|Answer: < The story of Chun-hyang (Chunhyangjeon ) > (1935, Lee Myeong-woo)
The first Korean sound film is director Lee Myeong-woo’s 1935 film, < The story of Chun-hyang (Chunhyangjeon ) >. This film was produced by Gyeongseong Productions and the fact that a sound device developed by the sound engineer of this film, Lee Pil-woo, was used in the film became a hot issue. But the overall sound in < The story of Chun-hyang (Chunhyangjeon )> was poor in quality and because no one knew how to use the machine, they had to resort to post-production dubbing to record the sound.
First of all, unlike silent films, they needed sophisticated equipments such as sound-proof cameras, silent lights, and a studio to control external noises but it must have been very difficult in those times. Despite these technical shortcomings, people were amazed by the live video with sound. < The story of Chun-hyang (Chunhyangjeon ) > became an instant hit and stayed in the theaters for an extended period of time.
The situation was hardly very different for Hollywood movies and in (1927), the famous film known as the world’s first “talkie,” most scenes just had background music with just four scenes where the actors sang in person or said lines. Nevertheless, the film had audiences raving about it. But the transition from silent movies to sound movies is the most significant event in film history. This is because sound movies needed production techniques, filming methodologies, and theater facilities that were completely different from those of silent movies. The success of < The story of Chun-hyang (Chunhyangjeon ) > made it possible for many other production companies to invest in facilities for sound movies. This is why film historians refer to 1936 as the point in time when sound movies were introduced in earnest.
Meanwhile, as the transition from silent movies to talkies took place, movie narrators who were once in the center stage during the era of silent movies lost their raison d’etre. Movie narrators used to be one of the most influential groups in Korea during the era of silent movies. Some argue that movie narrators inhibited the development of visual language in Korean movies but others contend that they helped audiences ease into the movie and become absorbed in the story when most of them were not familiar with moving pictures. Despite these opposing opinions, the influence of movie narrators was in fact much greater than one might imagine. Movie narrators were always under the spotlight of attention and were frequently written about in newspapers like the top stars of today. Many people visited theaters to see the movie narrator, rather than the movie. Movie narrators had their own world that was independent of movies. They would have their own radio programs such as ‘Film Interpretation,’ ‘Grab that Film,’ or ‘Movie Night,’ and they would also record monologues of their film interpretations or narrations and put them out on the market for sale. So even after the introduction of sound films, movie narrators attempted to come up with a movie narrator theater, which was a new combination of talkies and narration. However, as sound films began to spread the role of movie narrators became unnecessary and they were pushed out into suburbs and countries before they finally disappeared.