Japanese Entertainment: From special effects actor to action superstar

Chapter 170 Motorcycle Stunts, Watch More Riders

The filming went generally smoothly. The difficult action parts were completed by stand-ins, while the parts that required beautiful looks were performed by the three girls themselves.

Keiko Matsuzaka has her unique mature charm, Kanako Higuchi is pure and pitiful, and Maruko-chan has a round face with baby fat, which is cute, and with her short hair, she looks a bit boyish.

Although the characters are not exactly the same as the original Cat's Eye sisters, all three of them can catch people's eyes.

As for the stand-in, it is even more amazing.

Michiko Nishiwaki's muscular figure and Yuka Oshima's short and sassy hair, even the future landlady is in her prime.

There are no shots of Toshio Utsumi for the time being, but Gu Ming can't rest. He has to go next door to help shoot Kamen Rider, and he is very busy every day.

"Luckily, this time the photoshoot was at Daquan Photo Studio. If it were somewhere else, I wouldn't be able to go!"

Gu Ming sighed inwardly, thinking that juggling roles was indeed very painful.

The first generation of Kamen Rider was supposed to be filmed at the 'Ikuta Studio' in Tokyo.

During the preparation of Kamen Rider, there was a wave of strikes and the filming could not be carried out smoothly, so Watanabe Ryotoku decided to change the filming location, which was in Ikuta, an area that had not been developed at the time.

The place is remote and desolate, and everything is waiting to be developed. The filming is of course extremely difficult. The most difficult thing is that the funds are very tight. The rent for the area alone costs 900,000 yen per month.

Later, the local landlord increased the rent to one million yen.

At that time, the budget for Kamen Rider was only 4.2 million yen per episode.

So there is a reason why the early Kamen Rider was so simple, because there really was not that much budget. The rent took up a quarter of the budget, and the rest had to be paid for actors' salaries, film costs, etc.

It was not until Watanabe Ryosuke sold his belt and became rich that he started to become more refined.

——So Toei was really angry about what Fujioka Hiroshi did.

The crew's rental was already high, and Fujioka Hiroshi had disappeared. If someone hadn't interceded for him, Watanabe Ryotoku would have planned to find Yakuza to assassinate Fujioka Hiroshi.

However, this time, due to the changes in the times and the confidence brought by the success of previous works, the investment in a single episode of Kamen Rider has been increased to 8 million yen. In addition, there is no need to rent land in Ikuta to build a studio, so the budget is much more relaxed.

Although it seems that the investment is not as high as that of Seven, Kamen Rider is a life-size special effects film, without the consumption brought by buildings and other structures, and the design of the monster does not need to be as exquisite as that of the monster.

Therefore, this budget is still sufficient.

"Eight million per episode, that's more than my budget for a single episode of Maoyan!"

Gu Ming sighed secretly, thinking that it was great to have a big family and a big business.

With TBS acting as the matchmaker and Takeda Pharmaceutical leading the investment, his budget for each episode is less than four million.

The only thing to be thankful for is that changing clothes is free. The clothing merchants will send new products of the season for promotional purposes, so the three girls can change clothes as much as they want.

Gu Ming was very worried when it came to the budget. If someone embezzled it, it would be a big trouble. If embezzlement happened during the first time they put together a group, it would be a big disaster!

"I still need to find a reliable accountant to help me... I'll ask around when I get a chance."

Gu Ming shook his head secretly and stopped thinking about it.

We are still waiting for him to shoot here.

Of course, Kamen Rider is inseparable from various types of motorcycles, and even the protagonist comes from a motorcycle club.

Having a good motorcycle is also a trend in Japan nowadays.

The person who plays the 'Tachibana Daddy' of the motorcycle club is called 'Kobayashi Shoji'. He is also Captain Muramatsu in the first generation Ultraman. He can throw the Paraji Bluestone onto the head of a monster dozens of meters high with a slap. He is known as Captain Muramatsu with the God Arm.

Gu Ming and he didn't have much interaction. They were just acquaintances who could call each other's names, but they were not familiar with each other.

This is the scene at the beginning of the story where Takeshi Hongo shows off his driving skills.

There will be dubbing in the later stage to tell the identity and hobbies of Takeshi Hongo, etc.

Right from the start, the scene here is relatively grand - a really grand scene compared to 1971.

Motorcycle racing!
Fortunately, Gu Ming already had a license for dangerous stunts, otherwise it would have been difficult to pull off such a performance. "Gugu-kun," the director called out, "would you like a stunt double? This gentleman is a rider from the Tokyo Motorcycle Club and knows a lot about motorcycle stunts."

"It's okay, no need for a stand-in, I can do it myself."

Gu Ming can ride a motorcycle, but he needs to learn the stunts.

He bowed to the advisor rider and asked carefully.

"For the first episode, you don't need any advanced stunts for now. See that platform over there? We'll just charge up there, raise the front of the car, and then we'll be able to do a flying leap in the air."

The rider was eager to try: "You are a professional actor, but you are not as good as me at riding a bike. Let me have a try."

"Let me try it myself first. If it doesn't work, I'll trouble you again." Gu Ming gestured and said, "Can you show me how to ride the bike first?"

The rider responded and performed it on the spot. This was the simplest motorcycle stunt, a high jump, which could be done with a little training.

Gu Ming stared at the flying motorcycle, and he seemed to have some understanding in his mind.

It turns out that you need to raise the front of the motorcycle at this time. If you don’t have a certain understanding and control over the motorcycle, it is impossible to do it.

He had to rush into the garbage dump with his car.

"Then I'll give it a try."

Gu Ming got on the motorcycle and gestured to the director outside the scene.

He's ready here.

The director was in a dilemma.

"Gugu-kun, you should assess your own abilities. If you get hurt, it will be very troublesome here!"

Gu Ming put on his helmet.

"Don't worry, I won't take my life as a joke. Why don't we just give it a try without filming?"

It is impossible for the director to feel sorry for him, he mainly feels sorry for the film!

Now that he said that, the director acquiesced.

At a command, Gu Ming stepped on the accelerator and rushed forward, flying past the camera.

"Pull the locomotive! Pull the locomotive! Pull..."

The driver's voice stopped abruptly.

Gu Ming pulled the front of the motorcycle and jumped out from the high platform, pulling the front of the motorcycle into the air. Under the traction of this force, the motorcycle spun in the air and finally landed steadily.

"what……"

The driver got stuck.

High-platform slalom is a motorcycle stunt that is neither easy nor difficult. For experienced riders, mastering the technique is easy, but it is difficult if you use brute force.

He didn't believe that Gu Ming had the brute strength to pull a motorcycle.

"Is this a genius?" The driver took advantage of the moment the shot was finished and approached: "You really have no experience with motorcycle stunts before!"

"Of course not. I just rode a motorcycle normally before."

Gu Ming took off his helmet and explained, "Actually, I don't have any special skills. I just rely on brute force."

"You're kidding me! Who has the strength to lift a motorcycle so easily in the air? It takes so much strength and muscle control! I don't think you'll need a stunt double, but if you need any motorcycle stunts, you can still ask me to demonstrate them."

Gu Ming gave him a thumbs up.

I won’t say anything more, just watch more Kamen Rider.

(End of this chapter)