Korea Study Trip 2012: Exploring the World of Film-Making (DIMA)

Did you know that popular movies and dramas such as “Guy from Nowhere” and “Athena” were filmed in a studio?

One of the highlights of our Korea trip Day-5 was getting the opportunity to visit Asia’s largest studio located at Dong-Ah Institution of Media and Arts (DIMA). With the size of 1,842 square meters, it is no wonder that a lot of media companies utilize it for their shoots.

An overview of the biggest studio in South Korea

This high-tech studio – Studio 1 – has everything that completes its package as the perfect place for a shoot. Other than being huge in size, it has an air purifying and water system that enable producers to shoot rain and fire scenes safely.

If you think this studio can’t get any cooler, you’re wrong! You can even shoot flying scenes there as they have hooks for wire actions! This studio has also seen the likes of 2NE1 and 2AM filming their music videos there.

Viewing screens in the HDTV studio used for previewing footages

Amazing, isn’t it, how you can transform a regular, plain studio, into a scene full of action and intense scenes? :D (and you might even get a chance to rub shoulders with stars!)

Next up, we got the chance to visit the Lee Kyungsoon Sound Museum. Formerly named “Lee Kyungsoon Memorial Hall”, this museum is a tribute to the late renowned recording expert who witnessed the history of Korean films.

The museum featured rare materials that document the history of Korean filmmaking. All of these equipment donated by Mr Lee Kyungsoon to DIMA for educational purposes.

One of the displays in the museum

To wrap up, we had a 1-hour lecture on the history of Korean films by budding feature film director, Lee Byeong Hyeok. We learnt about the backgrounds of some renowned Korean directors and how the film industry works; the fact that directors have to “seek permission” from major cinema operators so that their movies can be screened in cinemas.

Who knew directors have to go through so much just to reach out to us audience? That was how we ended our day at DIMA – an ideal institute for us media students. Hopefully our friends and students at Ngee Ann would be able to experience a much longer time at DIMA then we do. What an experience they will have!

Here's a clip of our tour experience at DIMA. Enjoy!