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| Director Choi Hang-yong, from left, scriptwriter Park Eun-kyo, actors Lee Mu-saeng, Kim Sun-young, Gong Yoo, Bae Doo-na, Lee Joon, Lee Sung-wook and executive producer Jung Woo-sung pose for pictures during an online press conference for the new Netflix series, “The Silent Sea,” Wednesday. Courtesy of Netflix |
By Lee Gyu-lee
Netflix’s star-studded sci-fi series, “The Silent Sea,” produced by actor Jung Woo-sung, is set to take off this Friday.
“There are a lot of sci-fi flicks out there, but to make one in Korea is not as easy. But with the series’ brilliant concept, I think it could create a Korean-style sci-fi story,” Jung, the executive producer of the show, said during an online press conference for the series, Wednesday.
Set in a dystopia where resources on Earth have been depleted, the mystery thriller series unfolds the story of space explorers who carry out a perilous mission on the moon.
A group of astronauts ― played by Bae Doo-na, Gong Yoo, Lee Joon and Kim Sun-young ― goes on a 24-hour mission in outer space to retrieve samples from an abandoned research facility on the moon, where they encounter an unexpected turn of events.
The series is adapted from the 2014 short film of the same name, which was the graduation project of the series’ director, newcomer Choi Hang-yong. Screenwriter Park Eun-kyo, who co-scripted director Bong Joon-ho’s “Mother” (2009), and director Lee Kyoung-mi’s “Crush and Blush” (2008), penned the script.
Director and creator Choi said that he wanted to create a story about the underexplored satellite of the earth, the moon.
“There are a lot of works about outer space, but I didn’t really find any that were based on the moon. The moon is close to Earth, but we don’t know much about it,” Choi said, explaining how he came up with the story for his graduation project.
“And as it was made into a Netflix series, I believed we can expand that story. Whereas the short film only focused on the character’s story on the moon, we could add in subplots on Earth and throw in questions about the issues regarding the planet, along with portraying the space crews’ survival.”
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| The poster for the series / Courtesy of Netflix |
“The Silent Sea” has been one of the most anticipated series of the year and features a star-studded cast.
Jung, who took part in casting the actors, said he carefully nominated the actors who would be the best fit for each role.
“There were things that the short film had, whereas, it would be different when it’s adapted into a longer series,” he said. “It’s one thing for actors to imagine themselves as the character and how they would act in the scenes from the script. But putting them on the set to actually play out the scenes, which requires a lot of imagination, was another challenge. So I carefully thought of those who would be able to do that.”
Actors Gong and Bae said they gladly took on the challenge of starring in the sci-fi series, as they were drawn to the story.
“Personally, I’ve been wanting to work on a unique genre… and when I read the script, I was like, ‘Eureka!’ like I had ten exclamation marks in my head,” Gong said. “It had the brilliant imagination, unique concept and genre that I’d been waiting for… there was no reason to turn it down.”
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| A scene from the series / Courtesy of Netflix |
Bae added that she didn’t hesitate to get on board after watching the director’s short film, even before reading the script.
“When I first got the script, I was pretty skeptical about whether a space flick, especially about the moon, could be made in Korea. But that was before I saw the film, ‘The Silent Sea’… it was amazing how well he made the film even with limited means,” she said. “I was really moved after watching the movie, and although I didn’t really know who this person was, if he was making it, I wanted to get on board with the challenge.”
Writer Park hinted at the large scale of the set, which breathes life into the space-based story.
“(When I wrote the script,) I prepared myself not to get disappointed, as some things could probably not be portrayed in real life because it would be a huge challenge. Even when I was writing it, I would ask myself if something was possible,” she said. “But when I saw the set, it was beyond what I’d imagined… the scale of it was even greater than what I had in mind, which was a great pleasure.”
Netflix’s imaginative ‘The Silent Sea’ series will show Korean-style sci-fi
Source: Buhay Kapa PH
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