8/14 Production Snapshot Diary

This is our second time filming on-set at Nikkatsu Studio. There used to be a Studio 1, but now it starts from Studio 5. Seems Studios 1-4 are now residences. The 100th Anniversary…it is. These are the films being made here. “Jellyfish Eyes” doesn’t even have posters yet… The cup o’ noodles vending machine inside the studio. I wonder if anyone actually buys and eats these? The view from the ceiling of Studio 12. The lighting team preparing different lights from the catwalk. Neet-san of the lighting team. From the left, Occhi and Daisuke. And…the one who complained “There are no photos of me!” on the staff blog, First Lighting Team Taku Kosaka-san. The indomitable Kosaka-san! And that’s photo #3 for you. On days we use the green screen, we get a large batch of bright green punch. A broken cooling device and…what is that… Lighting equipment. A must-have for the CG Team, “Silver”. The stage floor was shiny white, so we were very careful. And tennis balls for the Century legs. Production Chief Yuno Koyama-san. She turns off the air conditioner for each and every take. The sound of the air conditioner is a big nuisance when recording. On this day, the chairman of GAGA, Tatsumi Yoda-san came to see the studio. And they kindly gave us a gift! Misako Saka-san, who introduced us to GAGA. She is a board member on OLM as well as board member for Director Takashi Miike’s company “Ganmo”. She is famous in the industry. Aki-san of Good Smile Company and Hiroaki Matsuura of Sanzigen also dropped by for a visit. Gochisosama. (Thank you for the food.) Digital Frontier will be doing the CG for “Jellyfish Eyes 2”. From the right, VFX Producer Yusaku Toyoshima, and VFX Supervisor for “Jellyfish Eyes 2” Hideaki Maegawa-san. Receiving an explanation from Takashi Sasaki-san of how the stage will be. Receiving an explanation of the day’s camera blocking from Nishimura-san. JNTHED-san is doing the mechanical design for us. A meeting on set design drawings with JNTHED. We brought help from Kaikai Kiki as the film set is pretty difficult. Koichiro Endo. Training for Shoko Suzuki and Takuya Oyama. Genshimon. Lens case. The next stage. From the left, makeup artist Chieko Shimizu-san, Line Producer Satoru Takei-san, makeup assistant Hiroko Makise-san. Second Behind-the-Scenes Cameraman Naofumi Yamamoto-san. I believe one day you will be able to see the “Making Of” this film.

8/13 Production Snapshot Diary

The “Jellyfish Eyes 2” blog has stopped completely at 8/12. I’m writing this now on 8/29. Kodamacchi of the Lighting Team just told me, “I really look forward to your blog posts, but there haven’t been any updates lately”, so I am now resuming, though it will be at a snail’s pace. In the middle here is Kodama-san, or “Kodamacchi”. He is measuring the air quality. Today we’re filming the climactic scene in Kisaratsu, Chiba. The weather today was a continuation of miracles! The lighting team. From the left: Occhi-san and Neet-san. Enjoy this very manly portrait of Nagano-san in Production. Discussing camera blocking with Nishimura-san. Doing a simulation of the camerawork from atop the crane. Nagano-san cutting an angle. A huge crane. A man’s workplace! Board! The scene number, cut number, and take number are written. Second Assistant Director Yuki Kishizuka-san, checking the camera movement. Art Department Third, Tatsuya Kuroiwa-san. In charge of Production is Yuji Saito-san or “Sai-chan”. The transporting of equipment is very tough on location. Moving to the right and left with each cut. Masatoshi Saito-san with the behind-the-scenes camera work. His nickname is Masa Saito. Filming Chief Mio Nakajima-san’s board. Production Chief Daisuke Muramatsu-san. Production Trainee Yusuke Okamoto-kun. President of special machinery company TRACK, Yasuhisa Shiomi-san has huge hands! And he works so hard. He is most passionate about educating his young staff. “Are you forgetting that you’re receiving money to work here?!” Hideyuki Yamamoto-san of Digital Frontier. Thinking up the logo etc. for the villain Azito. Nothing begins without Hie-pita! (Cooling pads) We must shoot one cut after another or we will “never make it”. Monitor check. Where I belong. And finally to the Nikkatsu set! Art Director Sasaki-san. He is feeling the rush to completion.

8/12 ② Production Snapshot Diary

And now, we change locations to a set in Tokyo. Nishimura-san looks at the storyboard to decide the camera blocking for the next shot. Camera blocking notes written into Kishizuka-san’s screenplay. On the spot changes to the storyboards and schedule keep accumulating. “I’m going to lost the trust of my cast!” Shiozaki-san’s distressed…so sorry. From the left, Kaikai Kiki Producer Chiaki Kasahara, Digital FrontierCG Nobuhiro Suzuki-san, VFX Supervisor Hideaki Maegawa-san, and me. Communicating my image for the climactic scene. And in the back is JNTHED-kun, who is in charge of the mechanical design for “Jellyfish Eyes 2”. On the right, Action Director Yuji Shimomura-san brings the storyboard for the character battle scene and we discuss in between filming. Hair and makeup artist Shimizu-san does a final presentation of the makeup for the climax. Producer Kasahara is doing the budgeting and management on location this time. She is putting the numbers together with the help of the line producers, but on set where things change everyday, her head aches with the rising costs. The movement of furniture after shooting is completed. Line Producer Ryo Uchiyama-san. On the left: Special Equipment staff Tsunenobu Tsukimura-san, and Production Chief Yuno Oyama-san with the banana. Finished with shooting, we’re moving over to Nikkatsu studios for various checks. Here we’re inspecting stickers. Lighting staff Jun Kodama-san, DP Yasutaka Nagano-san, Art Director Takashi Sasaki-san. And in Studio 12, a new set is being built.