Is TXT’s ambitious VR concert film K-pop’s new normal?

“[Record label Big Hit and its parent company Hybe] were looking to reach their fans in a different way and we also thought it was a good opportunity, specifically with Tomorrow x Together [because of] their storytelling and universe,” Kuk Kim, vice president and head of production at AmazeVR, and director of Hyperfocus, tells JoySauce. (AmazeVR was also behind Aespa and Kai’s VR concert films.) “It would be a really good chance to have that rich visual experience for the fans.”

Putting together a VR concert experience, however, inherently comes with more challenges than a typical concert film. Factors such as the weight of the virtual headset, potential for motion sickness, and production costs are just a few of the constraints. The condensed timeline to make Hyperfocus also added a wrinkle to the overall process. Initial discussions with AmazeVR, Big Hit, and Hybe began at the start of the year, before eight weeks of pre-production planning kicked off in February. Rehearsals and filming took place over a two-day span in April while TXT was in the midst of preparing for their Act: Promise tour.

“We really wanted to show the artist’s visuals and art, so that’s why we shot everything on green screen with CG backgrounds. It’s a way for fans to be in the artist’s world.”

“Concerts are social experiences. A lot of other VR concerts, they shoot on the practical stage or shoot footage at the actual concert. But I think that’s [diminishing] the immersion,” Kim says. “We really wanted to show the artist’s visuals and art, so that’s why we shot everything on green screen with CG backgrounds. It’s a way for fans to be in the artist’s world.” 

To bring “Good Boy Gone Bad” to life, one of the TXT songs featured in Hyperfocus, the virtual backdrop mirrors the gritty, rebellious atmosphere in the music video and the camera moves along with the members’ movements. The song’s intro also takes advantage of the intimacy between artist and viewer; when one of the members lights a red rose on fire with a match and coolly throws it away, it’s almost as if the petals are about to brush across the viewer’s face. There are numerous other times when the camera is millimeters away from the members—and in turn, the viewer—that tiny moles on their faces are hard to miss. Instances where choreographed dance moves, such as a signature karate kick in “Deja Vu,” are more impactful because of the close proximity.

Hyperfocus is likely one of the boldest VR concert films within K-pop. It recently had a one-month theatrical run in Seoul, and is currently touring movie theaters in select cities in the United States and Japan through December. Whether more immersive K-pop content is on the horizon remains to be seen, though there’s optimism that an audience is there.

“We want to invest more in K-pop content because there is a stronger fanbase and K-pop fits well in VR content,” Kim says, hinting that AmazeVR is “working with other labels in Korea” to potentially do more films like Hyperfocus. “K-pop idols have more characteristics, their own universes, and their own stories.”

Of course, there are financial expectations too. “VR concerts—especially with K-pop in this early stage—on the business side ticket sales will matter. Personally, if other K-pop fandoms start to ask for their VR concerts, that’s a huge success and I think that will be the start of the boom of this content,” Kim theorizes. “Aespa and Kai’s fandoms were satisfied with their shows. But TXT has a bigger fandom globally, so I hope all the fans and all the MOAs (the group’s fanbase) around the world acknowledge the VR concert and I hope it spreads to other K-pop fandoms too.” Time will only tell if this is the beginning of the new K-pop norm. 

Hyperfocus: Tomorrow x Together VR Concert is playing in theaters in select U.S. cities, including Houston, Chicago, and New York, through Nov. 10.