Japanese Entertainment: From special effects actor to action superstar

Chapter 67 Mirrors and Symmetry, Writing Scripts

As soon as he arrived at the human set, Gu Ming felt an atmosphere that was completely different from the past.

Jissoji Akio did not mess with the actors like Mantani and the others did, but messed with the props, while Kurobe Susumu and the others could only watch helplessly from the side.

Gu Ming approached Wan Gujie and greeted him in a low voice.

"What are you doing?"

"Don't mention it." Wan Gujie sighed. "Just now during filming, the director suddenly stood up angrily and asked everyone to stop. And then it has been like this ever since."

Wan Gujie raised his chin.

Gu Ming looked over and saw that it was Jissoji Akio who was squatting down, gesturing at the prop counter and repeatedly moving the props on it, but in Gu Ming's opinion, it was just a slight change in the arc of the props.

Wan Gujie muttered softly, "I really don't understand it, and he refuses to tell anyone. It's really troublesome."

Before he finished speaking, he could feel the silence around him.

Jissoji Akio suddenly stood up.

Wan Gujie was panicked for a moment and lowered his head quickly.

"Mr. Jissoji, I..."

Unexpectedly, Gu Ming thought that Jissoji Akio would get angry, but he just stared at Wan Gujie and asked, "Are you the director?"

Wan Gujie shook his head.

"So, you are the supervisor for this episode?"

Of course, Wan Gujie could only continue to shake his head.

"Since you're a stagehand, do what a stagehand should do! I have my own ideas about what I want to shoot and how I want to shoot it. If you don't understand, just follow my instructions. If you don't even understand my ideas, then you have no right to question them!"

After Jissoji Akio's scolding, Wan Gujie looked even more pitiful, lowering his head and not daring to speak.

"Alright, that's it. This is all we can do right now. Niping, Sakurai, the two of you stand here, don't move, and look down...yes, look at the mirror."

While reading out the real names of the two actors, Akio Jissoji ordered the filming to begin.

Gu Ming seemed to be thinking about something.

Mirror?

He lowered his head slightly and looked at the prop mirror.

Before that, Akio Jissoji repeatedly adjusted the position of the mirror.

But Gu Ming didn't understand.

After all, he is not a director and doesn't understand the intention behind this.

Gu Ming could only guess that perhaps the mirror was meant to create a special atmosphere.

He just made note of this.

Jissoji Akio is well-known, and Gu Ming doesn't believe that he would do meaningless things, so he must find out his thoughts.

……

……

In the evening, after returning home and having dinner, Gu Ming did not do his daily exercise as usual.

He placed a mirror on the kotatsu table, but felt the height was not enough. He studied it again and again, and put a few books under it before he felt it was about right.

Such behavior really made Shaqin a little confused.

She wiped her hands and came over to stand behind Gu Ming.

"Gugu-kun, what are you doing?"

"I'm studying something I don't understand." Gu Ming greeted her, and seeing that she had come at the right time, he simply pulled Shaqin to stand in front of the mirror.

"Lower your head and look at the mirror... Yes, look from here." Gu Ming also stood beside him, and the two of them looked down at the mirror together.

The red plastic mirror gave Gu Ming the illusion of being back on the other side of the ocean.

Then, Gu Ming raised his head with some doubts and looked at the other side of the mirror.

"Could it be... I think I understand. Don't move!"

Gu Ming put down the Shaqin and ran to a farther place, almost sticking to the refrigerator.

Gu Ming half-knelt down, formed a viewfinder with his hands, and observed the scene.

Shaqin was looking in the mirror. If he was with Shaqin, he would also be looking in the mirror.

And behind the mirror, there was supposed to be another actor.

"I understand!"

Gu Ming pressed his palm.

"If three people appeared directly in the shot, such a close-up would inevitably make the shot look bloated. So to avoid this and create a better visual effect, we used a mirror method. The mirror's reflection only reflects the character's bust. This way, together with the actor playing the store clerk, the three of them are in the same frame, creating a clever and non-bloated effect!"

A close-up is needed to show the character's expression, and a scene where several people are talking to each other is also needed.

Some directors will use a medium-distance shot, while others will use repeated switching shots, or simply shoot only the protagonist's side.

However, Akio Jissoji used such a clever method.

By placing a small mirror next to the actor and reflecting the actor's figure in the mirror, it is possible to cleverly create the effect of a multi-person conversation without making the shot bloated.

"Awesome." Gu Ming pounded his palm.

Although he seems to be a difficult person to get along with, this director is indeed a real person!
No wonder he was so particular about where the mirror was placed.

Such a thing is obviously unimaginable if you have not personally experienced it and only rely on conjecture.

But when he thought that he had no scenes to film tomorrow and didn't have to go to the set, Gu Ming felt a little empty.

In Jissoji Akio's filming plan, there are very few scenes involving battles, and most of the time he is telling stories. It is a rare opportunity for him to have some free time, but Gu Ming cannot sit still.

"By the way, let's write a script too."

Gu Ming suddenly spoke, then turned to Shaqin.

"If I could write down the things I encountered before, maybe they could become a useful script."

Although he had similar thoughts before, firstly, Gu Ming knew that his Japanese writing skills were not very good, and secondly, he had no time for acting.

Now that he has some free time, Gu Ming plans to write a few scripts.

Despite the extremely high ratings, the first Ultraman series was hastily concluded after only 39 episodes. The reason for this was ultimately one.

The production is behind schedule.

Due to a shortage of manpower, the suits and models could not keep up with the filming needs. The scripts written by members of the planning office such as Tetsuo Kaneshiro could not keep up with the progress of filming. Even the scripts for the last few episodes were written by members of the planning office while filming, just like the paper-flying boys on the set of Hong Kong movies.

Everything is way behind the pace of play.

If Tsuburaya had had a little more energy at that time, it wouldn't have come to an abrupt end at the 39th episode.

Gu Ming felt that he could not do other things. After all, he was just one person and it was impossible for him to create dozens of employees for Wan Gu out of thin air.

He didn't know anything about filming, so he couldn't play with the camera as well as Wan Guyi and the others.

But he could take part in this script.

Although Gu Ming's own writing is not good, he has ideas and knows a lot of future stories. It is enough to take out one or two occasionally.

After hearing this, Shaqin didn't laugh, but nodded instead.

"That's great. From now on, Gu Gu will dictate it, and I'll help write it down. I'm sure Wangu will be very happy too!"

(End of this chapter)