DreamWorks exhibition brings behind-the-scene production story to Korea

By Woo Jae-yeon

SEOUL, April 29 (Yonhap) -- An exhibition will open this week in Seoul to showcase the intriguing process of animated filmmaking by one of the world's biggest animation houses, a museum said Friday.

"DreamWorks Animation: The Exhibition - Journey from Sketch to Screen," which runs at the Seoul Museum of Art(SEMA) from April 30 to Aug. 15, will show how a popular animation character, like Po the panda from "Kung Fu Panda" or Shrek the ogre, is brought to life on screen from a rough sketch.

Divided into the three mainstays of an animated film - character, story and world - the exhibit is designed to provide "a rare glimpse into the studio's collaborative and visionary approach to animation" and to offer "an insightful look into the processes behind the on-screen magic," the museum said in a press release.

Some 400 items on display include early artist drawings, storyboards, behind-the-scene interviews and models from the studio's most popular films.

"The exhibition truly has something for everyone," Erik Stevens, head of global live entertainment at DreamWorks, said during a press conference on Friday at the museum.

"We are very excited for it to open for the public from boys and girls who love 'Kung Fu Panda,' 'Shrek,' or 'Madagascar' to fine art students or film students inspired by storytellers at our studio or anyone interested in film-making to true fine art enthusiasts," he said.

The exhibit has been put together by the California-based animation powerhouse, the SEMA and the Australian Center for the Moving Image (ACMI). So far it has visited Australia, Singapore and New Zealand before traveling to Korea.

The exhibit also features immersive and interactive digital experiences including an ocean simulator where visitors can create waves and a face poser which enables a visitor to create facial expressions on an animated character.

The highlight of the massive exhibit might come at the end of the exhibition: the simulated dragon ride.

The interactive panoramic ride on the back of Toothless, a dragon from the "How to Train Your Dragon" series, takes visitors on a dizzying ride as though they are actually high up in the sky, overlooking the remote Viking village Berk.

"With a host of programs that will give fun and inspiration to visitors, we can take a step closer to our goal of making people feel that art is easy and comfortable," said SEMA director Kim Hong-hee.

jaeyeon.woo@yna.co.kr
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