Japanese Entertainment: From special effects actor to action superstar

Chapter 601 We Filmed Separately
Yokohama Foreign Language School was once a base for the U.S. military. However, after the U.S. military partially withdrew from the area recently—actually, it was just moving to a different location—it became a foreign language school in Yokohama, mainly teaching Japanese to foreigners visiting Japan.

Thanks to this, there are quite a few foreign faces here, so it's not hard to believe it's an American high school.

Two connected teaching buildings, linked by a corridor, and the extras naturally walked by – because they were originally students here.

A very young and very melancholic Keanu Reeves walked past the camera carrying the same small bag as Wang Dachui.

Mark Griffiths peeked out from behind the camera and couldn't help but let out a heartfelt sigh.

Okay! It passed in one take.

Although filming had only been going on for less than a day, he had already keenly noticed a key problem.

The actor in front of me has acting skills that are inversely proportional to his appearance.

Regardless of whether his acting is good or bad, he's quite handsome anyway...

What more can you ask for when they're making films like this?

If it were a director or actor with high standards, they would certainly be very dissatisfied with the shot. The scene wasn't perfect, extras were looking this way, and the actors themselves looked a bit out of place.

However, Mark Griffiths felt that the shot was sufficient.

If the person walking past in the shot is a 20-year-old Keanu Reeves, who cares if there are extras behind him looking this way!

Mark Griffiths was about to start filming again when his gaze wandered and he saw a minivan loaded with prop arms and legs drive past him.

"Alright, stop looking. It's probably a prop they need over there." Mark Griffiths shook his head.

With so many arms and legs, I wonder what the film crew next door is shooting!

……

……

The film crew next door didn't film anything.

Although he had already shot quite a few successful videos, this was the first time Takeshi Kitano had been given the directorial authority as a film director.

The moment he sat down in the fisherman's chair, he had a strange feeling of resonance with the canvas beneath him, as if this were his kingdom and he were the king, with the right to give orders to anyone.

Before his car accident, Takeshi Kitano's facial expressions were still quite rich. The crew members walking around the set watched as this man's expressions went from excitement to tears, and then from tears to joy, as if he had a split personality.

"Calm down, Wu, you'll be fine. Now think about the script."

Takeshi Kitano rubbed his face, quickly going through the content he was going to film in his mind.

This is a gang, and the gang leader has a daughter whose dream is to become a movie star.

Of course, this possibility is entirely achievable in Japan.

As is widely known, the first Showa-era diva was actually Yakuza...

Unfortunately, this gang was not capable of producing a Hibari Misora, but even so, when the leader heard that his daughter wanted to act in a movie, he still made a decision that went against his ancestors' wishes.

He wants to cease hostilities with the local gangs because he wants to make a movie for his daughter.

They gathered a crew, hired a director and actors, purchased equipment, and began filming. Even if they couldn't find a distributor, filming had to continue.

Of course, at the end of the movie, someone will come to distribute it. Haruki Kadokawa gave it strong product placement, and the Kadokawa Group will acquire and distribute the movie, achieving great success.

Even though the leader decided to cease hostilities, the enemy naturally wouldn't listen to him, so the first conflict broke out. During the filming of the movie, the rival gang rushed in and wreaked havoc, completely destroying the set and killing the professional director who tried to stop them.

Yes, the director is Takeshi Kitano, who will be playing himself. He created a character named Takeshi for himself, and he will personally play the role of himself who gets killed.

This is the first shot.

Out of respect for his predecessors, Takeshi Kitano showed a strong homage to "Kagemusha" in the very first scene.

In the courtyard, where handwritten Chinese characters are inscribed and hanging scrolls of Chinese characters are displayed, sits Akira Kotani cross-legged.

In this drama, Gu Ming plays the role of 'Muto Group Leader' Muto Daisan. Just like people's impression of Yakuza, Muto Daisan is a person who does not follow the rules. He sits there unscrupulously, leaning against the coffee table on his right, eating snacks and drinking tea in large gulps. His swaggering manner is full of this man's disorder.

Below this perspective, kneeling there is Hiroko Yakushimaru, Ayako, the daughter of Muto, the group leader.

However, unlike the seemingly casual but actually tense Team Leader Muto, Ayako appeared tense, even her arches were tense, and she knelt there like a pilgrim, but her state was relaxed.

“I don’t want to film.” Ayako’s voice was resolute and decisive: “I have no interest in that kind of thing.”

Takeshi Kitano suddenly called a halt.

"Wait a minute, something's not right."

Gu Mingjiang looked at Kitano Takeshi, who kept shaking his head.

“Something’s not right. There’s something wrong with that state. It’s not that there’s a problem with the performance, but rather that the camera angle here is off. Let’s try it again.”

Gu Ming responded, letting Kitano Takeshi continue fiddling with the cameras, while he maintained his swaggering posture.

His posture of sitting there with his legs spread apart was quite rude, but as the leader of the Muto Group, he certainly had the right to be rude.

After taking a few bites of the pastries on the coffee table, Gu Ming didn't touch them again. When there was no filming, Gu Ming wouldn't go crazy eating props. He was thinking about things now, filtering through his mind, looking for any performances he could imitate.

But after thinking for a moment, Gu Ming shook his head.

I couldn't think of a suitable performance scene for the time being.

"However, as for Daisan Muto, in the script, this seemingly powerful and arrogant team leader Muto is not as glamorous as he appears on the surface. His wife is in prison, his daughter is rebellious, and his team members are dissatisfied. Faced with his wife's wish before she went to prison, Team Leader Muto tries every means to get his uncooperative daughter to act in the film. He usually doesn't lay a hand on his family."

"In this scene, the seemingly dominant figure is Team Leader Muto, but it is actually his daughter Ayako, because Ayako's attitude determines whether the film can be successfully shot. So Team Leader Muto, who appears to be casually eating, is actually the one being controlled, while Ayako, although kneeling on the lower side, is actually the one in control."

When Gu Ming came to his senses, Takeshi Kitano had already adjusted the camera.

This time, the camera focused on Gu Ming, and another scene was filmed.

Hiroko Yakushimaru knelt there, reciting her lines.

"I don't want to film."

"I don't like that kind of thing..."

Takeshi Kitano called for a halt again: "It's still not right."

Gu Ming suddenly looked up.

"Kitano-kun, try moving the camera down to Hiroko's angle."

“We just tried it, and it didn’t work!” Kitano Takeshi had just shown a bit of annoyance when he suddenly remembered that he wasn’t the king here, but the person in front of him was the king, so he immediately changed his attitude.

"actually, I……"

"Don't rush to agree with me. You're right, shooting from below doesn't produce good results, but we can try another way."

Gu Ming raised his hand, gesturing to his planned idea.

“We can disrupt the perspective in the shot. Logically speaking, when Muto sits on a high platform, he will appear taller when we shoot from below, which will emphasize his superior status.”

"But in reality, we need to turn this scene around, because Ayako is on top, and Team Leader Muto is actually below her."

Hiroko Yakushimaru looked up, her eyes sparkling.

Kitano Takeshi seemed to understand: "So you mean, let Muto, the group leader, sit below? No, that's impossible. As the group leader of Muto, even with the most unruly personality, he still needs to follow the rules of seniority. So you mean... disrupt the perspective?"

Takeshi Kitano repeated the word.

Then, a scene suddenly appeared in my chaotic mind.

He seemed to understand what was going on.

(End of this chapter)