The next stop on our tour was to the Jeonju Film Studios. This was one of the stops I was most excited about. I've never been to a film studio or closed set before and was eager to see a production taking place. Unfortunately there was no shooting taking place during our visit but it would still give me a good insight into how a production is made. The studios were very easy to drive into and surprisingly did not have any gates or security checkpoint. The facilities are made up of two buildings, the larger building A which is 7 stories, and the smaller building B which is 4 stories. We were told no photography was allowed when we were taken in as closed productions are always scared about photos leaking onto the internet. However, I didnt see anything that 'exclusive' so took photos anyway and am including them in this entry. The main hall is a large open room with three sets in various stages of construction. For all the glamour you might expect on a film set it was actually quite industrial. It smelt like a carpenters workshop with all the wood beams supporting the set, sawdust all over the place and cutting saws around the perimeter. It was like a construction site with a workmens bench with tools and schematic drawings. The large set was a house with several rooms. However it was bare inside with no furnishings. The other two sets were also single room sets. There were no cameras or lighting equipment on the poles above. They said when a production takes place outside companies are contracted to bring the cameras and lighting equipment, will transport and install them, then remove them when the production is complete. I used to work in insurance so know this can be quite costly to pack, ship, insure, unpack, install, disassemble, repack, ship again, but appears this is how it is done. Similarly the make up and costume trucks are brought onsite from outside companies when a production takes place. Heading to the other building there was a large open field with giant wood catapults. Upon closer inspection the boulders strapped to it for support were made of polystyrene. Similarly the metal spokes were made of rubber. We went into the smaller building B which was a vacant building in an earlier stage of construction. No set had been constructed yet and they were in the very early stages of putting the scaffolding up. The workers wore no safety hats or harnesses and were climbing and walking on the upper floor scaffolding. They said this was to be the set for the Korean Charlies Angels which will start shooting soon. At many parts around the complex were photos of a man posing with actors on film sets or outdoor scenes. He looked like UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon and I thought it strange that he would come to a film studio. Then they told us it was in fact the Mayor of Jeonju so it became humorous looking at all the photos of 'Ban Ki Moon' on various film sets. The final building was a small props museum. There were different costumes worn in different productions, rifles, and swords. Despite being fake the rifles and swords were quite heavy so I wonder how they do sword fighting scenes. I'm not familiar with any of the productions but there was a script and production notes booklet for something called 'Harmony. This was a regular bound book instead of western style loose photocopied pages. Sometimes western productions do not give entire scripts to actors in order to maintain secrecy over spoilers. It was quite interesting touring the facilities and learning some trade secrets despite the fact that no productions were taking place. I'm not sure if visitors are allowed entry and if they would have access to all the areas we had but it would certainly be a worthwhile trip if you can arrange it, particularly if you are familiar with the productions, which I am not. Here is another write up from one of the other bloggers on the trip http://novemberbeetle.tumblr.com/post/3 2193195000/jeonju-film-studio-complex-i buzz-korea