Six Intriguing Behind-The-Scenes Anecdotes From Contemporary K-Dramas

Creating A Zombie Catastrophe in All of Us Are Dead

After a research experiment goes wrong, zombies infiltrate ‘Hyosan’ High School, with trapped students attempting to flee. With no food and water or means of communication left, they are completely by themselves and must avoid becoming infected. In the meantime, the Korean armed forces strive to control the outbreak and prevent it from spreading further. The zombie-infested high school is gruesome, vicious, and savagely staged starting from meticulously researched production and costume design to amazing photography. In the video below, director Lee JQ outlines his planning and process of bringing the zombies to life, what went behind the scenes for proper execution as well as his recommendations on what to look forward to in the show.

Learning To Walk on The Moon in The Silent Sea

The premise of The Silent Sea follows a time when owing to climate change, planet Earth is suffering from a shortage of food and water, leaving the survivors struggling for resources. ‘Han Yoonjae’, a space agency soldier, and ‘Song Jian’ are part of a team comprising pilots, engineer’s doctors, and highly experienced astronauts on a mission to the moon. They are joined by a scientist and aim to venture out to collect mysterious samples from the abandoned ‘Balhae’ lunar space station. From immersive music, the unique and creative storyline, and endless scenes of stunning cinematography to powerful performances from the actors, The Silent Sea is a must-watch. Plus there are myriad nuances behind the scenes of the play, such as training to walk on the moon’s surface, levitating with wires, and creating the magnum opus using grey sand and chroma screens in preparation for a computer-generated version of the moon.

Overview Of Visual Effects in Hellbound

From 2022 through 2027, Hellbound takes place in South Korea. A divine entity described as an ‘angel’ appears and starts to announce decrees, which are prophecies that sentence certain people to hell at a specific period in the future. When the moment comes, three enormous paranormal monsters arrive out of nowhere, scorching the person’s body in a spectacular display of power known as a ‘demonstration’. ‘The New Truth Society’, which resembles a cult, and the ‘Arrowhead’ group, which resembles a gang, work together to gain control by exploiting people’s prejudices. This Korean crime-horror thriller is violent, dark, and suspenseful with visuals that are ghastly, gory, awe-inspiring, disturbing and at the same time can leave one zapped. Check out the following clip that displays the mind-blowing VFX breakdown which kind of explains how the graphics were created.

Producing An Inconceivable Set Design for Squid Game

Given the series’ massive sets and incredible cast, it’s no surprise that Squid Game was highly expensive to produce. The thriller is set in modern-day Seoul, where debt-ridden people compete for survival and an exorbitant prize money in a series of traditional Korean children’s games with a dark twist. The whole set of Squid Game was designed from scratch, according to an article published in The Tab. The marbles game set was inspired by real-life Korean back alleyways. A life-size model of the infamous doll from the ‘Red Light Green Light Game’ has been on display in Jincheon County, Chungcheongbuk-do Province, South Korea, guarding the entrance to Macha Land, a museum for horse carriages. Besides,  following the show’s enormous popularity, ‘Younghee,’ a similar giant doll dressed in orange and yellow, has been set up at the Seoul Olympic Park.

The ‘Stepping Stones Game’, in which participants had to cross a bridge composed of glass plates (some of which could hold human weight while others couldn’t) was the most challenging sequence for the cast to shoot. The terrifyingly lethal fall was expertly staged. When a player lost balance and died, the distance was about a meter, which appeared to be a big drop on screen.

Constructing The Spaceship ‘Victory’ in Space Sweepers

The crew of the ‘Victory,’ a crashed spaceship, is the focus of the film Space Sweepers, which is set in 2092. After finding it in a rubble hunt, the team discovers a seven-year-old girl inside. They realize she is the humanoid robot being sought by the ‘UTS Space Guards’ and plans a ransom demand. It also features ‘Bubs’, a modified military robot that talks (actor Yoo Haejin has lent his voice for the character) and assists the crew (Song Joongki, Kim Taeri, and Jin Sunkyu) in combing space for potentially valuable junk. Bubs spend his time playing ‘Go’ to acquire the money he needs to upgrade the aging framework onto which his brain was grafted. The filming site was said to be covered in chroma screens because visual effects played the most important role in this sci-fi movie which in fact, is Korea’s first film set in space helmed by director Jo Sunghee.

The Making Story of Real-Life Monsters in Sweet Home

Sweet Home based on a webtoon by Kim Carnby and Hwang Youngchan tells the story of ‘Hyun Soo’, a teenager played by Song Kang who moves to a new place where suddenly humans start mutating into savage monsters, Hyun and his neighbors must fight to survive and retain their humanity. Choreographer Kim Seoljin, and Troy James, a contortionist, were reportedly hired to film the monsters’ movements alongside the best of makeup artists, costume designers, technicians, and others to recreate director Lee Eungbok’s vision on screen. In a press conference, he stated that the setting was the most difficult and complex aspect of filming the drama as computer graphics were used in almost every shot. Lee was able to complete the task with a talented visual and special effects team, which worked together to bring the creatures to life. Some of the top designers who had previously worked on films like The Avengers and Avatar, and television shows like Game of Thrones and Stranger Things, were also taken on board.