TV graphics put fun into South Korean election count

"Harry Potter", "Squid Game", a rigorous spinning class... no reference is too small or too bizarre to be mined by broadcaster SBS for outlandish CGI-animated graphics to attract viewers -- and, the journalists behind it say, make politics more accessible and engaging.

Thanks to a dozens-strong specialist team at SBS, the dry work of tallying millions of ballots on the evening of June 3, after South Koreans vote for their next leader, will be transformed into an Olympic-level spectacle.

"The pressure is on," SBS broadcast journalist Son Hyoung-an, who has been working on the election graphics team since before the poll was announced, told AFP.

"Everyone is asking us what we will do next, and they are excited to see what we'll bring to the table," said Son.

The tradition began around a decade ago, when South Korean networks noticed they could get more eyeballs on election night by leaning into the country's strong K-pop and K-drama tradition, and by trying to make politics fun and entertaining.

It started with simple 2D visuals -- the most striking of which showed candidates walking up a building horizontally -- but, with an enthusiastic response, it has grown in scale and scope.

Now, most Korean networks run sophisticated animated sequences that show the candidates' faces and body movements -- with their permission -- using actors to create the movements, then splicing the real faces on top.
Snap election
This year's poll posed a particular challenge, as it is a snap election after ex-president Yoon Suk Yeol was impeached and stripped of office over his abortive martial law declaration, meaning that SBS's election team had hardly any time to prepare.

"We need to do five months worth of work in a matter of weeks," Son told AFP, adding that convincing the super-busy candidates to spare them a few minutes to film their faces for the graphics was tough.

The front-runner, liberal Lee Jae-myung, ran in 2022 and lost to Yoon by the narrowest margin in the country's history -- meaning SBS already had footage of him from their previous coverage.

The challenge was with Kim Moon-soo, the conservative former labour minister and ruling People Power Party nominee -- but his team said he was too busy and kept rejecting the election graphics team requests.

Eventually, they secured three minutes with him in front of a green screen.

Then they just had to come up with the graphics.

One of this year's themes is "Squid Game", with the animations showing Lee and Kim competing in classic childhood games from the hit Netflix series, from "red light, green light" to "ddakji".

"Even the smallest ideas are welcome," SBS journalist Kim Deok-hyun, told AFP.

"We gather personal memories, joyful moments – anything the team finds entertaining –- without filtering or holding back."

One team member had a particularly good spinning class and suggested it could work for election night. In the graphic, both candidates' heads bob furiously as they ride indoor bicycles, their vote share rising with each pedal stroke.

For voters frustrated by the country's political turmoil, another sequence features a sound effect known in Korean as 'bbeong' -- the noise a fizzy drink makes when opened, or the thwack of a football, or the gurgle when a toilet is unclogged.
Rap battle
SBS is particularly well-known for its election graphics, but all South Korean networks do it -- with one rival channel going viral last year for a rap battle between candidates.

"It does make you wonder, can we go this far with people who might become the president?" said Kim.

But the journalists behind SBS's offerings say that the purpose of the graphics is to create a "flow" to engage viewers and keep them hooked on the democratic process.

Early in the day while voting is underway, coverage is more restrained, but once exit polls are out "we'll roll out fast-paced, high-energy items, with rapid-fire summaries to help viewers follow the evolving picture", said Kim.

"We want people to look forward to our election night coverage, the way they anticipate a new film, thinking, 'I can't wait to see what they do this time'."

Experts agree that graphics can help keep viewers -- and voters -- engaged.

"Eye-catching graphics could be valuable, if they serve to draw attention not just to visuals but to substantive content that helps elevate the political discourse in our country," Kim Seo-joong, a professor at Sungkonghoe University told AFP.