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)