Japanese Entertainment: From special effects actor to action superstar

Chapter 36 Baltan's clone, there is Ultraman in the bar

After the inspection, he felt that there was no problem, so Eiji Mantani left after encouraging everyone.

He originally came to see the performance, and since the performance was good, Mantani Eiji would not stay any longer.

"Okay, Furuya-kun, your work is over for today. Sato, you have to wait a moment."

Toshihiro Iijima called the two of them over, but he had other instructions for them.

Next, we will film Sato Takeji's story separately.

Most people who have seen Baltan are very curious about his strange phantom clones. In that era when special effects were insufficient, no one knows how he did it.

Gu Ming was also extremely curious about this. After changing his suit, he did not leave but stayed inside to watch the scene.

Sato Takeharu waved his hands and walked back and forth several times.

Gu Ming had no idea what Toshihiro Iijima's crew had done, but he could see a satisfied expression on Toshihiro Iijima's face, which seemed to satisfy him enough.

"Well, that's about it, Sato-kun did a good job."

Gu Ming was very surprised: "Is it over like this? I don't understand what this is all about."

Toshihiro Iijima glanced at Gu Ming and explained it in simple language.

"In post-production, we'll cut out some of the walking footage, select only fixed camera positions, reduce the color, and then splice it into the footage at the same time. This will create the effect of Baltan's clones as he moves."

Gu Ming was stunned when he heard this.

As expected, I still didn’t understand…

Well, it’s actually just picking out a fixed number of frames, and then processing them through that 46 million dollar optical device, and then cutting them into the corresponding shots.

Baltan's phantom clone is so simple and unpretentious, without using the gorgeous special effects of later generations, but relying entirely on primitive handcrafts.

After the filming was completed, several people changed their suits.

Sato Takeharu was sweating profusely. He was exhausted today, especially the pair of big pincers, which were a signature feature of the monster, but a burden to the performance for a suit actor.

He rarely raised his hands throughout the whole process, trying to keep his hands hanging down as much as possible. At most, he would raise his hands and laugh.

Seeing that Gu Ming had not left yet, Sato Takeji looked at him for a moment and was a little surprised: "Gugu-kun's physical strength is very strong, it seems that nothing has happened yet."

Gu Ming said, "No, I'm just holding on."

In fact, apart from the lack of experience in the first performance, Gu Ming has already begun to get used to the intensity of the suit performance this time, but there is no need to point this out specifically.

Even so, Sato Takeharu was still amazed.

Fortunately, he didn't listen to Haruo Nakajima, otherwise he would have been beaten to death!
After saying goodbye, the two of them left.

In the open space outside the house, Narita Toru was discussing the suit for the next episode with screenwriter Yamada Masahiro.

For the script of the third episode, Tetsuo Kaneshiro only provided supervision. The person who wrote this episode was Masahiro Yamada, so of course the image of the monster had to be discussed with him.

Seeing Gu Ming coming out, Cheng Tianheng waved to him.

"Amin, did you hear that? The first episode had a 40 percent viewership rating!!"

Gu Ming laughed: "Of course I heard about it."

Maybe he heard about it earlier than Narita Toru.

Narita Heng put down the rubber material of the leather case in his hand and moved over.

"But you probably don't know that TBS also included a simple survey, mainly to find out what satisfied them with the series. Among them, the satisfaction with Ultraman, that is, you, accounted for over 30%, and the satisfaction with Kurobe-kun also accounted for 40%. The rest is other parts."

Children cannot tell the difference between Ultraman and his human form. They only know that Uncle Hayata Susumu can transform into Ultraman by taking out a big stick.

This is also the reason why in most cases, although Ultraman is played by a suit actor, it is the human body that represents Ultraman.

After all, children cannot tell the difference between the two.

Gu Ming was a little surprised that he could still get a certain degree of satisfaction under such circumstances.

"Ah, let me see..." Narita Toru flipped through the questionnaire in his hand and said with a smile, "On the one hand, I'm quite satisfied with my figure, and on top of that, I'm really impressed by those judo wrestling moves. Maybe Tokyo's judo halls will be filled with a lot of young students. Hey, Ming, you're so popular, you should thank me. Why don't you buy me a drink?"

Although Narita Heng was joking, Gu Ming still agreed: "Well, since Mr. Narita usually takes care of me, I should go have a drink."

Narita Toru's help to Gu Ming was indeed immense. It was perfectly reasonable for him to go for a drink.

Gu Ming also took the opportunity to invite Yamada Masahiro to go together.

Yamada Masahiro was fine with it, so he agreed without hesitation. He could also discuss the next episode's plot with Gu Ming, the main character of the suit. He thought Gu Ming's previous suggestions were quite good, so he was someone he could discuss things with.

Masahiro Yamada said, "But Mr. Narita always goes to an izakaya, which is very old-fashioned. Young people nowadays go to 'bars'." Narita Toru shook his head.

"Of course people who drink go to izakayas, but do people go to bars just to drink?"

Even Narita Toru was too embarrassed to point it out!
But Narita Toru doesn't like being called old-fashioned. Although he is not young anymore, as a middle-aged man, he sometimes longs to be younger.

Gu Ming didn't care. It didn't matter where they went. There wouldn't be anything as vulgar as ringing a bell and treating people to a round of drinks.

After deciding on a place to stay, the three of them packed up and left Wangu.

If you want to go to places like bars for entertainment, you have to go to Roppongi.

Roppongi is located in Minato Ward, which is the most developed area in Tokyo, so it is famous for its nightlife and entertainment facilities.

The three of them found a nearby bar, ordered some drinks, and sat down around the bar.

As for going down to dance or something...

forget it.

"It's different from the environment in an izakaya." Narita Toru sighed slightly.

There are actually people singing, which is quite trendy.

Yamada Masahiro turned to Tani Akira.

"Speaking of which, the script for the third episode already has a rough outline, and it will be completed soon. By then, I'll need Furuya-kun's help."

Gu Ming naturally responded.

In the third episode of Ultraman, the monster that appeared was the 'transparent monster' Nelonga. This episode also featured a classic scene where Ultraman used his chest muscles to withstand Nelonga's electric shock.

However, the script had not been completed yet, so Gu Ming only discussed the various designs of the monsters with Masahiro Yamada and Toru Narita.

Inside the bar, the singing suddenly changed. Someone requested a song, but the resident singer started singing with the microphone.

With a mellow voice, she sang songs from Ultraman.

This song has no name. After Kunio Miyauchi composed it, Eiji Mantani directly named it "Ultraman Song" and it has been passed down.

With the release of the first episode, it came into everyone's attention. I didn't expect that people would start covering it so quickly.

As for copyright…

Obviously, Wan Gu doesn't care about this matter.

Before Wan Guao took control of Wan Gu, Wan Gu's copyright awareness was basically zero.

Although the Ultraman song was a bit out of place in the bar environment, no one in the bar objected.

Many people in Tokyo have seen Ultraman before. Hearing the songs from the series for the first time felt familiar.

Narita Toru moved a little closer.

"It seems that the Ultraman we made is very popular."

In this way, life is worth it!
Gu Ming is a pure amateur. It is hard to tell whether this singer's singing is good or bad. Anyway, it is all in tune and better than his.

Narita Toru actually raised his head slightly.

"This singer is pretty good."

"Indeed." Yamada Masahiro said with a smile, "How about ordering some songs? Just buy him a drink, and the bar owner will give him the commission later."

That's what Narita Toru really meant.

Gu Ming didn't need to spend this money. Narita Heng immediately bought a glass of wine and called the singer over.

Narita Toru looked at the singer in front of him and said, "You're quite a young singer. I'm wondering if you can sing 'Bamboo Song'?"

Seto Mikio thought about it and gritted his teeth.

"Will do!"

It was a folk song from a movie in the 1960s. He could sing it, but not necessarily very well.

He did his best, and besides, the person in front of him ordered a drink for him.

Even if it's just for the money, Seto Mikio will do his best.

(End of this chapter)