ENG VOL.48
January 2019
Trip ____ Studio Cube
Korea’s Largest
Filming Studio
“Studio Cube”
Studio Cube
In the film “La La Land,” movie sets often appear in the background. Among many others, the scene of Mia and Sebastian walking together in a movie set is quite impressive. A glamorous glimpse of the movie set is being reflected in the twinkling eyes of Mia. This scene tells us there is a boundary somewhere between reality and fantasy. Seeing such a short but highly impressive scene from the Hollywood film, a question naturally arises: Do we have any Hollywood-like movie set like that in Korea?
Korea’s Largest Filming Mecca
Studio Cube is public filming infrastructure established by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Korea Creative Content Agency in 2017 in an attempt to make the country’s broadcast-video content industry more competitive and advanced. Studio Cube features a 4,960 m2 studio, the largest in Korea, medium- and large-size studios, a special-effects studio with four chroma key walls, and permanent movie sets that resemble, for example, a legal court or a hospital.
Studio Cube, located in the EXPO Science Park in Daejeon, has six studios, labeled A to F, from the first basement to the second floor of its building. A relevant person from the Korea Creative Content Agency said, “Studio Cube is equipped with a supersized studio of about 5,000 square meters, which is the largest in Korea.” Also, the facility has an outdoor studio, art center, and air conditioning and heating systems, which significantly improve production conditions in filming studios. A person from the Agency added, “In existing movie sets, filming was frequently affected by noise generated from air conditioning and heating systems, and staff had to endure harsh conditions, often too cold or too hot.” This is why the agency has attempted to improve production conditions by establishing low-noise air conditioning and heating systems and soundproofing facilities.
Value of Space Represented by
Studio Cube
Various special video production devices featured in Studio Cube are attracting a great deal of attention. A point in case is a large-scale technoCrane named “Super TechnoCrane,” which has the best specifications in Korea and is capable of moving a distance of 15 m without making any noise, thereby allowing filming at various angles. Also, the facility has various high-end devices, including UHD special lenses and UHD cameras, as similarly used in the Hollywood film industry.
Another example is a file transmission system named “File Delivery S/W”, which can quickly transmit filmed images to other filming and editing studios, such as one in Sangam. The application of the system effectively saves time for manual delivery of filmed images. This then allows filming staff to invest more time and focus more on improving the filming environment.
There is also a chroma key (blue) special-effects studio with floor space of about 1,650 square meters, and rented special video production equipment is available to use, which significantly improves the filming environment.
Studio Cube Spearheading the
Korean Wave
With the opening of Studio Cube, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism is seeking various policy measures to promote new types of broadcast-video content suitable for the upcoming era of new media. Also, the ministry is pushing ahead to develop improvement measures to address recently reported unfair trade issues in the broadcast industry.
It is also seeking promotion policies to keep pace with various new technologies, such as UHD, VR, and AR, as well as the mobile new media content environment powered by the widespread use of smartphones, which have become part of our lives. Against this backdrop, Studio Cube will serve as an important hub to enhance the overall competitiveness of the country’s broadcast-video content industry. Also, Studio Cube will proactively respond to domestic and international demand for its large-scale studio and other studios equipped with special equipment in cooperation with special video content production facilities.
We look forward to seeing Studio Cube, which will spearhead the advancement of the country’s broadcast-video content industry, going beyond the national borders to give rise to a series of successful outcomes that will further boost the Korean Wave.