韓劇爲何有吸引千萬青年的誘惑力
Eyes bulging at the steaming plate before her, Lee Soo-kyung eagerly wolfs down a mouthful of rice, unperturbed by the film camera hovering a chopstick’s length from her face. But the constant interruptions by Park Joon-wha give the actress, her pretty features offset by a frumpy collared shirt, little chance to enjoy the meal.
李秀景(Lee Soo-kyung，見右圖)的姣好面容似乎與領子邋遢的襯衫不相稱。此刻，她瞪着眼前熱氣騰騰的盤子，狼吞虎嚥地吃下一大口米飯，對距離自己的臉僅一根筷子開外的攝像機並不在乎。但樸俊華(Park Joon-wha)不停地打斷她，她根本就吃不好飯。
“Eat as much as you can!” cries the director of the forthcoming soap opera Let’s Eat, scrutinising her from behind two video screens and his thick black-rimmed glasses. “If it’s hot then show it – let’s see you gulping! And bring her some more green vegetables to make it more colourful!”
戴黑色寬邊眼鏡的導演一邊通過兩塊視頻屏幕觀察她的表演，一邊大喊：“儘量吃，能吃多少就吃多少！要是感覺飯菜熱，你得讓人看到你在大快朵頤！來，再給她加點兒綠色蔬菜，讓色彩更鮮豔。”劇組正在製作即將播出的肥皂劇《一起吃飯吧》(Let’s Eat)。
As crew members top up her plate once more, Ms Lee discreetly spits a half-chewed morsel into a bucket by her side.
劇組人員再次加滿菜盤之際，李秀景悄悄地把一小口嚼了一半的飯菜吐進身邊的桶裏。
Making South Korean television drama is hard work, and not always glamorous. Yet the results are consumed avidly by viewers from the Mongolian steppes to the congested streets of Jakarta.
拍韓國電視劇是件苦差，也並不總是光鮮的。不過，從蒙古大草原到雅加達擁擠的街道，觀衆們都非常熱衷看韓劇。
South Korea’s TV drama exports grew from $8m in 2001 to $155m in 2011 – the most recent official figure available – and industry executives say there is still room for expansion in Asia and beyond.
2001年韓劇出口額爲800萬美元，2011年（可獲得最新官方數據的年份）上升至1.55億美元。行業高管表示，韓劇在亞洲及其他地區仍有擴張空間。
Despite the impressive growth, the soap-opera makers are in no danger of overtaking the multibillion-dollar sales of the country’s electronics groups such as Samsung, or shipbuilders. But their rise reflects the growing cultural allure of one of Asia’s richest nations – as well as its fiercely competitive business culture.
儘管增長驚人，但電視劇製作公司與該國三星(Samsung)等電子產品集團或造船企業在銷售額上仍不可同日而語。但是，該行業的崛起反映了亞洲最富裕國家之一不斷增強的文化魅力——也反映了韓國競爭激烈的商業文化。
The lonely death this summer of the celebrated director Kim Jong-hak, in the bathroom of a rented apartment, was a reminder of the high stakes at the top of the country’s TV business. Mr Kim had invested millions of dollars in Faith – a 24-part drama about a plastic surgeon who travels back in time – only to find himself facing a commercial flop and an angry cast pursuing him for unpaid wages.
今夏，韓國知名導演金鐘學(Kim Jong-hak)在一處出租公寓的浴室裏孤獨地死去，向世人提醒該國電視業高層的風險有多麼高。金鐘學曾向24集的《信義》(Faith)投入數百萬美元，最終遭遇商業失敗，而憤怒的劇組人員向他追討被拖欠的薪酬。該劇講述的是一位整形外科醫生穿越時空回到過去的故事。
His suicide prompted soul-searching in an industry that has seen its budgets balloon in recent years. “When I started in this industry 20 years ago it would cost about Won50m ($47,000) to make a single 70-minute episode,” says Kim Young-seop, a content executive at SBS, one of South Korea’s three terrestrial broadcasters. “Now it’s more like Won450m.”
受金鐘學自殺的觸動，近年來預算快速上漲的電視行業開始了反省。韓國三大電視臺之一SBS的內容總監Kim Young-seop說：“20年前我進入這個行業時，拍一集70分鐘的電視劇成本大約是5000萬韓元（合4.7萬美元），如今成本已接近4.5億韓元了。”
SBS and its rivals, KBS and MBC, have begun to commission most of their TV dramas from independent production companies. The two parties typically split filming and salary costs but the broadcaster usually takes all the domestic advertising revenue. To make a profit, the independent producers must rely on export sales, sponsorship and product placement.
SBS及其對手KBS和MBC都已開始委託獨立製片公司製作大多數電視劇。一般情況下，雙方分擔攝製與工資成本，但電視臺通常獨佔全部國內廣告收入。爲實現盈利，獨立製片公司必須依靠出口銷售、贊助和植入式廣告。
Critics say this system unfairly skews financial risk towards the independent producers. But the ruthless competition between them has helped drive a dynamic industry with broadening international appeal.
批評者表示，這一制度不公平地讓獨立製片公司承擔了大部分的財務風險。但是，這些製片公司之間的無情競爭提高了該行業的活力，在國際上產生了越來越大的吸引力。
Japan has been by far the biggest foreign market ever since the success in 2003 of Winter Sonata, a mixture of slushy romance and high drama that won a huge following among middle-aged women (see box). Executives see limited room for further growth there, however. The novelty has worn off among the Japanese, with sentiment towards South Korea also darkened by a growing diplomatic dispute over the nations’ past colonial relationship.
日本一直是自2003年《冬季戀歌》(Winter Sonata)大獲成功以來韓劇最大的海外市場。那是一部多愁善感、情節曲折的愛情片，受到了中年女性的熱烈追捧。然而，行業高管們認爲日本市場的未來增長空間受限。一方面，日本人對韓劇的新鮮感已逐漸消退，另一方面，歷史上兩國之間殖民關係引起的外交糾紛日益加深，也使日本人對韓國的印象變差。
So the industry is looking further afield. Broadcasters in Iran, Iraq and the United Arab Emirates have given primetime slots to conservative South Korean medieval dramas. “In those countries they don’t want to see women in short skirts,” explains Jo Han-sang, an overseas distribution executive at KBS.
於是，韓國電視業開始把目光投向更遠方。伊朗、伊拉克和阿聯酋的多家電視臺已安排在黃金時段播放保守的韓國古裝連續劇。KBS負責海外發行的高管Jo Han-sang解釋道：“在那些國家，人們不想看到女人穿短裙。”
Nearly a dozen of KBS’s dramas are currently showing on Romanian national TV, Mr Jo says, while Turkish producers have been buying the rights to remake some shows.
他說，KBS出品的10多部電視劇目前在羅馬尼亞全國電視臺播放，土耳其一些製片公司也一直在購買版權，對部分劇目進行改編。
The industry’s export success echoes that of Mexican soap operas, or telenovelas – and SBS is targeting their Latin American heartland through a distribution deal.
韓國電視業的出口佳績與墨西哥肥皂劇（被稱爲telenovelas的浪漫電視肥皂劇）相仿。SBS正通過一份發行協議，把目光投向拉美腹地市場。But for now, the real money is to be made in Asia, be it from the established markets of Japan and Taiwan or the fast-growing demand in countries such as Vietnam and Cambodia. “US shows have specific genres – cop shows or medical shows – but we have universal stories,” says Park Man-young, a KBS producer.
但目前而言，韓劇還是要靠亞洲來賺取大部分利潤——無論是成熟的日本或臺灣市場，還是需求快速增長的越南和柬埔寨等國家。KBS製片人Park Man-young說：“美劇有些固定的類型——警察劇或醫療劇——但韓劇的情節很齊全。”
“All of a sudden everything is about Korea,” says Leung Yuk-ming, a cultural studies professor at Hong Kong’s Lingnan University. But while TV may have started the “Korean Wave”, she adds, the centre of attention is now K-pop – the immaculately groomed, minutely choreographed bands that have an ever tighter grip on Asia’s teen market.
香港嶺南大學(Lingnan University)文化研究系助理教授樑旭明(Leung Yuk-ming)說：“突然間，韓國文化鋪天蓋地來了。”不過，她補充道，儘管韓劇也許開啓了“韓流”，但現在最吸引觀衆的是K-pop（韓國流行音樂）——打扮得乾乾淨淨、舞蹈動作精心編排的樂隊，在亞洲青少年當中越來越有市場。
TV companies have sought to cash in by hiring the singers to appear in their shows. “We do like to cast an ‘idol’ who appeals to the international market,” says Suh Jang-ho, a content executive at the entertainment group CJ E&M, which used the pop star Yoon Doo-joon in Let’s Eat.
電視公司已尋求利用這一趨勢，他們僱傭歌手拍電視節目。娛樂集團CJ E&M內容總監Suh Jang-ho說：“我們的確希望請一位在國際市場有吸引力的‘偶像’主演。”該集團聘請了流行歌星尹鬥俊(Yoon Doo-joon)加盟《一起吃飯吧》。
The likes of Mr Yoon do not come cheap. The going rate for an internationally popular star is now Won100m per episode, executives say. Cuts have to be made to accommodate the big names, notes Yoon Tae-jin, a professor at Seoul’s Yonsei University. “Suddenly the lead parts have no parents any more.”
尹鬥俊等明星的身價不菲。高管們表示，目前國際級明星每集電視劇的片酬是1億韓元。首爾延世大學(Yonsei University)教授Yoon Tae-jin指出，爲了延攬大明星加盟，不得不在其他方面削減。“主角們突然間都沒有父母了。”
However, the country’s idiosyncratic “live shoot” system means even the superstars are not given an easy ride. Producers typically shoot only the first few episodes of a drama before it goes to air, and they continue filming as the run proceeds.
然而，韓國另類的“隨拍隨播”制度意味着，就連超級明星的日子也不太好過。一部電視劇開播之前，製片公司通常只拍好了開頭幾集，然後邊拍攝、邊播放。
This enables screenwriters to develop the plot according to the audience reaction, which is tracked on social media and discussion boards on shows’ fan pages. An unpopular character might be killed off, for example.
這一制度使編劇能根據觀衆反應（從社交媒體和劇目粉絲網頁追蹤）來設計劇情。比如，某個不受歡迎的角色可能被砍掉。
Yet the system often results in cast and crew working through the night as they battle to complete filming each episode before it airs.
但這一制度往往意味着，由於每一集都要趕在開播之前製作好，演員和劇組人員往往要徹夜趕工。
“Let’s say the episode is being aired at 10pm – the filming might finish at 7pm on the same day,” says Park Tae-young, an executive producer at Samwha Networks, one of the biggest independent TV companies. “If the tape is delivered to the broadcaster late, then you just have a blank screen for one or two minutes. That happens from time to time.”
韓國最大的獨立電視公司之一Samhwa Networks的執行製片人Park Tae-young說：“比如說，這一集將在晚10點播放，拍攝工作可能在下午7點才完成。如果錄像帶不能及時送到電視臺，電視屏幕上就要出現一兩分鐘的空白。這種情況時有發生。”
However much the budgets grow and the stars complain, producers show no sign of abandoning the gung-ho approach that characterised the growth of other South Korean export industries decades earlier. “If we filmed it before airing, everything would take longer,” says Mr Park at KBS. “Actually, it’s a crazy practice. But we’ve been doing this for years.”
無論預算增幅多大，明星如何抱怨，但製片人並未流露出放棄這種緊張製作模式的跡象。幾十年前，韓國其他出口行業在起飛階段也出現過這種模式。KBS的Park Man-young說：“如果我們要求在開播之前製作完畢，那麼一切都要花更長時間。沒錯，這種模式很瘋狂，但我們多年來一直是這麼做的。”
