Cirque du Soleil is a vagabond theatre of the 21st century that performs every night in places like Las Vegas, Tokyo, and Macao. It was the combination of traditional acrobatics and state-of-the-art technologies that turned a circus, which could have well faded into history, into a legendary show that caught the eyes of more than 100 million people in over 300 cities around the world. There have been attempts to modernize traditional culture in Korea as well - and Seopyeonjae is one of the most well-known examples. However, the effort to move the contemporary audience with the profound sense of sorrow, the unique sense of Han in Korea, ended in failure as only few people would come to see the long monologue of an old actress beside nothing more than a paper lamp. But why did it fail Because the world has changed. In a world where so many multiplex attract the audience who are constantly in awe of the hyper-realistic 3D movies, simple sentimentality is just not enough to move the consumers. "The Han sentiment of Seopyeonjae has artistic value, for sure, but it is a failed product in a sense that it could not convey the artistic sentiment to the audience," Lee Dae-Hyun PD of the R&D Program Director said.
Recently, three producers of culture technology R&D gathered at the Culture Content Industry Office of Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism, to discuss general issues concerning Korea Culture and Art Content Project.
Launched in May last year by MCST and Korea Creative Content Agency (KOCCA), the Korea Content Project is in charge of creating projects that amount to 30 billion won each year. Meetings with experts or online announcements help their research on the technologies required in the industry. About 150 surveys are carried out during the year, and the agency classifies and prioritizes the applications before inviting experts in the fields to begin preparation for the projects. The survey ends in July or August, and then, from September, over 60 experts collaborate to work on the required technologies. When the work is finished by the end of the year, new announcement is made around the new year to invite people who will then start developing the technologies prepared by experts in advance.
And these are the people for whom one billion won - an amount bigger than any other R&D support funds in Korea - will be invested over the course of the next three years. It is indeed a big sum of money considering that the funds are purely spent on the labor force rather than purchasing hardware, etc. Among the total 60 projects, ETRI is managing 20, while universities and companies are looking after the remaining 40.
"R&D Program Director has invested 73 billion won in the last three years in promoting the projects, as part of efforts to elevate the status of Korea to one of the top 5 content providers in the world," Whangbo Taeg-keun PD of the R&D Program Director said. The development rate of IT technologies is rapid nonetheless. "When we were making The Host, We had to go over and pay 5 billion won for the special effects in the U.S," Park Kiwon PD of the R&D Program Director, who is currently producing the Host 2, said. "But now we have no difficulty with creating that level of special effects with our technology." It is certainly an achievement made by the ceaseless efforts of the developers, among whom Digital Idea stands out as a studio that has created about half of the Korean movies released during the last decade. Total 250 movies included Digital Idea in their closing credits, and for the first time as a Korean studio, they created the computer graphics for the Hollywood movie Forbidden Kingdom. Behind the impressive resume was their extensive examination of the IT technologies adopted in Korean films.
"Currently, the average rate of return of Korean movies is - 35 percent," Lee Daehyeon, producer, commented on the conflict between commerciality and artistic value. "The primary reason that Korean movies are not making profits lies in the producers' approach to movie production. These projects do not really make a big impact on the public, and that is because people who only focus on the story or overall composition of a movie are rarely interested in the technologies the producers want to emphasize."
When creating a work of art that the public do not easily understand, he explained, it is important to comprehend and reflect what the consumers want so that the final product has commercial value as well.
While the U.S strictly focuses the direction of movie production on the audience's taste, Korean movie industry normally gives the director the right to final editing. Furthermore, another problem is with the structure of the movie industry where almost the only source of profit is movie theaters. The American movie industry, on the other hand, generates additional profit equivalent to 30% to 40 % of the domestic box office by overseas release, and in case of Japan, dozens of additional products merchandized with a film often brings enough profits.
With more 3D movies released each year, there is also increasing demand for postproduction works including editing and special effects. Moreover, a research is in progress to help create 3D motion pictures that are less tiring for the eyes, as many people have been complaining about the fatigue on the eyes after watching 3D movies. And even normal movies are calling for digital technologies to create more clear pictures. Financing, indeed, is the biggest challenge faced with KOCCA who is still extending the development fields. It is a stark comparison that the total finance for KOCCA is mere 400 billion won whereas the movie Avatar was made with 500 billion won of investment. Despite the insufficient budget, however, the agency is relentless in promoting technology development that will bring about a huge impact on the Korean Wave.
The content industry became one of Korea's core industries as it spurs the service industries including media and tourism as well as manufacturing industries such as IT devices. In addition, the new content market that encompasses 3D, CG, and convergence content is expected to create more new jobs particularly favored by young people.
The promotion strategies of culture technology R&D involve 73 billion won investment in the past three years in order to improve global competitiveness of Korea and help the country become one of the top 5 content providers in the world.
Experts have argued that the global content which integrate traditional culture and art with culture industries and technologies will be the key to the future growth of the country. There should be more systemic support, the experts say, for research activities specialized for culture industries that are based on creativity and the government should also pay attention to managing the cultural assets as a whole.
Blockbuster as a key to content globalization
Digital Idea is a visual effects studio that has been credited in 250 Korean movies, half of the whole movies released in the past decade, and the first Korean company that created the computer graphics for the Hollywood movie Forbidden Kingdom.
As the catchphrase says - 'Content is the only field from which we can achieve 30,000 dollars in export!' - the government policies are also focused on facilitating the export of content. With the emergence of 3D as a new development model for movie industries, blockbuster is enjoying its popularity with the help of 3D technologies. Lee Seung-Hoon, CEO of Digital Idea, said "when you look at the movies released during this summer, the box office was dominated by movies, and especially blockbusters, like Transformer 3, Kung Fu Panda, Quick, Gojijeon, and Hwal. All of these movies could not be made without computer graphics." There are a number of other reasons that blockbuster is often mentioned as key content for export. First, the western culture is not interested in movies in which an Asian actor stars alone. And Korean production companies cannot afford to western actors who usually receive salary 10 to 30 times higher than that of Korean actors. Second, the dramas based on the unique Korean taste do not really work in foreign markets. "If neither Korean actors nor Korean dramas work, the only answer is blockbuster," Mr. Lee said. As if to prove his words, recently, 7 Gwanggu has been sold to 46 countries including Chile where the movie is broadcast on TV. Although the movie has received many criticisms, its commercial value as a decent B-rate monster movie appealed to overseas markets. It turns out, after all, that a B-rate monster movie that is better made than its Hollywood counterparts can surely entertain the audience for two hours in the midst of the heat of summer.
