Netflix Original Series 'Ojingeo Game' Season 2 On-Site Reveal
The new set of the Netflix original series 'Ojingeo Game' that turned the world upside down has been revealed.
On December 7th last year, the set for 'Ojingeo Game' Season 2 (hereafter 'Ojingeo Game 2') was unveiled at a location in Chungcheong Province. Director Hwang Dong-hyuk, who is in charge of directing and writing, Kim Ji-yeon, CEO of the production company First Man Studio, and art director Chae Kyung-sun were present at the site.
The production team, who had urged 'strict secrecy' until the reveal of 'Ojingeo Game 2', said, "Filming began in July last year, and at that time, we were halfway through shooting, approaching the turning point. CEO Kim Ji-yeon of the production company said, 'We are still continuously filming, and it seems we will have to keep shooting until June 2024. We are working hard, really shooting like crazy to maintain that passion.' "She added, "We are very happy to have you all here today so we can proudly show off the set."
Director Hwang Dong-hyuk, who wrote the 'Ojingeo Game' script and directed the series, said, "It would have been better if we could have shown you the filming process, but due to various circumstances, there are many secrets we must keep, and there are many spoilers that are difficult to reveal before release, so we could only reveal the set rather than the filming site itself," asking for understanding.
Director Hwang also asked for understanding regarding the inability to conduct a Q&A session on site, saying, "Although my works have been popular before, this is the first time I have received such worldwide attention even before making the work, so it feels very unfamiliar, awkward, and burdensome to me. I also understand very well how many people are waiting for and curious about this work."
He continued, "To share a little about the story, Season 1 ends with Seong Gi-hun (played by Lee Jung-jae) turning away at the airport without boarding the plane. So, the main story of Season 2 will be about pursuing that Seong Gi-hun," explaining, "Seong Gi-hun eventually returns to this game arena to achieve a certain goal of his own. While playing the games here, he meets new people and, together with them, tries to accomplish what he aims for. That effort is the central theme of Season 2."
He added, "As you may already know from the announcement, unfortunately, almost all the popular characters from Season 1 were killed off, so the new season features new characters and actors. The new games will likely include many younger participants than in Season 1, and participants of various generations, ages, and genders will newly appear in Season 2. In Season 1, for example, Gi-hun and Sang-woo appeared as childhood neighborhood friends, but in Season 2, more participants with private relationships will appear," he added.
The set revealed that day was the one where participants play the games. Spaces familiar from Season 1, such as the dormitory where participants sleep and the maze-like stairs they move through, caught the eye. However, unlike Season 1, a new space in the middle of the dormitory where participants choose O or X was newly constructed, arousing curiosity.
Director Hwang explained, "In Season 1, there was a vote. Participants could choose O or X to quit the game, and if the game ended, they were given the opportunity to leave through voting. In Season 2, I developed that system further and used it so that at the end of each game, participants have the chance to vote on whether to leave, and through voting each time, they decide whether to stay or leave this place," explaining the differentiated aspect.
Director Hwang expected that the division into groups based on choosing O or X and the conflicts arising within would serve as elements of satire and entertainment.
He said, "These days, there are many divisions. Globally, there are many regional, religious conflicts, and wars. Even looking at the domestic situation, there are generational conflicts, gender conflicts, commonly expressed as 'Idaenam' and 'Idaenyeo' (terms referring to men and women in their 20s), existing regional conflicts, class conflicts?there are so many divisions and lines drawn. Groups that one does not belong to and thinks are different are labeled as wrong, distinguished as O or X, and we see many scenes of attacking and conflicting with each other," adding, "As a satirical element on these issues, I incorporated the election system and the 'distinction between each other' through O and X as one of the important themes of Season 2. So, when you visit the set, you will see that visually represented."
Chae Kyung-sun, the art director who was in charge of set design for both Season 1 and Season 2, said, "We worked with the same design and layout method as Season 1, but added more spatial sense and flow to create a larger-scale design," explaining, "To find the colors used in Season 1, we even visited the paint store used back then to specify the exact same colors."
Director Chae, who said "the construction method and concept are the same for Seasons 1 and 2," explained about the beds in the dormitory: originally, there were 456 beds, but only about 100 remained at the time of the set reveal. She said, "The beds are very heavy, and we stacked them one by one, working for a week. The production took more than two months."
Regarding the 'OX' space, which became a focal point this season, she explained, "The director suggested painting the O and X in fluorescent paint, but I wanted to use lighting effectively. Since the story flow starts from Gi-hun's revenge, we designed the lighting to be a bit dark, and visually expressed the contrast when the O and X lights are turned on in that darkness."
'Ojingeo Game' is a survival drama where participants in a mysterious survival game with a prize of 45.6 billion won risk their lives to become the final winner by challenging extreme games.
Season 2 covers the intense confrontation between Seong Gi-hun, the winner of the previous season's game, and the Front Man (played by Lee Byung-hun) who awaits him, as well as the games restarting. In addition to Wi Ha-joon and Gong Yoo from Season 1, new cast members such as Im Si-wan, Yang Dong-geun, Kang Ae-sim, and Jo Yu-ri appear in Season 2.
'Ojingeo Game 2' will be released on Netflix on December 26.
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