KOFIC Namyangju Studios


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Asia » South Korea » Gyeonggi-do » Namyangju
October 25th 2014
Published: November 19th 2014
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I stumbled across KOFIC Namyangju Studios, while I was looking up something for my blog about the JSA. On Google images, an image popped up of a girl taking a selfie in the JSA, she was on the steps of the North Korean side, and it totally baffled me, as how is that possible in the JSA, it's so strict. Anyway, I clicked onto her blog and found out that she wasn't at the JSA, but was in fact at the film studios in Namyangju. I sent the link to a friend and we made a plan to visit as soon as we had a free Saturday.

We took the subway all the way up to Ungilsan station. It was a bloody long journey, over two hours, and the air was distinctly cooler as we alighted the train. I think we were the only people getting off the train, who weren't going for a hike as everyone else was all decked out in full hiking gear. We headed for the exit and found the bus stop for the shuttle bus. We were about ten minutes early, and the shuttle bus turned up after a few minutes. We got on and at 10:20 am, it departed for the film studios. The drive took about ten to fifteen minutes, and the area was so beautiful. I definitely want to come back and hike in this area. Why does my list of stuff I want to do in Korea, keep getting longer. Our bus driver was fab, he hooked up the music to the video, and put some Mariah Carey on for us. We were soon crooning along.

We arrived at the film studios and the bus driver showed us into the office where we had to pay for the bus and our admission. We were thoroughly confused by this, as the woman only charged us 5,000 won for the two of us. The entrance was meant to cost 3,000 won and then we thought we had to pay 2,500 won on top of that for the bus. We asked the woman why it was only 2,500 won per person and she explained that the regular entrance price is 3,000 won, but by using the shuttle bus you get the discounted entry price of 2,500 won. A free bus journey, which lead to a cheaper entrance price. I love this place already!

We studied the map by the entrance, which showed a walking map of the different sets and the indoor area. We walked excitedly to the first set, which shows the Joint Security Area in the DMZ, where North and South Korea meet. This set was built for the film, Joint Security Area. I have seen the movie and I also saw the musical about six months ago. The film is about the Neutral Nations Supervisory Committee investigating the circumstances surrounding a fatal shooting incident within the DMZ, the heavily fortified border that separates North and South Korea. I must have taken a million pictures here, it was so cool. Just like the real thing, but better because you could wander around freely, with no pesky soldiers keeping you in line, and stopping you from straying to the North. It was cool wandering around this mock up of the DMZ. I only wish the blue huts had been open so we could have posed for some photos in there. We headed downstairs to the costume department, we had a little look around, but

We wandered over to the folk village, via a big wooden ship that some workmen were working on. The ships was used in the move, The Pirates, which was released this year. In front of the folk village, there were a couple of big boards that depicted all the names of Korean dramas and films that had been shot there. We took a stroll around the village, it was quite big, and more importantly there weren't too many people there. So we could go at a relaxed pace. The village was gorgeous, I wish I could travel back in time and experience what it would have really been like. The autumn colours were out, and that made my photos look even prettier.

The last of the outdoor sets was a traditional Korean house, this was a little bit away from the other sets, about a five minute walk uphill, or if like some other blokes that were there, a one minute drive in their car. The house was pretty, very simple looking. There was a board outside, too, telling us which movies and dramas it had featured in. The set wasn't very big and it didn't take us long to wander around it, snapping some photos. It was pretty much the same as most of the historical tourist sites in Seoul and around the rest of Korea.

We headed back to where the shuttle bus had dropped us off, and walked down a driveway, which had lovely bright murals painted on it. The indoors studios were a bit dank and cold. It was definitely colder inside than outside. We looked around a room, which was filled with lots of vintage looking film making equipment. Then we went to a big hall that was filled with pictures and memorabilia from famous Korean movie stars and directors from the past. I loved the vintage looking movie posters. I wish they had been available for purchase. The hall featured 'The Greats' from Korean cinema from the past. It was really interesting to look at their clothes and other personal effects. There was another big hall, filled with the sets from an animation movie that was made there. All the detail that goes into making them is amazing. The makers have such skills and patience. We headed downstairs and took a quick look at the costume department, but everything was being protected by layers of plastic, so we couldn't get a good look. The props storeroom was fab, everything from the past that you could have wished for was there. It was like taking a walk down memory lane, looking at the old Walkmans and ghetto blasters. Then we hopped on the shuttle bus, and were deposited back at Ungilsan Station.


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