In a world where YouTube is one of the largest platforms for sharing media and ideas, Khoon An, a sophomore from Korea majoring in music, has found success. In just two years, An’s independent YouTube channel, Hawaii Khoon, has gained more than 17,000 subscribers, and his most popular video has almost 1 million views. An shared his love for making videos and emphasized the importance of editing.
An said his desire to make videos began when he left South Korea to attend BYU–Hawaii. “At first I just wanted to record my journal I had been writing in about my time in Hawaii. I wanted to make it visual. My first video I made was in Korea and it was of me departing to Hawaii. I just wanted to make a memory, like writing in my journal. It started getting a lot of views when I posted it on YouTube, and so I decided to keep doing it.
“I thought of different topics I could film,” An said. “I thought, ‘What if I make a video of me feeding spicy noodles to an American and film their reaction?’ I thought it could be really funny and people would like it. The views got crazy, and I thought, ‘Man, this is getting big.’”
When asked where his primary source of passion for making videos came from, An answered, “I can find passion the best when I eat something. It comes best through food. I usually make videos of cooking with my friends. Cooking is another way of being creative. There’s a special reaction to Korean food that I have. It sort of triggers my inspiration.
“If I upload my video on YouTube and the view count gets higher, I get motivated to make more videos because I see the people really like it and want me to make more. Once I know what the viewers on my channel like, I know what I should make and know which direction I should be going in.”
An said, “I cook Korean food all the time for my friends, and I also like to film life in Hawaii. Not so much the campus, but the rest of Hawaii. I film tourist places like Diamond Head and Honolulu. I want to capture Hawaii in my videos.
"Many of my friends and family back in Korea want me to show off what Hawaii looks like. So I definitely want to show both sides of Hawaii. The real Hawaii.”
An worked as a videographer for the Ke Alaka‘i for about a year. During this time, he said he “learned so much working as a videographer. I could learn whatever I wanted to know about videography. And I could also take the skills I learned and pool them into the video I was required to make every week. Being a videographer for the Ke Alaka‘i helped me master the filmmaking skills I use for my videos today."
An continued, “I usually made videos about the different facilities at BYUH when I worked as a videographer. I made videos about the Aloha Center, museum, and other places.
“Kelsy Simmons and I worked together and experimented with different videos. I remember we did one about how people say ‘hello’ in different languages. I really enjoyed that one.”
When asked what his favorite video he had made so far was, An responded, “Lately, the vlogs about how my wife and I live in Hawaii have been my favorite. It’s really fun because Hawaii is so new to us because... we are Korean.
“Making videos is how I express myself because in the video, I can be goofy. Since a lot of people watch the videos, I can pretty much do whatever I want and people will love it. I don’t have to pretend to be anyone else.”
An said for his first video, which was only five minutes long, he spent between eight and nine hours editing it. “It was so hard editing, I had no time to do anything else in Hawaii. But now, I have an editor who helps me out and it only takes three to four hours. Once I got used to it, it became a lot easier.”
According to An, YouTube is experiencing a boom in South Korea. “Becoming a YouTuber is becoming super popular. Unfortunately, many people start off wanting to make YouTube videos and then quit too soon. I can say that making a video is the same as drawing, painting, or music. You create something, and the filmmaker creates the video. Video-making needs to be seen as a more serious art.”
In addition to being a videographer, An also worked as a DJ. He said, “I wanted to learn music as much as possible because I just liked music and learning. After I fell in love with EDM (Electronic Dance Music), I wanted to learn how to be a DJ. So without hesitation, I just went to DJ Academy and signed up.
"After awhile, I was able to work in an actual club in Korea. I felt so good when over a thousand people jumped to the beat of my music.” Since coming back to Hawaii, An said he does not do it very much and focuses more on making videos.
An said he tries to combine his love for music into his videos. “In some of the videos, one might see me performing, and I also compose the background music for my videos myself.”
Spontaneity
An said he typically works with what he has when starting a video but always has an idea of what he wants the video to be. “When it comes to planning, it really depends. For example, when I make Korean food and eat with friends, I just film spontaneously. No idea of how it will go. Just improv from my friends and I. Sometimes being spontaneous leads to some really crazy fun things coming up.
“If I go to somewhere like Honolulu, I have more of a plan,” An explained. “I decide which building and which street I need to show because I don’t want to waste time or use up memory in the camera.
An said editing is what can turn a boring video into something exciting and dynamic. “It can make all the difference. To any [one who is] starting out making videos, I would say give it a chance. I am only where I am today because I kept on trying to make videos. Thirty percent of making a video is the actual filming, while 70 percent is editing.
“The worst thing an aspiring filmmaker can do is quit,” An said confidently. “It took me two years to get myself where I am today, and I didn’t do it without making a few mistakes. I would say to all the people to just keep trying.”
An’s wife, Jaiseon You, a freshman from Korea majoring in psychology, said, “I work on most of the videos with my husband. I think what he makes is really good art. It is a visual medium and helps to show who he is.
“He also made a wedding video for us when we got married. He has a very unique talent. I had no interest in YouTube before I met him. And now he is able to show people in Korea what living in Hawaii is really like.”
Kimball Heaton, a junior from Utah majoring in business, said, “Khoon is one of the best people I know. He told me about how a number of people in his home country of Korea fall into a state of depression, sadness, loneliness.
"He’s shared his vision of helping thousands of people enjoy life and develop a positive mindset through the videos we are making. I fully support that vision. I feel really honored to be apart of it. He has some comments from viewers on videos we have made talking about how they feel happier and more positive about life after watching them.”
Writer: Elijah Hadley