Anyone who thought that the current near-global lockdown would interfere with the continued rise of K-Pop can think again. Photographer, director and cinemagraph-maker, Romain Laurent, worked remotely with Korean stars Monsta X on their latest video ‘You Can’t Hold My Heart’. 

A 17.5-hour shoot day can be gruelling enough, but combined with a 14 hour time difference between Seoul and LA, this meant that Romain was ‘on set’ from his desk at 5pm through to wrap at 10.30am the next morning.

The remote three-window process (master wide of set, live playback feed and live meeting room) worked well, with the only frustration being a certain lack of spontaneity, as shooting remotely led to a more prescriptive shooting of the boards than if on set in person. However, the Korean crew worked tirelessly on the project, and according to Romain, couldn’t have been more accommodating, enthusiastic and professional.

Romain completed the edit and post himself, working from home, with 'infuriating' rending times due to low bandwidth - probably caused by his neighbours binge-watching Too Hot To Handle on Netflix. See the finished product below.