Taegyu Seo — Official Director Archive

Films, festival recognition, director’s notes, career and interviews from Taegyu Seo’s official portfolio.

Films and festival recognition

Artistic practice and AI filmmaking

Prototype · Director’s Note

Welcome to the world of Prototype.

This film does not strive for the seamless perfection of a typical blockbuster. Instead, it is a visual adventure—an invitation to discover a new kind of beauty within the slightly uncanny and awkward imagery generated by AI.

The core of this experience lies in the contrast: the deeply human stories hidden within these artificial characters. I hope you notice the strange dissonance that arises when rigid, NPC-like figures begin to share the very same burdens we carry every day—our daily anxieties, our fear of the future, and our constant FOMO.

I invite you to dive into this bizarre and philosophical time loop. As you do, perhaps you'll entertain a playful yet eerie thought: what if we, sitting on this side of the screen, are also just "prototypes" in someone else’s grand simulation?

Prototype · About the Film

Prototype is a free-form animation that explores the possibilities and limitations of AI filmmaking. Utilizing the unique premise of characters existing in a virtual world, it sublimates the inherent awkwardness and technical flaws of AI-generated footage through deliberate artistic techniques. Through this approach, the audience can naturally embrace a completely new visual style and worldview.

Furthermore, this project captures the anxiety and fear of modern people living in the AI ​​era, particularly technological alienation, FOMO (Fear of Missing Out), uncertainty about the future, and environmental crises. Through the profound, human dialogue of characters resembling NPC avatars, the audience can glimpse the realities of modern society. Ultimately, this work is designed to evoke a chilling sense of horror that our reality might be just another simulation.

Voices · Director’s Note

This film is an experimental work that intertwines the pain of humanity and nature through the chaotic and fragmented format of creature interviews. The creatures—a white deer, a stray dog, a broken forest, and the Earth—are each based on the voices of real human victims with distinct experiences.

The white deer embodies the suffering of comfort women, the stray dog represents a child abandoned to an orphanage by their mother, the broken forest reflects the anguish of a homeless individual assaulted without reason, and the Earth conveys the grief of the victims of the Itaewon tragedy through their recorded testimonies.

Through this approach, we aim to connect human trauma with the destruction of nature, amplifying the voices of those who have been harmed in a novel way. Ultimately, this work seeks to prompt the audience to reflect on how human-made tragedies and their resulting wounds are universal, offering profound empathy and a fresh perspective.

In development

Awards & Honors

Films & Creative Direction

Selected Projects at WYSIWYG

Talks & Teaching

Education

Selected visual work and credits

Interviews and press

Surreal realities

Digital Frontier · 2025-04-04

Isabelle Castro explores the role of AI in documentary filmmaking, with a look at films screened at the Austin AI Film Festival.

Portfolio press record