Japanese Entertainment: From special effects actor to action superstar

Chapter 111 Extreme Impact
After receiving the call, Gu Ming roughly knew what was going on.

Judging from the time, it should be the sequel to Ultra Seven.

This work is considered the last one of TBS's "self-produced drama Ultra Project". After the failure of the collaboration with Toei on Captain Ultra, TBS focused on Bankai.

Although no specific plan has been decided yet, Ultra Seven is very likely.

"Then, let's work harder... Even if I can't get the lead role, I have to at least get the action director position for the agency!"

Gu Ming stood up and took out all the things he had collected during this period from the bookcase, put them in a paper bag and took them over later.

"By the way, there's also this."

Gu Ming also stuffed a videotape next to the TV into the cabinet.

There was a name taped to it with white tape, and a passage in a foreign language written in a pseudonym.

If it were written in letters, it would be 'starwars'.

……

……

Soon, Gu Ming arrived at Wangu. At a glance, almost everyone was there.

"Oh, everyone is here! Dad, Brother Ichi, Mr. Narita..."

Gu Ming greeted everyone one by one and then found an empty seat to sit down.

Now that Gu Ming had arrived, the meeting could continue. Mango Eiji had already roughly finalized the personnel and content.

The script is still handled by the Planning Department, but they are also accepting sporadic submissions from others. Art design is still handled by Narita Toru, but this time there are some newcomers.

As for music, because Kunio Miyauchi was recuperating from illness, the singer was replaced by Toru Fuyuki who was recommended by TBS.

As for the director team, it is still Wan Guyi and various directors who have close ties with Wan Gu.

However, although the content is still to create large-scale special effects under the Ultra Project, the specific plan still needs to be discussed.

Wan Guyi greeted him.

"Now that Mr. Furuya is here, I wonder what Mr. Furuya thinks?"

"I was just about to say that." Gu Ming took out the prepared bag, placed it on the kotatsu, and showed it to everyone.

"Because of the agency, I've been getting a lot of information lately, thinking it might help with the agency's operations... Please take a look."

Gu Ming stuck a few forms on the wall with tape.

"This is a statistical chart provided by TBS. It's mainly based on a survey of TBS viewers to identify demographic groups and preferences."

"During the 6pm time slot, the group that watches TV is mainly children, up to middle school students, followed by housewives and husbands who work late at night."

"Usually the family will be watching TV at the dinner table."

Of course, Wan Guyi could also get this form, but he wasn't quite sure what Gu Ming was going to do. He simply crossed his arms and asked Gu Ming, "That's definitely true. That's why we set up the filming plan."

"No, that's not the case," Gu Ming explained. "Based on this table, we can draw a portrait of a group... Oh, I mean, determine the group that would watch TV at the time. Generally speaking, parents have more profound knowledge than their children. In other words, even if there are some complex contents in the film, parents can explain them to their children, and the children will be able to understand."

"But at the same time, this is the time when families gather to watch TV, so the content needs to be as family-friendly as possible, and not too bleak, as if the world is full of dead people."

Using group portraits to outline specific works, later generations will call this big data...

Of course, no one cares about this at the moment. After all, there are few TV stations and few programs, and if you don’t want to watch anything, there’s nothing else to watch.

But if you can produce specific works for a specific user group, the effect will of course be doubled!
After hearing Gu Ming's tables, everyone suddenly understood something.

Gu Ming then pasted the other notes on the wall one by one.

"These are based on the viewing preferences of passersby."

"As you can see, due to previous productions, current audiences have a strong preference for action, the starry sky, mystery, aliens, and the unknown, while being relatively indifferent to folklore, tradition, singing, and the like. Therefore, I believe it's necessary to focus on these aspects when producing the work." Gu Ming paused, then said, "Speaking of action... well! I'm willing to recommend myself. I suggest using my Extreme Action Studio for the action. My brothers and I are researching new action designs every day, and we're sure to surprise you."

Although it was a self-recommendation, no one had any objection.

Otherwise, why would Gu Ming be called to the meeting? This is why.

The price can be discussed later, but the current plan has been roughly determined.

Eiji Mantani personally decided that while there would be no sequel to Ultraman, the name of the Ultra Project would be maintained, and aliens and the starry sky would be used as elements to create a sense of mystery.

This is exactly the key point in the original Seven plan. The number of Earth monsters was greatly reduced, and most of the appearances were various aliens. During the filming, some mystery was also added accordingly.

As for why Zhu Xingtuan always loses his glasses...

It's a routine.

Doesn’t Hayata Susumu also lie on the ground picking up sticks every day?
But before Gu Ming finished speaking, he took out another piece of information.

"Finally, this is it. It's a videotape. I went to several stores before I could buy it. It seems this movie hasn't been released in Japan yet."

"For all planning... all questions, all designs, I hope everyone will watch this video before making any decisions."

Everyone looked at Mantani Eiji, who nodded slightly.

Everyone turned on the TV and watched the videotape that Gu Ming brought.

The translated title of this movie is "Star Wars".

In 1975, American George Lucas received a $500 million investment and founded the later famous Industrial Light & Magic.

Two years later, in 1977, Star Wars: Part One was released.

This is the first film in the Star Wars series and the fourth film in the Star Wars saga.

So there is no Star Wars I, there is only Star Wars I.

In the original time and space, Eiji Mantani, who died of illness in 1970, certainly had never seen Star Wars, and he did not know the impact the Star Wars series would have on special effects.

But now, it's different...

The movie started and everyone quickly started to murmur their comments.

The picture is very rough.

The production is also very average, the model is poorly made, not as good as Wangu.

There is nothing commendable about the filming technique, and the flavor of Japanese swordplay films can be seen everywhere.

They didn't understand why Gu Ming wanted to highlight this thing.

But soon.

As the battle began, several people moved closer, with expressions of surprise on their faces.

A large number of special effects were created by Industrial Light & Magic, including force impact, lightsabers, star battleships, and terrifying scenes...

All of these things are effects that cannot be achieved in today's Japan, or even in the world except the United States.

Perhaps the Soviet Union could, but that was not its ambition.

During the two-hour film, no one stood up or made any comments.

Until the end of the film, Tetsuo Kaneshiro took off his glasses and rubbed them. He had a lot to say, but in the end, thousands of words turned into one sentence.

"It's amazing."

(End of this chapter)