The stuff of dreams - DreamWorks exhibition

When I was new in Korea, I did a semi-home-stay experience where me and a Spanish friend stayed one night at a Korean friend’s family home. The warmhearted matriarch of the home greeted us with open arms and offered us dinner. If you looked away from your plate for even a second, it would be filled up with seconds, no matter how full your stomach was.

I remember this kind-heartedness fondly, but my strongest memory from that night is something totally different. The mother left for a trip that evening, so the rest of us decided to pull an all-nighter. We had fun until the morning, when some bright mind decided it was a wise move to go watch Kung Fu Panda 2 in the morning cinema. Said and done, with 0 hours of sleep, we headed for the movies.

I can honestly say I remember almost zilch from that movie. I was slipping in and out of sleep. The pandas were taking over my dreams and I had no idea what was dream and what was “reality” (read “movie”). As a person who has never smoked or taking any heavy substances, I think that was the closest I’ve been to a mind trip.

So the name “DreamWorks” surely fits the company. The exhibition in question travels the world and is currently open in Seoul Museum of Art, just by City Hall station. With the under title “Journey from sketch to screen”, the exhibition consists of concept figures of the characters, sketches, story lines, movie clips of how the character animations and motion capture was done and finally some insights into how the soundtracks were made.

It is divided into four subsections called “World”, “Story”, “Character” and “Drawing room”. Most are self-explanatory, except the latter where visitors can create their own pictures and videos via computer screens.

Even though I have not yet seen the movie, my favorite part was the 180 degree cinema screen where we get to see in video format how How To Train Your Dragon went from paper sketch to intricately generated computer environments. The virtual ride on the dragon’s back is almost more beautiful than real life.

Info:

Name: 
DreamWorks Animation – The exhibition / 드림웍스 애니메이션 특별전

Exhibition period:
2016.04.30 – 2016.08.15 at Seoul Museum of Art - 서울시립미술관

Open hours:

Tues – Fri: 10AM to 8PM

Sat, Sun and holidays: 10AM to 7PM

Every first and third Tuesday of the month: 10AM to 10PM

Mondays: Closed

Entrance fees:

Adult: 13,000W

Youth: 10,000W

Child: 8,000W