"Everything but the actors is AI"... An occult thriller shot in just four days

CJ ENM has begun seriously testing its AI-based content production capabilities, signaling a turning point for the industry.
Released on TVING on the 1st, 'Apartment' is an occult thriller about Yumi, a woman who can see the spirits of the dead, and the strange events she encounters after moving into a new apartment. Its defining feature is that every background and visual effect, except for the actors' performances, was created with AI.
The actors finished filming in the studio in just four days, and the production cost came to about 500 million won. Specifically, Google AI solutions such as Imagen for image generation, Nano Banana for image correction and optimization, and Veo, a video generation model, were applied.
At the CJ ENM Culture Talk held on the 30th of last month at CGV Yongsan I'Park Mall in Seoul, Jang Chang-ik, head of CJ ENM AI Studio, said, "The differentiating point was applying AI to every scene." He added, "To do this, we carried out AI-based tests and simulations during preproduction, and during virtual production filming, we brought those results to the set to help the actors' performances and improve the composition and direction." The final product was then completed through AI-centered postproduction.
The film has enough force to keep viewers focused as they watch to the end, trying to figure out how the AI technology was implemented. The story is somewhat predictable, but some scenes are quite frightening and also evoke a sense of sadness. Because relatively unknown actors were cast, there are moments when viewers may even wonder whether the faces themselves were created by AI. This appears to be the result of color grading in postproduction and differences in resolution.
Jang explained, "The original footage was shot in 4K, while images currently generated by AI are at 2K or lower." He added, "During the DI stage, adjustments were made to match the relatively lower resolution, which revealed subtle differences from scene to scene."
That day, Jang emphasized "combination" and "collaboration" as the core of AI content production. He said, "The key is to combine and use multiple AI tools to create a single result." He added, "Because multiple workers participate at the same time, variations in output quality can occur." Reporter Shin Jin-a