Song Jae Jung, the writer of tvN's "Memories of the Alhambra," revealed in an interview what influenced her and how she came up with the idea combining suspense with an augmented reality game created in a Spanish setting. The writer shared the game "Pokémon Go" inspired her to make "Memories of the Alhambra" a unique drama series.
Some of Song Jae Jung's popular drama series include, "W," "The Three Musketeers," "Nine," and "Queen In Hyun's Man." Her latest series, which is the "Memories of the Alhambra," is also a huge success just like her previous works. The drama's pilot episode scored 7.5 percent for its viewership ratings, while episode 14 (latest episode) has reached approximately 10 percent, Soompi reported.
Song Jae Jung explained that after doing "W," she initially thought of writing a time-slip story. So, she came up with a plot about a man who comes from the future, and his name would be Yoo Jin Woo (played by Hyun Bin). During that time, the story focused on Yoo Jin Woo staying at a hotel room, and he opened the door to a stranger who would then shoot him a gun.
However, Song Jae Jung said she didn't feel motivated pursuing the plot. One of the reasons why she didn't continue with the story is because she felt she had already written so many time-slip stories. The writer shared she decided to change the story plot, and while searching for new ideas, she came across the new craze Pokémon Go. She got curious and tried the game.
Song Jae Jung thinks that adding a video game to the theme would make it impossible to recreate a virtual reality like the film "Avatar." But then, she believes that involving augmented reality with items on the screen - like the Pokémon Go - is doable. That's when she decided to drop the time-slip theme and chose only to keep the character, Yoo Jin Woo.
Meanwhile, she also revealed Hyun Bin's character is based on Elon Musk. At the press conference, Song Jae Jung said she felt intrigued after coincidentally reading the Tesla's CEO autobiography. She drew inspiration from his life which leads her to create Yoo Jin Woo. Hyun Bin's character and Elon Musk have a few similarities like both of them are self-made CEOs of extremely successful IT companies, and they also have PhDs in engineering.
"Memories of the Alhambra" is nearing its finale; the two remaining episodes will air on Saturday and Sunday at 9 p.m. KST.
