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CG on the Korean Screens A film chronicling the rise of a hopeless group of ski jumpers quickly garnered fame in Korean theaters. Take Off (2009) follows the tale of five young men who train in ski resorts without any proper ski jumping facilities, in the hopes of someday winning an Olympic gold medal. The hit film sold more than 8 million tickets and combined with Haeundae, the two blockbusters sold nearly 20 million tickets domestically — more than 10 percent of the entire nation’s 156 million movie ticket sales in 2009. Both films took advantage of Korea’s own virtual effects (VFX) technology, particularly in the area of computer graphics (CG). But even before recent box office hits like Haeundae and Take Off, CG played a prominent role in Korean cinema. Blockbusters such as Tae Guk Gi: Brotherhood of War (2004), director Kang Je-gyu’s Korean War epic that breathtakingly recreated the misery of the battlefield on the silver screen, and fantasy film The Restless (2006) also made extensive use of CG. In 2007, Dragon Wars: D-War took the technology’s potential to a new level, setting the bar higher within the Korean film industry. Director Bong Mofac Studio 06 KOREA FEBRUARY 2010
Joon-ho’s The Host (2006) was also recognized for its use of the technology. In essence, CG has grown to become a “secret weapon” that can make almost any image into reality. However, the use of CG is not some effortless, quick and simple wave of a magic wand. CG is only a part of VFX, which functions as a means to artificially portray extraordinary scenes normal cameras are unable to capture. The increasing incorporation of CG in Korean films means VFX supervisors are playing a more important role than ever. As Jeong Seong-jin of EON Digital Films (the VFX supervisor for Take Off) puts it, “For the last 30 minutes of Take Off, the whole crew had to make a huge collective effort. Creating an explosive finale, while at the same time giving viewers a sense of realism, was important to us. It was also vital that CG supported the dramatic emotions of the main characters, who were facing the risks of ski jumping in spite of bad weather, while delivering a sense of real speed.” Jeong underscores that CG is not simply a device used to buttress movies on a technical basis; it’s a catalyst that enables more effective drama, but is an addition that should not interfere with the overall flow of the film. Jang Seong-ho, president of Mofac Studio (the VFX supervisor for Haeundae), also said, “We could have achieved a better quality of CG than we did if the production company had told us to look for ways to create CG with our own technology from the beginning of the project. [Furthermore,] we could have done it for half as much as was spent in the US (when we outsourced the material). In any event, it’s a relief that we were able to bring the level of CG up to a point that viewers found acceptable, though I would not be honest if I said the project was completed with total satisfaction.” In fact, the quality of the computer-generated data in Haeundae’s water scenes bought from the American company was originally so bad, in part due to a lack of budget, that Jang completely reworked the data he was given. Mofac Studio ended up changing the texture and lighting of the CG cuts, rendering them over and over, and adding extra details. They spent roughly two months focusing on the final composition of more than 640 CG cuts. before A still from the movie Haeundae (opposite), CG works from the TV drama Legend (left, right above) and also from the TV drama Tamra, the Island (right below). after before after KOREA FEBRUARY 2010 07
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Page 23 and 24: THE ART OF SHARING A cafe can serve
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Page 38 and 39: SUMMIT DIPLOMACY KOREA TO BUILD NUC
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Page 42 and 43: GLOBAL KOREA INDIA’S MAMMOTH MARK
Page 44 and 45: KOREA-INDIA BILATERAL TRADE (Unit:
Page 46 and 47: NOW IN KOREA
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