ep. 11, the cinematographer uses both short siding and lead room to depict the tension between Do-ki and Ha-na.

Ha-na (short sided)

Do-ki (short sided)

Ha-na (with lead room)

Do-ki (with lead room)

Over the shoulder (OTS) shot with Ha-na short sided

D. Miscellaneous observations (Most beautifully staged scene in this drama; Chekhov’s gun or setup and payoff: leading lines, linear perspective, perspective distortion)

(1) Most beautifully staged and blocked scene in “Taxi Driver”:

In Ep. 15, Do-ki reveals and shows to Ha-na the secret prison. The director staged the scene such that some kind of iron grills are in the foreground; at this particular moment, the deluxe taxi, Ha-na, and Do-ki are boxed in within separate frames created by the iron grills.

Relevant resources:

“How Kubrick, Spielberg, and Inarritu Stage their Scenes”

“Film Blocking (It’s easier than you think)”

(2) Chekhov’s gun or setup and payoff

In Ep. 15, Oh Chul-young beats up a young prison guard. As the young jail guard walks away from Oh Chul-young, he looks back, with the camera lingering on him for a few seconds. It’s only at the end of the episode do we learn that the young jail guard is actually Oh Chul-young’s beloved son.

Relevant discussion: “Chekhov’s gun” or “planting and payoff” technique for screenwriters as used in K-dramas

(3) Leading lines can help create depth in an otherwise two-dimensional image.

Ep. 12: Ha-na breaks down in tears and in guilt after she fails to reassure the mother of Mr. Wang, her investigator, that she will bring his killer to justice. Notice that Ha-na (foreground) is bigger than Mr. Wang’s relatives (deep background). Notice also that a line on the floor behind Ha-na leads the viewer’s eyes towards Mr. Wang’s relatives.

Ep. 12: Go-eun (foreground) appears bigger than Choi Kyung-koo and Jin-eon (deep background). Notice the line of the wall that leads the viewer’s eyes towards Choi Kyung-koo and Jin-eon.

Relevant resource: “5 types of perspective in photography composition”