Two of the film’s most imaginative voices gathered for intimate conversations about their creative processes at the Busan International Film Festival, revealing an astonishing connection to their work, despite being separated by continents and culture.
Guillermo del Toro and Yong Sang-ho both fuse fantastical human stories, Masters took part in a session at Netflix’s Creative Asia Conference. The conversation provided insight into how both directors approach their craft.
Both filmmakers traced their creative origins to their childhood encounters between monsters and Japanese animation. Regarding his formative years, Del Toro stated: “I’m not an outdoor guy. I’m an indoor observer, reader, audiovisual media consumer, storyteller. Without the film, they’d drive me off the cliff and die.”
The Mexican filmmaker revealed how Japan’s Tokyo shaped his worldview.
Yong shared a similar influence, explaining: “In fact, I think it’s right to say I take inspiration from everything in life. But when I was young, then in Korea, Japanese animation was television and I’m not a good sportsman.”
The conversation has turned into an approach to adapting existing material. Del Toro detailed his decades-long relationship with source material for Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein adaptation of Frankenstein.
His philosophy on adaptation is very personal. “You’ll study all of that for decades to decades, decades, and become a part of you. And what you do is like you sing the same song in your own voice in a different arrangement, and it feels new because it’s important to you.”
Adapting Japanese comics to “human steam,” Yong expressed surprise at Del Toro’s in-depth knowledge of unclear Japanese works, including the 1960 film “The Human Vapor,” demonstrating the intercultural pollination of genre filmmaking.
Praises Yong’s transition from animation to live action, Dello called “it’s very rare for an animation director to move so beautifully to live action.” He emphasized animation as “pure art form,” especially stop motion.
Yong reflects the various strengths of each media. “There’s a slightly different appeal between animation and live action. With animation, there’s almost every drawing style. You can convey something through only the shape of your appearance. Then there’s definitely a different kind of delivery power.”
He continues: “I’m doing a lot of live-action film series right now, so I hope to one day make legendary animations like Osamu Tezuka in the back of my mind.
Both directors shared a story about embracing unexpected moments during production. Reminiscing about the production of the “Train to Busan,” Yong shared a specific example. “I originally tried to avoid drawing as many as possible after animating. But when I need an explanation, I draw. The most typical case was when I was filming “Train to Busan.” So I’m amazed at drawing that scene.
He also shared another production story. “We worked hard to do set dressing because we had scenes from the past. We came after the setup, but the night before there was incredibly heavy rain. It rained. The mud was washed away. It’s an accident, but the film is really special.”
Expanding this philosophy, Del Toro states: “As you get older, when you’re a younger director, you talk a lot. When you get older, you listen a lot. And do you know who’s talking all the time? And if you learn to listen to films, you make a better film by telling you this is what you want for you.”
When asked about maintaining human elements within the pieces of an epic set, Del Toro emphasized that “everything is drama” regardless of scale. He described filmmaking as a “hardware poem,” explaining how technical elements, such as camera movement and editing, create emotional impact.
“Movies are hardware poems,” he said. “There’s a dolly track, there’s a lens, there’s a camera. I use things that are difficult to produce symphonic movement.”
Both directors emphasized the collaborative nature of their work. Noting that all visual elements work together, Del Toro states: “The wardrobe is a set design. The set design is a cinematography. The cinematography is a wardrobe. There’s no difference. You’re creating a single image.”
He shared advice from makeup effects master Dick Smith and quoted Lawrence Olivier. This philosophy extends to every element of production where “everything is acting.”
The conversation touched on dealing with negative criticism. Yong provided his point of view. “In fact… I feel what critics think about a particular piece. I feel that. Sometimes there may be a gap between the person and me. When there is a gap, I try to respect it and understand it well, but it doesn’t have a big impact on my work.”
Meanwhile, Del Toro reveals that he no longer reads positive or negative reviews: “If you believe in the good, you have to believe in the bad.
He emphasized the depth of connection across the audience’s range and shared how Terry Gilliam’s “Brazil” changed him despite his performance in the empty theatre.
Taking on the current industry landscape, Yong drew historical similarities. “I think this is what I think. I did animation, so people who like animation knew what they were, but there was something called Videodeck. When videodecks began to emerge, a genre called OVA (original video animation) began to appear in Japan.” He pointed out that while streaming offers global concurrent releases, theatrical films have different timings across countries, provide different depths and delivery methods, making them a “completely different” experience.
Focusing on “size of ideas” rather than screen size, Dello noted that content needs to work effectively in both home and theatrical environments.
The session ended with advice to the first director. Provided by the marriage rationale, Del Toro states: “Make a movie is not a date, it’s a marriage, so don’t marry that easily.
