Zyrene Dela Rosa
INSIDE LOOK:
K-POP FANDOM CULTURE
An inside of a K-Pop fan's mindset.
Interviews
JARI

Jari graduated from UTD in 2021 and is currently pursuing a second bachelor's degree. She started liking K-Pop in 2016 during high school. Her friends were a big influence on how she started K-Pop. Her very first favorite group was GOT7, this was also the first K-Pop album she ever bought. Some of the groups she likes are SEVENTEEN, MONSTA X, and LE SSERAFIM.After graduation this semester, she plans to move to South Korea to teach English.
BETHEL

Bethel graduated from A&M University in 2021 and is currently a Math teacher. She started liking K-Pop in 5th grade due to her older sister. She thought it was cool, so she picked up on this hobby. In middle school, she started liking the group EXO and since then, she has expanded the groups she supports. Some of the groups she likes are Stray Kids, MONSTA X, and NCT.Bethel plans to teach for another year and then going back to university for another degree.
About This Project
This video essay connects my passion for something I love with what I have learned in ATEC as a Critical Media Studies major. I have learned to research and gather information and convey it through a video essay. My editing and research skills were honed through all the courses that I was able to take while at UTD. I have taken courses that allowed me to explore my creative side in video editing and researching media which can hopefully be shown through this video essay.InspirationThis video essay was inspired by my love for K-Pop. I have loved K-Pop for more than ten years now. Throughout my journey at University of Texas at Dallas, I have made numerous of projects about K-Pop. In any way that I can, it felt like I have made it my mission to incorporate K-Pop or Korean culture in everything I worked on. With this, it only felt right to talk about something that I was passionate about and what motivated throughout my time in UTD while also showing what I have learned.PurposeThe purpose of this project is to inform others about the K-Pop fandom culture. As K-Pop keeps expanding and rising in popularity, there are many things that are still unknown territory to those who are outside this culture. This video essay may spark an interest and understanding to those who wish to do so. My goal for this project is not only to show off the skills that I have learned while at UTD, but also inform those who may not know about the K-Pop fandom culture. Many of these concepts are hard to grasp for those who have not experienced them, but hopefully, through this video essay, the viewers will be able to take away knowledge that they may not have prior to watching my video essay.In Memory of Moon BinAs I was preparing this capstone, ASTRO's Moon Bin passed away. This shattered the whole K-Pop industry, from idols to fans. I wanted to dedicated this capstone to Moon Bin as a way to remember him and also to further show what K-Pop fandom culture is. Moon Bin's passing united K-Pop fans all over the world as we all grieved for this loss. Many idols, fans, shows, and companies showed their respect and tribute to Moon Bin. Memorials all over the world were planned by his fans, and also those who just wanted to pay him respect. This truly showed how united the K-Pop fandom as a whole can be. Although they were not fans of Moon Bin or ASTRO, they still showed support, grief, and respect towards him, his loved ones, and his fans. As this was something that happened during the preparation of my capstone, I felt that I needed to mention him and let this be part of his memory, for me personally, and to everyone who watches my capstone.
About Me
ZYRENE

I am currently attending UTD at ATEC, focused on Critical Media Studies. I hope to get in a company as a digital marketer, or be a part of their social media team. I love social media and I always try to stay up to date to whatever is going on, especially in K-Pop. I love video editing and i love gathering information and laying them all out in a creative way. After graduation, I am taking a trip to the Philippines then I will be job hunting for a job that will start up my career.I have loved K-Pop since middle middle school. It is something that is part of my growth and I have used it as motivation in everything I do. I have known K-Pop for more than half of my life and I believe that it is something that will continue to inspire and motivate me in my future endeavors. Ending my university life with this project means a lot and I hope that the viewers can take away something after watching my video essay.
The Process
Filming
I used Perfect Video on my iPad to edit everything in the video. I initially started to edit on Adobe Premiere Rush, but I found it restricting and it did not have as many configurations as I wanted to. There was not much room for customization and so I gave up on it. I have been using Perfect Video since 2015 and so I am very used to it. The application recently got an iPad version so this was where I edited everything. I used about 60 clips overall and also inputted different audios. There was a problem with leveling the audios to be the same, but I think I did the best that I could. Editing this was very fun and I really wanted to showcase a lot of examples in order to really give knowledge to those who may not know about the culture.
I filmed everything on my iPhone 14 Pro Max. There is a Cinematic option on the iPhone that captures videos in 4K and also in cinematic mode. While filming, I used a ring light on Jari's interview as well as mine. Bethel's interview had a bit of a hiccup and we had to improvise while using a wood easel to prop the phone still and use it as a stand. I also needed another object to put the phone on a higher angle. The ring light really helped with the lighting and the stand was also really useful. Filming took only 2 days and it was seamless as everything was already planned and we had practice sessions before hitting the record button.
Editing
Citations
