Clubhouse Conversations — Squid Game (Season 2)

In this episode, cinematographer Ji-yong Kim is joined by interviewer Michael Pessah, ASC to discuss his work on Season 2 of Squid Game — renowned Korean dystopian-thriller series centered on a secret contest between desperate participants who risk death in hopes of escaping financial hardship.

Season 2 of Squid Game is set three years after Seong Gi-hun (Lee Jung-jae), also known as Player 456, emerges as the winner of Squid Game — a series of children's games whose losing players are put to death, with a grand prize of 45.6 billion Korean won awarded to the victor — determined to enact revenge on the man in charge of the game and shut it down for good. Kim served as director of photography on all of the season's seven episodes.

In this interview, Kim discusses the production's use of single-camera operating and handheld zooms to stay close to actors' performances; the crew's complex camera choreography for fight sequences and large-scale set pieces; his use of red and blue lighting to build tension and underscore moments in which characters make pivotal choices; incorporating geometric framing as a visual motif; crafting eyelights with custom diffusion to enhance emotional beats, and more.

Ji-yong Kim is a cinematographer whose credits include A Bittersweet Life, The Fortress and Decision to Leave.

Michael Pessah, ASC is a cinematographer whose credits include the features Saving Flora, Block Party and Smiley Face Killers, and the series Insecure, The Deleted, Hangar 1 and Evil Things.

You’ll find all episodes in our ASC Clubhouse Conversations discussion series here.