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August 26, 2011

Today is The 17th Day of Shooting. Of the total 27 day shoot, we’ve plowed through 17. In order to reinvigorate everyone, Shiozaki-san finally made his move! That’s right, it was time for the legendary breakfast by the food delivery company Popeye to make its appearance. Japanese fried chicken, grilled pork chimaki rice balls, grilled cod roe rice balls, and two slices of takuan – that’s the Popeye boxed breakfast! I had been hearing about this for so long – “The Popeye breakfast is a must!” “You can’t call your self a film industry insider until you’ve had it” – and for some reason, my mind had been playing a game of associations between “Popeye” and “Hotdog Press,” the publishers of the young male fashion magazine Popeye, so that I had somehow convinced myself the Popeye breakfast was a hotdog. Thus, when I first saw it, I was a little disappointed. Even so, the grilled pork chimaki rice balls were delicious.

photo Murakami

The breakfast choice of the Japanese film world! Popeye! It’s said they appear on film sets in Tokyo every morning!

Here it is, the Popeye Breakfast!

Location shoots need a lot of equipment, so work always starts with unloading.

This summer, we traveled to the world of Jellyfish Eyes.

VFX staff Tsuyoshi Kazuno. Everytime he shows up on set, I hear the words “Noone told me about this!” It’s said we’ve already gone double the number of composite scenes than what we had planned.

Line Producer Uchiyama-san. He was once a secretary for a politician!

Photography apprentice Megumi Kobayashi. Working hard!

Nishimura-san! “Do you….believe in….God?” – just kidding. He’s explaining the plans for a particular shot.

“It used to run when we used it more but who knows if it runs now…!” We fitted a car with cameras to create a film shooting Supercar. The key is in the battery under the hood (we use it to power monitors and cameras).

Watching the setup of the super-special Supercar.

photo Murakami
composite Naoka Watanabe

Japanese summers! Chiba Summers! On this day, we witnessed a record amount of isolated rainfall in Tokyo! The cumulonimbus clouds floating by reminded me of the dragon’s nest from Laputa.