Japanese Entertainment: From special effects actor to action superstar

Chapter 526 My Performance is Method
The scriptwriting went very smoothly, and Gu Ming added a lot of scenes for it, giving more storylines to characters including Zhen Zidan and Long Dang Da Wu.

Yes, it's certainly out of personal motives, but as the old saying goes...

If I don't practice nepotism, am I supposed to practice nepotism?

After the script was completed, the actual filming began. The construction of the city and the filming were carried out simultaneously, since the city would only appear in the final battle scene. Before that, there were only interior scenes to showcase the Yu Zi demon team.

Currently, due to equipment limitations, movies are almost always shot sequentially, which makes editing easier.

Therefore, the very first scene of the film is the first frame of the entire movie, in which the actors narrate the history of the Satomi family and the story of Satomi marrying a dog.

Then, the main feature begins.

Years later, in the Satomi family compound, Princess Satomi flees...

Although the scene was chaotic, it was handled with order under Kinji Fukasaku's direction. He was a director who was used to shooting large-scale scenes.

Gu Ming didn't have any scenes in the first few episodes; he just stood on the sidelines and observed, occasionally coming up to give some guidance on scenes that required swords and guns.

Hiroyuki Sanada stood to the side, cautiously glancing at Akira Tani.

He couldn't quite understand what Gu Ming was doing, because Gu Ming kept changing his expression.

He played a supporting role, and although he wasn't on screen yet, he still came to help out.

It wasn't until Tani Akira finally stopped that Sanada Hiroyuki took the initiative to come over.

"Furuya-kun."

Gu Ming said, "Brother Gu."

"Yes, Furuya-san." Hiroyuki Sanada presented a bottle of water with both hands.

Gu Ming glanced at him, but didn't drink it; he just held it in his hand.

When making a movie, it's best not to drink other people's water.

Seeing the somewhat puzzled look in Sanada Hiroyuki's eyes, Tani Akira explained, "I was just storing expressions."

"Save emojis?"

"That's right, store the expressions of everyone on set in your mind, and use them when needed. That's my style of performance."

This is what is known as the method school.

Gu Ming pointed casually.

"For example, the expression on Director Fukasaku's face right now is meant to portray a tense and solemn person."

Gu Ming: oO
Hiroyuki Sanada: 0o0!

Gu Ming couldn't say it outright, of course. His method was rather special; he relied on his strong body control to remember the corresponding expressions and then replicate them onto himself.

Even conventional methodologies cannot achieve this level of performance.

Hiroyuki Sanada, on the other hand, felt he had gained a lot.

There's such a performance style!
He looked at Kinji Fukasaku.

oO
……

……

Gu Ming's first scene takes place in the middle of nowhere.

While they were filming various scenes of Princess Satomi over there, Gu Ming led his people to scout locations.

According to the local guide, the dilapidated house has been there for a long time, and as Japan's urbanization has expanded, the residents have begun to move to new places.

"It's pretty run-down. The lighting is fine, though it's not really suitable for wire work, but we don't really need it here."

Gu Ming went to the back of the house and saw a stream flowing from there; the water was fairly clear.

Gu Ming took two steps from the stream to the wooden house and estimated the distance.

"almost."

Gu Ming gestured.

Hiroyuki Sanada leaned over and chimed in at the opportune moment: "What do you mean, 'almost'?"

"It's pretty much the same in words. If the equipment is set up here, we can show a shot from the stream to the cabin during filming. We don't need to move the camera around a lot. Handheld shooting is enough. We don't need to bring the track either, which will save a lot of time."

Having finished scouting locations, Gu Ming patted his behind and prepared to leave. "Let's go back and revise the script!"

"Yes."

Hiroyuki Sanada bowed his head in greeting, though he wasn't quite sure what it had to do with him.

Of course, the script had to be changed. In the original story, Inue Shinbei was like an old pervert. When he first met Princess Satomi, he rushed up and harassed her, even tearing off her clothes.

That's right... Gu Ming is telling the truth.

In the story, Inue Shinbei discovers that Princess Satomi is dressed as a woman and senses something is wrong, so he rushes up and attacks her, only to find out in the end that Princess Satomi is actually a girl.

Fortunately, Inuyama Michisetsu and his companion arrived just in time and drove away Inue Shinbei; otherwise, Princess Satomi would undoubtedly have been stuffed into a puff pastry.

When Inue Shinbei discovered that Princess Satomi was actually a princess, his ambition took hold, and he wanted to capture her and become someone of high status.

The plot went smoothly, but Inue Shinbei seemed like a pervert.

The Japanese might not find this plot problematic, but Gu Ming thought it was quite bizarre.

This shot reveals Inue Shinbei's personality.

Keen observation skills, but he's an old pervert!
In the evening, after returning home, Gu Ming immediately went to find Fukasaku Kinji.

"Director Fukasaku, I think there's something wrong with tomorrow's plot. Could we make some changes?"

Kinji Fukasaku took a deep breath.

Here he comes again!
"Tell me," Fukasaku Kinji said, not in a hurry to refute, but simply letting Tani Akira speak.

Gu Ming said, "After Inue Shinbei discovers about Princess Satomi, why should he take such action? We might as well be a little more moderate and at the same time show the princess's fighting prowess a bit. We could have a few simple fight scenes between the two of them, and then Inuyama Michisetsu and the other two could rescue the princess."

After thinking for a moment, Fukasaku Kinji felt it wasn't a big deal and replied, "Since Furuya-kun has his own ideas, then so be it."

Anyway, this isn't a Toei film; he's just doing his job for the money.

Of course, we should do our best when conditions permit, but since others have stepped forward, Kinji Fukasaku doesn't want to interfere too much.

Overall, he is a fairly easy-going person.

……

……

And so, it was time for the second day of filming.

Just as Kinji Fukasaku and his crew were about to leave, Akira Tani called a halt.

"No need to bring tracks or stabilization equipment, just bring the camera and handheld equipment, spare tape, etc."

Meeting Kinji Fukasaku's gaze, Tani explained, "I already took people to scout out the locations we'll be using today yesterday. We've already identified the camera angles and the reserved locations. We don't need to prepare wire work or hoisting equipment, so we can travel light and just bring a van."

Kinji Fukasaku's gaze was quite different this time. When he looked at Tani Akira, there was a hint of surprise in his eyes.

“Furutani-kun still cares about this kind of thing.”

"After all, I'm also the action choreographer for this movie. I'm responsible for designing the action scenes, and I have to personally go and see how to shoot them to determine the best approach. Location scouting is also essential!"

Speaking of which, location scouting is a Hong Kong tradition. In the past, other countries didn't conduct such detailed location scouting when filming on location. Once they roughly determined that there was a place, the director team would go there directly.

When filming action scenes in Hong Kong, due to the various designs involved, meticulous location scouting is necessary to determine the locations suitable for filming.

Some film crews go to terrifying lengths when scouting locations.

For example, Jackie Chan once skipped scenes himself when scouting locations.

—By the way, the scene where Jackie Chan jumps off the clock tower was actually filmed with a stunt double; it was Chin Ka-lok who jumped, not Jackie Chan himself. Jackie Chan admitted in an interview that he broke his leg the first time he jumped, and the result wasn't good, so they switched to Chin Ka-lok, which worked very well, and the scene was ultimately kept.

So in that scene where someone jumps off the clock tower, the person who actually jumped wasn't Jackie Chan, but Chin Kar-lok.

However, Jackie Chan really did jump in Rumble in the Bronx. That scene wasn't done properly during location scouting; they thought he could actually jump, but when they arrived on set, Jackie Chan slapped his thigh and exclaimed, "I'll jump your ass!"

Unable to find a stunt double for the insurance salesman, Jackie Chan had no choice but to grit his teeth and do the jump himself, which resulted in a classic film.

Although Kinji Fukasaku has directed many works, this is the first time he has seen someone go to such lengths in location scouting.

Fukasaku Kinji looked at Tani Akira and nodded solemnly.

"Furuya-kun, you've really done something meticulous. Well then, let's leave the props behind and shoot light!"

(End of this chapter)