Dexter Studio Releases Korea's First Moon Exploration Film 'The Moon'

Director Kim Yong-hwa's new film 'The Moon' has been released. Dexter Studio, which showcased the afterlife fantasy with the 2017 ‘Along with the Gods’ series, offers audiences a new experience in the sci-fi genre.

Dexter Studio, a VFX and content production specialist company, announced on the 2nd that the film 'The Moon', which they participated in technologically, has premiered. In May 2021, they signed a VFX technology supply contract worth 6 billion KRW with the production company Vlad Studio. Additionally, they supported the project by investing as a co-producer.

'The Moon' is a film depicting the desperate struggle of a former space center chief and NASA's manned lunar orbit main director to rescue a lone astronaut stranded 384,000 km away from Earth on the Moon due to an accident.

Jin Jong-hyun, supervisor at Dexter Studio who oversaw the VFX, introduced the film by saying, "Due to the genre characteristics, the film is designed with original visuals by minimizing informational errors based on scientific facts and adding imagination." He added, "We focused on directing so that audiences can vividly experience spaces and events that are difficult to realistically encounter."

The scientific inquiry is also evident in the spatial direction method. Space, except for the sun, essentially contains no material emitting bright light, so it appears as deep darkness. Therefore, on set, to realistically express the degree of darkness, black fabric that does not reflect light was hung inside the studio to block light distortion. Except for essential small lighting on the spacecraft and lunar rover, all light was controlled to maximize the weightiness of the vast space.

He also explained the profound consideration of 'light.' He said, "Sunlight serves as a directional element in our work and is a key factor explained by brightness and darkness," adding, "The sun's position acts as a landmark, and through the contrast of 'light and darkness,' we aimed to complete a deep sense of space."

The depiction of the 'Moon' is similar. He said, "The lunar space where the main story unfolds in the film has about 16% of Earth's gravity and no atmosphere," adding, "We reconstructed explosions and collisions of objects by referring to numerous scientific papers and actual footage to create tension."

Besides VFX, Dexter Studio also handled VP (Virtual Production), DI & DIT (Digital Color Grading and Digital Imaging Technician), managing overall video technology. Their subsidiary, LiveTone, joined to design sound, dedicating themselves to enhancing the film's completeness. For the first time in Korean cinema, they introduced ICVFX (In-Camera Visual Effects) VP technology, which simultaneously shoots by playing VFX footage on LED screens.

Kim Wook and Kang Jong-ik, representatives of Dexter Studio, said, "Since there has been no case of large-scale success in the sci-fi genre in Korean film history, production itself is a very high entry barrier field," adding, "It is very meaningful for the Korean film industry that production companies, distributors, and technology companies gathered to create this work and meet audiences in theaters."

They continued, "Due to the nature of the work, high-level technical elements were required, and we deployed a large number of our artists to reproduce them on screen," adding, "We expect much interest as we have strived to offer audiences a new experience as a sci-fi genre film."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.