Dexter Studios (206560, hereafter Dexter) is expanding the scope of its technical participation across the content industry through DI (Digital Intermediate, digital color grading), a key process considered essential to determining the completeness of video content.
Dexter participated technically in the digital color grading of Lezhin Entertainment's short-drama platform "LEZHIN Snack" original short drama "애 아빠는 남사친," marking its entry into the short-form content market.
"애 아빠는 남사친" is a romantic comedy short drama about male and female friends who haven't dated or married but share childcare duties, with director Lee Byung-hun, who directed the films Extreme Job and Twenty and the drama Be Melodramatic, handling the screenplay and direction. It is Lezhin Snack's representative hot topic work that aims to be a "well-made short drama" with a sophisticated narrative and immersive quality, breaking away from the stereotype that short dramas are light and sensational.
This project is the first case in which Dexter's DI division participated in postproduction for a short drama, and it devoted effort to realizing a level of visual focus distinct from existing short dramas so that characters' emotional arcs and the work's narrative can be clearly conveyed even within a short running time.
DI, commonly called digital color grading, is a core postproduction task that completes the emotion and atmosphere of video and is an essential process not only for films and drama but also for variety shows and the rapidly growing short-drama content. DI work is also performed on animation works rather than live-action footage, and Dexter has handled the color grading for Netflix animations such as "The Witcher: Sea of Sirens," "Devil May Cry," and "Lost in Starlight."
In step with OTT platforms expanding into variety programming and the steep growth of the short-drama market, Dexter's DI division is diversifying its portfolio into the "trendy content" field, which requires a fast work pace suitable for short production periods and emotional direction specialized for each subject. In addition to its existing business areas of domestic and international feature films and global OTT content, it is expanding into variety, short-form, and independent films. Besides Lezhin Snack's "애 아빠는 남사친," Dexter worked on Netflix variety "Super Rich in Korea," Coupang Play variety "Next Legend," and independent films "Sumbisori" and "Rarirang."
Shin Jeong-eun, colorist at Dexter's DI division, said, "The fact that digital color grading determines the final completeness of the video is the same regardless of genre or platform," adding, "The more newly developed and lacking a model an area is, the more important it is to have experienced colorists with diverse experience and know-how participate."
Lee Kyung-jong, colorist at Dexter's DI division, said, "In particular, for short dramas, as renowned Chungmuro directors and major production companies join to try to raise the completeness of content, I expect demand for precise DI to increase accordingly."
Meanwhile, Dexter's DI division, launched in 2015, is building and expanding a unique portfolio based on top-level colorists and infrastructure in Korea, covering feature films such as "Parasite," "Decision to Leave," "12.12: The Day," and "Exhuma," Netflix's Squid Game Season series, "When Life Gives You Tangerines," and OTT content including Disney+ "Moving" and "Light Shop."
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