Japanese Entertainment: From special effects actor to action superstar

Chapter 27 Takes off three meters high, Nakajima Haruo arrives
On Monday, Gu Ming returned to the set again.

There is no need to shoot the leather suit fighting scenes today, but you still need to wear a leather suit.

Under the guidance of stunt supervisor Hiroichi Takano, the staff put a steel cable on Tani Akira, who was wearing a leather suit.

"I say...will this work?" Gu Ming looked at the thin steel cable, feeling a little frightened.

It’s not like he had never seen wire suspension before, but this one was a bit too flimsy!

Kono Hiroichi comforted Gu Ming: "Don't worry, Gu Gujun, we will lay a mat down there."

Gu Ming was shocked: "Rather than replacing a new set of wires, you guys are planning to put in a few more layers of cushions!"

Takano Hiroichi gave an apologetic smile.

There's no way around it, Wangu's habit is to spend money on strange things.

For example, optical equipment worth 46 million yen.

For other places, we can only rely on the hard work of the employees to overcome them.

Gu Ming could only sigh and wait for the steel cable to lift him up.

This time, we mainly cooperated in shooting some off-site scenes, such as the shot of Ultraman flying away, etc.

This of course requires a steel cable, it is impossible to fly away directly.

Gu Ming only has martial arts skills, he is not a god, so he will not really take off.

Gu Ming, hanging on the thin steel cable, nervously made a circle and finally landed safely.

Takano Hiroichi held his chin, as if thinking.

"Ah... that's not working, Furuya-kun. It's not that you're incompetent, but this move isn't right. The tightrope is too obvious. You can't take off like this."

Gu Ming touched the rope around his waist.

"So, let's fly again?"

"No, I have to think about what to do."

As Hiroichi Takano said this, he called the staff over for a small meeting.

Gu Ming was hanging on the steel cable, standing aside.

Speaking of which, a stunt supervisor is not a special effects supervisor. A stunt supervisor is responsible for some weird parts.

For example, the shot of Ultraman flying away is a stunt.

In his early years, Eiji Mantani worked as a stunt supervisor on Godzilla.

Despite the meeting, Koichi Takano was unable to resolve the issue.

"No, it's obvious what's going on with the wire. We can't do that. It's fine if we're just filming the aerial shot, but it's not okay if it's the beginning of takeoff."

He looked at Gu Ming and joked, "Unless Gu Gu-kun can jump three meters high in one go."

Gu Ming also laughed when he heard it.

How is it possible to jump three meters high?
Don't think of action actors as supermen.

"But speaking of three meters high..."

Gu Ming suddenly remembered something.

This was also a trick he had heard from an actor in Tsuburaya before he traveled through time.

At that time, due to the changes in the times, this method had long been abandoned, but during the domestic special effects experiment, it was picked up and used once by Tsuburaya staff.

Several super high jumping shots in Armor Hero were shot in this way.

——There are no wire harnesses, as they are too expensive. The total investment for the first generation of Armor Hero was only over 10 million, so we tried to save as much as possible during filming. The actors all brought their own costumes. Thanks to this, we borrowed a lot of the old tricks from Tsuburaya to save money in the early years.

Gu Ming said, "I've come up with an idea. We can use a green-painted board, with people standing on it, and the people below working together to lift the board and me up. Then I can make a jumping motion. That way, with a close-up camera, the weightless posture will look like taking off."

Kono Hiroichi suddenly looked up.

You can still do this?!

Well, you can actually do that!

He closed his eyes and thought about it for a while, and felt that it was very feasible.

However, there is a problem.

"Look, Furuya-kun, you know it's impossible for everyone to exert force at the same time. If that were the case, the board would definitely become crooked, and the people standing on it would definitely fall down."

Gu Ming smiled and kicked his feet: "Isn't there a mat?"

Takano Hiroichi thought about it and finally nodded.

So, give it a try.

The people of Wangu are the embodiment of action. They quickly found a board for Gu Ming to stand on.

Four well-built clerks were holding boards at the four corners.

Gu Ming was standing on it and was beginning to feel shaky.

Relying on his movement skills and the coordination of his waist and body, he managed to stand.

"Okay, listen to my slogan." Takano Hiroichi moved closer to the camera and raised his hand.

One!

two!
three!
抬！
The four of them worked together to lift Gu Ming and the board up.

On the tilted door panel, Gu Ming raised his hands high and jumped up with a bang.

Kono Hiroichi watched the footage again and again, amazed. Sure enough, this time he had the feeling of weightless takeoff he had imagined.

However, since it was my first time shooting, there were still some mistakes, and it still felt a little lacking.

Looking at the filming location, Gu Ming was able to stand, but the staff responsible for lifting the door panels completely bore the impact of the jump and looked very uncomfortable.

"Everyone, I'm so sorry! Hold on a little longer, one more."

The filming was repeated more than ten times, and even Gu Ming fell off the door panel several times. Although there was a cushion, it was still very difficult to endure.

Finally, Hiroshi Takano's side finalized one of them.

Lian Guming found it hard to say anything bad after watching it. After the close-up shot, this scene did have a feeling of taking off, not just jumping.

The whole day was spent on such small things, shooting some minor but extremely important parts.

Thanks to this, Gu Ming also saw how the OP of the first Ultraman was filmed.

Gu Ming was deeply impressed by the early Ultraman OP, which had a red background with black silhouettes and scrolled like a slide.

At first, Gu Ming thought it might be a slide show, but he realized it after seeing it with his own eyes.

Fart slideshow.

In fact, it was Takano Hiroshi and his group who took turns standing in front of a red background, casting black silhouettes...

This is a manual slideshow! Manual operation!

Even the transformation shots are exceptionally simple.

——You can't create that effect by just using a leather case. If you only shoot from a bird's-eye view, the effect will appear different in size no matter what.

Wangu's solution was to make a bust with a fist-sized head out of plaster, and have Gu Ming hold it up. Finally, he stood in front of a red background and filmed it, which created the classic scene of Ultraman raising his hand to become bigger.

So in the scene where Ultraman grows bigger, there is no light on his chest.

Things like this really broadened Gu Ming's horizons.

This process was repeated over and over until evening, when the work was finally completed.

……

……

As soon as he opened the door, Gu Ming vaguely smelled the scent of food and knew that Shaqin had come.

"Furuya-kun? Welcome back."

Gu Ming smiled naturally: "Well, I'm back."

Today's dinner is a little different. Although it is not very oily, it tastes very salty, which is just right for replenishing the physical energy consumed throughout the whole day.

The empty side dishes in the refrigerator have been replaced, and new items have been added to the kitchen storage room.

We had a peaceful dinner.

After finishing the work, Gu Ming stood up and cleared the dishes.

Shaqin was frightened as if struck by lightning and stood there in a daze.

"no……"

"Why not?" Gu Ming was surprised: "It's just to clean up the dishes and wash the dishes."

But Shaqin shook her head firmly.

Of course not, that’s not possible.

No, for no reason.

That was the case in 1976.

If men are asked to do housework, they will feel humiliated that they can only be househusbands because they are incompetent.

Therefore, if there is a woman in the family, she will not easily let the man do housework.

For a moment, there was a brief stalemate in the atmosphere.

Gu Ming wanted to speak to break the silence, but he didn't know what to say.

What else can be said? That he came from almost fifty years later, half a century later, and that such things were normal?

Obviously this cannot be said.

Gu Ming was thinking when the sound of knocking on the door broke the silence.

He put down his bowl and chopsticks, said "I'll go open the door", and walked towards the door.

When I opened the door, an unexpected face appeared outside.

Haruo Nakajima.

"Oh my... Furuya-kun is here after all." Nakajima Haruo grinned. "Do you remember me? I'm Nakajima Haruo. I got Furuya-kun's address from a friend I met in Banku. I apologize for coming to your house without any prior notice. This is a small gift. Please accept it, Furuya-kun."

He placed the 'souvenir' he brought in front of him.

It was a bag of pastries that Gu Ming didn’t recognize.

It felt bad to be visited by someone asking about something, but after all, one should not offend someone who smiles at you, so Gu Ming accepted the gift for the time being.

"I didn't expect Mr. Nakajima to come over. I'm really surprised. So, what's going on?"

"Indeed, there are some things." Nakajima Haruo looked inside the room and said, "Furuya-kun, won't you invite me in for a chat?"

(End of this chapter)