#ghosthqs:task

[shutterjae]

     it was still relatively freezing in korea and thus the windows in jaes car were firmly rolled up, heating on and her stereo blasting as she made her way towards her destination, the abandoned amusement park yongma land. it was a popular tourist spot, and many groups (including her own) had shot pictorials or music videos there in the past. but she was going to be staying there for the next two night and exploring it in depth, for some reason. the dark haired girl wasn’t used to being front and centre in the ghost gang videos, she was more of a behind the scenes kind of gal. but she had experience vlogging from her groups reality show they filmed on and off. still, it was a new experience in this particular setting and the idea of it all set her a little on edge, though she’d never admit it. she caught a glimpse of her destination in the distance and made to take her exit, pursing her lips and humming along to the song playing on the radio.

the first night

     making her way up the steps to the amusement park, she smiled and bowed in greeting to the groundskeeper handing over the money for her stay and a little extra so that he would turn on the merry go round lights later that evening. bidding him farewell and late new years greetings, she hitched the heavy bags of equipment on her shoulder and looked around with a sigh. it would soon be dusk, so she should probably set everything up and get ready. she’d been filming little snippets as she’d been going about her day, but nothing of real value, just getting used to having the camera in her hand and documenting the little things. heading over to the staff building that would serve as her bed for the night, she unlocked the door and stepped in to find it relatively welcoming, with a bathroom and a little bed made out of a futon and some cushions in the corner. tossing her sleeping bag on top of it, she let the bag down to the floor and began organising all the equipment she would need.      the bright light of the setting sun lit the park up beautifully, and jae wasn’t afraid to admit she was ready to some wonderful photos, both of the landscape and herself, and decided to flip on the handheld vlogging camera to begin the investigation. “annyeonghaseyo yeorobun, ghosteu gang oh jaehwa imnida” she paused,frowning “ah, otteokhae, is this awkward? should i speak in korean? or maybe english? i think the majority of our viewers are english? ah vivi can just sub this later, sorry vivs” she laughed, throwing a wink at the camera “i’m here at the deserted amusement park, yongma land!” she grinned, lifting the camera up out to her full arm span and doing a twirl to show off her surroundings. “i’m not used to vlogging these days guys, so, just be patient, i feel a bit dumb talking to myself” she laughed, making her way into the park and shaking her head “but this place is really creepy, even if the ghost stories have no clout. i’ve got goosebumps just looking at this place up close” she sighed, wrinkling her nose and shaking her head. “but anyway, can you see this lighting?” she turned the camera round and gave a view of the soft orange and red hues that were bouncing off every surface before turning the camera back to herself “i’m gonna take this opportunity to take some photo’s on that ride over there so... cue montage” she winked again, biting her lip and setting the camera down on a ledge, making sure it was still recording as it faced the run down viking ship and began the long process of taking both a mixture of selfies and wide shots of the entire park.      she’d been investigating and filming for a couple of hours and the sun had fully set, it was about time for the maintenance guy to turn on the merry go round lights for her, she made her way there, chattering aimlessly to the camera as she did so, much more comfortable with talking to herself than she was earlier on. she was mid sentence, talking about the history of the park and the rumours of the ghosts when a sight stopped her in her tracks and she almost dropped the camera. “omo...yeorobun... igeo jinjja yeppeundae” she sighed happily, the merry go round lit up beautifully against the dark inky black of the rest of the park “would you just look at... wow” she hurried over, wanting to take a closer look. climbing onto the ride, she wove in between the different seats and horses, filming as she did so before turning the camera on herself “hm, is the lighting good for me too? nope, too yellow” she pouted, wrinkling her nose before a movement in the corner of her eye caused her to flinch and turn her head sharply. “hello? ajeoshi?” she called, stepping forwards towards the edge of the merry go round and looking around with wide eyes. “huh, must have been my imagination...” she frowned, looking back down at the camera “weird. i could have sworn i saw.. ah it’s nothing.” she laughed a little nervously, brushing it off. “shall we get some pictures of the lights before they turn off?” she resumed brightly, setting the camera down again so she could get to work.      after about an hour or so more, jae found herself yawning and felt she’d done enough for that day. heading back to base camp, she unlocked the door and stepped in, making sure to lock it behind her before getting ready for bed, washing up in the small bathroom and getting into her pyjamas before settling into her sleeping bag and switching the camera on again “i’m going to head to sleep as it’s now... almost midnight.” she squinted at her watch in the dark “i’ve got a motion camera set up outside the door and there are microphones that’ll probably only pick up the odd raccoon or whatever. goodnight!”

the second night

     to say she slept well would be the overstatement of the century, jae wasn’t used to sleeping on a futon and the temperature plummeted further than she expected, forcing her to put her coat on whilst in her sleeping bag. plus she kept on hearing noises outside, that she could only attricute to local wildlife. waking up at about 6am feeling thoroughly unrefreshed, she went and washed her face again and bruhsing her teeth before applying some light make up and checking all her notifications, making sure to message her group members a selfie ensuring them she was still alive and well. “ugh” she groaned, stretching “i need coffee... and breakfast” she sighed, grabbing the camera and making sure it had fresh batteries and sd card, putting all the old ones in her bag for safe keeping before heading to her car to go and find a cafe.    sat in the parking lot of a small shopping district, jae put on some sunglasses and a hat and bundled herself up in her coat, heading inside the quaint cafe to order herself something warm and comforting to start her day. sat at her table waiting, she turned on the camera and spoke quietly into it “guys... i’m in this cute as heck cafe, and i’m pretty sure no one here has recognised me. god bless i can eat my breakfast in peace” she smiled, winking and posing a cute v pose into the lens. she didn’t usually act like this, but she knew how to ham up her persona for the audience and make people believe she was really this bright and cheerful in reality. when her food and drink arrived, she thanked the waitress politely and ate her breakfast in relative peace, if it wasn’t for her phone ringing halfway through, yeonhui.      whiling her day away doing some vague shopping and sight seeing in the surrounding areas, jae finally returned to the amusement park tonight, she planned to do more in depth investigating, heading towards the ride where a girl had supposedly died and settling down on the steps to it. grabbing the spirit box, she turned on her camera once more. “it’s nighttime on day 2, everyone” she smiled, showing the camera her surroundings “i’m going to do a spirit box session, even though i hate this thing” she frowned, looking down at the device with distaste “and let’s see if we can’t get a conversation, right?” she turned it on and let it skip for a few seconds before looking around into the night “hello... my name is jae... if there’s anyone here, who wants to say anything... you can use this here to talk to me” she held it up, pursing her lips. she jumped when a fraction of a second of garbled mumbo jumbo came from the box and she almost dropped it, before laughing it herself. “okay, lets start: uh, ireumi mwoyeyo?” she asked tentatively, waiting a few seconds for a reply that never came “um, mwo sal-eyo?” she offered again, her voice lilting at the ends childishly, because let’s be real she was talking to a kid here. another fragmented section of nothing that could possibly be interpreted as ‘ship-i’ to anyone who listened hard enough “oh, apeuni?” she asked a few more odd questions, never getting much from the box before she decided to just turn it off altogether. sighing, she shook her head before she frowned. she could hear a distant rattling,coming from the direction of her temporary living. bolting upright, she squinted in the distance but she couldn’t see anything.      she ran towards the small building, slowing her pace to a light jog as she rounded on the door that had been locked when she left it. stepping forwards, jae tentatively pushed the door open, fist balled ready to lash out if she needed to and found the small room pretty much ransacked. her phone started ringing simultaneously as she stepped over the threshold, her horrified face caught in the frame of the camera as it was held by her side. pulling her phone out of her pocket, she noted it was a number she didn’t recognise and she declined the call, only to immediately receive a barrage of messages from numbers she didn’t know. looking around, she could see movement in the shadows by one of the rides and didn’t hesitate to bolt from the room to her car, her high school sprint showing its true colours as she turned her phone off, slipped it into her bag and grabbed her keys all in one swift movement. unlocking the door, she jumped inside and threw her bag onto the passenger seat, slamming the door behind her and locking the doors. putting the keys into the ignition with angry, shaky hands, the lights came on and illuminated a group of about 4 or 5 people, she couldn’t tell if they were men or women but she started the engine quickly, only to look behind her in the mirror and see two of them blocking her exit. revving the engine threateningly, she shouted for them to get out of the way and honked her horn loudly, they didn’t obey so she reversed a foot or so, honking again and they scattered finally. speeding out of the car park, she drove to a hotel she was familiar with about an hour away, not the one she was actually booked in (under an alias, naturally) because clearly the sasaengs had all of her travel information.      sat in the luxury suite of the hotel, she sighed and leaned back as she sipped on a glass of wine, her face a portrait of anger. she’d had to leave behind the motion camera, the microphones and her wash bag at the park. all small losses, in the long run. but irritating nonetheless she’d called her manager using the hotels phone to explain what had happened. a knock sounded at her door and she got up, walking over to the peep hole to see one of the hotel staff holding a small box. opening it a crack, she looked through the gap and raised a brow in question. “delivery for miss oh from SHY” she smiled, holding it up. a new phone. “thanks” she sighed, dryly and holding her hand out for the token. “can i get you anything else, miss?” the irl asked eagerly, clearly not used to dealing with celebrities as jae could tell from her glistening eyes and the flush in her cheeks “just another bottle of malbec, please” the dark haired girl responded with a brief smile. nodding a bow in response to the younger girls eager one.

what a dud this had turned out to be.

[shutterjae]

1. What about your job do you find the most difficult?

Where do I fucking start, wait am I allowed to swear? I’m gonna. I have a potty mouth, I won’t apologise it’s who I am. Usually it’s making sure I have enough batteries or memory cards for the whole investigation, and then if I’m trying to get a shot of the members it’s getting them to keep still. The only ones who are good at keeping their composure while being photographed are Sungjae-oppa, Mina, Gigi and Eunseo. Everyone else is too fidgety.

2. If you could switch positions with any of your members who would it and why?

Maybe security? I’ve got a mean swing on me, I’ve got a 6 dan in Taekwondo so I think I’d be pretty good at keeping everyone safe and in line. Failing that, maybe sound tech, that’s  really interesting side of the job.

3. What are the usual steps one takes to make sure the pictures that are taken aren’t being messed with by light, dust, ect.?

Usually you take multiple burst shots when you’re photographing a location, that way  if it’s dust or light you can track its movement and scratch it out as a duff. You have to be really careful when choosing angles and such, though. It’s just a natural thing you find yourself looking for when you’ve been studying photography or been in the business for long enough. It’s second nature to me, now.

4. Which was your favorite place to photograph and why?

Every location has its charms, I’m a little upset I couldn’t make it to the Sallie House to take some photo’s there but I was busy visiting my family in Korea. We once visited the Eastern State Penitentiary and while you’d think that place would be dull and not have much opportunity for good photos, you’d be surprised at how much personality it actually has.

5. Do you consider photographic evidence as hard-proof?

Absolutely not, a camera can be easily tricked and photo’s can be doctored so easily these days. I have never faked a photograph, however, but I don’t really take any of my photographs as evidence that ghosts do  or do not exist.

6. What investigation did you find it the most difficult to edit for? Are there any hidden clips that the fans haven’t seen? If so, do you plan on releasing them?

Can I say Sallie house because I never actually got any footage from that investigation? Honestly, any investigation I wasn’t present at is difficult, I just get given multiple disks of footage and am expected to filter through them all with no idea what’s gone on at all. In regards to the hidden clips, I have many. I tend to release a little montage of peoples “best uncut moments” on members birthdays as a gift for them and the fans. I always slip in a little clip in the vlog videos we do every once in a while.