The Secrets At the support of the Gorgeous Visuals of The Oscar-Worthwhile ‘KPop Demon Hunters’ With Gary H. Lee

Photos courtesy of Netflix and Gary H. Lee

KPop Demon Hunters is a huge-ranging share of visual spectacle. For cinematographer Gary H. Lee, the project presented an array of environments and tones to visualize, including rollicking demon-slaying action, passionate K-Drama, and rousing stadium concert events. In transient, it’s a truly-realized account imaginative and prescient.

Lee and his collaborators obtained a nomination for Outstanding CG Cinematography on the Visual Effects Society Awards. KPop Demon Hunters went on, unnecessary to issue, to fetch Finest Sharp Record on the Academy Awards. Shortly after the fetch, Lee spoke with What’s On Netflix about his work on the movie and a cinematographer’s position in animation.

Lee started his occupation in visual effects. He was a previs artist on the Enormous establish Wars prequels, Existence of Pi, and Kung Fu Panda, to establish just a few credit score. KPop Demon Hunters is another leap forward in his storied occupation.

What had been the final touches for KPop Demon Hunters that you, administrators Maggie [Kang] and Chris [Appelhans], and the group labored on?

From the camera standpoint, as soon as we end the tough layout blockading, determining the cinematography for the manner we’re going to shoot the movie, masses of it is in step with what was within the storyboards. There’s continuously a camera polish pass on the end.

We would possibly perchance well well end our camera blockading as a tough layout stage, the animation takes over. They end their animations in those shots. In the end, we’ll gather to end our final camera on high of the final animation. Each and sometimes you positively end present another touch that makes the camera feel tangible, stylistic to the theme of what we’re attempting to end.

In animation, cinematography tends to be broken down into camera after which lighting fixtures. In used cinematography on a live-action movie, a DP will location up the camera and gentle the shot. Nonetheless in animation, the path of is so composed because it’s divided up into so many various departments.

Furthermore, due to the technical constraints, we’ll location up the camera, we’ll end our blockading, after which animation can gather started on those. Months down the street, when animation’s done, the lighting fixtures division will grab over and commence lighting fixtures it. That’s most steadily in collaboration with the manufacturing designer, doing color keys. On the total, on the end is when all of that comes collectively to assemble you the final pixel on the physique.

©2025 Netflix

Such as you acknowledged, you wish the camera to be tangible in KPop Demon Hunters. How’d you are trying and kind that?

On every movie, I end a cinematic pitch for the project. Mighty of it is a long way a dialog with the director and the artistic group to gape on the opportunity and the aptitude of what a movie take care of KPop Demon Hunters entails. Each and every various movie has its own DNA. Our job is to verify that that the cinematic language reflects the mumble material.

For KPop, what was in actuality attention-grabbing is that you have your live live efficiency events. You own your flashbacks to extinct instances. You own the KPop song video sensibility that’s now not live, nevertheless it’s more take care of a song video. It’s a extremely dynamic, effectively-choreographed camera model. After which you also own the K-drama, which is the TV manufacturing-quality gape that you are trying and prevent when Ginu and Rumi are having their dates.

Plenty of tales to issue.

K-dramas most steadily don’t own masses of finances, so that they’ll crawl to a issue where they perchance don’t own permits. Four folks on the crew, two folks [on camera] speaking, and likewise you blur the entirety within the support of them out. So, you own a extremely shallow depth of discipline, a extremely huge bokeh, and that practically about becomes a visual language by itself.

KPop Demon Hunters is gallant in loads of tones. On fable of that, the palette of how we are able to develop basically the many of the camera to issue the fable becomes gigantic. We’ll utilize masses of lengthy lenses for those intimate K-drama-feeling shots. The live live efficiency on stage, the sport yelp, restful the utilize of lengthy lenses, nevertheless the entirety is in level of curiosity. Within the occasion you’re gazing a sport yelp, they wish to protect the entirety good spirited.

What in regards to the action scenes?

When we crawl into action sequences, that’s when every rule goes out the window. We don’t care about what lens, short or lengthy. As lengthy because the shot is dynamic, as lengthy as you gather punchy action with a choreographed sequence, then we’re now not going to constrain the camera.

As a cinematographer, the bathhouse should’ve presented masses of challenges and fun with the total water, reflections, steam, demons, and color. Chris told us Eastern Guarantees was an influence there.

Eastern Guarantees was one of the important early references given to me. No doubt, Oldboy as effectively.

Oh, chilly.

They had been fascinating to crawl pretty raw, correct on a visual level – now not the mumble material or the rest take care of that. With the bathhouse, there’s masses of atmosphere in there. You own the greens, you own the orange. Plenty of the color choices are going to crawl to the manufacturing procedure group.

What I will be in contact to is that after we’re doing scouts, we’ll be take care of, “Hey, let’s channel Wong Kar-wai in there.” I’m jumping to a various sequence, nevertheless it’s about when Rumi and Ginu are at Bukchon. Whether or now not Rumi and Ginu are below a street lamp in an alleyway or on the rooftops of Bukchon’s historic buildings, we would possibly perchance well well location it up, grab a step support, and crawl, “Wow, that seems take care of Wong Kar-wai.”

KPOP DEMON HUNTERS – After they aren’t selling out stadiums, Kpop superstars Rumi, Mira and Zoey utilize their secret identities as badass demon hunters to present protection to their followers from an ever-yelp supernatural menace. Collectively, they should face their greatest enemy yet – an irresistible rival boy band of demons in disguise. ©2025 Netflix

Within the occasion you issue Wong Kar-wai, you sigh in regards to the slightest of functions on a person or touches having a important affect.

You correct hit it on the head because one thing we also seen in K-dramas is they exaggerate the smallest interactions. In Western drama, they correct crawl for the kiss, return to their house, and crawl to it.

With Asian drama, even the slightest handshake or touching hands, it’s take care of, “Whoa, did they correct end that?” That’s fireworks. It’s crazy. We positively are taking note of those shut-ups, making a huge meal out of something that felt very restrained. It speaks to the cultural facet of connection.

Within the occasion you’ve obtained Rumi, Mira, and Zoe around a dinner desk, what work does that require as a cinematographer?

When Rumi was down and lost her sigh when they had been on the Korean restaurant, that scene took a extremely very lengthy time to shoot. It’s an intimate sequence, nevertheless you’re attempting to capture how they wish Rumi, Mira, and Zoe to feel another way at that desk. It was a chain that started very early on, and it didn’t wrap till indispensable later, thanks to the amount of density within the restaurant.

How shallow the fundamental level of curiosity is, or what is within the support of them? Is it correct a dialog with the three of them? There’s a fridge within the background that’s emitting too indispensable gentle, that’s too distracting, so let’s turn that off. There’s so indispensable idea path of that goes into that. Furthermore, how they posture themselves affords out so indispensable of a girl’s persona.

Had been there any colours you wished to chart their journeys?

I should defer to Helen [Chen] and [David] Bleich, the manufacturing designers on the yelp. Traditionally in animation, many of the color becomes owned by manufacturing procedure. I end glance that even on this movie that I’m on moral now, there’s beginning to be a collaboration between manufacturing procedure and cinematography speaking about gentle.

One more time, it’s all due to the the truth that historically animation is any such separate path of. On fable of the Unreal Engine now, we are able to end exact-time interactive lighting fixtures. I end glance the future that the cinematographer on an spirited movie is beginning to was a exact cinematographer within the used sense, any individual who’s as much as bustle of the camera and lighting fixtures. On KPop Demon Hunters, my job was blockading cameras, lens choices, f-stops, all those things.

Are you thinking in regards to the path of becoming less separated, where cinematography in animation goes?

I’m very thinking about where here is all going. If truth be told, I’m in my idea doing a slight of bit of a push to own cinematography as a category in awards.

That’s good.

Because ever for the reason that very first Toy Memoir, 3D previs and layout cinematography own was a extremely pivotal phase of animation. It’s been three a protracted time, and I mediate folks are restful by animation cinematography as used layout, which is something that’s done in 2D.

Ever for the reason that origin of 3D animation, now we own a camera that we are transferring, staging, and making choices on lenses take care of in live action. The sunshine remains to be now not a that you would possibly perchance well well mediate realm because lighting fixtures wouldn’t originate till eight months later, so it’s a various division that takes care of that.

On fable of Unreal Engine, now you would possibly perchance well well literally location up your shot and gentle your shot moral there. This can gather you 75–85% to what the intent of that shot is, then it becomes meaningful knowledge to crawl down the pipe. So, to acknowledge to your quiz, am I thinking in regards to the next chapter of cinematography in animation? Very indispensable so.

KPOP DEMON HUNTERS – (L-R) Rumi (sigh by ARDEN CHO), Zoey (sigh by JI-YOUNG YOO) and Mira (sigh by MAY HONG) . ©2025 Netflix

Speaking of the future, you labored on a project that paved the manner for where digital filmmaking and VFX is as of late: the Enormous establish Wars prequels. Within the occasion you labored on Episode II in explicit, did you glance glimpses of the future of where filmmaking is as of late?

Oh my God, that’s loads to unpack. I in actuality felt that I was born within the moral time, the moral space. At the time, the commerce was purchasing for folk to end now not final animation, nevertheless something that’s indecent ample that you would possibly perchance well well issue a account.

When I was engaged on Enormous establish Wars: Episode II – Assault of the Clones, Francis Ford Coppola would derive and discuss how he invented the observe “previsualization.” Of us didn’t build it. If it’s already visualized, then how end you pre-visualize it?

When I was at Lucasfilm, it was with a community of alternative folks on that movie that for lag helped outline the fresh skills of cinema. I’m speaking about 10 to 12 folks, and I sigh extremely honored to be phase of that. They all was commerce giants. There’s previs firms take care of The Third Floor, HALON Entertainment, and those who got here off that community went on to work on the total Surprise films.

George Lucas in actuality had it down. He saved pushing the commerce forward, namely with the transition from movie to digital cameras, which also took place on Episode II. It location so many milestones in a single image.

It did. He’s in actuality the Walt Disney of filmmaking. As a Lucas fan, I had to position a query to, so thank you. To end with KPop Demon Hunters, how precisely did Oldboy influence the movie?

Comely after the bathhouse battle, Rumi was chasing Ginu down a hallway. It by no manner ended up going there, nevertheless in earlier iterations there had been thoughts of doing one of those profile shots of them preventing within the hallway. Oldboy had that for lag iconic shot, practically take care of the camera’s at some level of the wall and likewise you notion this battle crawl down.

The tone and the energy, all of that, is so various. I would issue the greatest takeaway is the feel of the sequence, the feeling of the tone – something sweaty, muggy, and doesn’t feel good wise. If you choose to comprehend away what the closest affiliation is to Oldboy, it’d be that.