A combination of lip-synching and audio dubbing, the lip dub technique is usually used to make music videos. Individuals or groups of people lip synch and then their movements are dubbed over with the audio of the song. Recently, lip dub became a new international trend in college promotional films. KAIST also participated in this trend as KAINURI, in collaboration with VOK, the school’s broadcasting system, produced a lip dub starring more than 250 students to promote KAIST. The KAIST Herald met with Wansoo Kim from KAINURI and Sang Min Lee from VOK to hear more about their preparation and production processes.

Could you briefly introduce yourselves?
[Kim] Hello, my name is Wansoo Kim and I am a sophomore in the Department of Mechanical Engineering. I am the leader of the Lip Dub team at KAINURI.
[Lee] Hello, my name is Sang Min Lee and I work in the producing department at VOK. I am the producer of the recently filmed Lip Dub at KAIST.

Can you explain what lip dub is?
[Kim] Lip dub is a combined word of lip synch and audio dubbing to describe the lip synching to a song, the videos of which are made in order to promote a place or an organization. Although lip dub is not well-known in Korea, it is immensely popular abroad as virtually every university has its own lip dub film for promotional purposes. However, these days, lip dub is gaining popularity in Korea as well. Many universities such as Dankook University and Sungkyunkwan University have already produced their lip dub films.

What prompted you both to produce KAIST Lip Dub, and what preparations did you make for it?
[Kim] One of the main reasons that we decided to produce Lip Dub was to promote KAIST in more creative ways. Due to consecutive tragedies that happened at the beginning of this year, the campus mood has darkened in general and the wide publicity the school received left negative impressions of KAIST on the public. Thus, KAINURI set a goal to lighten the mood at KAIST and emphasize the bright side of our campus life and learning environment. Also, by filming lip dub, we can encourage the school spirit and love for KAIST of not only the students who participate in lip dub production, but also others who will see the film later on.
In terms of the preparation process, early in this semester we had a lack of time as we started planning the big event. We received funding from the Student Affairs Team and pushed ahead with this project in collaboration with VOK. 300 students signed up to be part of the lip dub film, and approximately 250 to 300 students participated in the actual shooting.
[Lee] When VOK was requested to produce the film for KAIST, we drew the overall outline first. There was a lot to consider, such as directions of movements, composition and the general producing. VOK is mainly in charge of shooting and editing the film.

What is the theme or concept of KAIST’s Lip Dub?
[Lee] While filming, we focused on shooting unique performances of each group while they were lip synching to the song. Also, since a lip dub is usually filmed in one go, we came up with the concept of using a ball as a medium of shifting scenes. In other words, students made natural transitions along the path by throwing the ball back and forth to the next person or group.
We already finished our first shooting on November 20. It took four hours in total, shooting the first scenes at the International Center, moving on to the Creative Learning Building, the KI Building and finally the duck pond for the last scenes.
[Kim] The songs we chose for KAIST Lip Dub are “Say It Again,” and “I Got a Feeling.” When we recruited students to participate in the lip dub, there were individual and group categories. In the case of group recruiting, any kind of groups, from people in the same club or freshmen class to simply close friends, were welcomed. Also, students who played leading roles had their chances on a volunteer basis. As there was no limit or restriction on selecting students to participate in the film, Lip Dub was able to truly represent the diverse study body on campus. Since it was the first time to shoot a film starring such a large number of people, there were difficulties with controlling students, and the filming process wasn’t all smooth. Yet, I am glad that we made it through despite some difficulties, and I sincerely appreciate all students who actively participated in the film.

Do you have any last comments for KAIST students?
[Kim] First of all, I would like to thank students for paying a lot of attention to KAIST Lip Dub even though it was the first time making it. I hope many students will watch when we post our completed film online. Also, lip dub films do not have copyright, so feel free to use KAIST Lip Dub as long as no edits or changes are made to the content.
[Lee] I would also like to thank the people who helped us finish our shooting well. We will do our best in editing the film. Please look forward to seeing our final version in the upcoming winter.

 

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