We are back in Osaka!

The whole day was reserved for moving.
The team that had been working in Korea flew to Osaka International Airport. The main staff arrived in Osaka via Shinkansen, and the main team came to Osaka by way of location bus and train which took them nearly 10 hours.

In the evening, I saw faces I hadn’t seen in a while. Meeting up with the staffs that were making preparations for the remainder of the shooting to take place in Japan, gave me the “long time no see” feeling. Strange, because it has actually been less than a week.

We went to our hotel and got ourselves settled. Later we went off to see the main location hunting team to confirm the location that had not been decided since last evening.Once we arrived at the sight, I immediately gave an NG to the chief director in charge and the production staff.

They do not understand the setting. Although we are planning to shoot tomorrow evening, we have to find somewhere from scratch.

We went around the Tennouji and Tsuruhashi vicinity, but we could not find a spot that fit our image.

Just when we were totally lost, I remembered the area I am familiar with from my involvement in “Shinra Kukan”.
Yes, Nakazaki-cho!

This is an area where one could still see the town with its historic presence, hidden among the buildings of Umeda.

On the other hand, there are some stylish art spaces and live houses born from renovated old Japanese style houses, and these create a space with a unique feeling.

Many of artists and spiritual people of Kansai (western Japan, mainly Osaka) gather in this area.There is a place called “Amanto” where I frequented when I went to Osaka a few years ago. This is the spot that started the trend I mentioned earlier.

It is the place I visited many times with people like Yuras-san and the people of Shinra, and also the starting point of the supporter group that first screened the film “Yume Oikakete” in Osaka. Even now, Yasu an ex-Shiira member works there as a manager once a week.
I walked the streets of the area with the staffs.

As a result, the staffs said they wanted to shoot inside “Amanto”. I called the owner Jun-san on the spot, but found that he (being a performer) was in Tokyo.
I hastily asked him for his approval in shooting our film at his place.
He readily accepted our request!

Strangely, here too, we were able to renew an old bond.

On the way back, we saw that the red door of the ex-Shiira still retained its shape in the warehouse. Although it was small in size, it was an exciting place. A few years ago on July 26, they had opened the space calling it “Iwato-biraki (opening of celestial rock)”.

Perhaps it was one of the roots for me in the festival of creation.
I explained to the main staff,
“I had done all kinds of things with many young people there…”

“Oh director, you’ve done all sorts of things haven’t you?”
“Yes, that’s right. I’ve done a lot of things.”

I would probably end up talking all night just on this topic.

Perhaps I should leave it at that for today.

(originally posted in Japanese on July 30, 2006)

Going back to Japan

Returning to Japan →　Osaka

We left the hotel at 8:30 in the morning.
Pusan Airport was really crowded. Maybe it’s because of summer vacation – all the flights were full.

I read an article in the The Dong-A Ilbo.
In central Korea, the towns were flooded, causing much damage.

We heard that it rained heavily in Seoul, too.

It was as if the typhoon had turned north, and avoided hitting Pusan for our sake.

Which brought to mind, that on the day we started shooting the film “Yume Oikakete (Touch a DreamI)”, the typhoon that was supposed to hit Shizuoka turned its course by 90 degrees right in front of our eyes.
We were experiencing a great storm until 4 in the morning, but we ended up being blessed with an amazingly clear sky.
A local fisherman told us that it was the first time in more than twenty years that it did not rain in Hamamatsu.

In “A Delinquent’ Dream”, too, we were lucky to have continuous fair weather which was rare during the summer in Hokkaido.Even though it rained a record amount in mainland Japan, Hokkaido experienced days of sunny weather and heat.
Come to think of it, in “Lament of the Lamb” also, it rained severely around our location, but the skies over us at Suzaka city cleared up – in a shape of a doughnut.

Rain awaits us where ever we go. It pours on that spot like it is trying to cleanse it, and later, the skies turn light.
Do we owe this also to the God of dragon?Oh yes, speaking of strange occurrences, right after we finished shooting from the train in Pusan yesterday,
Naka-chan screamed, “look at the UFO!”

Sure enough, there was a gleaming round silver object just above the railroad tracks.
Four people witnessed it, including myself.

Oh, why did I forget to take a picture of it then (laughs).
So, we arrived safely in Osaka.

It was fair here, too, but somewhat humid.
But I guess we shouldn’t complain.

In the evening, the main troupe was to join us from Tokyo.
They will be coming in a location bus which would take take about 10 hours.
It must be an exhausting trip. Starting tomorrow, we will be shooting for 3 days in Osaka.

（Originally posted in Japanese on July 29, 2006）

Pusan Day 3

We took off at five thirty in the morning.
The typhoon had left, and it was a beautiful day.
We were going to shoot with the five members that were still here – Ryu-san the cameraman, Chief Naka-san, Choi-san the producer, Assistant Director Ota and me. The rest was supported by the Korean coordination team. Kim-Kim, who had become really popular among us Japanese in the past 3 days, is energetic as usual.

A little after six, we arrived at Pugeon. Again, we opened the door of the last car of the 7:05 train, and went into standby for shooting.
The wind was strong, and the clouds were moving pretty quickly. The clouds of Pusan were floating like they were getting tangled with the top of the low mountains nearby. It was as if the clouds were lying right over the sea. Perhaps that is how the name Haeundae （海雲台）was born. Oh, but it is truly fine day.
The train started.

The scenery we saw from the last car was completely different from the previous time. A chain of clear scenery passed before our eyes.
But because the clouds were moving so swiftly, we could not tell whether they would hide the sun or not until a moment before we filmed the scene.
Naka-chan, the assistant to the chief cameraman was having trouble deciding whether he should determine the stop with a cloudy sky or sunny sky.
Depending on the position of the clouds, the blue sea will turn into grey. We can only pray for the best.

When we went past Haeundae Station, which is two stops from Pugeon, the sea waited for us on the left hand side.
The camera finally started to roll.
The sun was on the east side, which meant it was on our backs. Even though we were shooting silently to begin with, everyone was whispering from tension.
“Yes, it’s the blue sea!”
A beautiful blue sea lay before our eyes
We did it! It was a success!
In the scenery far away, clouds trailed, and the town of Pusan spread before us.
It made a fine picture.
This was to be the image for the beginning of the film, where the audience will form their first impression of Korea.
Actually, more than that, if this scene does not start with a fine weather, the impression of the film itself will start on a dark note.
In the very end, we attained victory. God of film, thank you!
A smile lighted everyone’s faces.

We packed our things to get off at the next station, and drove to the airport.
We needed to hand over our shooting equipment to the main troupe.
The load of equipment that we had brought from abroad, and of which we declared the QTY through a carnet application, had to be completely matched when we were going to leave the country.
If we could give them to the team going home, it would make the procedure a lot easier.

We made it in the nick of time, and we were able to complete the procedure without any problems.
The staffs of the main troupe were relieved to hear from us that we were able to film great shots.

”A miracle occurred again!”
This phrase was starting to become a habit, as we continued to talk.

We saw the main troupe off, and the five of us once again returned to our hotel.
For the shooting on the rain date, we had reserved for tickets that enabled us to go from Pusan to Osaka directly.
Everyone is tired out from working from early in the morning the past few days. We can finally rest in peace.
We even gave up shopping, and slept like logs.
In the evening, we went to a spa called VESTA in Haeundae.
We heard that it was a famous onsen from the old days.
The view from Haeundae is incredible.
It is the best resort in Pusan.
And our last dinner shall be barbecued meat!
And that’s final!

(originally posted in Japanese on July 28, 2006)

Pusan Day 2

Again, we took off at six am this morning.

We were going to use Dong-A University for our shooting. Because there is a large hospital next to it, we were told that the there was a lot of traffic in front of the school.
So, we wanted to shoot before the traffic got heavy.

Though we left the hotel in fine weather, the clouds were moving really rapidly. In a matter of seconds, the sun started to go in and out of the clouds, and Naka-chan, the chief cameraman in charge of measurements was super busy watching the sky.
Because we had to determine the diaphragm according to the amount of light, his task was most important.

Although Pusan is a port town, the mountains are also close by – which means change of weather is incredibly dramatic.

In a matter of no time, big drops of rain started to fall from the sky.

“Oooh, it’s starting to rain!”
The voice was that said this, was very relaxed. It was my own voice.

Lately, no one in the team panicked even when it started to rain in the middle of a shoot.
It’s probably because we believed that if we just waited, we would be able to shoot for sure.
“Should we prepare for it and wait?”
“That’s good. Let’s wait.”
Such a conversation went on between the cameraman Ryu-san, and while we were discussing our plans, the sun makes a sudden appearance.
“So, should we give it a try?”
“Yes, let’s”
So like that, the weather somehow always recovered at the crucial moment.

Because we started early today, we had some free time in the afternoon.
All of us went to a restaurant that specialized in kuppa that Lee Tae Sung’s manager recommended.
It took us 30 minutes.
But it was more than worth it.
We were in Pusan all this time, and we never encountered anything as good as the white pork bones soup we ate there.
It was that good.
Lee Tae Sung mentioned that he came here often during his long stay in Pusan when he was shooting “Violent Circle”.
Everyone was sweating furiously, but ate happily.
“Who would want to eat a boxed meal on location when there is something so good!” someone exclaimed
That is so true. Good food makes a world of difference. Or you can say that as long as actors and staffs are able to eat a good meal, it makes us all want to work really hard.
Never take “food” lightly, I’d like say.
The afternoon went smoothly, so we once again went back to the hotel for some rest.
We were aiming to shoot the scene of dusk.
While we were moving by car, the rain gradually went away, and at last, some blue sky started to appear from the clouds.
Our chance was approaching. But a plain blue sky would be useless.
We would need some clouds in the sky to give the image some expression.
A pure blue sky does not make a picture.
I might be asking too much, but I didn’t want to give up on this point.

When I was taking a nap in my room, the staff called for me sooner than I expected.
“It seems that the sky is clearing, so let’s shoot it now.”
Apparently, there was heavy rainfall. There were puddles on the streets.

“Kenchanayo~.” (meaning, it’s alright.)
This phrase is becoming a habit for me recently, and I said it
without even thinking.
We did what we could, so all we could do now was pray!

The location was a fabulous spot on top of the hill behind the hotel – one could overlook the Pusan port.
This spot is never listed in the tourist guidebooks.
I heard that they also shot the movie “Chingu” here. It is quite natural for movie people to choose places in common.

“Ready ….. Action!”
So, we finally finished shooting the scenes in Korea which involve the actors.
All that was left was the scenery from the tracks that we intended to tackle again tomorrow morning, by boarding the trains.
In the evening, we went to a restaurant where we were able to view the sea of Haeundae. We heard the seafood was good there. The night view of the shoreline was fabulous.
The president of Lee Tae Sung’s agency had also come from Seoul.
Once again, we had Lee Soo Hyun’s parents join us, and we wrapped up the day with a small celebration on the occasion of finishing the shooting in Korea.

(originally posted in Japanese on July 28, 2006)

Part 2 Pusan Day One

The first troupe departed for Pujeon Station at five thirty in the morning.
Rain was falling in large drops... it stopped once in a while, but there was no hope for a fair sky.
A blue sky is a must for the train scene in the intro part of the film we’ve been blessed with many miracles so far, but it looks like we are finally defeated by the typhoon in Korea.

We decided to give it another try on the extra day we saved in our schedule, and returned to a station in the suburbs.
There, we joined the main troupe that including the actors.
I was so sleepy!!
We turned back to Pujeon.

We started shooting in a train we rented. It is absolutely impossible to rent a whole train for shooting in Japan. The staffs and I came to the agreement that this was possible here, because the film industry in Korea is booming.

But, here too, there were big raindrops on the windows… when we confirmed on the phone, it was raining badly in the inner city, too.
We can still take measures in the editing stage. Only if we had a moment of sun!

After reaching the station, we next headed for a fruit and vegetable market in the suburbs.
When we stopped the car to get some coffee, Lee Tae Sung drew an immediate crowd.
He is yet unknown in Japan, but he truly is an up and coming star in Korea.
Young women gathered from all over the place with their cell phone cameras in their hands.
We hurriedly left the spot.

We had Korean meal at the market. The staff all cried with delight at the big servings of side dished (laughs). This is the Korean way. In any restaurant, they serve lots of complimentary side dishes of vegetables, grilled fish and such which are not on the menu. Lee Tae Sung’s manager looked happy, too.
Yona-san, our staff explained to me that in the Korean households too, it is normal to have at least a few side dishes in every meal. So, the Korean omonis (mothers) are always busy preparing for meals. .

The shooting at the market ended in no time.
Thanks to Chief Inokoshi!
“I can’t help talking to them in Japanese because we look alike, but hey, I can’t get through to them!”
He experienced many surprises in his first trip to Korea, but enjoying himself nevertheless.
As usual, he did a great job in getting the ladies in the market to loosen up. We had extras on hand in no time at all.
Here too, Lee Tae Sung was a really popular. The ladies all lined up for autographs and photos.
The women working in markets and such are really powerful.

Watching the weather, we went back to the hotel, and filmed at a nearby slope.
We had heavy rainfall in between…but, it’s alright! The God of Cinema was going to work once again.
There was such a big storm that the jumbo plane that producer M flied on (he joined us in the afternoon) had once failed in landing, but now blue skies were appearing between the clouds.

“It happened again, a miracle!”
It seemed that we were not forsaken by luck here, either.
Sun showers continued.

We aimed to shoot the sun down in a place we discovered that was use in the movie “Chingu”. It was a spot we found yesterday by coincidence, but it is a fabulous site that almost overlooks the entire Busan Port.
Needless to say, the staffs were really excited and took commemorative photos in between shooting.
Just when the light of the buildings and the ships started to light the town, our day’s work was done.

For dinner, we went to a samgetan restaurant Lee Tae Sung’s manager recommended.
He said it was near Pusan Tower and the international market.
This is the first trip to Korea for many of the Japanese staff.
We enjoyed our dinner thoroughly, and went back to the hotel.

On the way back, stars were starting to shine in the sky.
“It will be a fine day tomorrow.”
Everybody couldn’t help smiling. I renewed my conviction, that all the staffs shared a common joy – above everything, we wanted to shoot a good film. Feeling fatigue creeping up on us in an oddly pleasant way, and we all went back to our rooms.

(originally posted in Japanese on July 27, 2006)

Part 2- 18 Shooting in Pusan... Standby

We arrived in Pusan yesterday with the first team, and started to work on the location from early morning.
The weather forecast predicted 60 percent rainfall, bur once we started moving, it turned completely sunny.
We actually preferred having good weather from tomorrow…
With such thoughts lingering in my mind, we drove around the sites by car.

The coordinators on the Korean side are members introduced to us from the FC (Film Commission) of Pusan. I can’t remember all of their names yet. I think there were two “Kim-sans” and a Kan-san… ?
But I can tell they are great people.
All relationships begin with a good personality… and then the attitude towards one’s job. And capability.

We went to a number of places in one day, and in the evening joined the main team that arrived from Japan.
After all the staff gave a toast, “kanpai (cheers!)”, in a relaxed atmosphere to celebrate the start of our filming in Pusan, the producer Choi-san and I went to Haeundae to have dinner with Lee Soo Hyun’s parents.

We had so much to catch up on… but the majority of the conversation went on in Korean.
The three of them were so engrossed in the conversation, that they had forgotten me (laughs).
But I put my instincts to full gear and listened to what they were saying… surprisingly, I was able to make out a lot of it. Being trained by ear during the past few months, I was able to hear the words.

They mentioned that they were coming to Japan around the fifth of August.
This would mean that we would surely be able to see each other in Nagoya. I look forward to that!

The only concern we have now is tomorrow’s weather…
Though we hear that the typhoon is coming, the sky is yet quiet.

(originally posted in Japanese on July 26, 2006)

Extra

A spirit that is said to live in the banyan trees. Marky gave me this charm as a present.

(originally posted in Japanese on July 24, 2006)

Part 2 - 17

The weather forecast predicted that it would rain all day.
The chief staff called me in the morning in a desperate voice.
The location was Shinjuku. The main staff met at a nearby coffee shop and had an urgent meeting. We couldn’t possibly shoot the car scene in this rain.

Today will be the last day Kaneko-kun (one of the main cast) can join us for the shooting. He will start rehearsing for a play starting tomorrow.
Because we already filmed the scenes connected to the remaining one in fine weather, we cannot change the contents or setting.

“Too bad! This must be the end of the series of miracles …”
But the team worked with the strong determination to shoot whenever the rain stops for a short while. They started to prepare in the pouring rain. Then, gradually, the sky started to become lighter, and the rain turned to a fog. Immediately after we started the camera car which pulled the car to be used in the scene, the rain stopped completely.

Everyone turned all smiles. Postponing our lunch time, we were able to finish shooting before two o’clock.
We shook hands with Kaneko-kun in a pleasant atmosphere, and Marky gave him flowers to see him off.

Then, we moved to Shimo Kitazawa. We didn’t need to worry about the rain anymore, but we needed to hurry to shoot before sun down. We trusted Segawa-san with his great handheld camera work, and shot the scene straight through. And we were able to complete this, too!

A few hours later, we reassembled at Shin Okubo Station. We were scheduled to shoot the requiem scene. Shooting began late in the evening. This was the last scene to be shot at this station.
Losing Lee Soo Hyun, Yuri dedicates flowers, and cries on the platform.
Marky, who had come to the station for the first time, saw the place where the accident occurred. After reading the plate of requiem, she could not contain her emotions, and burst into tears.

(originally posted in Japanese on July 18, 2006)

Part 2 - 16 At Zepp Tokyo

We were finally going to shoot at Zepp Tokyo.
The stage directors and staff in charge of music events were working from early in the morning, setting the moving lights etc. in accordance to the songs we were going to shoot.

Ta-bo, along with Ren-chan, the personality of the net radio station “Midnight Connection”, came from Hokkaido to support us.
I was able to get in touch with Chikurin, the representative of “Yume (Dream) Net” all in good time, and he was able to drop by at the site as well.

Because the movie team worked till late last night, we gathered at the location after noon. First, we shot the acting scenes which take place back stage. It was good for a scene where snow starts to fall, but unluckily, it was drizzling.

After completing the shooting in the rain we went inside. It continued to rain steadily after that.

I suppose we could call this lucky.

The main event of that day was to shoot the stage scene of the World Indies Festival (WIF) which was to become the climax of the story. Although I have experienced filming music scenes and scenes with singers in TV drams, the arrangements for films are quite different. With videos and hi-vision, we can shoot consecutively for as many hours as we want, as long as the cable is connected. However, for film, we can only shoot in accordance with the amount of film we attach to the camera.
This means that there is a limit to the amount of time we can shoot at one time. It would be ideal to be able to use ample film and cameras, but with more projects than usual being filmed this year, I heard that the majority of cameras were already out for rent. Plus, musical projects require an enormous amount of film.

This is one of the aspects in film making that probably differs among the countries. If we compared the amount of film that would be used in filming a certain project, the Koreans would use ten times the amount of film we would use in Japan. In the States, (excluding the Indies projects) it would be more than twenty times. I don’t know whether it’s because we dislike wasting things, or whether it’s because we’re just stingy, but we Japanese would naturally think, “if we have that much film, we would be able to shoot many more films!”
Perhaps we can say that this is a cultural difference.



Now, for this project, we asked an extra photographer to help us out, and shot the scene with a total of four cameras. As for the other bands that appear in the story, there are no worries as they would be performing their own songs.
But “YURI & the BLOODSTONES” is an imaginary band made up of actors – they needed a lot of work.
The original song created for this film was completed only a week ago. The score for the rehearsal of the drums and guitar was made three days later. Even the vocalist Marky did not have time to memorize the lyrics.

Needless to say, Kaneko-san on the drums, Takada-kun on the guitar, Futatsuki-kun and Kazu from Jancruise had little time for rehearsal.
We really wanted to have the song ready much earlier, but things were delayed due to the circumstances. However, all of them really worked hard to make it work.



The scene performed by them was really impressive. They had prepared well even when they were not given much time. The song, and the lyrics written by Marky were both great.

Rather than just have her sing the song, we wanted to have them start with a cappella.
Explaining my intentions, we rehearsed a few times, and went for the shooting.

A spotlight brought out Marky on the stage.
A quiet, sad voice with the slightest tremble echoed throughout the hall.
The moment we heard this voice… tears flowed naturally from many people in the audience.

The important part of the last scene of this movie was filmed successfully in this way.

(originally posted in Japanese on July 18, 2006)

Part 2 - 16 At University of Yamanashi

Today was our second day in Yamanashi Prefecture.
We did our shooting in University of Yamanashi.
We were covered by some local broadcasting stations including NHK. There were people watching from Yamanashi FC, a club that was newly formed only last year.



These are the bosses of the shooting and lighting team.
The main staffs of the Hanadou clan.



Chief I, a reliable supporter who’s come to help out.
He was the chief assistant director in “Touch a Dream".


And a new bike makes its appearance – it doesn’t have a name yet. Ryu-san insists that we would be able to get a great shot with it (laughs). I love these people who are always up for a challenge.

(originally posted in Japanese on July 14, 2006)

Part 2 - 15

“Director look, it’s fantastic!”
Lee Tae Sung looked up at the shining bright sun, and exclaimed on impulse.
The weather that awaited us today was so magnificent that it made us laugh. Yesterday was our day off, but it was drizzling from early evening. As we were walking towards the barbecue place in Ueno where the supporters of our film were holding a party for us, Lee Tae Sung had been worried.



But near the Shojin Lake (one of the five lakes of Fuji) in our first location site in Yamanashi Prefecture, the sight of Mt. Fuji which had shown itself clearly at the moment of our arrival was quickly being covered by the clouds. Though it was our intention to shoot the lake and Mt. Fuji at its best, we had to make do with “blue sky, white clouds, and a beautiful lake.”

We would have to make the best of the next opportunity.



“Wow!! We are so lucky!”
A sky clear beyond words and clouds appeared. When we had tried to shoot from the fifth level of Mt. Fuji, the clouds had quickly disappeared. It was unmistakable. The God of cinema is watching over us. If we had not been able to finish this today, we would have been in big trouble in terms of our schedule. We were able to finish the shooting of an important day.

(Originally posted in Japanese on July 13, 2006)

Part 2 - 14

It was a hot and humid day – Lee Soo Hyun is riding on his bicycle all over Tokyo, and meets Yuri and Kazama who are performing on the streets. This is an important scene.

One hundred extras, five bands and units (including dancers) assemble at the east exit of Ikebukuro Station. We were to shoot an action scene which would also include Hee and Yabuki playing yakuzas (Japanese mobsters). The action advisor who worked with me in “A Delinquent’s Dream” added a good touch to this scene.
Lee Tae Sung is a great athlete as expected. He is a natural when it comes to action scenes.

There, we encountered a sudden shower!
But when we looked up at the sky above us, we were able to see a slit in the clouds. We decided to take our chances, and continued shooting… after a while, the rain stopped completely, and the sun shone beautifully upon us. The weather forecast is absolutely unreliable in a situation like this. We always keep our fingers crossed.

We finished taking all the scenes, and moved on to Nippori.
Because we took longer than scheduled on the afternoon scene, we changed our plan. Instead of taking the sun down, we decided to do the night scene.

This was going to take place at Lee Soo Hyun’s apartment by the railway tracks.
It was a scene with Lee Tae Sung and Kaneko-san, and had a long dialogue in Japanese. It had one of the most Japanese lines among the scenes with Lee Tae Sung.
If his Japanese goes well, it was a scene I wanted to shoot in one long cut. We tested it… great! He is memorizing the lines just by hearing, but you cannot tell the difference. What wonderful talent!

He responds well to the subtle nuances, too.
After a few rehearsals, we were able to shoot the scene in one cut as planned.
During the ride on the way back, Lee Tae Sung expressed his excitement in receiving tremendous energy from the dialogue he had with Kaneko.

Even when the other staffs were dozing off, he continued to talk passionately about his impressions.

(Originally posted in Japanese on July 12, 2006)

Part 2 - 13

We started shooting from the studio this morning. Unfortunately, it was cloudy, but that does not affect the work we do inside. An old room in the studio was being decorated meticulously by the art team which started working from early morning. The room was making a dramatic transformation into an office of a trade company.


Then, the main team arrived and we started to confirm the direction plan and camera work. Needless to say, the decor of the set influences the direction plan and the movement of the camera in a subtle way. In this project, the designs and décor of each scene is quite interesting. We are ceaselessly tempted to adopt the various ideas that come up.

In the mean time, the lights and cameras are unloaded from the trucks and the setting takes place. After the general preparations are done, we invite the actors in for the “dandori (making arrangements), in other words, we have the rehearsal. Here, we confirm and modify the lines, and if necessary, make corrections on the storyboard.

The story setting of the scene – Yuri’s father Hirata loves rock music. He was a top businessman in a major trading company, but failing in a deal with Korea, he was forced to leave the company. It is Naoto Takenaka-san who gives a chilling presence to this role of a man with a complicated personality.
Making an ingenious suggestion, he contributed in making the scene much tighter.

The shooting proceeded in a good tempo, and we moved to Shimo Kitazawa in the afternoon.
We shot the exterior of Hirata’s place “Scatty Cat”. The people of Shimo Kitazawa is used to seeing movie cameras in their neighborhood, but even they stopped to watch when Takenaka-san stood in front of the camera. I heard that they had been shooting a movie there last year, and I was surprised to see banners all over town advertising the movie. It will be released soon.




We finished the afternoon scene sooner than expected, so we ended up waiting for about 3 hours until the night scene.
This was because we are not able to shoot night scenes until it gets dark, which is about 7:30 around this season. Using this free time, the staff and cast went about doing their own things like shopping and getting a massage.

The night scene centers around the conflict between Yuri and her father. Lee Soo Hyun later comes into the scene, and this becomes an important transition point in the human drama of the latter half of the film.
Marky feels no inhibitions even acting opposite Takenaka-san. He gives her advice on the important points that is expected of her, and listening earnestly, she absorbs those comments.
There is no trace of the Marky who cried tears of frustration when we read through the script.

So, on that day too, we were able to complete the shooting with everyone working energetically.

(Originally posted in Japanese on July 11, 2006)

Part 2 - 12

Ms. Miho Yoshioka, an up and coming young actress made an appearance as a teacher. Because we could not adjust our schedules to meet beforehand, this was virtually the first time we met each other.

She seemed like a pure, fresh, intelligent and well brought up lady – unaffected in a positive sense. She is probably the type that changes according to each work. She also gives the impression of being not particularly skillful, but passionate. Seo Jae Kyeong,playing Min Su shows his deftness as an actor by inserting effective ad libs even in the short scenes. His friendly smile and kindness, good instincts and dexterity, remind me of Ei-chan (Japanese actor Eiichiro Funakoshi).　I can tell that he gives good advice to Lee Tae Sung　even in the trivial parts. Come to think of it, Ei-chan like Seo Jae Kyeong is a son of an actor, too.


There was an unexpected accident, where the students who were participating as extras went home in the middle of shooting for some reason, but we were somehow able to finish before sun down.

After splitting up for awhile, we again assembled at Shin Okubo Station at 10 in the evening. We shot the scene with the actors and extras all dressed in winter clothing.
We finished shooting a total of 9 cuts including the intense scene with the mob. There were moments when we were able to capture great expressions shown by Lee Tae Sung　.
That was the end of our shooting of live-action. The rest depends on the editing of the CGs.

We finally got back to the hotel when the sky was starting to turn white. Thanks for the hard work, staff and cast!

(Originally posted in Japanese on July 9, 2006)

Part 2 - 11

We started shooting the live scene from 9 a.m. by the sidewalk of the Yoyogi National Gymnaisium. It was cloudy, but the humidity caused us to sweat even when we were just standing.

(photo: Junko Hamaguchi)

It was an event scene that involves 2 bands that have made it to the finals of the WIF (World Indies Competition), plus hip-hop dance, street performances and more than one hundred extras.

Kazu from the band Jancruise joined the group of musicians who will be playing the guitar in back of Yuri (played by Marky). I had good chemistry with Kazu from our first meeting (he is psychic, too!) and though we had never made any concrete promises, we had talked about doing something in the future. Later, he and his band came out to Tokyo from his hometown Onomichi (Hiroshima), but who would have imagined that we would be meeting again in this way! Anyway, congratulations on your debut as an actor, Kazu! He was great behind the lenses just as I imagined.

In the afternoon, Lee Tae Sung who had returned from Korea on the first morning flight joined the crew. He seemed quite exhausted from working all night, but good- humouredly said, “I’m alright” in Japanese.
It amazes me how his pronunciation improves day by day.

The shooting went smoothly, and although it poured a bit during the day, it was not enough to wet the streets, and we were able to clear our schedule by early evening.
Hama-Jun who plays Yuri’s friend Milky made her first attempt at a long line. She was full of energy. Her acting had a good feeling, and it impressed Lee Tae Sung and
Marky.

In the evening, we attended a big party to promote our film and the young actors.
I am really bad with speeches at formal ceremonies. I had a hard time memorizing my notes. It made me realize how good the actors are in memorizing their lines

Tomorrow, we will shoot on location at Akamon-kai, and also at Shin Okubo Station late in the evening. We have come this far by overcoming each challenge one at a time – we have a month of shooting to go.

Yes, today was the Tanabata Festival…..

(Originally posted in Japanese on July 8, 2006)

Part 2 - 10

We cancelled the outdoor shooting session and mostly spent the day on meetings. We reconfirmed the standby of the shooting we were planning for the end of this month. We were dismayed to find that we had been wrong on an important point. It was a good thing that we realized this, because otherwise it would have caused quite a riot in Korea. Just in the nick of time!

Afterwards, we met up with the main staff at Shin Okubo Station, and reconfirmed the arrangements for the shooting to take place late tomorrow evening. We also completed the detailed arrangements with the station personnel as well.

We cannot go into shooting until the last train on the Yamanote Line goes through. We need to get everything done between 1:30 a.m. to 4 a.m. – everything from standby to backing out. Furthermore, it was a scene to take place in the cold winter season at 7 p.m. in the evening right after snow begins to fall. There was so much to watch over, such as instructing the extras that were supposed to crowd the platforms and getting the right amount of snowfall. We had no idea how much time all of that would take. We just had to tackle it!

But tomorrow during the day time, we also had to take the live scene on the streets of Yoyogi. There were plenty of things to fret over including the sound issue. What to do?!

I have the images all ready in my head, but what would happen in reality?

In the evening, while I talked to the producers on some ideas I had for changes in the script, something surprised me when I heard their update on the progress of our project.
It was again another strange coincidence.
Lawmaker N-san, who is a friend of the producer and has been supporting our film from the very beginning, was a member of an ethics corporation association in a certain region. On top of that, the his secretary was from Chita Peninsula!

The connections we come across in this project really goes beyond our imagination. Just why is it that these things come up every day?

We have so many of these strange stories that I don’t know where to stop.
I really should concentrate on tomorrow’s shooting for now.

(Originally posted in Japanese on July 6,2006)