Japanese Entertainment: From special effects actor to action superstar

Chapter 527 Flying Up and Kicking

Stunt doubles are essential for filming action scenes.

It wasn't that Gu Ming looked down on Yakushimaru Hiroko's short legs, but the only thing this kid could probably get by in was a taxi.

For the main shots, Hiroko Yakushimaru herself will be on screen, but for the action scenes, Yukari Oshima will be the one to appear.

Over the years, she has also filmed some movies, but according to the Japanese billing system, she is basically only at the third or fourth billing level. On the contrary, she earns money more easily by working as a stunt double, where she doesn't show her face and doesn't have to memorize lines.

At this moment, both of them had changed into their costumes, which were men's casual clothes. In the plot, before Princess Satomi escaped, she swapped her clothes with the male servant in her house. Therefore, the villain only captured the male servant, not Princess Satomi.

At this moment, Princess Satomi was dressed in men's clothing with her hair down. In the Muromachi Shogunate era, such attire was not particularly novel; it could be said that it was difficult to distinguish between men and women, since even a young child could be quite handsome.

Gu Ming gestured around the area, arranging the two people's positions.

"After the filming of the dramatic scene in the dilapidated house is finished, you go here to get water. The camera will be on you from the front, but it won't show your face. When you feel Inue Shinbei coming over, step aside, lift your hair to wash your face. At this point, your face will be revealed. When you turn around, filming will be paused to bring in a stand-in. We'll also switch to a different camera position here."

"After switching to a back shot, switch to the stunt double, Oshima. At this point, start fighting according to the pre-arranged actions. Because she's a girl, you can't use any explosive moves, but you can consider using her weight and small props, like this, rushing up and kicking her down..."

Gu Ming gestured.

This move is impossible for anyone who isn't very flexible. It involves bracing your hands on the enemy's shoulders, bending your knees and jumping, using your body's flexibility to pull your legs together, and using your weight to kick the person away.

This kind of move is obviously not used in actual combat, but this is for making movies, so we'll do it however it looks good.

Moreover, there is some truth to this.

It's quite reasonable for a petite girl to use her weight to kick someone.

At least from a physics perspective, even kicking Gu Ming away in this way makes sense.

Of course, the problem with this shot is that the face cannot be shown, so it must be filmed from behind.

Because there are no surveillance cameras at the time, only the director, relying on their experience, could spot continuity errors during filming. Therefore, when designing action sequences, it's crucial to ensure that stunt doubles are used as infrequently as possible.

Yukari Oshima was grabbing her hair, looking a little frantic.

This move is quite difficult!

Even if it's just acting, if she really wanted to raise her leg that high, she could probably play a King of Fighters character.

Aside from Mai Shiranui, who the hell can perform that kind of standing flying kick!
Gu Ming explained, "It's simple, I'll lend you some leverage, let's try it out together first."

Gu Ming stepped forward and threw a punch. Oshima Yukari dodged, then Gu Ming grabbed her arm and used a force to lift Oshima Yukari's arm upward.

"That's it!"

Oshima Yukari seemed to understand something, and using the fulcrum as leverage, she launched a flying kick, successfully striking Gu Ming in the chest.

Gu Ming also put down Oshima Yukari and took a few steps back.

"Brother Gu! I'm so sorry! I'm really so sorry!"

Oshima Yukari jogged a few steps to him and bowed deeply in greeting.

No matter what, she really kicked someone, and she couldn't bear the consequences if Gu Ming blamed her.

Gu Ming patted the dust off his clothes and spread his hands.

It's alright, he can still handle it.

On Fukasaku Kinji's side, he peeked out from behind the camera.

Is this human?

……

……

The plot unfolds slowly. After experiencing the massacre of the Satomi family at the beginning, Princess Satomi, who escaped alone, is preparing to seek refuge with her relatives. At this time, Princess Satomi has no idea that she has the responsibility to eliminate the demon Tamatsukasa.

Throughout the journey, Princess Satomi felt as if someone was watching her.

—Actually, it was Inuyama Dosetsu and the other two who were on their way. Inuyama Dosetsu was a monk and one of the Eight Dog Warriors. After learning about the tragedy of the Satomi family, he came all the way here in hopes of finding Princess Satomi.

Not long after Princess Satomi hid in a dilapidated house, she met Inue Shinbei. At this time, Inue Shinbei was a ronin, but he envied the life of those castle lords and samurai. He specially made a haori, but it did not fit the style at all, and even the accessories were randomly matched.

Kinji Fukasaku stared at the outfit for a moment, then nodded secretly.

He had experience filming period dramas and was familiar with the style of traditional costumes. This combination didn't conform to the usual conventions, but it suited the character's personality.

After all, Inue Shinbei was a ronin, and he didn't understand etiquette.

As Inue Shinbei walked along, he sang incoherently, but the lyrics were nothing more than the pursuit of fame and fortune, and he didn't even know how to sing a tune; he was just singing nonsense.

At that moment, it started raining outside. Inuue Shinbei ran into the dilapidated house to take shelter from the rain and saw Princess Satomi, who was also taking shelter from the rain. Princess Satomi was covered in black ash, dressed in men's clothing, and had her hair down, so she looked like a handsome male servant.

Inuie Shinbei didn't pay much attention to the child and casually took out the dry rations he had brought with him from his pocket and ate them with just water.

Fukasaku Kinji crossed his arms and looked at Tani Akira's large, swallowing motion.

It looks familiar, like the way the extras on a film crew, exhausted from a long day, were showing off their food last night.

"Not bad, you do have that carefree, wolfing-down-your-mouth style now."

Kinji Fukasaku nodded silently, focusing on taking the photos.

Princess Satomi, who had been starving for several days, looked at Inue Shinbei. Although she was also hungry, she couldn't bring herself to ask for anything, so she could only look at Inue Shinbei pitifully.

Inue Shinbei, who had only eaten a few bites, finally noticed the look in that gaze. He scoffed and casually tossed over two pieces of dry rations. Yakushimaru Hiroko was slightly taken aback, as this wasn't in the script and they hadn't reviewed the plot beforehand. But she reacted quickly, immediately picking up the bag from the ground, hiding in a corner, opening the package, and eating.

Kinji Fukasaku, who was standing off the field, immediately stood up.

This scene was truly beyond his expectations.

Although it was just one shot, the images of a carefree ronin and a cautious exile were fully revealed.

Although it wasn't written in the script, that's exactly the effect he wanted.

It wasn't until this scene was finished filming that Kinji Fukasaku walked over a few steps.

"We'll shoot a scene here later, a close-up of her profile, showing Princess Satomi eating dry rations. Of course, this time we'll use clean, edible prop biscuits."

After he finished speaking, he turned to Gu Ming.

"How did Furuya-kun come up with that move?"

"I?"

Gu Ming smiled, though somewhat reluctantly.

Of course, it's because of "A Chinese Ghost Story"!
There's a scene in A Chinese Ghost Story where a swordsman who has just killed several enemies sits down and eats steamed buns in large bites. Leslie Cheung hides under a awning, too afraid to look at him, as he's also starving. The swordsman casually tosses him two steamed buns, and Leslie Cheung, not daring to refuse, manages to eat two bites. When the swordsman leaves, he flees in panic.

This shot is excellent; it perfectly captures the destitute situation of Ning Caichen, played by Leslie Cheung.

Gu Ming was thinking of that scene, so he tried to recreate it. Fortunately, Yakushimaru Hiroko was very cooperative.

Even his facial expressions were replicated by Gu Ming, relying entirely on his superb muscle control.

Although Kinji Fukasaku didn't understand the details, he still felt that the scene just now was quite spectacular.

"Who says actors who can fight scenes can't perform? This scene is quite good! That's enough of the dialogue scenes. The rest is up to you, Furuya-kun."

Gu Ming responded by making an OK sign.

This scene depicts Princess Satomi going to fetch water after the rain stops, while Inue Shinbei, seeing her back, becomes suspicious and takes the opportunity to go over to expose her true identity. Princess Satomi is prepared, and the two exchange a few blows in a brief moment.

It was called a sparring match, but in reality, it was just that Inue Shinbei grabbed at her, but Satomi Princess dodged it, and then used her weight to deliver a flying kick, making Inue Shinbei take a few steps back.

Just as they were about to attack again, Inuyama Michisetsu and his two guards arrived and rescued Princess Satomi.

Although the shots are short, the fighting effects must be sharp enough.

Gu Ming opened his clothes and let the staff sprinkle ash on him.

Powdered tiles, a prop invented by Jackie Chan in the original timeline, is used to demonstrate striking power. A punch sends dust flying everywhere, making it quite effective.

Oshima Yukari, meanwhile, was doing leg stretches to warm up.

"Brother Gugu, I'm ready!"

"Ready? Then let's get started!"

Gu Ming stood off-camera, ready to appear on camera, while Oshima Yukari squatted there, trying to cover her face with a wig as much as possible.

"Hey!"

Gu Ming called out and suddenly scooped up a handful of water and splashed it over.

Oshima Yukari naturally avoided it.

"Hey, you're a girl, aren't you!"

Gu Ming grabbed at it, and although Oshima Yukari managed to dodge, her other hand was held down.

Gu Ming secretly applied a lifting force with his hand, and Oshima Yukari used this fulcrum to curl up her waist and abdomen, kicking Gu Ming solidly in the chest with both feet, causing Gu Ming to stagger back a few steps.

"Stop!" Kinji Fukasaku suddenly raised his hand to stop them.

"I'm on camera." He gestured.

Gu Ming looked down and suddenly realized.

He fought fairly well just now, but there was one problem with that kick: when he retreated, part of his body was visible in the frame.

Kinji Fukasaku tactfully said, "This is good enough. We can just shoot one more shot of him walking backward later."

"No, no, no, the fight scenes must be filmed in one go so that the editing can show the sharp effect. If they are filmed in segments, the effect will be very poor."

This is also why Hollywood action movies are never as good as Hong Kong action movies.

For example, in the recent John Wick 4, the John Wick series is already a well-received action film overseas, but Keanu Reeves' fight scenes are basically cut one shot at a time, while the fight between Donnie Yen's character and Hiroyuki Sanada is rarely edited, and is done in one continuous shot, with excellent effect.

Gu Ming chose to reshoot this scene.

Shinji Fukasaku raised his head slightly, looking at him with a somewhat disdainful gaze.

This was quite different from the Gu Ming he had imagined. That kick landed squarely on his body; nobody likes being kicked all the time.

"It seems that people are still different. Although the public opinion is a bit strange, they are so serious when it comes to the design of these killing formations."

Kinji Fukasaku nodded secretly.

No wonder, people in the industry say that Strike Force is the best action design firm in Japan.

(End of this chapter)