Norman England

Tagline Mania!

2012-01-30T10:47:00.002+09:00

A bit late, but here is my first entry of 2012.

It's already the end of January, which means New Year hascome and gone. I hope that for you reading, your time during the holiday was filled with idiosyncratic endeavors, like watching irrelevant-yet-beloved TVshows (nothing sets the holiday mood like a couple of over-the-top season 3 episodes of "Lost in Space"), re-reading the same tired book (something entertaining, like Shaw's "Man and Superman"), listening to music (preferably Goblin, my favorite band) or just gathering with friends and/or family and doing whatever it is you do to deaden the din of the escalating noise produced by our"connected" world.

My New Year was pretty much a bust, as I was running around prepping for 3 days of shooting on my newest film.

New Neighbor

As mentioned in an earlier post, "New Neighbor" is my latestself-produced film effort. A low-budget film, it is an under-20 peopled production, whichmeans I'm saddled with numerous tasks and responsibilities: Director, producer, assistant director, set photographer, production manager, and continuity, to name a few. It can get a bit overwhelming. However, don't take this asa complaint. That's the way it goes at this level of filmmaking. And I knew it would be this way from the get-go. On the contrary, I feel pretty lucky. The people working with me are all skilled film-craftsmen andwomen. So what if I have to bust my ass.

To detail "Phase 2" of the production,the shoot began in the morning of 4 Jan at a studio near Nishi-Shinjuku. The first scene called for an office setting. Although I know a lot of people in Tokyo, as hard as I tried, I couldn't find an office that, for various reasons, suited the story. However, I've recently become aware of a company in Tokyo that rents "theme"studios. Not sure if that's the best way to describe it. Simply put, you want a hospital? They have one. You want a jail? They have one. You want a convenience store? Look no further! Skimming through their catalogue, I found an office that looked like it would suit my needs. Prior to shooting, I went with my DP to inspect it.

The place was great. A fully stocked office, it was complete with desks, white boards, copy machines, plants, folders, binders and all the knickknacks you find in Japanese offices. There was even one of those Daruma with an unpainted eye atop a cabinet. Satisfied, I booked it for a day's shooting.

For those interested, here's the website of the studio I used: http://www.planear.co.jp/

On the office agenda were two scenes, which took a total of sevenhours to capture.

I would like to mention that the script called forjust the hallway of an office. However, since the studio came with such a cool looking office and since I was paying for it, I thought, "what the hell" and wrote a new scene theday before shooting that would take advantage of what the the location had to offer. We improvised during shooting too, which was a lot of fun for both myself and the actors. All in all, it went quite well.

That evening we switched to an apartment setting and shot inthe lobby and elevator of a friend's building. Unfortunately, by this time, we were all pretty much beat from the office shooting. Would have been nice to separatethese two shoots, but as stated, the budget gods demanded otherwise!

The following two-days had us working in the large apartment of thefilm's co-producer. While more comfortable, both days were long, intense,and filled with rewarding as well as frustrating moments. You know, your typical film shoot.

Frame Cap from New Neighbor. ( R- Kentaro Kishi. L- Ayano)

My cast and crew are people I've known for years, having picked them up from various films I've worked on inJapan over the past ten plus years. The film's cinematographer is Shu G. Momose, who I met during the shoot of myfirst film, "The iDol," when the film's main DP couldn't get back to Japan forsome pickup shots. Since then I've worked with Shu G. on a number of features,as he is the main cameraman for Yoshihiro Nishimura.

Fram Cap from New Neighbor. (Ayano)

Also involved is Hiroshi Ota, a lightingdirector I met on the set of the film "Tokyo Gore Police." He and Shu G. are a near inseparable pair, as is often the case with DPs and lighting directors. Ota also directs short films and recently helmed the "Catch Me IfYou Can" piece for the recent DVD / Blu-ray release of HELLDRIVER.

I still have two-days left on the production, which if theschedule holds, should be in the can within the next month and a half. I'll probably be unable to update the blog until after the next phase of shooting, but when I do, I'll provide more info on the shoot, the cast and the crew.

Tag Line Fun!

As mentioned, I work as a subtitler for several studios in Japan. It's a challenging yet enjoyable gig. Recently, my film duties have extended into the PR realm: synopsis, staff / cast bios, and, my favorite, taglines.

Taglines, for those who don't know, are those phrases you see on movie posters that are supposed to enticeyou to buy a ticket. Here are some examples of some good taglines:

In space, no one can here you scream. – Alien (1979)
Trapped in time. Surrounded by evil. Low on gas. – Army of Darkness (1992)
His story will touch you, even though he can't. – Edward Scissorhands (1990)
Be afraid. Be very afraid. – The Fly (1986)

And my favorite:

When There's No More Room In Hell, The Dead Will Walk theEarth. – Dawn of the Dead (1978)

For more on the subject: http://www.taglineguru.com/movie_taglines.html

I've got a few taglines coming up, but as with any unannounced film,I can't mention titles until the owners / producers of the film do so themselves.However, one example of my work in this field is the teaser poster for theupcoming Iguchi film, "Zombie Ass: Toilet of the Dead." (One hell ofa title, right?)

Creating a good tagline is not as easy as it seems. Short, to thepoint, and unforgettable is the goal. It's a big responsibility. For the "Zombie Ass" tag, I gota call from poster designer Yoshiki Takahashi a few months back asking me to come up withan interesting tagline. Yoshiki explained what he was looking for and I said I'd think up a few ideas and email them to him.

As I did the subs for the film, I was familiar with thestory and what its director, Noboru Iguchi, had set out to do, which was to make the mostridiculous zombie film ever made. As a long time, "first generation"zombie fan, I'm pretty well-versed in the genre. As I was writing typingtypical things like "Terror from Behind" and "Watch Your Ass," etc, I suddenly recalled what has to be the most balls outtagline after "Dawn of the Dead." The tagline for Lucio Fulci's"Zombie":

WE ARE GOING TO EAT YOU!

I remember seeing this tag back in the early80s. I laughed at it at first, thinking it was dumb. But the thing is, it stuck withme as it was unforgiving and to the point. I mean, when it comes to zombies,that's about it. All they are ever going to do, all they ever want, is to eat you. It's a perfect tagline.

As "Zombie Ass" is a parody of sorts, dealing with zombiesemerging from toilets, I suddenly had this flash... What if I parodied the "Zombie" tagline?

And there it was floating before my eyes:

WE ARE GOING TO FLUSH YOU!

After I wrote it down I couldn't stop giggling. I immediately calledYoshiki and said, "No need to send you a choice. There can only beone." I read him my tag and he started cracking up. We had our tagline!

I've a few more taglines coming up that I'll share in future blog updates.

Anyway... That's enough for this entry. I have anotherNishimura shoot at the start of February for which I'll be shooting stills,doing a "behind the scenes" video and even some acting. I think thiswill be my 3rd or 4th time to appear in a Nishimura film. Tough shoots, but theresults are worth it.

Until the next time...

Set Photography Unleashed!

2011-11-23T18:28:00.000+09:00

Recently, I decided to expand my photography work and took the job as set photographer on Noboru Iguchi's new film (unannounced as of yet, so don't look for the title here).

I've been taking set photos as long as I've been doing sets visits. My first stab at it was in 1997 on the George Romero directed TV commercial for the "Biohazard 2" ("Resident Evil 2" in the US) video game. Of course I didn't just grab a camera and hope I'd get decent shots of maestro director Romero directing or moody shots of stumbling zombies, I learned to take photos in the mid-90s with a used, glorious full-manual Nikon FE, going to Kyoto from then home Osaka, shooting stills at every temple that would allow this mangy foreigner within their compound. (The photo of the red leaves on green moss on the below right is one of my favorites I took in Kyoto during this period.)

Although I've been doing the set visit thing for over ten years, the Iguchi set marked a shift in my normal role as set photographer as it was the first time for me to be the "official" still cameraman on a feature film.

Normally, I go to sets for anywhere from a day to a week or more and take shots for my articles or take them as a favor for the director / producer / studio. For example, with Nishimura's "Helldriver" I took a load of photos that Nikkatsu liked and used on various ads / program books / whatnots relating to the film. In the case of the many Godzilla sets I practically lived on in the early 2000s, the photos I took were for articles and to document the productions for the staff (and myself).

In other cases, I take them because I can. That is, I'm allowed on set, I have a camera, I like taking photos, and no one seems to mind if I just do my thing. I did this on the Ultraman Max set, visiting when I had the time and shooting this and that to stay in shape. (Yes, "stay in shape." People who don't do this work have no idea that the skills required for set photographer differ from other types of photography. It's not just the ability to take a good photo, it's also knowing how to move about a set, knowing what to look for, knowing how to shoot it without imposing on the crew and cast, and mostly, having the ability to get a nicely framed shot with only a second or two in which to do so. I've found that if I don't do set visits regularly I get rusty, not finding my fit into the crew as quickly as I'd like.)

Over the summer, I decided to try my hand as sole photographer, taking on the responsibility for the still look of two short films. These were "Bailout!" (Dir. Yoshiki Takahashi) and "Catch Me If You Can" (Dir. Hiroshi Ota), two films that now appear on the "Helldriver" Blu-ray. Both jobs went well and when I was asked to work on the Iguchi film I felt I was ready to take a stab at this important creative contribution.

For the shoot, we traveled up to Tochigi prefecture and into the city of Nasu, a sleepy, onsen town a few hours up north from the Tokyo area. I don't think I saw a single convenience store there it was that far removed from life as I know it in Tokyo. Fortunately, the hotel we stayed in was also the location for most of the shoot. With days running 20 hours or more, and sleep averaging 3 hours a night, the closer your bed was to the set the quicker it was to dash under the covers for a few winks.

I bunked with Demo Tanaka, the tall, bearded actor who is a regular in Iguchi and Nishimura productions. In addition to acting, Demo shoots and edits the "behind the scenes" films for the Pabaan people. Demo had a small role in the film and managed to coax me into shooting video when he was working before the camera.

I first met Demo on the set of "Machine Girl." He's a character, a true original; a hard drinker, a hard worker, Demo is one of my favorite people in the Pabaan group. And his loyalty, love and dedication to the scene is without question. For example, when Iguchi called "cut" on the last shot of the film and then proceeded to give a "thanks" speech to the crew (an insanely cool moment as the sun was just rising and bathed the large tatami mat hall we were working in with golden sun beams), Demo was doing his usual by shooting it for his "behind the scenes" piece. However, I noticed streams of tears running down his face. Man, I freakin' love this guy!

In any case, the film is still not officially announced. Once it is, I'll be able to share photos and detail more of the amazing time I had on the set.

Another project I'm involved with is the American compilation film, The ABCs of DEATH. This is a collection of short films by 26 directors from around the world, each making a film about death culled from one of the 26 letters of the alphabet. Just just two days before leaving for Tochigi, and as seemingly warm-up for the above-mentioned Iguchi shoot in Nasu, I worked as still set photographer and also shoot / directed a "behind the scenes" piece on Iguchi's ABCs entry.

A one-day shoot, the staff met up in the Hachioji area at the crack of dawn and proceeded to work into the late evening. Again, as a job I don't know what I can or cannot reveal, I'll have to side with caution and refrain from writing anything for now. Let's just say the piece will be the zany kind of cinema you'd expect from director Iguchi.

The "Helldriver" Blu-ray has finally come out in the US and my "Sushi Typhoon: Tokyo Invasion!" piece mentioned in previous blog entries can be found in the extras on the disc. Here's a link to distributor Well Go's page:

http://wellgousa.com/detail-helldriver.php

Overall, this disc represents a lot of work on my part. In addition to writing the film's English subtitles, I have a small speaking cameo in the film itself. For two of the spinoffs ("Catch Me If You Can" and "Bailout!") I did acting (Catch Me), and set stills (mentioned above), as well as the English stuff for "Bailout!". And of course, there is my own 20min video entry in the extras section.

All in all, the "Helldriver" disc is a nice looking package with plenty under the hood. I don't know if the content is for everyone, but I think people into the kind of extreme cinema that director Nishimura serves up will enjoy the sheer outrageous audacity of the whole endeavor. As draining as it all was, I'm glad to have been a part of the "Helldriver" production. And with this release, I think I can officially put it behind me.

On a side note, I've begun shooting my first narrative film in two years. My staff and I put in a day of exterior shooting two weeks ago. Things were hurried, but went well. I'm happy to announce that the lovely Ayano, whom I met when I subtitled her film "Natural Woman 2010," plays my lead. We've been looking to work together since first meeting at the premiere of "Natural Woman" and I finally came up with a story / project that I feel exploits her talent. The main shoot will commence at the start of January. I'm very excited by it all as I've assembled a terrific cast and staff. For now, though, I think I should just leave it at this brief announcement. More to come in future entries!

I'm not sure if I'll be able to update the blog until after the shoot in January, as I have at least five Fangoria articles due, and two more "behind the scenes" to shoot (one for Yudai Yamaguchi, the other for Nishimura, their ABCs of DEATH entries) as well as having about 15,000 set photos to wade through and edit. Oh, and I've got four feature films waiting to be subtitled. I'm also set to "debut" as a staff writer in an ultra-cool, major Japanese film magazine this February. Looking forward to officially announcing that as well in the next entry.

So yeah... the blog has to take a backseat to my real work.

In any case, I don't know if I should be knocking on wood, but it seems as if my workload has actually increased since the March 11th earthquake. I doubt there is any connection, but I am always grateful for every job I receive and enjoy the uniqueness of every work situation.

Until the next entry...

Flat Out!

2011-09-18T13:08:00.003+09:00

Here it is, the middle of September and I haven't gotten in my monthly blog update. It's not from lack of want. My workload has hit a peak and I've been racing completely flat out, trying to reach the finish line without missing a deadline (well, not missing a deadline too badly...).

Not sure where to start, and I feel this entry is going to be a bit of a ramble (as stated at the top of the blog: You have been warned!) Might as well begin with the most recent since it's freshest in my mind. This was a subtitle gig I did for the upcoming Noboru Iguchi film, "Zombie Ass: Toilet of the Dead."

Nice title, no?

I visited the set several months back to take photos (if you look at a previous entry you can see a shot from the shoot, although it's just one of Iguchi roaring with laughter), get a feel for the set and to meet the actors I didn't know already. Iguchi, feeling the zombie genre tapped out yet still desirous of doing something in the genre, came up with a story / film that manages to send up the genre while resting outside of the genre at the same time. With a title like that, I think it comes as no spoiler that the film is rampant with toilet humor. Normally not one into such comedy, I was surprised at how much I liked the film. And as a job, it was not only a challenge to come up with a bunch of silly fart jokes, it was a lot of fun.

Working at Pabaan, the company run by directors Nishimura and Iguchi (seen on right with Nishimura choking Iguchi with one of the Zombie Ass parasites), VFX artist Kazuno and special makeup wiz Taiga, I spent two days overseeing their staff editors as they laid in the English script, checking on timing and making last minute corrections.

I enjoy working at Pabaan. The place is full of cool movie props and everyone is always in the midst of some new project that usually involves interesting, off-the-wall creatures. The people, too, are some of the coolest and most fun I've ever met. Movie making is tough, and tempers do flare due to the pressure, but not 15 minutes goes by when I don't hear heartfelt laughter erupting from somewhere in the Pabaan building.

When hearing this, I'm reminded how lucky I am not to be working in some "legitimate" business, like a bank or an office, where people are expected to dress and behave in "proper" fashion. At Pabaan people dress and behave pretty much as they like.

As much as I love living in Japan, one of the things that annoys me is the pretense that permeates the so-called top ranks of society. In the case of the film business you find it at all the major film companies, the ones enamored with themselves, the ones making "important movies" that audiences are expected to like yet never do because the films are often overly sentimental, meandering, and / or kissing the ass of the government who subsidize films that promote the social values they approve.

I was recently talking with friends who work at some of Japan's universities. Tales of arrogant professors and their feverish stake in the status quo, their childish drive for personal recognition, and their fuddy-duddy approach to the students, makes me all the more grateful for not being a part of so-called normal society. These friends tell me they have to hide their affinity for genre films and the like, as such interest is frowned upon. Furthermore, I'm told, it's not unusual for professors to criticize everything and everyone, telling them what they should or should not be doing with their lives. I have friends with parents in this same profession and in positions of social standing who have been made insane from the pressure put on them by their parents to do some imagined "right thing," their parents stance being that their social position of "respect" gives them the license to preach.

OK... so what does this ramble have to do with what I was previously writing? Getting back to Pabaan, here is a place where people are united in their love of genre filmmaking and their desire to make genre films in an open, non-judgmental environment. Staffers dress how they want, speak how they want, and create the kind of things they want. They don't tell each other how to behave, how to talk, what to enjoy or not to enjoy, what to eat, what to drink. They don't tell each other how to live their lives. Not once have I ever heard Nishimura or Iguchi give out life advice simply because they are in the position to dish out such drivel. If I may, I want to state for the record that I hate people who feel they can tell others how to live their lives if for no other reason than 10 out of 10 times these hypocrites are unable to take their own advice.

In the case of Pabaan and the films they make, all I can say is, to hell with those who think this stuff is tripe and lowbrow. I would rather be working here writing fart jokes for zombie movies than at company where there is no freedom of expression and everyone is secretly unhappy. So, say what you will about the Pabaan people, call them outsiders if you must, but if that is the outside, then I want inside!

Working off my sense of Pabaan and their contributions to the Sushi Typhoon film line from Nikkatsu Studio, I recently completed a short film that can be considered a crash course in the people behind Sushi Typhoon, which I believe to be the most interesting film movement going on in Japan today.

As detailed in my last blog entry, Sushi Typhoon recently had what it dubbed a "matsuri," which translates to "festival" in English, with four films playing for a month at a theater in Ginza. Titles included: "Alien vs. Ninja," "Helldriver," "Yakuza Weapon," and "Deadball."

Taking the initiative, I secured use of a decent video camera and working with Tomoko Hayakawa, a lovely actress friend of mine, we hit the opening night of the show and conducted impromptu interviews with everyone involved with the films. Following this, I spent several weeks editing the footage into interview / montage segments. The results were met with positive reactions by Nikkatsu and they asked me to expand it with scenes from the matsuri's closing night. The film, which I call "Sushi Typhoon: Tokyo Invasion!" is now set to be included in the upcoming releases of Sushi Typhoon films in the US. I don't have specific details at the moment, but when I do, I'll post them here.

Another gig I enjoyed since last entry was working as still photographer on BAILOUT!, the third and final HELLDRIVER spin-off.

BAILOUT! was directed by Yoshiki Takahashi, the creative genius behind all the great Sushi Typhoon posters and co-author of the Sion Sono hit COLD FISH, to name but two of the many things he has done. (Yoshiki designed the Zombie Ass poster seen at the start of this entry.)

BAILOUT! was a two-day shoot with the first being a day of location on the waterfront in Shin-Kiba; the final day being in a studio over in Hatsudai.

Both days were a blast. The first, unfortunately, was outdoors on what turned out to be the hottest day of the year. The scene was actors Takashi Nishina and Yohta Kawase making their way through a devastated part of Japan as they attempt to get over "the wall."

Following this we traveled not too far to a spot where a highway was under construction for more shots of Nishina and Kawase lumbering about in post apocalyptic Japan.

Doing special makeup on BAILOUT! was Kakusei Fujiwara, a makeup artist I've known since the '99 film "Godzilla 2000." I will always be grateful to Kakusei for building the 4-armed alien in my movie THE iDOL.

Yoshiki proved to be a highly competent director and kept things moving forward at a decent, constant speed. Better yet, under his direction, the staff had a strong sense of vision and destination. A good director is the backbone of a production. Without this spine, the body will collapse into a quivering mass of shapeless jelly.

The second day was, thankfully, indoors. Joining the cast were actresses Showko Nakahara and Riri Kouda. Showko I've known from the scene and Riri I met a few weeks earlier on another set (which I talk about below). Part of the short film's story involves the men stumbling onto the women's hideout and a gruesome discovery they make.

Although one of the more enjoyable sets I've been to, the very end of the shoot was a bit much to take. Taking place in what I called "the gore room," the scene featured horror filled screams that were tough to listen to. At times I felt my spine tingle in terror, a feeling I haven't had on a set since the shooting of "Ju-on 2".

Speaking of Yoshiki, I neglected to announce that I recently wrote a piece on him for Fangoria. You can find the article here: Yoshiki Takahashi Fangoria article.

Lastly, I recently completed a "behind the scenes" video for a direct-to-DVD film called "Rape Zombie." All I can say in my defense is, I don't name 'em, I just report 'em.

From the bizarre imagination of Naoyuki Tomomatsu, a director / writer with a resume that includes "Stacy" and "Vampire Girl vs. Frankenstein Girl," RZ is one of the many quickies he is well known for in Japan. Under budgeted, his films are usually shot in a day (days that last more than 24 nonstop hours). However, the shoot of RZ went on and on and the main day lasted nearly 40 straight hours. I got off easy. I was only there for 34 of those hours.

The first day was on a Sunday in Shinjuku in front of the Keio Plaza Hotel. This is where I met Riri, who went on to co-star in Yoshiki's BAILOUT! It had been a number of years since I worked with Tomomatsu and even though I think he's out of his mind, I was kind of glad to see him.

With pants down around their ankles, zombie men began chasing hapless living women around trying to have their way with them. I can't say which was odder, the sight of a dozen zombies with their pants and belts flapping in the wind running after screaming women as they tired to (and in some cases did) rip the womens' clothes off, pulling the females down onto the street, or the Sunday morning shoppers walking past this bizarre scene, ignoring it as if nothing out of the ordinary was going on.

The following weekend was the main day of shooting, and I traveled with the zombie extras from Shibuya to Gotemba where there is a location often used in Tomomatsu's films. It is, interestingly enough, a 400-year-old temple that appears to no longer have any real religious affiliation and is rented out by the city.

The main reasons I joined the set of RZ (besides Tomomatsu's begging me to do set photography and just be on hand) was because actress friend Asami was the film's star. I always enjoy working with Asami. She is lively, funny and very easy on the eyes. The other actresses, too, were equally lovely, and as is typical with Tomomatsu films, all were tapped from the Japanese porn industry.

Although this might sound odd, I enjoy working with porn actresses if for no reason other than they are easygoing. Unlike "normal" women, Japanese porn actresses don't have huge, protective mental walls built around themselves, that barrier having no doubt been smashed to pieces long ago. I am not saying I condone working in porn, but I am saying that I find it refreshing to be around women who are not inherently fearful of men from the get-go.

Much of my time on set was spent with actress Yui Aikawa, who was not only super fun but, as it turned out, a fan of mine. When Tomomatsu introduced her to me, she responded with an excited, "Wow! Norman from 'Stacy'! I love that movie!" "Stacy" is a film Tomomatsu made ten years ago.

The RZ shoot itself was a bit unbearable, not only lasting into the morning, but going through until 4pm the next afternoon. I attempted to be a zombie in the film (I am happy to report I kept my pants on) but the masks were uncomfortable and the humidity unbearable. I couldn't take it for more than an hour. The zombie extras proved to be more dedicated than I, and some lasted in makeup for 18 hours.

The shoot ended in a small tunnel in Tokyo just as a thunder storm broke. Yui, who had just been "used" by a group of zombies and who was covered in blood, ran out into the street to squirm about (she was prone to impromptu outbursts of "sexy" poses every 30mins or so) letting the downpour of rain wash the blood off her body and high school uniform.

While on set, I shot video footage and two-weeks after the shoot was over got a call from Tomomatsu asking if I wouldn't mind turning it into a "behind the scenes" piece for the films' DVD extras. As much as I find the film questionable, it was enjoyable to edit the footage and put together a 14min pieces that sums up that long, dirty day.

Well, this is by far the longest entry I've made to my blog, and I'll be surprised if anyone actually made it through to the end. Kudos to those who did!

I have a lot of projects in the works the mention of which will have to wait until my next entry.

Until then!

Let's Sushi Typhoon!

2011-08-01T12:22:00.005+09:00

Summer 2011 continues to spear ahead like a javelin at a track and field match - and the amount of work and just plain cool things being tossed my way is making this summer my busiest ever in Japan.

Although I appreciate the concern, more and more I'm glad I didn't take any of my friends and family member's offer to bail on Japan when the earthquake and subsequent, on-going, nuclear crisis struck. This in no way means I look down on those who did, as the emerging information shows the government in Japan was / is doing everything in its power to downplay the situation, which is still grave. How this is going to play out is anyone's guess...

One of the first things I involved myself with following my last blog entry was an appearance in a HELLDRIVER "spinoff."

Spinoffs are not merely new ways to fill the airwaves with the same Happy Days characters ad infinitum, they are, as used by directors Iguchi and Nishimura, short hops back into the universe created within their films. Among others, Iguchi made a nifty one for his RoboGeisha movie that was quite the typical, insane Iguchi romp, and one I very much enjoyed. This time around, Nishimura has three spinoffs taking place in the world of HELLDRIVER.

The one I appear in is number two of three and was directed by Hiroshi Ota, who is Nishimura's lighting director since TOKYO GORE POLICE. In typical grueling Japanese filmmaking style, the shoot was limited to a day. And when I say a day, I mean ONE day! When getting on set at 7am they were already shooting and when I was lucky enough to creep out of there at 11pm, Ota and crew were still shooting.

This spinoff stars two very attractive women, Momoko Kato (who sometimes appears under the name Yumemi) and Shijimi. Momoko I've known since the VAMPIRE GIRL VS. FRANKENSTEIN GIRL shoot, but Shijimi I first met at a screening of HELLDRIVER earlier this year. Shijimi plays a prominent zombie at the end of HELLDRIVER who bites the tongue off of the Japanese prime minister. This spinoff is her zombie's back-story.

One duty on the set was still photography, a job I absolutely love doing. I was also tapped to play a zombie. As I was getting made up it dawned on me that although I've been in several zombie films, I've only played a zombie once before (ZOMBIE SELF-DEFENSE FORCE). I realized this because, as I was getting made up, I remembered just how much I dislike getting made-up in this way. The zombies in HELLDRIVER get a lot of their "color" applied by airbrush, and I find the strong, focused blow of the airbrush insufferably ticklish!

My biggest concern was what to do about my glasses. Taiga, head of Hige Megane, the special makeup division within the Pabaan offices, insisted I wear them. "Zombie with glasses are the shit," he said while applying my facial wounds. As Taiga is one of the most awesomely talented special makeup guys I've ever met, I could only shake my head in agreement. Besides, I wasn't in the mood to stumble around an insect infested field unable to see.

After makeup I thought it would be a nice gesture to get ice cream for everyone working on the film. I went to a nearby 7-11 and despite being in totally ass-kicking zombie makeup replete with a cool, inexplicable wishbone-like antler protruding from my forehead, no one at the store paid me any notice. Even when selling me the ice cream, the girl at the register droned through the standard Japanese phrases that might as well come from a recording behind the counter. The only reaction I got was from some customers getting out of their cars who took slight note of me as I stumbled out of the store in high, living dead fashion. During the shoot, however, I am happy to report that I did spook some local kids on their way home from school.

After a few shots of my zombie partner and I lurching around we were ready to chow down on Yumemi, who I admit is always quite tasty looking. Although no prosthetics were involved, I was subject to one of those typical Nishimura blood showers, which is basically just a hose run into a garbage pail filled with stage blood. Held off screen, the hose sprays "blood" mercilessly into the air. I was totally covered in the red, getting it in my eyes, ears, nose and mouth.

Later that night I played a "hyper police," HELLDRIVER law enforcers who wear large crescent shaped headgear and black gi like outfits. This, too, was entirely uncomfortable as the helmet kept pressing down on my head making it impossible to wear my glasses. I am convinced that only Japanese can properly wear a gi. The one I wore kept coming undone no matter how tight the director made it.

HELLDRIVER is a part of Nikkatsu Studio's Sushi Typhoon label, which saw its domestic launch in Japan on July 23, 2011. Of course having worked on HELLDRIVER as well as having done countless things for the awesome Sushi Typhoon people, there was no way I was going to miss the opening.

Playing at the Ginza Pantheon in Ginza, four Sushi Typhoon films ran in what producer Chiba dubbed a cinema matsuri. The day started off with the cast and director of ALIEN VS. NINJA on stage talking about the film. Other movies included YAKUZA WEAPON, DEAD BALL and finally, HELLDRIVER. All films were attended by cast and crew, who made themselves available to fans outside the theater to sign autographs and answer questions. Hell, I even signed a few!

One of the most fun things was director Iguchi, the host of the stage shows, donning an outfit in the style of each film. The day saw him transform from ninja, yakuza, baseball player and finally into a zombie.

A partial list of guests includes Sushi Typhoon producer/creator Yoshinori Chiba, directors, Noboru (Karate-Robo Zaborgar) Iguchi, Yoshihiro (Helldriver) Nishimura, Yudai (Dead Ball, Yakuza Weapon) Yamaguchi, Tak (Dead Ball, Yakuza Weapon) Sakaguchi and Seiji (Alien vs. Ninja) Chiba. Actors include Eihi Shiina, Hara Yumiko, Ken Kishi, Takashi Nishina, Demo Tanaka, Kentaro Shimazu, Honoka, Asami, Hiji Mika, Masanori Mimoto, Akihiko Sai, and Arata Yamanaka. And last but certainly not least, designer, writer, director (and Satanist) Yoshiki Takahashi was on the prowl for foreigners to offend with his carefully worded t-shirt.

It's always fun to hang with the HELLDRIVER cast. From the inexplicable Eihi Shiina to the somewhat dizzy Yumiko Hara, they are a mishmash of some of the most unusual actors I've ever met in Japan. Probably my two favorites are Kishi Ken and Demo Tanaka. Demo I've known since the MACHINE GIRL shoot. He's an interesting guy with an unusual flair for keeping the mood going. He's also the best zombie actor this side of the Pacific. Kishi Ken, although he can play total cinema bad assess, is one of the sweetest guys anywhere, and of all the Nishimura / Iguchi regulars, is probably the most accomplished actor. I have never seen a guy get so lost in a part like I have with Ken.

After the show Nishimura led a bunch of us over to a ritzy joint in Ginza for some cold beer and food where I made myself at home at a table with Demo, Asami, Mimoto, Yoshiki, Alex, Marc and Tomoko. Possibly the most fun moment was when Yoshiki stood up and instigated a highly animated call / response session:

Yoshiki: Sushi!

Us: Typhoon!

Yoshiki: Alien vs!

Us: Ninja!

Yoshiki: Yakuza

Us: Weapon!

Yoshiki: Dead!

Us: Ball!

Yoshiki: Za!

Us: Borgar!

Yoshiki: Hell!

Us: Driver!

Yoshiki: Cold!

Us: Fish!

Yoshiki: Sushi!

Us: Typhooooooon!

Yeah, man... Let the good times roll!

Can't Keep a Good Kaiju Down!

2011-07-09T17:58:00.005+09:00

Holy crud… Someone turn that furnace off!

Oh, right… July is glaring down from my calendar. It’s that time of year…

Despite it feeling as if the sun just took one giant leap closer to Planet Earth, work mounts, and I’m making the most of it, keeping busy with my own and friends’ projects. It’s a great, busy time, heat or no heat.

First thing up for this blog entry is a plug for a recent book I had a hand in writing.

This summer marks the 50th anniversary of the release of the giant monster masterwork “Mothra” (30 July 1961 in Japan, and 10 May 1962 in the USofA). In celebration, the publishers of Eiga HiHo are coming out with a wonderful "mook" to celebrate this milestone in giant monster history.

Ten years ago I spent a good part of 2001 on the set of the Godzilla film "Godzilla, Mothra, King Ghidorah: All-Out Monsters Attack," (GMK for short) and as the film featured Mothra, I was tapped to write an essay that would touch on my memories of working side by side with the giant bug, as well as the GMK production in general.

I'm happy to report that although I was unable to stay within the limit of my word count (I talk a lot, as anyone who knows me can attest...), the publisher was so happy with what I wrote they allotted me extra space. The article is in the Japanese language, but for those who can’t read Japanese, don’t fret. It comes loaded with lots of cool photos I took on the set of GMK (like the one seen here.)

One thing I like about the cover is that because of my name being listed in the Japanese alphabet of katakana it totally throws off the balance of everything! Ha ha ha ha ha! (It's a little hard to see in the above photo. The mook comes out on 12 July. I'll replace it when I get a better shot.)

Although I've written for countless Japanese magazines, this is my first time to participate in the creation of a mook. For those in the dark, mooks are an interesting Japanese publishing concept, falling somewhere between a Magazine and a bOOK, thus "mook."

I remember buying my first mook back in the mid-1980s when Godzilla publications were finding their way into Japanese book shops in New York City. It was large (A4 size), printed on quality, laminated paper, and came with lots of articles and more photos than I had ever seen of Godzilla between two covers before. No way did I imagine then that twenty-five years on I'd be writing about my own first hand experience with Japanese giant monsters, with photos I’d taken on the Godzilla set appearing along side. In that way, life is pretty cool. The photo here is the cover of the first mook I bought, which covered “Godzilla 1985.”

I had another Godzilla related gig this month too when I was asked to appear in director Shusuke Kaneko's latest film "Aoi Sora Shiroi Kumo." While the film itself has absolutely nothing to do with Godzilla, I had a couple of lines as an English teacher who remained in Japan after the March 11 earthquake because of his love of Godzilla.

OK, I know that sounds fairly otaku, but it was a lot of fun to wear a vintage Godzilla t-shirt I’d picked up at Bleecker Bob’s in Greenwich Village in 1985 and act off of Hikari, the film's lovely lead actress. The whole thing was Kaneko's idea, and he let me write my own dialog.

With that said, I can't vouch for my acting because 1) I'm not an actor and 2) I had a bad cold at the time with the shooting beginning at 8am on a Saturday morning. I was seriously spaced out! Still, I did my best and had a good time working with Kaneko and the rest of his crew.

I spent the entire weekend on the set, getting familiar with Hikari, producer Yoichi, and catching up with actor Hiroyuki Watanabe, who I hadn't seen since the set of GMK. Another nice surprise was that Miho Izuka was working as Kaneko’s script supervisor. I’ve known Miho since GMK and she worked as script supervisor on all of the Millennium Godzilla films. Miho is a total sweetheart and always took good care of me during Godzilla shooting, and was even there when I had my first line of dialog in “Godzilla: Tokyo SOS.”

As usual, I learn something new about filmmaking every time I watch Kaneko work. Especially interesting this time out was his handling of lead actress Hikari. It being her first ever film, she was a novice at the art of acting. I noticed that he directed her somewhere between a result oriented method (which I’ve never seen him do before) and his usual descriptive way of producing a mood through selected words and explanations. Kaneko is an amazing director, with more experience than anyone I know in the film business.

I had two film jobs of my own since the last blog entry: more supplemental material for foreign DVDs. One was a video interview with director Noboru Iguchi that covered his film “Tomie: Unlimited” and the other was with actress Megumi Kagurazaka for her role in the Sion Sono film “Guilty of Romance.”

With my crew, we journeyed over to the Nikkatsu offices in Tokyo and met with director Iguchi and actress Kagurazaka. Both interviews were highly pleasurable to conduct and I’m confident they’ll be edited into a very enjoyable product. Much thanks to my friends at Nikkatsu, Silk Purse and Monster Pictures.

Coming up are more writing jobs and two film shoots later this month where I'll be appearing in one as some kind of hyper police officer and a zombie. (Don't ask me, the script is incomprehensible.) This promises to be fun. If there's one performance I excel at it's at playing a zombie. I’ll also be working as a set photographer too on both jobs.

I'm also happy to report that I've finally gotten some subtitling gigs. Since the earthquake work has been hard to come by. I'm still very excited by the new jobs as they are for really wild films with totally off the wall dialog. Just the kind of stuff I enjoy twisting into English.

Lastly, I’m gearing up to shoot a new narrative. It’ll be my first in two years. I’ll have more on this when I feel comfortable talking about the production.

Until then...

Stay cool!

Cold Yamagami-Kun Fish

2011-06-12T13:02:00.005+09:00

Being right smack in the middle of several large projects of my own means I don't have many interesting tales detailing my own work to report, unless comments detailing long hours spent sitting in front of a glowing computer monitor is considered interesting. However, the time since the last entry has been fun and well spent.

First up, I did a small directing gig for the UK company Third Window Films, putting together a pair of interviews for the "extras" section of their upcoming DVD / Blu-ray release of COLD FISH, a film on Nikkatsu Studio's Sushi Typhoon label.

The first interview was with Jack Adelstein, author of the book Tokyo Vice. COLD FISH is a semi-fictional tale based around a true-to-life serial murderer in Japan. At the time of the murders Jake was working for Yomiuri newspaper as a reporter and covered the story as it unfolded. He even met the killer on a few occasions. While Jake had zip to do with the COLD FISH production, he is presented here as a kind of "expert witness" and gives a fascinating look into the original case and points out where the film reflects reality and where it strays into nonfiction.

The second interview on the disc is with my buddy Yoshiki Takahashi, the scriptwriter and poster designer of COLD FISH. Yoshiki speaks excellent English (and French). From the get-go I wanted to do the interview in English, the discs being for an English speaking audience.

Despite his English proficiency, he only agreed if I would conduct the interview with him on-screen. Although I've had tiny bit parts in films such as DEATH NOTE, GODZILLA: TOKYO SOS, HELLDRIVER, etc, I'm not the biggest fan of seeing myself on-screen. And like every other human on the face of planet Earth, I dislike the sound of my own voice. However, I thought it would be fun to capture the spirit of some of the lively talks Yoshiki and I have in private when we burn the midnight oil dissecting genre cinema over huge quantities of beer.

With my small crew, I journeyed to Yoshiki's place and with very little preparation the two of us jumped right into a discussion of... Hell, I can't even remember! It had to have had something to do with COLD FISH. That much I can recall. But it probably strayed into unknown territory as well. I suppose I'll have to watch it after I get my comp copy to refresh my memory. I do remember we drank beer out of a set of "satanic glasses" Yoshiki keeps on hand. I also remember feeling tipsy from the 1/2 way point, which might make the head of the piece, where Yoshiki greets me at his door, odd since we shot that last.

One of the many things I enjoy about living in Tokyo is its plethora of stage plays. From big to small productions, there are literally hundreds of plays running at any given time somewhere in the city. My town of Shimokitazawa happens to be well-known for its congregation of playhouses.

Recently, we've had an unusual addition made to Shimokita's theater collection. One of our more renowned residents is the actor Akira Emoto. Last year Emoto had his home rebuilt and in a move that must be every actor's dream, he had the basement fit with a small theater. I went to the first play he and his troupe put on, which starred Emoto's wife. It was a comical tale of three people in post-apocalyptic Japan. I like end of the world stories.

Two weeks ago Emoto put on a one man show based on a play by Russian author Anton Chekhov. It was an amazing performance by a consummate actor at the height of his ability. Emoto expanded the material, played with the small audience, and showed just why he is one of Japan's most sought after actors. I went with my friend Ayano, who starred in NATURAL WOMAN, a film I subtitled last year. Like myself, Ayano was blown away by Emoto's performance.

Also this past month I put in three-days on the set of the Pabaan production of Harapeco Yamagami-kun. I'm still a little unclear what the film is about or how Yamagami-kun is going to be released. Web content? DVD? But I can say this, it's going to be a lot of fun!

I've always been a fan of Japanese suit acting, Godzilla, Gamera and the like. Yamagami-kun features several outrageous designs by director Nishimura. Having been a while since I involved myself with suit acting, it was nice to be on set and to be reminded just what a great breed of people suit actors are. Despite the challenge of the gig, they always have smiles plastered on their faces, are talkative, and all in all, just fun to be around. Playing the lead role of the Yamagami-kun creature (a kind of mutant wild bore) is my friend Yumiko (I wrote about seeing Yumiko's action stage show last blog entry).

Eihi Shiina, best known for her role as Asami in the film AUDITION and Ruka in Nishimura's first film, TOKYO GORE POLICE (TGP), has a small part in Yamagami-kun. I first met Eihi on the set of TPG and took what I feel are iconic photos of her. You know, those cool ones of her holding out a samurai sword, the tip of which almost touches the camera lens. This is a pose I repeated with Yumiko Hara during the shoot of HELLDRIVER. For Yamagami-kun, Eihi appears dressed in a panda outfit.

I especially enjoyed my last day on the set. At one point all the suit actors wore their colorful outfits and engaged a group of attacking zombies. Anyone who knows me knows I like zombies. There was also a totally cute actress on hand whose skimpy outfit proved too much for the neighborhood kids who had come to watch shooting. They couldn't stop laughing and giggling at her hot pants. As for myself, being a fan of genre movies, I'm happy to snap photos of attractive women caught in the grip of ugly monsters. There something so... so... What can I say? Something so wrong about it!

At Nishimura's insistence I did a small cameo. Just my head. I was at the Pabaan office two-days ago when Nishimura came running up yelling, "you made the cut!" What that means, I don't know. But, my head in it or not, I look forward to the final edit. I honestly feel that Nishimura and Iguchi are the only ones making films of any interest in Japan today.

Loads more to report, but this month's entry has reached its limit.

Thanks for reading.

Until the next entry...

Be cool...

Birthday Boy - AKA: Death Spins A Web

2011-05-01T23:01:00.012+09:00

It was my birthday the other day. Hooray!

Well, at my age, birthdays are no big deal. Besides, nothing will ever top my seventh birthday when my mom got party favors of Batman bubblegum cards for my friends and me. Try to imagine how every synapse of my brain fried upon opening my pack and finding "Death Spins a Web" inside. What boy would not stare in sheer awe and amazement upon seeing Batman caught in the web of a giant spider as he defends himself with nothing but a Bat-A-Rang? Sheer total bliss!

I looked around the web and, as you can see, I found a shot of the card. Is this or is this not one of coolest paintings ever conceived by the brain of man?

With a birthday experience like that under my belt, who can blame me for not getting excited when the so-called special day arrives nowadays.

However, this year's turned out to be one of the best ever. For starters, the night before, I went to a stage show put on by my friend Yumiko, an action actress I affectionately call "the French Bread girl." This nickname comes from her role in the movie MUTANT GIRLS SQUAD. In it, she plays a baker who is sliced and diced until nothing is left but her bloody torso, which happens to resemble a large loaf of French bread. Sounds disgusting, but it's handled tongue in cheek and is quite funny, actually.

The show was unlike any stage play I've seen in Japan. Performed by an action team, it was more like skits designed to demonstrate their agility, strength and martial arts ability. It was a lot of fun and I was happy to see Yumiko do her patent 'body spin,' where she is spun around another person's body (as she did in MUTANT GIRLS SQUAD). She's fairly small and doesn't look all that heavy, so I guess that helps her pull this stunt off. I plan to see them the next time they perform. I'm including a photo of Yumiko (she's the zombie on the right) that I took on the set of HELLDRIVER last year.

After the show I gave my buddy Yoshiki a call. He was free, so I went over to Waseda station, a stop away from where Yumiko was performing, and the two of us went out drinking.

Yoshiki is one of the best guys I've met in my eighteen years in Japan. We share a love of extreme cinema and since becoming friends have spent many long, enjoyable nights talking away the hours, covering things Romero, things bloody, and things I think normals would simply label perverse. Yoshiki also happens to be one of the most talented people I've met in my life - and I've met a lot of talented people. His poster work is, I feel, the finest poster work in Japan today. And his script for the Nikkatsu film "Cold Fish" displays a sensibility rare in these days of studio produced genre films that are made so as not to offend anyone. The only regret I have with my relationship with him is that I didn't meet him sooner.

After drinking up a ton of beer we headed over to his place where we drank champagne and watched BLACK SWAN on his large, Blu-Ray driven projection system. I didn't get home until around 4am. It was a great way to welcome in my new year.

The next day, my actual birthday, the fun continued with a set visit to my friend Iguchi's newest film. I can't comment on the film yet, but I can say I had a totally great time on set. The people working on the film are comprised of some of the most important friends I have in Japan, the people who have given meaning to my Japan experience.

The first time I met Iguchi was four years ago on the set of his film THE MACHINE GIRL, which was the film that pretty much set the tone for the current trend of FX-driven, over-the-top Japanese cinema. Oddly enough, my first film THE iDOL played back-to-back with his film SUKEBAN BOY at Fantasia in 2006.

Professionally, I've sub-titled several of his films, done promotional writing for his movies, and am currently in talks to do work on some of his newer material. I enjoy working for Iguchi. He gives me the freedom to use my own sensibility almost every step of the way.

Oh, getting back to his new film, I think I won't get in trouble if I say that the actresses on set were all really cute.

In any case, I took some totally amazing set photos. (Can't share any, but I think no one will mind the one above of Iguchi laughing insanely. Yes, the set was that much fun.)

I'm happy, too, because while on set, I cast the second lead to my upcoming film. I can't name names yet, but she is perfect for the role of an excessively sexually active woman. Her commitment was an awesome birthday present. Honestly, when I think of the people who help me without question, the kind of people who give me their precious time and talent, despite the few, inevitable rotten eggs, I consider myself awfully lucky to have the friends I do.

In any case, life in Tokyo is moving along. The aftershocks are getting less and less (or at least they register less and less as I notice that when my room shakes I don't drop what I'm doing any longer) and the shelves are fairly well stocked again.

The one thing, though, that bugs me still is how dark the trains can get. It's not uncommon for a train to stop in a shadow or pull into a station and be cast in total darkness. The reason for this is to reduce the consumption of electricity, so it's only done when a train is overground, once a train goes underground the lights are turned on.

Look at the photo to the right and you'll see what I mean. The worst is when a train pulls up, the doors open, and the train car before you is pitch black.

Well, if this is the worst of it, I'll manage.

Until whenever...

Life Out of Balance

2011-04-16T19:31:00.005+09:00

Think I'll grab a bite to...

The one-month anniversary of the Tohoku quake passed a few days ago. It's hard to believe how much has gone down and how much has changed in the short period of time since the quake hit. In Tokyo, trains are less frequent, meaning the overcrowding has worsened, food and drinks, while plentiful (although as you can see from the photo on the left, shelves have been bare), are not as varied and their prices appear to be rising, and its common to see signs saying "1 per person" next to things like water, milk and bread.

And the darkness...

I can't read my cellphone!

It's as if we went from being one of the brightest cities in the world to one of the darkest. These days, with lights dimmed or off to not overstrain electric generators, Tokyo feels like one of those dreams in which you're walking through a familiar area yet something is not quit right, something is inexplicably different.

Train rides are the most disconcerting. Lights are kept off when over ground, meaning if a train gets crowded it gets extremely dark inside. Signs that were once backlit are off, making them impossible to read until you are up close. And with all the aftershocks, if you want to travel anywhere it's best to consider that train service could come to a halt at any moment, which has happened to me several times so far.

Hope I can get a seat...

Sure, while all of this is certainly non-life threatening, it all adds up to an off-kilter feeling.

In the days following the quake there was, understandably, a lot of confusion. When the Fukushima power plant blew its lid, things went from bad to worse. The government and the TEPCO officials in charge offered little more than reassurances and excuses. Few hardcore facts were given. And the word "seems" framed everything.

Osaka... A lot of people here.

Worse was having to listen to smug scientists (the ones who built and approved the Fukushima plant despite it being an extremely poor location with a proven history of incidents like that of 3/11) on NHK talk as if this was all some sort of experiment in statistical improbability and not a real event affecting peoples lives. As much as the non-Japanese press was criticized for over-reacting, I was annoyed at the domestic press for underplaying everything.

Osaka women

Like a lot of people, I have a family. And like most non-Japanese, my family doesn't live in Japan. They wanted me out of Japan and back home. I balked. But I came up with a compromise: Go to Osaka, a city I lived in for 7 years and where I still have supportive friends. I figured I'd wait there for some real information and then, depending on what emerged, either return to Tokyo or leave Japan. As for work, everything I was doing was canceled. (In fact, I basically lost a 1/2 month of income as a result of the quake.)

The bullet train was a madhouse of people fleeing Tokyo. While some have made a big deal about the many non-Japanese that left Japan (ironic, as Japanese have a long history of doing the same when a crisis occurs in a foreign country), the long line for tickets and the seats on the train were filled by Japanese families getting out of the Kanto region (the area around Tokyo).

Macha at Nanzen-ji

As much as I thought I wouldn't have a good time in Osaka, I had a wonderful time. My buddy Matt Kaufman hooked me up in an inexpensive guesthouse run by a down-to-earth young man who did his best to make me feel at home. I spent the time revisiting old haunts from when I lived there in the 90s and met up with my good friend Michio for a fantastic night of catching up. All in all, I was able to reconnect with my 'Osaka roots' and was reminded that while the town might be a little crass, Osaka is an area with a rich, vibrant history and her citizens are a lot more friendly and outgoing than their Tokyo counterparts.

Dare ye enter... Tenjuan.

After the type of radiation being released from Fukushima became known, and at what levels, and with my family less panicked, I was ready to return to Tokyo a few days later. But not without a stop over in Kyoto, my favorite city in all of Japan!

After dropping my bags off at Kyoto Station, I took a bus to the Higashi-yama area, which has always been my favorite part of Kyoto. Starting with a cup of macha (green tea) at Nanzen-ji temple, I made my way up Tetsugaku no Michi (Path of Philosophy), stopping at Nanzen-in, Chio-in, Honnin-in and, my personal favorite spot in Kyoto, Tenjuan. Although eleven-years since I was last there, not a thing has changed at Tenjuan. That amazing garden and the nifty pond in the back. It was like I'd never left.

A walk down Tetsugaku no Michi.

Weather-wise, I couldn't have asked for a better day either. Cloudless and cool, I strolled along the cobblestones of Tetsugaku no Michi, eyed with envy the adorable homes in the area, and enjoyed the pleasing sounds of the water rushing beside the slender streets.

My good buddy Erik, also laying low in the Kansai region, joined me for part of my Kyoto day trip. We had a marvelous moment sitting outdoors at a cafe in front of Tetsugaku no Michi, having coffee and sandwiches, and discussing how the events of the month will effect our lives for the coming years. After the sun set (if you've never seen one of Kyoto's brilliant sunsets then you really haven't been to Japan), I was on the bullet train heading back to Tokyo ready to face whatever was to come.

To hell with the quake!

One of the first things up upon my return was a party organized by filmmaker friends. About 30 of us – actors, directors, cameramen, stunt performers, models, etc – met in Shinjuku to raise our collective middle finger to the quake by getting drunk and reaffirming our commitment to the filmmaking craft.

As expected, I had a blast. A real blast. I spent much of the time huddled with my buddies Nishimura, Marc, Alex, Cay, Kazuno, Nishina, Asami and Nakoshi. One of the highlights of the night was me demanding tequila, Nishina getting two bottles, and Nishimura making us drink it out of ashtrays. He dubbed it "Ebizo style," referring to bad-boy Kabuki actor Ichikawa Ebizo. I made a lot of new friends this evening and went home thankful that I'd made the decision to remain in Tokyo.

What are friends for?

A few days later, just when my hangover had dissipated, it was director Nishimura's birthday. Once again, another party was called to order, this time consisting of those of us who have worked on his films. Many of the staff and cast of his productions where there to wish the one-of-a-kind filmmaker best on his birthday.

Though not as insane as the previous party, it was loads of fun. I hung with buddies Chiba and Emico from Nikkatsu, director Iguchi, Nanae and cute as a button actresses Yumemi and Naoi. The surprise of the evening was the unpredictable Nakoshi and some kind of a cream cheese cake she made. I managed to survive a slice to no ill effect.

Make room for the tequila!

A few days later, I attended a press screening of Shusuke Kaneko's new film "Pole Dancing Boys," which I spent a day on the set of a few months back. Last summer, I introduced Kaneko to my friend Cay Izumi, who is not only an actress (Mutant Girls Squad, Helldriver, Yakuza Weapon), but is also a high profile pole dancer in Tokyo. Call it typecasting, but he cast her in the pivotal role of a woman who teaches the idol boys in the film how to pole dance. I went to the screening with Cay and afterward we joined director Kaneko and three of the film's actresses for dinner at a fancy Italian restaurant in Ginza where we drank expensive wine and ate great pizza. Another truly fun day.

Birthday boy.

I also managed to put in some cherry blossom viewing. The first was with a group of filmmaker buddies from Yubari Film Festival. Although I didn't go this year, my work was well represented. I subbed several films that screened and acted in two. Considering the quake, I almost wish now that I had gone this year! The next cherry blossom viewing was a week later with a walk through Yoyogi Park at the absolute height of the season. I don't think I've ever seen so many people at one time in my life. Both were lots of fun and pretty much just what the doctor ordered, all things considered.

One thing I'm happy to announce is that I've decided to make a new short film. I'm getting sick of waiting for financing to come through for a film proposal I have out there, and with the quake having a negative affect on the business, I can't expect anything to materialize as fast as I'd like. Also, I've had a few short film projects aborted because of the usual flaky people you meet in this field. The biggest danger to filmmaking on the semi-pro level is getting involved with people with good intentions yet no clear idea of the massive effort and the risk involved in making film. So, I am raring to do something.

The cool table.

As of this writing, I'm very much in the scripting stage of this new film. I have my lead actress picked out, too, an incredibly lovely and talented young woman I met last year at the premiere of a film she starred in. We've come to be good friends and have an equally good rapport going. I've caught all her stage performances over the past year too and am really excited to work with such a quality actress. In fact, I saw her latest play just this past weekend and enjoyed her performance very much. This week she finished photography on a new photo book that she tells me will be selling next month.

After "Pole Dancing Boys."

That she loves and wants to be in "extreme cinema" is a total plus as well. This is good because while many of my previous scripts dealt with inhibited people trapped in dysfunctional social systems this is no longer the case with my work. Where once I felt great sympathy over the sensitive percentage of the human populace, more and more it's become clear that those of us who appear to be highly sensitive are simply sensitive to their own plight, that their depression over the state of things is simply depression over their position. Seemingly selfless, they are entirely selfish, and worse, they are egotistical in their belief that somehow they alone are attuned to the horrors of the world. It's a fine line, but great confusion exists between the terms 'sympathy' and 'empathy.' Empathy is the highest human emotion there is. It's also, unfortunately, the rarest.

Not sure what my point is other than to say that I'm interested in making films that say nothing more than what you see on screen at any one moment, as this seems to be how it is in real life. Literature and poetry are great artistic abstractions where thinkers can ponder life from a higher POV that they can then sell to educated rich people seeking to alleviate guilty feelings over their fortune. Me? As a lover of genre films, I'd rather make stories about people dealing with fantastic, blood thirsty alien creatures, tales of people getting ice picks smashed through their brains, or bizarre examples of human sexuality than produce fodder for the leisure class and the so-called sensitive.

Until the next time...

Keep the fire burning...

Earthquake Time Tokyo: March 11, 2011

2011-03-13T14:11:00.013+09:00

While my experience with the devastating quake of last Friday was in no way like that of those in Northern Japan, it is a day that will be impossible to forget. I am dedicating this blog entry to my personal experience.

For me, it began with a trip to Kasai, a town on the Tozai train line located in eastern Tokyo. On my way to a part-time gig, I wasn't a minute off the bus when I noticed that my feet weren't hitting the ground where I was aiming, like I was drunk at 2am and stumbling around in search of a cab home. But it wasn't yet 3pm, so that could hardly be the case.

Turning back to the bus stalled at the stop, I saw it was bouncing up and down, appearing to be almost leaving the ground at points. My balance became an issue, and I fell back onto a knee-high wall beside the sidewalk. Cars on the suburban street had stopped and jumped about like plastic toys. A child with her mom, on their way out from the restaurant behind me, was screaming hysterically, her cries barely audible over the din of every structure in the area bending and bulking as they rocked on their foundations. The quake intensified and I kept the power lines in sight that can kill as effectively as a falling building can. Not like I could dash away should a pole fall. Some insane, unseen force drove the ground, rolling and rising, like a rocky wave. Finally, the quake subsided. Traffic started up and I was back walking to work.

My job on this day was located in a local department store. When I arrived, the place had been evacuated, but I was allowed in to check on my working condition. Around the store, shelves were knocked over and glass was everywhere. Back outside I met up with a co-worker, and with her, experienced the first of many aftershocks that were to come. Work was canceled and I was told to make my way home. But how? I was 15 miles as the crow flies from where I live.

I set 3 stages to my journey home:

1) Akihabara Station

2) Shinjuku Station

3) Shimokitazawa

With buses not running, or at least not coming, I walked back to Kasai Station. As expected, the Tozai train line was out. People stood around the station, waiting for some kind of word. I asked a station man and was told to take a bus to Akihabara. I got on line, hoping buses would eventually show. A 1/2-hour later, buses began to appear, but only local ones, nothing heading into Tokyo. The line grew and grew. An hour went by. No one working at the bus line would say a thing. Finally, out of frustration, I went to the depot office. "What's going on?" I asked. "We don't know," was all they would say. I was pissed. It's OK to not know, but to not say anything only makes people nervous. So, there I was, the non-Japanese bringing the Japanese people on line who have been waiting and waiting some kind of news. Based on this, as I figured, some people went for other means to get home by buses with destinations different from Akihabara. Me, I had no choice. It was Akihabara or bust!

I thought to get a cab, but traffic was slow, and cabs, the few that there were, were all taken. But at last, a bus came an hour later. Quickly it filled to capacity - beyond capacity, actually. I just barely got on, pressed in by the front door.

I'm unsure how to describe the driver. Despite the bus being incapable of holding any more people, he drove to the first stop and opened the door as if it were a normal day of operation. Right away angry people outside began to demand that they be let on. "More can fit on! Make everyone move to the back!" A man outside yelled. Some even began pushing their way on, and as impossible as it seemed, three did, in fact.

Somehow the driver managed to get the door shut, but it seemed up to me to have to state the obvious, "Do NOT stop at another stop or else you're going to have trouble." The real issue for me was, why was only one bus dispatched? I saw some buses on the road with the "out of service" sign on. Considering the amount of people trying to move around it seemed to me buses were the best choice. It got so bad that when we did stop to let people out of the exit in the back of the bus, people outside forced themselves onto the bus through the exit.

The ride to Akihabara took nearly two hours. It's normally a 30-minute ride. We inched and inched along into the city. But Akihabara was no haven. The streets were full with displaced people and the JR train line was out. You could walk into the station, but unlike the workers at Kasai station, the JR people were clear: No more trains today. I hung around, looking at people lining the walls. No one seemed to have any idea what was going to come next, what they were supposed to do, or where they were supposed to go.

By this time I was getting hungry. I went into a 7-11 type store, shocked to find all the shelves stripped of food. Fortunately I found a "beef bowl" style restaurant across from the station, waited on line for 20 minutes, and when I finally was seated, ordered an extra large bowl, unsure when I would be eating again.

After eating I thought to get a bus to Shinjuku, but the lines were impossible, and it didn't matter since traffic was hardly moving. It seemed that walking was the only alternative. Oddly enough, there were no police around, and, in fact, no one you could say who was in authority. Typically in Japan, when you need help, you go to the police; here, you go for help, help doesn't come to you. I figured in a case like this it would be different, but it wasn't. Sure enough, I went to the station and outside the police were standing about offering advice to people.

The officer I spoke to gave me two options: spend the night at the shelter or walk. I debated spending the night in the local elementary school, but I really wanted to check on my apartment. My building is old, and though it seems very sturdy, who knows? Although my feet already were hurting from standing for the past several hours, I decided to walk anyway.

Following the directions given by the officer, I walked up to the main road he said went straight to Shinjuku. My jaw dropped when I found find it congested with people as far as I could see, with people on both sides all heading in the same direction.

What can I say? As a life-long movie fan, I was reminded of every alien invasion film I've ever seen where society breaks down and everyone tries to make it to some imagined safety zone.

With no options, it was my only choice. I begrudgingly got on line. Above, the moon shone down. Crescent shaped and bright white, it became tonight nature's guiding beacon, hanging high above an endless line of people trekking across the city of Tokyo. At least, I thought, trying to find the bright side, it wasn't raining; I was feed, and while cold, it wasn't winter like cold.

Along the way I was astonished to see absolutely no police presence. On the one hand you could say this reflects well on the Japanese people, as other than a looter in the department store at the start of this insane experience, everyone was behaving and making the most of it. But on the other hand, it's in moments like these that men dressed in uniforms give one the sense that society remains intact and that there is a plan of action being executed. The only time I saw police was at an intersection where the road to Shinjuku takes a confusing turn. Two officers were out with Darth Vader light sabers waving people in the correct direction.

Each step of the way was painful on my feet, and while I wanted to sit, I felt I just had to keep going, not knowing what the next moment would bring. Too many unknowns were going on around. The roads were lined with high-rise offices, and should another quake strike, would they come crashing down? Would the power go out? Cars were moving, but slower than the people walking. What if people got out and left their cars? And the line of people was intense; it couldn't handle anymore. Me, I just wanted to get to Shinjuku.

Several hours after leaving Akihabara I was finally nearing Shinjuku station. But then it struck me: And then what? It was still a haul to my town of Shimokitazawa.

Shinjuku, like Akihabara, was another gathering point. The streets were congested with cars and the sidewalks with people. As along the way, people here could be seen wearing hard hats, and I even saw in the Citibank by the Kinokuniya bookstore people with silver emergency blankets getting ready to sleep in the lobby for the night. While some restaurants were open, most were not. And all the convenience stores were stripped of edibles. The one McDonald's open along the way had a long line out the door.

I walked over to the Keio line to see about a bus or a taxi. Forget the taxi: the line was over 300 people long! I asked at the bus depot about buses and the worker began telling me that buses had finished running for the night. WHAT? He said it was just too late for a bus. I guess he hadn't noticed that this was not an ordinary day. As I wrote earlier, buses are probably the best means of moving people around. They should be out in force! But then, fortunately, another worker said that the Keio train line had started up.

I rushed down the stairs to find the area before the Keio line entrance packed with people. Trains appeared to be running, but only local lines. People were being let in until a train filled and then the gates would shut. Guards stood by, directing people in. I worked my way up to the front and was let in with the next batch. "Don't run!" The guards ordered as we followed the stairs down.

Suddenly the buzzer that sounds when a train departs went off. In a panic, people began running for the train. The buzzer continued to blare as the train filled with people. And then, for no reason, it went off and we sat there for ten minutes. Excuse me? What was that buzzer for? Telling people not to run, and then edging them on with a meaningless buzzer is, at best, bizarre.

Twenty minutes later I arrived at Shimokitazawa Station, aching feet and all. I was happy to see buildings in the area standing. My own building had a fresh crack on the stairs leading in, and when I opened the door to my room I was greeted with the unwanted sight of a toppled CD collection, and my DVDs covering over my bed. Luckily I had secured some furniture to the walls otherwise they would have come smashing down.

This was my second major quake in Japan, the first being the Kobe quake of '95. As with that, I consider myself lucky to get out in one piece. I have to be thankful that it was, for me, more an inconvenience than a life altering experience. It wasn't until the next day that I begin to see the images of destruction that people around the world were already privy too. I wept many times. The intensity and the meaninglessness of such destruction is a fate no one deserves. My heart goes out to all who died, were injured, or suffered a personal loss.

HELLDRIVER Tokyo Premiere

2011-03-06T21:04:00.006+09:00

Quick entry here:

Friday night saw the Tokyo premiere of the Sushi Typhoon movie HELLDRIVER. A zombie movie, it was the closing movie in a week of zombie films playing at the Human Trust Theater in Shibuya.

Kind of an odd name for a movie theater, especially one showing zombie films...

I went earlier in the week and caught a screening of DAY OF THE DEAD, which I hadn't seen in a theater since its first run back in 1985, although I have seen it countless times since on video, Laser Disc, DVD and now Blu-Ray. I have to say, DAY has aged well, and might even look better now than it did back in the day. (Get it? "Back in the day"? OK. I'll stop now...) Day movie has some of the best dialogue of all time. Even when there are no zombies or visuals to keep your attention, your attention is kept because of the intensity of its words. Of course the dialogue is liberally peppered with vulgarity, but so what? Life is vulgar. Don't blame Romero; don't blame the messenger!

The HELLDRIVER screening was utter insanity, as any event centering around director Nishimura and his band of filmmakers usually is. He did his usually "fundoshi" appearance, which isn't really but looks very much like a diaper. He was on stage swinging the prop of the baby zombie by its umbilical chord and having a grand time.

The cast of HELLDRIVER turned out as well, and everyone got on stage to say something about the film following the screening. Set stories and other fun comments, all lead by Nishimura in his diaper and with that dead fetus. I was called on stage to say a few words about my part in the film. I even wore my "Bach's Arco Pitcairn" T-shirt, which is what I wear in the film.

Also, as it was a screening of the "international version," the film shown this night had subtitles I wrote. It was my first time to see them in a theater and I'm really happy over how they looked and read. I did a number of unorthodox things in them, and one in particular went over really well. When subbing, I feel it is important to create a speech pattern for each character. This way the subs become an organic element of the film.

One of the most fun things of the night was during the screening, I went out onto the streets of Shibuya with HELLDRIVER lead zombie Ken Kishi. We did a photo shoot while he was scaring everyone on the street! I swear, the guy is fearless!

Following the party we had a staff/cast dinner, and then in the wee hours of the night, a few of us went to a bar and drank until the sun rose. Although unconventional, Nishimura and the people around him are some of the best people I've met and befriended in Japan. I'm proud to contribute to his films.

Until the next entry...

FYRO

Blog - Back on the Radar.

2011-02-20T22:12:00.004+09:00

I decided to take my blog down for a couple of months while I work on various projects, deal with various assignments, and enjoy the various things that I enjoy in my life. And, honestly, blogs don't make that much sense to me anyway. At their worst, they are promoters of narcissism; at their best, they are a quick way to let friends and family in on the goings-on in one's life, sparing the writer (in this case, me) from having to repeat themselves over and over in customized letters. So, there you have it. My thoughts on blogs. Meaning, I'm back for the moment... Lucky you.

With that said, I couldn't possibly cover the past few months of my life in one entry. Too much going on to do so. Some of the highlights were, for starters, being a guest at TPG (Tokyo Project Gathering) at the Tokyo International Film Festival at the end of October, 2010. As stated in a previous entry, TPG introduces select film projects to various people and companies who can help see said project to fruition. Although only 3-days, it was an intense whirlwind of day meetings and evening parties. I had a great time, and met many interesting people in the film world, as well as saw a number of people I hadn't seen in many years. My project associated with TPG is still chugging ahead, albeit slowly... I'm actually not at liberty to talk about it publicly...

I spent the holiday time in Tokyo, working on my writing: scripts, a book, articles, poetry... The days of writing go so fast, as enjoyable days unfortunately do. I did take the occasional break to visit some movie sets. One was a low-rent vampire action film, which on hindsight was kind of a waste of my time. The other was the film "Messiah" directed by my buddy Shusuke Kaneko. That was a lot of fun. It was a beautiful day out and with the production close to Mount Fuji I was able to get some great photos of the mountain. Oh, and the shoot, too, was a lot of fun.

I also directed a sequence for Haruka Orth, a director / actress I met at Yubari Film Festival last year. There is a scene in her film where two of the characters reach gargantuan size and battle it out in a city landscape. As I have vast, on-hands experience on many giant monster film sets, Haruka asked me to put the scene together. Unfortunately, there wasn't the budget to build a miniature city, so the shoot was done green screen and the actors are to be dropped digitally into the Tokyo cityscape. But even on films with budgets this seems to be the norm today. The shoot was a lot of fun and went very smoothly. We even wrapped up almost two hours early!

My budding career as a subtitle writer / creator has been picking up steam as well. I completed two major releases this winter. One is the Nikkatsu film "Karate-Robo Zaborgar," which premiered at the Rotterdam Film Festival and will show again at the Yubari Film Festival. Another was "Bakamono," a film by Shusuke Kaneko. The "Bakamono" gig was really tight. Nine days to turn in a complete script. However, the company was impressed enough to offer me more work, subtitling major, mainstream movies / TV shows. It's great! I love this work, love bridging the cultures, loving finding the phrases that allow non-Japanese viewers the chance to see and enjoy Japanese cinema. Moreover, I look forward to the chance to develop my skill and apply my philosophy on what I believe constitute good subtitles.

Speaking of Zaborgar, I had a hell of a time over at the Nishizo end of year party. I admit everyone there is slightly “odd,” but in their way they are great people, and their work is quality stuff. I’m proud to be associated with their films. So, getting drunk, and standing around screaming with Nishimura, Iguchi, Chiba, Yoshiki, Shimizu, Taiga, Kishi, Maki, Nana, Emiko, Yumemi, Asami, Sarasa, Alex, Mimoto (no, he did not kiss me), Yui and even Nakoshi (in small doses) was a lot of fun. It was a hell of a year working on both HELLDRIVER and ZABORGAR.

And speaking of Yubari Film Fest, I've decided not to go this year, although I did subtitle 5 movies playing there this year, and I act in two films. I'd like to go, but I'm still tired from the one last year. Ha ha ha ha...

Oh, yeah... and my movie, The iDol, played in Santa Fe the other day. It would have been nice to go, but I was just to busy with work.

Of course not all of life is great, and I did have to deal with the loss of someone very close to me. Life is a very fragile thing and most of us live thinking the friendships and relationship we have will never end. But they do. In the end, none of us are immune to The End. All we can do is make each day count, giving special attention to those who go out of their way to help curb the hardships of our lives. Anything less will bring nothing but regret later in life. Trust me on that one.

Until I find the time for the next entry... Be cool!

Summer of 2010, that it was...

2010-10-13T14:25:00.004+09:00

Been much time between blogs. I hate to say it, but it's kind of a low priority thing with me – although I do enjoy the casual writing about the many paths my life-road takes. And the past few months have been insanely productive, so it's been tough to find the time.

Where to start? First off, the hellhole that was one of the hottest summers I can recall in Tokyo saw me scribe 3 feature pieces for Fangoria: HELLDRIVER, VAMPIRE GIRL vs. FRANKENSTEIN GIRL and HOUSE. They are all bundled in the cool as ice "Halloween issue" going on sale in a week or so. Check out the cover on the side.

Huh? Gene Simmons? I loved Kiss when I was in high school, and still do for that matter. But it wasn't what I was expecting. Still, I like that it's a hand painted cover. I'm tired of photo only covers. Paintings have a quality photography almost always lacks: the world as it resonates emotionally from a single artist's viewpoint. If you don't know what I mean, go on-line and check out old issues of Famous Monsters. Man, who doesn't love those old Famous Monster magazine covers? So yeah, IMO, the cover rocks! And I like how my work is summed up on it simply as "Japanese horror."

HELLDRIVER I've talked about ad infinitum. It had its official premiere at the Sitges film fest in Spain a week ago. I finished my subtitling work on it at the 11th hour, only scant days prior to director Nishimura rushing off to its first screening. The final subtitling session was a lot of fun, but utterly long. I'd been working on the film throughout editing and invariably there were changes that screwed with the timing. Also, things dropped, things added, but that's to be expected when doing sub creation during editing. I went to the cast / staff premiere at Imagica only a few days before the final subtitle studio session and gave myself a good head slap at the amount of changes from my last work print. I had my job cut out over the next few days. But, we nailed it in the studio and it was a great experience. Thanks again to all the fantastic people I worked with at Nikkatsu on HELLDRIVER.

The photo of Shiina Eihi and Nishimura is from our little afterparty following the first screening for cast and crew. Oh, why did I let Nishimura talk me into eating raw horse...

Another film I cover in the new Fango is VAMPIRE GIRL VS. FRANKENSTEIN GIRL, a set I visited before I took up blogging. The DVD is FINALLY coming out in the USofA this month from Funimation! As Japanese DVD releases in the US invariably lag behind that of their releases in Japan my piece on the film is only coming out now in Fangoria. I went to the VG set in March of 2009! That's too long ago! I can't remember that far back!

Seriously however, I spent much of the summer of 2009 involved with promoting the film in Tokyo, which is when I started this blog. If you page back you can find some info with photos from earlier entries. I also subtitled the film. I had a lot to draw on and feel I did a decent story. VGvsFG is a solid, low-budget film stocked with a lot of imagination. And a lot of blood. Yeah... A LOT of blood!

The HOUSE story was based on an interview I did with director Nobuhiko Obayashi. I visited his office over in Seijo during the summer and spent an afternoon with him and his daughter Chigumi. Had a lot of fun and enjoyed listening firsthand to their tales of making HOUSE. I hope I was able to capture the spirit of our talk in the Fangoria piece. HOUSE is a seriously entertaining film and I highly recommend it.

Other things... Let's see. I visited the set of Shusuke Kaneko's new film, "Pole Dancing Boys" the other day. Quiet the title, no? It's Kaneko's lowest budget ever, and his shortest shooting schedule. But I have to say, the guy is such a pro that the production didn't feel rushed or in a mad panic, which is usually the case on films with big ambitions and a lack of time / resources.

The film follows the exploits of some young men who find themselves in the world of male pole dancing. Pole dancing has been the rage in Tokyo for the past few years, although females mostly perform it. The film stars a lot of up and coming male "idols" so the audience target is, naturally enough, women. I introduced my actress friend Cay Izumi to Kaneko before shooting and he cast her as one of the female leads. Cay is a fantastic pole dancer and has acted in a number of films, such as MUTANT GIRLS SQUAD and HELLDRIVER. I'm glad that worked out. I enjoy helping friends out like this and I think it's good for her to step into something a bit more mainstream.

I also did some acting in a V-Cinema film. Don't know the name of the film or anything about it. I just appear as a favor to the director. Maybe I shouldn't even mention it here... That photo at the top of this blog entry is from the shoot. That's a bomb strapped to her chest, by the way.

Before this blog gets too long (and believe me, it could if I touched on everything I'm working on) I want to get to my main news, which is my new film proposal is part of something called "Tokyo Project Gathering" at this year's Tokyo International Film Festival (TIFF). This is a section of the fest where they help select projects meet their budget goals. TIFF is at the end of the month. Until then, I'll keep re-working the script, working on designs. Lots to do to prepare.

I'm also happy that once again my friend Bob Eggleton is working on conceptual illustrations. Bob is a world-renowned artist who has won 9 Hugo awards! I swear, when I get a chance to visit his home I'm going to make him let me use them as bowling pins, he has just the right number. If it's OK with my producers, I'll put some samples up in a future blog.

That's all for now!

(ORFU)

Helldriver

2010-07-21T22:18:00.018+09:00

Sorry to start off with the weather, but, damn, it's hot out!

So when did summer start exactly? I hadn't even noticed. It's like, one day I'm hanging up my winter coat and the next I'm sponging sweat from my brow. The kicker is, summer doesn't really take hold in Japan until the cicada begin their horrid, scratchy cackle. We're still weeks away from that.

Things have been moving along since my last entry. For starters, I've had several articles published, in-print and on-line. Two were in the last issue of Fangoria (#295). One was (finally) my DEATH KAPPA set visit. The other was a look at Nikkatsu Studio's new Sushi Typhoon label and Yoshinori Chiba, the producer who started it. I'd say the article is more about Chiba than it is Sushi Typhoon, as the label is a manifestation of his filmmaking philosophies.

What I mean is, I suppose I could have done a piece focusing on the growing catalogue of Sushi Typhoon pieces – giving plot synopsis, cast / crew lists, and gushing over how there have never been films like this in the history of cinema - but I felt Chiba's story had more human interest in it and, thus, was the one more worth telling. Besides, Chiba's a good guy. He laughs at my jokes. People who laugh at my jokes are OK by me.

I'm also happy to report that the movie HELLDRIVER has finally been officially announced. Another in the Sushi Typhoon line, this one is a zombie epic directed by Yoshihiro Nishimura (director of TOKYO GORE POLICE and co-director on VAMPIRE GIRL VS. VAMPIRE GIRL). I did a piece on HELLDRIVER for the Fangoria website. Well, two pieces technically, but the second was only a collection of set photos I took.

Here's a link to the articles:

First story with photos:

Fangoria Helldriver Story 1

Second story, photos only:

Fangoria Helldriver Story 2

And something at Twitch I did:

Twitch Helldriver

I spent several days on the set of HELLDRIVER. It was the kind of fun I've come to expect when on a Nishimura set. However, there were times when it rivaled the toughest set experiences I've ever had. Let me tell you, if anyone makes claims that making film is lots of fun, they either don't know what they are talking about or they have been to a set and done nothing but sit on the sidelines. It's some of the hardest work known to man. Especially when the budgets are what they are in Japan.

I went the first day of shooting, traveling in a location bus all the way down to Choshi in Chiba. While the area there is picturesque with lots of quaint wood and porcelain roofed homes this being a Nishimura film meant that if there was a dung infested hole to be found, find it we would. And find it we did!

Sure enough, my jaw dropped to the floor of the minibus when we pulled into a stinky looking, dilapidated factory that I was told was now an illegal dump yard. It was f*king gross. There were huge cubes of compressed garbage wrapped in black plastic all about the place. Many were splitting at the edges. And the inside of the place was just so much rusted machinery.

Still, it was a great day and filled with the insanity and blood letting that only Nishimura can conjure up. Hell, I even got to do an acting part with some dialogue that I think came out pretty good.

But the really tough days were over by Mt Fuji. Two days cursed by a torrential downpour. Imagine being up in the woods, around you are 30 people made up as zombies, as many crew, and it's pelting rain like small rocks with no shelter to be had anywhere. If that's not enough the ground had turned to mud, like something out of an army movie, and the lightening equipment was just standing in the mud. If one of those things were to fall over, I wondered how many, if not all of us, would have died. To make matters worse, I had been told shooting would start at 11am. It started at 7pm. I had been up since 4am. Standing there, my sneakers wet like two soak sponges, I'm ready to collapse, and looking at my watch I see it's still only 1:40am. Shooting wasn't going to end until 6am.

But that night was pretty amazing. Lots of blood and guts. I got tons of great photos. And it ended weirder than I could have imagined. Back at the ryokan (Japanese inn) I had to get into the shower with all the male zombie extras. Me, naked, with 15 Japanese men in zombie makeup. I slept like a rock for the entire four hours they allowed us to sleep. The next day too was a load of fun. A cameo by a famous director I've known for years. Also, Cay Izumi was doing some pole dancing, which they shot against "Good Times Bad Times" by Led Zeppelin. And, man, if that didn't rock!

My last day on the set was a lot of fun too and I got in my actor interviews and tied up all the little odds and ends I need to get for my articles before the set vanishes forever. More great photos too! I love taking set photos!

In sad news, voice actor / director Peter Fernandez passed away this month. I met Peter at a fan event in LA back in 1999. But, it turned out that this wasn't the first time we'd met. I, and several other writers, wrote a little tribute to Peter for the website Sci-Fi Japan:

Peter Fernandez Remembered

On an unfortunate similar note, Reiko Inoue, the wife of Godzilla art director Yasuyuki Inoue, passed away a few days ago. I'm very sad to hear this. Just the day before I was told she was expected to live a few more weeks and I was planning to pay her a visit. When I was filming my documentary, Bringing Godzilla Down to Size, Reiko really took care of all of us klutzy men. She always had big smiles and gave off nothing but warmth and affection. Like her husband, Reiko was an accomplished artist and I enjoyed her sculptures scattered about their home in Ebina. Reiko will be missed. I’m planning to attend the funeral this weekend.

Until the next entry...

Mutant Girls Squad

2010-06-10T23:40:00.003+09:00

I continue to be tied up with work and all sorts of fun things. Well, mostly work things. But I like to work - so it's all fun!

I recently completed a subtitle gig for the Nikkatsu film "Mutant Girls Squad," which is part of their Sushi Typhoon label. I had a blast working with Shinako from Nikkatsu and Sasaki from Mahara-Mothra. We finished things off the other day in the studio, where we really fine tuned the subs.

As can be expected from filmmakers such as Iguchi and Nishimura, they've come up with moments in the dialogue that have no equivalent in English. Luckily for me, I was given carte blanche by the directors to apply my own bent view of things based on my knowledge of Japan, the west, and my long time relationship with the directors. After all was said and done, I really do feel that the subs are above average for this kind of film and that they will offer non-Japanese speakers greater insight into the blood splattered insanity of the film. I also owe a big round of thanks to my partner, Kenichiro Shimbo.

It's come to my attention that this subtitled version of Mutant Girls Squad will be playing at Theater N from this Saturday until June 18th. Here's a link to the announcement on the MGS blog.

MGS BLOG

One of the recent Nikkatsu films whose set I spent some time on has been officially announced. It's the movie version of the 70s TV show "Denjin Zaborgar," which is the original "transforming" robot TV show. I was going to report on it for Fangoria, since director Noboru Iguchi has made some rather Fangoria styled gore films, but the movie seems to be more action than splatter, so I sent some of my photos from the set over to the Twitch website along with a quote I worked out of Iguchi between takes. Here's the link to that:

TWITCH WEBSITE

In addition, I spent several long days on the set of Yoshihiro Nishimura's latest opus. As this hasn't been officially announced I can't comment on it. But I do want to say that it was one of the most intense films sets I've been to. It was tough, emotionally and physically, but I rate it high on my life experience list. I'll be writing about the film for Fangoria. I will say this, it's a film that has the potential to be one of the most explosive genre films ever to come out of Japan. I even got a couple of lines of dialogue in the film too! (But it should be good despite this...)

A short film that I wrote the script for, "Once More," will have its premiere at the Tokyo Short Shorts film festival this weekend. It was directed by Hiroo Takaoka, who was the cameraman on my films "The iDol," and "Bringing Godzilla Down to Size." Here's the link to the page at Short Shorts:

http://www.shortshorts.org/2010/en/official/a-e.html

Not sure if this will work, but Hiroo put the trailer up on Facebook. Here's the link to that:

http://www.facebook.com/?ref=home#!/video/video.php?v=453346989347&ref=mf

I notice that the Short Shorts page lists it as a "drama" film. Idiots! I guess this is because genre films get little respect at Japanese film festivals.

It was a fun script to write and I'm interested to see how it's turned out. It's the first time something I wrote wasn't shot by me. The story is basically science fiction but I strove to keep the human element strong.

Finally, my next movie is moving along. Not as fast as I'd like, but these things take time. I have a film company in Japan working on the production with me, although at this early point we're still raising capital.

Hopefully I'll have some good news about my newest project - like an official announcement - in the coming weeks.

Until then...

Full Steam Ahead!

2010-05-19T11:03:00.004+09:00

I don't know if this is a blog or simply a list of things I've done between time point A and time point B. I wouldn't mind writing more often and in more detail, if only time permitted. Not even sure where to begin...

Well, since my last entry, I attended two screenings at Imagica. The first was "Death Kappa," an upcoming giant monster film by director Tomoo Haraguchi. It was the premiere screening of the film and attended by the staff and cast. I was there finishing up my story on the film for Fangoria magazine.

I love watching films at Imagica. Nice, large, cushiony seats, a bright clear screen and some booming audio. As "Death Kappa" isn't a major release it was screened in the smaller theater on the lot, but even that's not bad. Still, the large theater is my favorite screen in Japan and I've seen a number of big films there over the years.

Everyone went to a nearby Izakaya to celebrate after the preview. I spent the night wedged between the producers and cast. One thing I find amusing about these staff parties is how everyone separates themselves. At one table was the art department and VFX people, at another, the camera and sound crew, and at another, the director, producers and actors.

In any case, the night was great fun. Haraguchi and I go back to the set of "Gamera 3", and he even put a cameo in my first film, "The iDol." Haraguchi loves teasing me about this (among other things), leaving me in a position where all I can do is down as much alcohol as possible and tease him back.

It was only my second time to meet the film's leads, so I was still in the introductory stage of my meeting with them. You know, polite speech and lots of praising back and forth (so different from Haraguchi). However, two of the actors I've known for awhile. Hiroko Sakurai is always a sweetheart, and seems to have a smile permanently plastered on her face. The other actor, Ryuki Kitaoka (guess he changed his name), I've known since 1999 when I met him at some low-rent "giant monster" festival in LA.

Two weeks later, I went over to Haraguchi's home where, amidst wild props from his various productions and his incredible still and movie poster, we conducted an interview about his work and intentions for the "Death Kappa" film. It was basically a follow up interview to the one I did with him during shooting.

Also during April was the premiere of the film "Natural Woman 2010," which I did subtitles for earlier in the month of April. While not a major release, it was a quite an enjoyable job. The premiere at Image Forum in Shibuya was a blast. All of the film's actresses were on hand, along with director Seiichi Nomura, a well known photographer in Japan who came up with the idea of running photos of pretty girls at the head of Japanese manga, an idea that could be said to have become culturally significant. The premiere featured a talk on stage with the director and the films four main actresses.

I dragged my friend Shusuke Kaneko to the screening (which made a stir backstage). After the screening, Kaneko, myself, Yamazaki (assistant producer), her sister and Ayano, the lead of "Natural Woman," went to a small restaurant around the corner and spent about 5 hours talking and basically just laughing it up.

The following week saw another "Natural Woman" event, this time attended by the two leads, Ayano and Shiomi, and director Nomura. It was also my birthday, and, coincidently, assistant producer Yamazaki's too. After the screening, Excellent Films president Ito-san took us out for an excellent birthday dinner! (Get it? Excellent films. Excellent dinner... Ah, forget it!)

I spent the night getting to know Shimoi and getting to know Ayano better. Shiomi works mostly as a model and was the face for a line of cosmetics for cosmetic giant Kanebo. She had some interesting stories about modeling trips to Spain. Ayano, on the other hand, was a film student and it seems she's become an actress only because she happens to be entirely cute. The food was fantastic, and desert was a big dish of different pastries with Yamazaki's and my name written across it in chocolate syrup.

The Dawn of the Dead Box Set I worked on came out a day or two before my birthday, and the company sent me a copy, which is great as the 20,000 yen price tag is a bit steep. I don't know if I'd call the cover 'exciting,' more like 'sophisticated,' but the set gets my approval. In addition to the various versions of the film, there are lots of nifty bits on the extras disc, too many to mention here. As I announced in a previous blog, I wrote a couple of pages for the 64page pamphlet. Writing about my favorite film of all time and getting paid for it is one of my greatest joys! There's nothing like money made from doing what you like doing.

Between blogs I also did subtitles for a film called "Mutant Girls Squad," which is an upcoming film from Nikkatsu Studio on their new Sushi Typhoon label. Directed by three men – Nishimura, Iguchi, Sakaguchi – MGS is a totally over the top gore fest with some decent action scenes and a good sense of humor from start to finish. Writing the subs was challenging, as some of the sections have no English equivalent. One reason I got the job is because director Nishimura insisted that I do it. I've known Nishimura for years now and I know how he thinks and where his sensibility lies. I also did subs for his "Vampire Girl vs. Frankenstein Girl" film last year and those came out well.

As if this wasn't enough, I also spent several days on the set of two new Nikkatsu films, but as these remain officially unannounced, I guess I shouldn't mention them in any detail yet. Hopefully by the time I find a moment to update this blog it will be OK for me to talk about them.

Until then...

Yubari Final and other Stuff

2010-03-27T12:37:00.044+09:00

Wanted to do a more detailed blog on my time at Yubari - as per the last entry - but since getting home from Hokkaido I've hit the ground running and been bogged down with work. So, that kind of entry is no longer possible. But the work I've been busy with is good. No complaints.

One of these jobs - and one I just completed today - was doing subtitles for an upcoming film in Japan called "Natural Woman 2010." It was a fun gig. I enjoyed the performances of the two lead women, actresses Ayano and Yukari Shiomi.

Not counting my own films, this is my third subtitling job. (To date, I've done the indie kaiju film "G" and "Vampire Girl vs. Frankenstein Girl.") I like subtitling and find it stimulating coming up with equivalent English phrases and expressions that will allow non-Japanese speaking people the opportunity to join in on Japanese cinema. It also offers me a terrific outlet in which to express my understanding of Japanese culture and to do so in the medium of film, which is my art form of choice. I've got an offer now to sub a major release in Japan and will announce that here if I secure the job. Should find out over the next month. Looking good though.

I also had a great gig last Saturday night at Theater N in Shibuya, where they were screening a remasted HD print of DAWN OF THE DEAD, my all-time favorite movie. When I get into my Yubari recap later on in this blog, I'll write about a similar job I did of hosting a DAWN show there, which is what led to the screening in Shibuya last weekend.

Back in the early 1980s I made several trips to the Monroeville Mall, the location for much of DAWN OF THE DEAD. Although the Mall still stands today, almost every store seen in the film has shut down. I took several rolls of film back then when it was still very similar to how it looked during shooting. For my talk show, I ran through a slide presentation of the best of these shots, comparing them to frames from the film, and related stories of being at the mall, what the place is like, and my experience of working with director George Romero eleven years ago on the Biohazard II TV commercial.

One of the highlights of the Theater N show was when I pulled out an actual piece of Mall marble I picked up from the loading dock of the mall 25 years ago. The audience gasped, surprised to see such an insane item as this. With it held firmly in both hands, I marched the small slab through the center isle of the theater, inviting people in the audience to touch it. It was a funny moment, and terrific for me to see so many people with wide smiles plastered across their faces as they reached out to give my marble a few hard rubs.

One more thing about this night: For sale in the theater were a bunch of DAWN t-shirts. Some were cool, others were whatever... But there was one that simply blew my mind! It didn't even say DAWN OF THE DEAD anywhere on it. I mean, leave it to the Japanese to come up with as insane an 'otaku' items as this. What I'm talking about is that there was a shirt with the words "Bach's Arco Pitcairn" printed on the back!

What?!?
You don't get it? OK... Let me explain:

There's a scene in DAWN where a zombie with a baseball glove sits down in front of Fran, the female lead, and the two stare at each other through a pane of glass. Well, some nut heads in Japan went to the trouble of making an exact copy of the shirt the zombie was wearing! Thus, the words, "Bach's Arco Pitcairn." Man... What could I do other than get one for myself! I suppose this means that I still have some otaku left in me after all. It's now my favorite shirt of all-time and space!

Well, I do want to wrap up my Yubari report. Guess I'll present it in what bits stand out in my mind...a whirlwind blur in my mind.

First and foremost was the screening of my movie, IT'S ALL GOOD, my main reason for traveling up to the cold wastelands of Hokkaido. It was shown the morning of the first full day of the festival. There were three other films on the bill, with mine up first. The directors from the other films and I, along with Yoshihiro Nishimura, who worked on all three films, gathered off stage where we got mentally ready for the screenings.

My favorite moment came when they ran the introductory video that was shown before each (and every) screening at Yubari. Among them was a commercial for Yubari ski resorts and featured a bit with four children standing in a line rocking side to side, their heads poking out from behind the one in front. It is a hysterically charming commercial. As it played for the audience the four of us, who had gathered in a circle off in a dark space to the right side of the screen, starting swaying our bodies around like the kids in the video. We were all giggling hard when they called us on stage.

It's important to watch your film with an audience. It allows you to see things with fresh eyes. I'm happy to report that, other than the fact that the film was still missing some of its CG work, I couldn't find much to fault in it. That is, it had reached the point of being as good as it was going to get.

After the screening, I took the stage to talk about the film. I enjoy this kind of thing. I rattled off some production stories and talked about the film's inspirations. My friend and writing partner Mie was hosting the show. As my actors couldn't join me at Yubari, having Mie there was the next best thing. I got a lot of great comments after the screening (and throughout the show). My favorite was from someone who said that every Japanese should see my film. I'm for that!

Later that night I met up with my friends: directors Shusuke Kaneko and Takeshi Yagi, writers Jiro Kaneko, actor Takashi Nishina and and "Bakamono" producer Okimoto. We all went to an Izakaya to pig out. At the table next to us was the Nishimura / Iguchi clan and across from them was the Shun Oguri / Mata Yamamoto group. I was able to catch up with Ryohei Suzuki, one of the starts of Oguri's film, and introduced him to Nishimura and Kaneko. Lots of drinking, talking about film, production stories, etc etc. All in all, a really fun night.

The next day I spent in and out of film screenings, sitting around talking to people and / or taking quiet walks through the Yubari snow. It's an interesting town. It used to have money, but that has dried up along with the young population. Most of the people there seem on average 60 years old.

Despite it being the middle of winter and cold as all hell, Yubari holds an outdoor barbeque for the festival. The specialty this year was deer. Ugh... Sure... I'll eat deer. I eat cow, so why not deer?

One of the people I spent a lot of time with at the show was Nakoshi, who if you don't know, I'm not even going to bother explaining. She's beyond explanation. I simultaneously loathe her and love her. I'm the first to admit that being around her is a dangerous endeavor. She is prone to causing people physical pain if she so decides. If you've ever seen any of Nishimura's films, you've seen Nakoshi. She's in "Tokyo Gore Police" as one of the exotic, mutant dancers, and is the dethroned wrist cut champion in "Vampire Girl vs Frankenstein Girl."

At the barbecue Nakoshi and I went around to the many outdoor hotplates, gathering up food and then joined my friends where we ate huddled around an outdoor stove. My only complaint here is that there weren't enough hotplates and the food would be gone about 3 seconds after it was done. So, I can't really say I filled up on Bambi meat like I would like to say.

That night was the midnight screening of DAWN OF THE DEAD. It featured a dubbed version of the film in Japanese, which I had never seen before. I, along with Egia Hi-Ho writer Yoshida, hosted the show.

First off, I have to admit it: I drank a lot beforehand. But, in my defense, I think everyone at the show was drinking heavily. And since I was drinking throughout the whole show, it was one of those drunken moments where you're just sort of maintaining a buzz and not wasted.

With that said, OK, yeah, I admit it, I was drunk when I took the stage with Yoshida. In fact, before the screening, I was confronting members of the audience, going up to them as they took their seats asking, "Hey, have you seen DAWN OF THE DEAD?" If they answered "Yes" I would "allow" them to stay. If they dared utter "No," they were struck bewildered by me yelling, "Get the hell out of here!" It was all done in jest, of course.

As that blasted promotion video of the Yubari ski resort was playing before DAWN, I saw this as my chance to have a little fun. When the 4 children in the ski video were standing in a row, swaying back and forth, I ran out on stage and, with the screen behind me, acted as if I was in the film with them. The audience roared with approving laughter as I rocked from side to side. I think that by this point everyone was sick of seeing that video.

Like I was to do later on in Shibuya, I projected photos I had taken at the mall and told stories about the DAWN location. I was so full of enthusiasm and energy that I managed to fall off the stage when I ran up to point out something on the screen. Kind of messed up my right leg...

The viewing of the film, probably my 240th time (I stopped counting at 210) was great. And my date for the show was Nakoshi. It was her first time to see the film. I love seeing DAWN with first timers, especially cute girls. And as odd as Nakoshi is, she always has some interesting thing to say later on.

The next morning was the obligatory guest photo session. In a light snowfall, we were whisked by bus to a wide, open area where we took spots along a long platform. In front of us were dozens and dozens of reporters snapping our photos. It would have been more fun if it weren't so blasted cold!

That night was the closing party of the festival in the hall of one of the hotels. Lots of food and lots of people to talk to. Again, I hung out with the Kaneko clan and Nakoshi.

Oh, let me illustrate the kind of person Nakoshi is. There was a film she starred in playing in this year's competition, one I went to see that day. It was kind of a mixed bag. Nakoshi is good, but some of the direction was muddled, the shooting visionless, and the audio awful. I only mentioned this to her since she asked for my honest opinion and since she said she hated the film anyway. After telling her what I thought, she told me to hold on. A moment later she returned with the director, a young guy probably not more than 23. Nakoshi said, "Norman, tell him all the film's bad points like you just told me." Nakoshi is the type that likes to put people in compromised, embarrassing positions.

After the party, a group of us went across the street to an Izakaya. This was probably the most enjoyable moment of the whole show. Everyone was drinking, talking film and just having a good time in general. Having had enough of Nakoshi, I sat with Yui, who stars in director Iguchi's "Robo Geisha"'s spinoff. I did bring Nakoshi along as Nishimura had returned to Tokyo. Unfortunately, she wasn't on best behavior and tore some chest hair off of Shusuke Kaneko and shoved a fork up another guy's nose.

Yagi got an idea to shoot a film, so we all went out into the cold where he directed a silent flick about a gang that attacks the wife of one of the guys in our group. I got knocked down into the snow when her husband came to rescue her. Freaking cold! But, ah, I love snow! Wish we had just a little more in Tokyo. I should also mention that my buddy Benny was there too. He's a great guy and always turns up in Nishimura films.

The following day the festival ended with a screening of Shusuke Kaneko's upcoming film "Bakamono." I guess the English title would be "The Idiots". It's about a young man who meets a slightly older woman and how she corrupts him before leaving him. He then turns to heavy drinking and destroys all the relationships in his life. From there comes the rebuilding process, until he meets her again ten years later where it seems likely that it might start all over again.

This was my second time to see the film. It's a really great movie, kind of a throwback to Japanese films of the 60s and 70s, and Kaneko tells the tale well. I saw the film at a staff screening and loved it so much I recommended it to the Yubari people. They liked it too and included it in the show. As I thought, there wasn't a dry eye in the house when the film finished. The screening was followed by the farewell party where we have to listen to several boring speeches and are served food made by the locals. At least the beer was free...

From there came the odious task of returning to Tokyo. It's a two hours bus ride to Chitose Airport, and then the flight back. At least this time we weren't grounded for hours and hours. After getting back to Tokyo, Kaneko and I rode the trains back into Setagaya, talking about the festival and what's next on our agendas.

Well, all in all, another successful screening of another film of mine. After returning home I received the viewer feedback reports and my film averaged 4 out of 5 stars. I supposed that's a testament to my drive and ability. Once I get the film's final footage and finish it properly, I plan to show it at more festivals around the word.

But then, I also have some new films I'm working on. Including one with Nakoshi... I take my life in my hands...

Yubari Film Festival 2010: Day One

2010-03-05T17:35:00.008+09:00

Hooray! I survived the 20th Yubari International Fantastic Film Festival. I'll be updating the blog over the next week to relate my experience at the show.

Day 1:

Things started off shaky. Rushed off early to Haneda airport only to find that there were severe fog conditions up in Hokkaido and that all flights to Japan's northern region were grounded. Luckily I was traveling with one of my staff members, Mie Kurokawa, and so had someone to pass the wait with. A pain, for sure, and the airport got insanely crowded, but it was no ones fault. Four hours later we were airborne and headed for the Northern part of Japan.

Even though the flight from Tokyo to Hokkaido takes about 1 hour and 15 minutes, the bus from the airport to the small town of Yubari takes about 2 hours. Nothing to do but look out at snow covered landscapes or sleep. I did a little of both.

We guests arrived at Yubari hours late and so were rushed to the opening ceremony where there was a long line of non-guests waving to us as our bus pulled in. Stepping off the bus, we were greeted by a row of old ladies handing out potato balls and warm milk. As actor Ryo Ishibashi noted later on: The milk was amazing!

The first order of the Yubari Film Fest is the ceremony, which is held in the town's lone movie theater. A bit run down with seats fitted for Japanese of a previous generation, the theater isn't the best around, but it has a certain flavor. One by one, each film was spotlighted on the screen while the guest(s) connected to it were introduced. When my film, "It's All Good," was announced, Mie and I stood and waved around the place.

This was my second time at Yubari. I was there in 2008 when my film, The iDol, was in the competition. This time my film was just enjoying a normal screening. I prefer this as I hate competitions. All in all, the ceremony was the usual Yubari fare. First up were some people playing shamisens. Then the town's mayor made a speech. Then the judges of the competition made speeches. Then other people made speeches. I grew sleepy--and hungry! Why do Japanese love speeches so?

Following this was the premiere of the film "Someday Surely." I have to say that this was one of the worst films I have ever seen. Sometimes it's just a matter of taste whether one likes something or not. Make no mistake about it, there was no choice in the matter here - this was crappy filmmaking at its highest level! I couldn't agree with ANY choices the director made! As Mie said later, all film students should watch this as an example of everything one should NOT do when making film. It was directed by 28-year idol actor Shun Oguri who, along with the film's actors, attended the screening.

It turned out that I'm friends with one of the main actors. However, due to the outlandish "star" clothes all the actors came in, I didn't recognize him. It was Mie who said, "Isn't that guy your friend?" Sure enough it was Ryohei Suzuki. Ryohei, who was just as surprised to see me at the show, and I had a good laugh over this the next day.

Following the film Mie and I went to the hotel to check in. She was bunking with two press people and I had my own room (thank god!). After dumping my bags I rushed downstairs to the opening party on the second floor.

I walked in and although only 10 minutes late, the place was already jam-packed. As I hadn't eaten all day, I was famished. I went from table to table, but all the food was gone! I couldn't even find clean chopsticks! I made my way to the table at the base of the stage and there I spotted some pizza and salad on a tray. I dove for the food, managing to get my grubby hands on a couple of slices, but I still lacked chopsticks for the salad. I started to grumble when someone handed me chopsticks. I looked up to see it was the mayor of Yubari! He went into service mode, dishing me salad and noodles. Then he grabbed a beer and poured me a cup. As he did, the town's elite watched and laughed. It was kind of a funny moment.

After the party I went to the screening of Vampire Girl vs. Frankenstein Girl. But I only stayed to watch the opening (directors Nishimura and Iguchi going at it) and to show Mie a bit of the film. Despite being 1/30th the budget of the festival's opening film, it is 100 times better made.

Following this I caught up with some film friends and then went home to call it a night. My film was playing the next morning and I wanted to get some sleep.

Yubari Film Fest is a go!

2010-02-14T16:39:00.009+09:00

The first order of this blog entry is to announce that my newest film, "It's All Good," will premiere at the Yubari International Fantastic Film Festival in Hokkaido at the end of the month. The film will also play on Skyperfect TV, which is a major cable network in Japan.

Skyperfect, a sponsor of Yubari, selects a few entries from the program in order to let those unable to make their way to the festival join in the fun and see some of the works by independent filmmakers in Japan today. It's a terrific opportunity and helps justify the many long hours I and others on the staff put in to make the film.

Unfortunately, the film was not completed when the TV deadline came around last month. What this means is that a few shots, mainly effect / composite shots, are missing or incomplete. It doesn't thrill me, but the core of the film remains and the story is in no way affected.

This will mark my second trip to Yubari, a town located in Japan's northern region. The first time I went was in 2008 when my film, "The iDol," was screened. I'm looking forward to the trip as Yubari is so unlike Tokyo. And it's sure to be knee deep in snow, which I like (in moderation). The town seems to be populated by nothing but old ladies too, who are constantly trying to feed the eccentric filmmakers from Tokyo the 'unique' local dishes. On my last trip we had a big dinner outdoors one night where they served boiled bear!

Yubari is different from most film festivals as the majority of people going are filmmakers. This makes it a good place to meet people. For example, I met Shogen, the male lead of my film, at Yubari in 2008. I also met Mariko, who played the ghost in my film FEED ME, at Yubari. As well as Mie Kurokawa, who has worked on three of my films as an assistant and, more importantly, as scriptwriter for the Japanese versions of my scripts. I'm excited to meet more filmmakers this time around.

I'm also supposed to run the midnight screening of "Dawn of the Dead," but I'm thinking to pass as I'm feeling a bit spread thin at the moment. I'll decide next week.

For scheduling information on the film festival, here are some links:

Yubari International Film Festival:

http://yubarifanta.com/index_pc.php

Direct link to the schedule PDF:

http://yubarifanta.com/2010/chirashi_0203-g.pdf

Link to Skyperfect TV Yubari Page:

http://www.skyperfectv.co.jp/special/yubari10/list.html

California and Beyond

2010-01-17T16:12:00.007+09:00

Took a trip to the US this past holiday season to catch up with family, meet friends, and just get away from things Japan. Seeing family is always a mixed bag, especially when I'm so insanely busy. Lots of odd happenings and bizarre turn of events made for a - if nothing else - memorable vacation.

I started things off on my first night back with dinner in San Francisco with area buddies Bob, Butch, Kevin and Kari. Also on hand were artists Bob Eggleton and his wife Marianne who were in the city on a stopover before flying down to Australia. The following day, Bob, Marianne and myself walked around San Francisco, none of us really knowing where we were going but having a hell of a good time in any case.

Dove down 101 to LA with my mother. That's a fun, somewhat scenic ride that we used to do as a family when my dad was alive. The long ride gave me a chance to catch up with my mom, who, at 76 years of age, is still going strong, teaching dance at a college in the Santa Cruz area.

In LA, I put much time in with my friend Richard P, who was kind enough to take me to a plethora of old movie locations. Thanks to Richard I got to geek out on the location where the Lone Ranger reared his mighty steed Silver and yelled the immortal "Hi-Ho Silver!" as seen on the TV show in the 1950s. Richard even braved Hollywood BLVD so I could do some film book shopping. Richard and I also caught "Avatar" on my last day in LA. I really enjoyed the film, almost as much as I now enjoy reading fanboy comments on where they feel the film falters. The only thing better than armchair quarterbacking is armchair directing.

When in San Jose I took in a Star Trek exhibit at the city's science museum. While I was greatly impressed with the city (other than its human trash infested bus / train terminal), the exhibit was a let down. Sure, being with friends makes almost anything worthwhile, but this was an extreme rip-off with more than half the props being "reproductions" and, to add insult, you couldn't even take photos. Oh, of course the people there would take photos of you, say, sitting on Captain Kirk's chair (a repro, natch) or in a Next Gen transporter, hurrying you through the process and then charging a ton for a computer print out. I have to say, as a guy who was on the forefront of the "Bring Back Star Trek" campaign in the 1970s, and Paramount Pictures convinced then that Star Trek would lose them money, to see them overcharging like this 30 years later has to be a prime example of the best tasting dish of crow in human entertainment history. Hats off to Paramount...

Back in Japan, I've been spending time between finishing up my film "It's All Good" and hanging out with my good friends Ed and Steve who are in Japan conducting tons of interviews for a book on director Ishiro Honda they are writing in partnership with Ryuji Honda, the son of the director. Somehow I was conned into joining them last week to Super Festival, one of those Japanese toy collecting geek fest gatherings. One of the guests there was Akira Takarada, who starred in the original Godzilla and was also featured in my documentary "Bringing Godzilla Down to Size." Takarada is a really fun guy and I enjoy his actor's presence and gentleman aura. He made a big deal out of Ed, Steve and I being there, which was somewhat embarrassing yet ultimately flattering. I was also able to catch up with a few old friends, and actress Yuriko Hishimi, who despite nearing 70, is still as lovely as ever.

In any case, it's back to work time for me. Down to the last three weeks of the "It's All Good" production. Can't wait to finish, and can't wait to get working on the next film!

Death Kappa

2009-12-21T04:47:00.004+09:00

Keeping up with this blog is a lot tougher than I thought it would be. Or maybe it's just because I'm at one of the busiest points in recent memory.

First things first: My film "It's All Good" is moving along. A little slower than hoped, but everyday sees some kind of progress. I recently completed all the ADR. That is such

a chore and one of my least liked phases of the filmmaking process. Especially when an actor has to match their lips to a close up. It's precision work that's hard for them and hard on me. And it's not until I'm working with the audio clips later on if I really know whether it's working or not. But, it went well and I'm happy to put that behind me.

The premiere of the film has been decided and when all the details are finalized I'll announce it officially. But for now, the word is that it's going to premiere at one of Japan's largest film festivals two months from now. As you can imagine, I, along with the rest of the staff that worked so hard on the film, am very pleased with this, the film's first screening.

I recently made the set of "Death Kappa," a film directed by my friend Tomoo Haraguchi. I've known Haraguchi for over ten years, meeting him first on the set of "Gamera 3." Haraguchi also put in a performance in my first film, "The iDol," playing the character Boss Goro. Good filmmaker, good sense of humor, good guy, good friend.

The first day of my "Death Kappa" visit was a lot of fun. I went over with one of the producers of the film, who works for Media Blasters and who I've known since their "Machine Girl" production. We piled into a staff van one early morning and road out of Shibuya and over to somewhere around Mt Fuji.

The film was being shot in some kind of converted boiler room in a seemingly abandoned and entirely dilapidating building. Fairly dusty and not a lot of room to move around within, the boiler room was dressed with some war era equipment, a human-sized X to which the main actress spent most of the day strapped to, several "gill men," half-man / half-fish things in WWII solider outfits, the mummified remains of mad scientist, a large mural of the same guy with eyes that would glow and move around the room, and, finally, a large Hinomaru flag hanging behind the whole scene.

The stars of the film, Misato Hirata and Yukiko, were in the day's scene, so I was able to chat them up and share some set laughs. That's always fun. On hand too was one of Japan's more famous directors putting in a cameo performance. Sorry, but as of this writing I'm not allowed to divulge the film's secret guests.

A couple of days later I journeyed over to Yokohama where the giant monster battles where being shot. It was right on the bay, across from the large Ferris wheel. I think the last time I was here was in 2007 when I was a guest at World Con for a panel talk on – what else? – Godzilla.

I've been on more miniature sets than I can remember. I've seen the whole gamut of production scales from top dog Godzilla down to shoestring budget "G." Death Kappa falls somewhere in between. Fortunately for the film (and me) the art director for the DK monster scenes was Isao Takahashi, who's been doing this sort of work since Godzilla 85. I first met Isao on the set of "Godzilla 2000", but it wasn't until the GMK production, when I visiting the set daily that we got to be buddies.

During the shooting of "GxMG" and "Tokyo SOS" I spent the production in Toho's studio 9 with my desk space right next to his. We used to argue long and hard on philosophical and social issues, the ways of filmmaking at Toho Studios and, better yet, would take photos of the other if one of us had fallen asleep or done something on the more idiotic side. I'd often come into Toho in the morning only to find some large 8X10 photo of myself from the day before showing me asleep with my face pressed hard against the desks of the art department and dribble spilling from my mouth. In turn, I'd get shots of Isao eyeing photos of scantly clad women in magazines such as Friday or Weekly Playboy. So, I was thrilled to find Isao was in charge of the miniature work on "Death Kappa." Other than bumping into him here and there, the last time I saw him at work was on the set of Godzilla: Final Wars where I had to listen to his non-stop complaints about the script and the production as a whole.

I would say it's been four or more years since I shot stills of giant monster's battling it out. I'm happy to report that it's like riding a bike. As soon as I found my place on set squeezed in between the official set still photographer and the camera crew, and with the monster suit actors positioned on stage and action called, it was as if I had never left. I mean, the smell of the set, the banter of film set Japanese, the smell of the "fog," the gathering around to check playback, the stock of buildings stacked off the side, the boxes of miniature paraphernalia, the suit actors waiting between shots half in / half out of their monster suits... I love being on these sets!

I'll be doing a feature piece on "Death Kappa" for Fangoria magazine, but next week I'll have a teaser piece up on the Fango website.

As soon as it's up, I'll update the blog with the link.

2009-11-01T00:25:00.003+09:00

It's Saturday afternoon here in Tokyo. Last day of my favorite month, October. Trying to take a breather in between the huge work load that I have.

I finished the ADR on my "It's All Good" film. That was a lot of fun. Both my actors (Shogen & Stephanie) are so much fun to work with and both are eager to do what it takes to finish the film. What more can a filmmaker ask of his actors? The film is reaching the 90% completion point. Pretty soon I'll have some fantastic news to update here about the movie.

My horror short, "Feed Me" played at the Bay Area Film Event as part of their Halloween show in Oakland, California. Wish I could have attended, but it's kind of far, you know. Much thanks to Bob Johnson for booking it, despite its low-budget trappings.

Lazy October...

2009-10-10T20:29:00.005+09:00

Fall, my favorite time of year, has finally descended on Tokyo. There was a fairly strong typhoon the other day, which caused pounding on my window all night and made my apartment building shake about like a bean in a maraca. The next day the roads were littered with brown and gold leaves, as if autumn had been dropped on us all at once. The upside to this is that after a typhoon the air is scrubbed clean, and the view of the city the day after was crisp and clear.

Well, I wouldn't call my life very exciting since the last blog entry. I've spent most of the time holed up at home writing a new script and fine-tuning the edit on my film "It's All Good." The edit is going well, but it's taking a lot longer than hoped. However, I have everything just about how I want it. After I get the FX shots in then comes the real fine-tuning. I'll be starting the ADR session on it within two-weeks. Can't wait! I love working with my actors Stephanie and Shogen.

I finished the first draft of a new film script entitled "The Blue House." It's a hard story to describe. It's about a young woman with a somewhat off-kilter relationship with the world and how she comes to terms with the whole of humanity. It didn't really occur to me, but I was told it's a love story, but not of the kind one thinks when hearing "love story." It's a love story between a woman and humankind.

Of course there is a science fiction element to the story. Wouldn't be me without it. I guess it's safe to say that I'm fairly bored by the limitations of the "real" world. Even so, my interest lies within the framework of the individual's relationship with the world. Despite my love of the unreal external and the true-to-life internal, I think it's possible to explore these inner workings of humanity within a science fiction setting without compromising the legitimacy of that exploration. "The Blue House" is the latest in a series of pieces I've written where I just let my sensibilities guide me along. Hard work, but enjoyable. The lead actress is a super woman with just the right sensibility to get into the pathos of the piece. Can't wait to shoot it.

This week some friends from the US west cost – Bob, Barrie, Butch, and Kevin – flew in to Japan. Barrie's been to Japan a bunch of times, but it's the first time for the others. I made the time to hook up with them and our first day saw a trip to Nakano and Akihabara. As you can no doubt surmise, these guys are into otaku stuff, although Butch is quick to separate himself from the anime scene.

We also put in a day at Toho Studios. I made a call and arranged for us to get in so they could fulfill a dream of walking around Japan's leading film studio. For me, going to Toho is no biggie anymore as I've been there over 200 times, so the best part was that my friend Shimizu took us around. Shimizu was an assistant director when I first met on the set of CROSS FIRE in 2000, and then umpteen times on the Godzilla sets as he was AD on all of the "Millennium Series" until FINAL WARS when he jumped ship and worked as AD for Shinji Higuchi on the film LORELEI. In fact, it was Shimizu who asked me to be in the opening scene in LORELEI.

Shimizu is one of the best ADs I've seen: First on set, last to leave; never a frown, always on top of things with a calm enthusiasm. His wife is an actress and she had a part in GMK and one of the Tezuka Godzilla films. Shimizu is also a kaiju fan, and often during shooting he would be tapped for hardcore info by the directors.

As I've been to Toho more times than I can recall going with first timers is fun. It's like rediscovering Christmas through the eyes of one's children. And Toho has changed so much over the past few years. I now try to work exclusively on my own film projects so don't visit sets as much as I used to. I think the last film set at Toho I was on was either THE GURDGE 2 or Hideo Nakatta's KAIDAN. But I have been there since the Big Pool was torn down... My memory is fuzzy in this way.

Anyway, so many new stages have been erected over the past four years. It's almost like a different place. My friends were lucky though, because Stage 1 and 2, built in the early 30s, are still standing. Shimizu gave the shocking news that they are earmarked for destruction next year. Everything has been shot in them, including the original Godzilla, Rodan, Mothra, etc. Stage 1 was where I saw my first Godzilla shooting too. That was back in 1999 and was the final scene of "Godzilla Millennium" when the main actors were on the roof watching Godzilla fight Ogura. It was also the stage for the first day of shooting on GMK. My first experience with Studio 2 was a week during GMK for the underwater battle between Godzilla and Ghidorah. With the studio filled with smoke (to simulate the murkiness of water), everyone had to wear protective masks including myself. Unhealthy, but fun.

Shimizu was kind enough to drag out some old props for us. The day before Butch had been asking if we could see the Oxygen Destroyer from the 1954 Godzilla. I told him that that wouldn't happen. Well, it was nice to be proven wrong when Shimizu dragged it out of a locked closet. Later we were taken to another room with some leftover suits. I was astonished to see one of the GMK suits rotting away. Not one of the two full-sized suit, but the full sized, hand operated one. I remember the day this was brought on set. It was stunning looking! But now! Rubber is peeling away and some of its teeth are missing. But then again, GMK was shot 8 years ago!

Where does the time go?

Summer's Almost Gone...

2009-09-12T15:29:00.019+09:00

The last two weeks have seen me taking it easy and catching up with things and people.

Caught the Paul Gauguin exhibit at the National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo 2 weeks ago. That was enjoyable and the first time his masterpiece "Where do we come from? Who are we? And where are we going?" has been to Japan. Really invigorating stuff.

However, while Japanese museums are nice enough and regularly stocked with masterworks from around the globe, they are kind of annoying in some areas. For one, most paintings are kept behind glass. So, you get glare on everything. They also keep the art behind barriers. The moment you even get near one, security guards rush up to remind you of your perilous proximity to the art work. I even set an alarm off once for daring to get within 3 feet of a Picasso. Additionally, people going to exhibits in Japan are uniformly over-serious. Somber faces are the norm, as they scan over paintings like doctors in search of the cure for cancer. (Where is joy?) Well, Japan is kind of an uptight place and I guess that's never going to change. Still, I had a good time and I'm grateful that Japan is affluent enough that paintings such as this make their way here.

I wrote a new Fangoria piece the other day. It was for the film "God's Left Hand, Devil's Right Hand," directed by Shusuke Kaneko. The film has finally been picked up by Media Blasters in the West.

I met with Kaneko and we had coffee in Shimokita and both of us tried our best to remember shooting -- from four years ago! I actually had a blast on that set, especially on "cake day." This is a scene in the film where super model Reon Kadena is force fed cake that she vomits up just before having her head cut off. Check out this photo I took on the set. Pretty cool, no?

The next day I met up with Kaneko (again) and my friend Ryoko, who was the star of my film FEED ME. We went to a concert given by Stephanie (star of my new film, "It's All Good") at Shibuya Boxx. The show was jam packed with fans, but lucky for us, Steph's manager Tanaka got us VIP seats, where we sat, oddly enough, on tall silver swivel chairs. I think it was the first time I ever sat at a pop / rock show.

The concert was fantastic. Stephanie is such a dynamic singer and is happy to the point that you can't help but feel happy yourself. The show lasted two hours and my face hurt from smiling so much. Kaneko is kind of funny. He's not really the coolest guy when it comes to music, and seeing him pumping his hand in the air out of time with the music was hysterical. After the show some fans came up to Kaneko to tell him how much they loved "Pride," the film he directed that stars Stephanie. I wonder what they'll make of my Stephanie film... From there we went backstage and hung out with Steph.

Monday saw me over at the "Sophia" screening room in Akasaka (named after Sophia Coppola as she worked there during "Lost in Translation"). Kaneko had invited me to a screening of his latest film "Bakamono." It was a small showing held for the writer of the novel that the film is based on. The movie is a real departure for Kaneko. It's about a man who develops a drinking problem that destroys every relationship in his life. A powerful film and - I admit it - I cried several times! The good news is that the writer loved the adaptation (which was a relief for Kaneko since there had been some tension during preproduction over the script).

Wednesday night I went out with Kaneko, Yagi (Ultraman director), Ryoko and Stephanie for a wonderful dinner in Shibuya. Kaneko started complaining, calling the past week, "my week with Norman." (What can I say? I'm fun to hang out with!) I hadn't seen Yagi since shooting of "It's All Good," so it was nice to talk about the edit of the film and catch up with what he's doing. He's also friends with Ryoko, as they met on the set of FEED ME, and met again when Yagi was in England promoting an Ultraman DVD set last April. Stephanie is tons 'o' fun too. She's witty, bright, and always seems to have something kind to say no matter what the subject. As usual, Kaneko was drilling everyone on Japanese history, his pet subject. At those times I can just play dumb gaijin and zone out. Just a fun night all around.

This weekend will just see more of me staring at my film and trying to figure out the best shape into which to forge it.

Oh, and today I started a new screenplay...

"It's All Good" on FOX-TV

2009-08-31T21:01:00.014+09:00

Fox-TV has a show in Japan called "Backstage Pass" that spotlights films in Japanese theaters, mainly Hollywood blockbusters. During the rehearsal and shooting of "It's All Good," some of the people at the show paid the set a visit to gather coverage for a piece they were doing on independent films and filmmakers in Japan.

The show ran this past week on TV in Japan and today they upped it to the web. Of course I'm really happy to have this run. But what I'm not happy about is that as the film is still in post-production the scenes shown from the actual film are incomplete. For example, the music is from my first film, The iDol, and not the film's actual score. You'll notice that the TV to the right of Stephanie has green marks on it. This is because a TV picture will be fit in later on. And the worst offender, the quick zoom in on Stephanie as she holds the alien parasite, which is a total place marker FX shot.

But what can you do? Just happy to get the word out!

Here's the link:

http://tinyurl.com/nkclkr

Enough Already!

2009-08-30T17:23:00.008+09:00

I officially ended my work on VAMPIRE GIRL last night with the premiere of the English language subtitle version at Theater N in Shibuya.

But I get ahead of myself. The movie finally had its "normal" premiere (no subs) on 8/15/09. That day, I caught the morning screening in Shinjuku, which was given the send off by directors Nishimura and Tomomatsu, as well as actors Yukie Kawamura, Eri Otoguro, and Takumi Saito. Of course these are just the high profile people involved in the film, and in the audience were many of us who had worked on the film.

As my friends Yoko and Maki of the singing group Trippi's couldn't make the first screening, I arranged to meet them at Theater N in Shibuya for the next stage introduction by directors and actors. I guess this was my 300th time to see the film...

Afterward, the staff / cast went over to an "izakaya" to celebrate. Drinking, eating, laughing, story telling, silliness... It was the typical after screening party that I've come to enjoy. Takashi Shimizu of The Grudge fame was there, and we both fell pray to the demented (i.e. disturbed) ways of Sayako Nakoshi, who plays the dethroned wrist cut champion in VG. Shimizu fared better than I, as she drew blood from my thumb. Shimizu is also an actor in the film, playing a Chinese language teacher.

Following this the group moved to what the Japanese lovingly refer to as 二次会 or second party. "Machine Girl" director Iguchi waddled in with Aya Kiguchi, the star of his new Robo Geisha film, which I have yet to see, but probably will pass on. His films are too crass even for the likes of me. I spent most of the time talking actor technique with Shimizu, who I think is a phenomenal director and one of the funniest men on the face of the Earth. (Shimizu was supposed to be at the English subtitle screening last night but opted out to go to a hot spring with his family, which was probably a better deal for him. But he was kind enough to send Nishimura a rather elaborate note to the audience that included a message for me and my last film FEED ME.)

The following day (8/16) I went over to Imagica to catch a screening of Shimizu's new 3D film, "The Shock Labyrinth." The film was completed at 1pm that day, and screened for a small group at 6pm. Kind of cutting it close...? While I don't hate 3D and do enjoy it on occasion (like when seeing "Parasite" in the early 80s), I really don't think it much more than a gimmick. But, hell, if someone said they'd finance a 3D film of mine I'd jump on that in no time flat! Still, it was a decent film and Shimizu always has an interesting way to present his story elements. Fortunately for Shimizu, he was less hung over than I from the night before.

Anyway, last night went fine. I had a good time and could relate some of the challenges of putting the subs together, with Marc Walkow of the NY Asian Film Festival relating the impression the film had made on the non-Japanese audience when it had it's first screening in NY last month. Was it last month? Earlier this month? I could look it up on the web... too lazy.

My film "It's All Good" creeps closer to completion. I got the score last week from Kow Otani. As usual, he delivered something truly different. I can't say it's what I was expecting, but it works and adds depth to the entire film. Still so much to do...

Oh yeah... The photo here is me with one of Monami's (Vampire Girl) blood swords. Stupid, cheap digital cameras can't get the focus right on those things in low light...

Vampire Party

2009-08-09T12:33:00.013+09:00

A fun thing connected to movie making is not the actual filmmaking process, which is mostly a direct path to hell, but the wrap parties. I'm a big fan of wrap parties. I've been to many in Japan, several Godzilla, Ju-On, and Death Note, among others, ones. It's always a good time and a chance to celebrate the monumental effort movie making entails.The other night I attended the final promotional party for "Vampire Girl vs Frankenstein Girl." While not an official wrap party, it kind of turned out that way, with much of the audience being either staff or core fans. In fact, as the official end of the pre-promotional blitz, everyone was letting their hair down and just having the best time they could.

Taking place at the Ruido Live House in Shibuya, the evening began with Maki and Yoko of the group "Trippi's" singing "Pinky Love," one of their songs used in "Vampire Girl." I love this song so much. It's a kind of 60s style tribute tune that helps smooth over some of the violent aspects of the film. Both girls are totally cute, with an enjoyable, deadpan stage presence.

Following this directors Nishimura and Tomomatsu, Frankenstein actress Eri Otoguro, stunt director Tak Sugimoto, and others took the stage in an attempt to talk about the film. But with Nishimura basically talked out when it comes to the film, he was more interested in horsing around, relentlessly teasing Tomomatsu and some of the other staff.

This ended about 30 minutes later. Nishimura then called a few of us who worked on the film to the stage. As mentioned in a previous blog, I did the subtitles for the film. I got a good laugh tonight when pointing out that my contribution has little meaning in Japan. But the truth is, I busted my rear on those subtitles, and Nishimura was quick to mention that good subs can make or break a film abroad.

I was also happy that I finally got to put in some one-on-one time with the adorable Eri, who plays the 'evil' Frankenstein actress. She came tonight wearing a yukata, giving the party a pleasant traditional touch. Eri's a charming young woman and delivers a terrific performance in "Vampire Girl."

After this my friend Kai got up and wowed us with some pole dancing. While not a fan of sexually stimulated dance, I have to admit that Kai is quite good. A professional dancer as well as an actress, Kai appears in "Vampire Girl" as the leader of the ganguro clique. I'm embarrassed to say that because she wears so much make-up in the film I didn't know it was Kai until this evening. She's also in Noburo Iguchi's new "Robo Geisha" movie.

Somewhere near the end of Kai's performance, Nishimura climbed on stage and started calling some of us back on the stage for a turn on the pole. I was one of the first called upon.

Jumping onto the silver rod, I had to use what little strength I posses to pull myself up. Then, with the even less coordination I have, I did my best to spin around a couple of times, finally falling down totally exhausted. I tell you, it's not as easy as it looks! Although this was about the last thing expected to do this evening, I'm happy that I gave it a whirl.

Get it...? "Gave it a whirl." You know, pole dancing... spinning around... whirl...? Ah, forget it!

As the evening was wearing to an end, Nishimura and I demanded that Trippi's get back on stage and sing their theme song to "Vampire Girl" once more. Nishimura set a chair right in front of the stage, while I climbed to the side in front of Yoko. And the crowd went wild!

Also at the party was Jiro Kaneko, writer of the Japanese script for my film, "The iDol," who came with Benny, one of the stars of Nishimura's 2008 film, "Tokyo Gore Police." Benny's a good guy and a decent actor. I hope I can find a part for him some day in one of my films. In addition, I got to hang out with Remi Otsuka and Miharu Yamazaki, my buddies at Excellent Films, the mini-Frankenstein trio from "Vampire Girl," and Rei and Yumemi Kato two actress. Yumemi (in red beside me) is a Robo Geisha in the film "Robo Geisha."

An hour later the inner core of the night went to a small standing bar around the corner where we continued to while away the evening, drinking, toasting and singing theme songs to 60s anime. Only in Japan.

Here's a truncated version of Maki and Yoko's song. Not sure why the person who upped this cut it up in this way... Moron!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?gl=US&v=M1OD1hPRkSI

2009-07-29T16:27:00.007+09:00

The hot icky days of summer are back and burning up the Tokyo streets – and I totally can't stand it!

On the 22nd, Japan was treated to a solar eclipse. The day was totally overcast, so everyone was saying it'd be impossible to see. However, at around 11:10am, I decided to take a peak outside anyway. Wouldn't you know it, blazing through the haze was the sun with the moon laying over it causing it to look something like a flying Pacman. Not a full eclipse, but at 70%, it was a decent one nonetheless.

Work has been going well. I finished a job writing the English version of a Japanese script currently in pre-production. I had less than ten-days to complete the entire thing, which meant translation, writing, and formatting into standard "Hollywood" script style. Unfortunately, the subject matter wasn't anything I'm so into, it being female erotica based on a novel by a well-known Japanese writer. But it was fun and with each script under my belt I feel I'm a better writer for it.

Had a fun night last Friday. Was invited to a Fox-TV Backstage Pass party in Roppongi by Ako, who is one of the Backstage Pass' "Samurai Divas" and also an actress in my new film. The party turned out to not only be a lot of fun, with lots of free Corona (the president of Corona was there), but I got to meet a lot of cool people. I like meeting cool people.

Probably the most fun was hanging out with Honoka, who stars in the upcoming film "Looking for Anne." Honoka is the daughter of Takaaki Ishibashi, one of the most popular comedians in Japan. Despite being just 19, Honoka is remarkably well-spoken and easy going. I hope to work with her one day.

Did a screening of my film FEED ME at the Shibuya club / bar / art space Pink Cow the other night. It went a lot better than I expected. My lowest budget film, I don't have a lot of confidence in it. But the screening was a big surprise. People laughed through the opening, got caught off balance when the tone shifts, were tense during the final scene and jumped at the film's "shock ending." Yeah... I was happy. All those endless hours of work paid off, at least for this screening!

I also participated in a promotional talk show at the Asagaya Loft A for the film "Vampire Girl vs Frankenstein Girl." I joined directors Nishimura and Tomomatsu, also actor Jiji Bu and Yubari Film Festival's Tokitoshi Shiota. I had mixed feelings about the talk show as everyone was rather drunk on stage. What could I do? I started pounding away the tequila! Rock and roll, baby!

Oh yeah... and my documentary "Bringing Godzilla Down to Size" screened at Fantasia on 26 Sunday. I really wanted to go, but the show didn't have the budget to fly me over this time. I'm still waiting to hear how it went!

This and That...

2009-07-05T16:25:00.010+09:00

As usual, been up to various things... Last Monday I went to see Stephanie, star of my latest film, sing at Shibuya Eggman. Her show was fantastic. Stephanie has so much positive energy and enthusiasm, and you can see how much she loves singing that one can't help but smile when she's performing. Not only that, but she has one of the most amazing voices. With a five-octave range, I thought she was going to shatter the lenses of my glasses.

For her encore song she performed the Michael Jackson song "Ben," which is one of my favorite songs of his if only because it is, oddly enough, an ode to a rat. A major Jackson fan, Stephanie had prepared the song before the singer's untimely death. Because of her unbelievable range, Stephanie hit every note without straining, rendering out a fantastic version of the song.

I hung out after the show with Stephanie and her mom and dad. That was fun. It was my first time to meet her parents, who turned out to be really down to earth (but I wasn't that surprised since Stephanie is as well). All in all, it was a fantastic, music filled night.

The weekend before I traveled up to Nagano with my friend Mike and his buddies. That was both fun and frustrating at the same time. For one, the organization was awful. First they told me to meet them at 1pm at Akabane where I'd get picked up. Then at 11am they called to say make it noon. I got there at noon, but they didn't show up until 2pm.

It took a good 4 hours to get to Keisuke's home. Keisuke is a friend of Mike's from LA who is now back in Japan and a singer with a rock group. He came with two of his friends.

First order was to check into his parent's house. A big home, as big as any you'd see in the US, which just goes to prove that the image of small homes in Japan is really limited to the urban areas. From there were went over to a "Firefly festival" going in the center of town. Lots of people, lots of stands... It's been a while since I was at one of these "matsuris." The stress of the drive behind me, I was able to enjoy the totally Japanese atmosphere.

The main event was a field filled with fireflies. That was nice to see. I grew up with fireflies back in NY. Unfortunately, you'd get these morons who would try to take a photo with their flash completely blinding everyone around.

The next day we went home, but first stopped by some large lake in the area that had some of the clearest water I've ever seen in Japan. My favorite thing was this insanely huge, tacky boat made up like a swan. Only in Japan.

2009-06-19T16:01:00.002+09:00

This past week was given over to my Fangoria duties. I completed my interviews for the film "Vampire Girl vs Frankenstein Girl." I did a duo interview with directors Nishimura and Tomomatsu. I've got a long history with both of them, as I've interviewed both on several occasions and have been an actor in 2 of Tomomatsu's films ("Stacy" and "Zombie Self-Defense Force") and was a glorified extra in Nishimura's "Tokyo Gore Police."

We hung out at the offices of Excellent Films (Vampire Girl's production office) and delved into the back story of how the film came about, the production, the actors, etc etc. The usual for me when doing this job. The unusual thing was that Nishimura brought a bunch of beer and we were drinking throughout. I guess I can no longer say that I don't drink on the job.

Yesterday I took a long bus ride down to the lower tip of Chiba to the town of Tateyama to check in on the production of "The Shock Labyrinth." The film is being directed by "The Grudge" director Takashi Shimizu. This makes the 5th production of his I've visited. His sets are always fun. They are very well organized and are always minus the hectic pace normally found on Japanese productions. I don't know how he does it.

The film is being shot in 3D and it's the first time I've been able to watch such a film in production. The camera was really small and basically just two small night vision like goggles strapped together. There was a large monitor on the set that displayed the 3D image. Shimizu tossed me a pair of 3D glasses and sat me next to him so I could get the full impact of the 3D image. The monitor was a typical thin LCD yet when looking at it you felt that it went back much further. That was kind of cool to stare into. I enjoyed watching how they would dress the set in order to enhance the 3D feeling.

Another fun thing about the set was that I could see Ai Maeda again, who is one of the first actors I'd interviewed when I started this job. She was the star of "Gamera 3," which shot back in 1998 (or was it 99? Can't recall offhand). I've hung out with Ai on a number of occasions since then including going out for dinner with her and her sister Aki following the world premiere of "Battle Royale 2." Still, it was 4 years since I saw her last. One of the interesting stories I have about Ai is how when I met her on Gamera she couldn't speak a lick of English. After the production she went to Canada for a year. I met her after that on the set of the Godzilla film "GMK" and she was suddenly fluent in English, putting my Japanese to shame! I guess it's true when they say you have to learn languages when you're young. I didn't learn my first Japanese word until I was almost 30!

Shimizu brought up the fact that I was in the SM bar scene in "Tokyo Gore Police," and told Ai, who had seen the film recently. Shimizu too has a small part in the film. Maybe I should be more careful about the films I appear in...

I'm writing a basic intro piece on the film and will upload it to the Fangoria website later next week.

It's All Good Shooting done! For real!

2009-06-13T17:22:00.008+09:00

And I thought Shusuke's 5-shot shoot the other day was short! My shoot today was one of the shortest shoots I've ever been involved with. Or maybe it's because I got up at 5:30am that finishing at 2pm made it feel like a 1/2 day. In any case, I completed the shooting phase of my newest film and for that I'm grateful. A film is never done until the last shot is in the can.

Oh, wait... I still have ADR, effect creation, titles, music, sound effects, etc etc to deal with.

OK... Can't say it's done just yet.

Today's shoot was over at Tamachi Station, one stop from Shinagawa on the Yamanote Line. The crew today was relatively small, but enough to get the job done. It was good to get back with Shu G and Ota, the DP and Lighting Chief from such classics as 'Tokyo Gore Police' and the upcoming 'Vampire Girl vs Frankenstein Girl. ' Also, Hiro and Sekiguchi, the video support team from McCray Inc. Also on hand were JR, co-producer of the film, Mike, our FXs Supervisor, Lindee, the film's Girl Friday (is this a sexist thing to write?), and Adi, who was coaching Ako during her rehearsals.

Today was deceptively simple, which should have set the warning bells off in my head, as nothing is every easy when making film. Today was just a static shot of a reporter reading the news in front of a green screen. Seems simple enough, no? But the delivery of such dialogue is important to come off as convincing and it was a lot of work for Ako, the actress in today's scene. Ako is a sinfully cute young woman who works as a reporter for the Japan Fox-TV show Backstage Pass. Check out Ako here:

Fox-Backstage-Pass-64-Pt1

While Ako's English is entirely fantastic, the dialogue was in a serious news style and not easy even for a native English speaker to deliver credibly. It took a long time to get each take just right and I found I was having to reach deep inside myself to find ways in which to relate the motivation and delivery style needed to bring each take to its finish.

Trust me, Ako was in a rough position. By being removed from an English-speaking nation I've been able to see that the subtle nuances that make up the English language and give it its character are not as apparent as they seem. For non-native speakers, no matter how good they are, English doesn't always make a lot of sense for the simple reason that English doesn't always make a lot of sense.

What I mean to say is, Ako had her work cut out for her! But with concentration and commitment, we got everything in the can by shoot's end, and I really have nothing but praise for Ako taking this on. お疲れさまでした、あこ様！

Later on Ota, my lighting director, said he had just shot a film (he's a director too) and he appeared as a newscaster in his newest film. He said it took him on average 20 takes just to get each line – and this was in his native Japanese!

But I love challenging moments such as this, where things are not going smooth and the pressure is on me to bring everything together. These are the times where you earn the respect of your staff, or lose it. Anyone can do the easy shots. Unfortunately, when the film is done, no one watching will ever know that this was the toughest scene of all to capture. But that's the cross filmmakers everywhere have to bear.

We wrapped on time and all of us retired to a fantastic pizzeria down the block where we laughed over the scene and the difficulty in getting it done. We could laugh because we did it. Had we not, it would have been a lot of long faces. Thanks Ako! Thanks crew! We rock!

Running Away from One Film to Another Film!

2009-06-10T22:08:00.002+09:00

Sort of took it easy this week, working on a new script and getting ready for the final day of shooting.

The final day of shooting...

Compared to the first phase, this day will be relatively easy. I say 'relatively' because there is no such thing as an easy shoot. The easy part is that it's a single head shot of a newscaster to be used as an insert for a TV in the house where the film is set; difficult in that it's 7-pages of intense dialogue!

To get away from it all, I played hooky today from my own responsibilities and went over to the set of my friend Shusuke Kaneko to watch the final day of shooting on his new film. The majority of the shoot on his film was up in Guma, but today he and his crew were over in Ebisu at the Ebisu Garden complex, which is just a stone's throw from my place in Tokyo. I wanted to go visit their shooting in Guma but I was just too busy with my own work. I kind of miss the old days when all I lived for was going to film sets in Japan (Godzilla in particular) and making my presence felt!

I enjoy watching Kaneko shoot. And now that I have 4 productions of my own under my belt, I pick up more on the subtle instances of his style. My main interest is in a director's relationship with the actors. Keeping actors interested in the material and 'up' is without a doubt the number one responsibility of the director, and in this department Kaneko is ace!

One funny moment on the set was during the shoot. One of the young PAs came up to me and asked me to leave the set. He thought I was just some clueless foreigner who had stumbled where he shouldn't be. The staff started laughing, "this is Norman!" Some of them yelled. He started bowing apologetically.

After shooting I joined Kaneko, the film's ADs and the producer for some beer at one of the many 'beer gardens' in the area. I don't often drink in the afternoon, but I made an exception.

Work! Or Sink!

2009-06-07T16:34:00.017+09:00

Haven't touched the blog in a month. Been really busy with a whole mess of things.

Actually, I wrote two entries but failed to up them. One was about being a guest at Superfest... Briefly, it was a lot of fun and I saw a bunch of film people I hadn't seen in a while, especially since the Godzilla films are no longer in production. The best was catching up with classic Toho actor Tsuchiya, who was in my documentary "Bringing Godzilla Down to Size." I took a photo of the two of us but can't seem to find it in my mess of a hard drive! The other was my ordeal trying to get an iPhone. I spent almost 8 hours dealing with Japanese cell-phone company nonsense and had to finally give up and stick with my current company docomo, which is a company I absolutely LOATH!

I spent the past week creating subtitles for directors Nishimura and Tomomatsu's upcoming film "Vampire Girl vs Frankenstein Girl. " That was a load of work, but I enjoyed doing it. I spent two days at Nishimura's studio on the East side of Tokyo re-writing and adjusting the timing of the subs. Man! It's such precise work! My goal on this (as with other subtitling jobs I've done, including my own films) is to help the non-Japanese speaking audience get as close to the spirit of the film as is possible. Bad subs can, unfortunately, cause people to perceive the film as being no good, so I felt a great responsibility.

There were a few instances where there was just no translation that matched the wholly zany Japanese way of viewing the world. At those spots I would explain my approach to Nishimura and, after bouncing ideas around, came up with what I felt was something within the character of the film. Actually, those are my favorite moments when doing this kind of work. It's when I can get creative.

Silly me. I forgot to take photos, so the photos here I swiped from Nishimura's blog (I also stole this photo of Vampire Girl star Yukie Nakamura as I took it on set... A pretty good shot (if I do say so myself) of a very pretty woman....covered in blood! :

http://blog.livedoor.jp/ni4yo4/

I was going to put up a link to the film's trailer, but I can't seem to find it on-line at the moment. I watched the latest trailers at Nishimura's yesterday and think they look really good. It's a fun movie and I'm proud to do some kind of work on the film. I also took some great set photos when I visited the set a few months back. A couple of them found their way onto Nishimura's blog.

I've been busting my rear getting a rough edit of my film "It's All Good" together. That, too, is tough work. I have one more day of shooting, which is scheduled for next weekend. In the film, a TV is constantly on in the background reporting world news. I had to write a script for this and it was one of the hardest things I've ever had to do. As I've set the film in the near future, I had to imagine how current events might play out in 8 years time. Also, the timing had to be exact, matching when I want to cut to a close up of the TV. The actress I got for the newscaster part is Ako, who is a regular on the Entertainment show Fox Backstage Pass on air here in Japan. Ako is a really fun person with a real glow about her. I'm looking forward to the shoot and working with her.

Shooting Be Done!

2009-05-09T17:05:00.007+09:00

That was... Ummm... intense...

Just got done with the first phase of shooting of my new short film, "It's All Good." I don't even know where to begin in trying to relate the monumental task it was to reach this point, the day after the shoot. So many things to decide upon, so many things to consider, so many challenges to work out, so many variables to balance out. There were moments when I thought it would be better just to give up, join a company, and give my life over to "the man." But, in the end, I believe it was worth it. Making films is what I'm about. So, as the title of my film reads: It's All Good!

I'm going to skip the gory details about the days leading up to the shoot. I will mention that I had a near crisis that put the film in the dreaded 'cancel mode' for about 18 agonizing hours. But, friends are what make life tolerable, and it was my good buddy Takeshi Yagi, producer and director of various Ultraman TV shows and films, that pulled the film back into Green Light mode. Yagi was the god during shooting too, keeping everything on schedule and moving ahead at a near lightning pace.

Shooting began in the wee hours of May 6th over in the city of Tokorozawa in a house designed for film shoots. A two-day shoot, time was limited, and everyone had to bust their rears in order to get the coverage needed. But pros being what they are, the shoot went off without a hitch. We had time to get a lot of amazing mini-crane shots and interesting movements between the actors and the camera.

As a director, my main concern during shooting is the well being of the cast, both their physical safety as well as their mental attitude. Working with actors is one of my greatest joys. Stephanie, my female lead, is a hard worker with one of the most positive, life-embracing attitudes I've ever encountered. Every moment with her was enjoyable and stimulating. The same with male lead Shogen, who, I believe, is well on the road to becoming a major actor in Japan. The three of us – actors & director – hung out in the parking lot last night after completing shooting. The air was full of nothing but mutual admiration and heartfelt feelings. This is the kind of thing I live for. It is my hope to be able to work with both of these fine people again.

But shooting is only one phase in the filmmaking process. Now comes the editing, scoring, effects work, sound design and a slew of other steps I'll spare you, the readers of my blog, from.

It's interesting, my progress into the world of filmmaking, first as a set reporter (which I still do, and lover) and then as a filmmaker. I still have so much to learn and I can see room for personal improvement. But I believe, as my fourth film, that this will be my most polished to date. Of course some of the things I wanted to achieve, I was unable to. But it's like Yagi said, "no one is able to reach their vision 100%. Don't lament this point." You do your best with the talent, resources, and time at hand. One can't ask for more than this. I certainly can't.

For now, I am eternally indebted to my director of photography Shu G Momose, my lighting director Hiroshi Ota, Yagi, Lindee, JR, soundman Furuya, make up artist Tomomi Higuchi, creature maker / operator Yoshihiro Nishimura and the 30 or 40 others that have worked to get the film through this important step.

Feed Me – There you go!

2009-04-24T17:30:00.010+09:00

Well, I've finally finished FEED ME, my short, low-budget, first-foray-into-horror film. The homepage is up and can be found here:

http://www.theidol-movie.com/feedme/

The cool as crackers website Sci-Fi Japan has done a story on the film, which can be found here:

http://www.scifijapan.com/articles/2009/04/22/feed-me/

Fangoria.com did a piece on the film too:

http://www.fangoria.com/home/news/9-film-news/2216-j-horror-vs-a-horror-in-on-line-short-feed-me.html

The film itself is kind of a mixed blessing for me. I'm always happy for the chance to make something, but the budget was extremely low and it was shot in a rather unorthodox way. I also spent way too much time editing it, which has the unfortunate effect of deadening you to the film. But it's like that with any art form. I know it was the same when I was making music with my band, although live shows help as the audience response can re-awaken your interest in whatever song it is you're playing for the millionth time.

I've ended my relationship with FEED ME by making it available as a download on the film's website. And I'm charging for it too! What? Has Norman gone capitalistic? No way! At $2 a shot I can hardly call that being greedy. I think it's fair enough given the amount of work my staff and I put into it. And any money I do make (which I don't think will be all that much) goes right into my new film, IT'S ALL GOOD. I just want to keep making films and hopefully the next one will have higher production values than the last. (Although, in the case of IT'S ALL GOOD, the production value is already heads and shoulders above FEED ME.)

Hmmm... I guess that's the source of my angst with FEED ME. I love the film, but it's got lower production values than my last two. Still, despite it's rock bottom budget, I like it a lot.

My favorite things about the film are as follow:

The Story – It's something I've wanted to do for a while. I've always wanted to add a viciousness to the Japanese ghost girl genre. I like the dialogue and I like the story structure. Even though I wrote the basic script in a day, it was a summation of ideas I'd had brewing in me for a while.

The Irehi – Hats off to Kaveh who made the film's totally awesome looking Japanese grave marker and to Ryoko for making the Shimenawa that was its finishing touch. It looked so real on location that Japanese walking by were stopping to check it out. It now sits in my room where it creeps out people who come to visit.

The Music – Pepe really gave me what I wanted. And even where it diverges from what I expected, it's still cool. I was also able to work with Pepe and apply some of my musical training. This is what I like about filmmaking. It's not just a single discipline. To make a film requires a lot of knowledge about various things. I should also mention that my friend Anne allowed me to use two songs from her catalogue of work. They were songs I loved on first listening and I'm glad they could find a home in my film.

Ryoko – She plays Mamiko, the star of the film. Ryoko was brought into the production via my producer JR. While I wouldn't call her an actress, although she has taken some classes, she has a natural style and she added an aspect to the character that I hadn't expected. And, as a person, Ryoko has become an important friend. This is another joy of filmmaking: human relationships. Filmmaking is NOT a solitary art form. You make friends (and enemies!). Getting to know Ryoko was a blessing as she's a very special person with a lot of potential and a bright future.

The Staff – Everyone on the staff and in the cast was cool, even if I think many of them didn't fully know what they were getting into. Working with Rob (camera operator) is always fun and he helped the production from day one to the final day through his great generosity. Rob edited The iDol too and if I had to list everything he's done for me or taught me this blog would never end. Working with Mariko Naka, a really great actress I met at Yubari Film Fest last year, helped give meaning to my going to that somewhat worthless film festival. Mari is also a lot of fun to be around and is the kind of actor you want on a film set. Yukiko Arai, our makeup person, did a terrific job putting together the look of Mari's ghost from all the junk JR and I picked up during postproduction. As I had ZERO expectation for the look of the ghost, I have to tip my hat to her for putting something together heretofore unseen. Mike, who plays Freddy, was a pain at times, but I can say this because he's one of my best friends in Japan and I enjoy giving him a hard time. Also, no one pulls weeds like Mike! Jon, who plays Jason, was total fun and actually put in a decent performance. Rachel, who plays Regan, I appreciate a lot too. I know she was in over her head, but she did what she could and gave the film a dimension I hadn't expected. And thanks to Vinnie for that cool ass title he made! I thank you all!

JR- FEED ME's production was held together by one of my oldest and closest friends in Japan. It's ironic to think that when I met JR he was just another Godzilla fan who knew my work writing for trashy fanzines. JR is the kind of guy who I feel compliments my annoying qualities, which is what a film producer needs to be. Directors are a particular breed and can't always be expected to have basic people skills. I can't thank him enough. I think it's enough to say that we are working again together on my new film, IT'S ALL GOOD. I hope the relationship continues beyond this too.

I know I'm leaving people out, as everyone did so much, but I gotta end this somewhere! Sure, it was tough at times. But we had some good times, like when everyone came over my place during post-production trying to make the Yubari Film Festival deadline, which we didn't make. But that all-nighter was a blast and it was a sight to see 5 guys on their Macs crammed into my room, each working on some aspect of the film and passing files around through their wireless connections (I was a PC guy at the time and so couldn't get in on the fun).

In any case, FEED ME is officially done. It's on-line and there for the world to see at $2 a download. I don't pretend to think it's going to change the film world, but I believe that we all made something a little different and unique. I hope those that download it will keep this in mind and not judge it against productions that cost thousands of times more than the $1,000 it cost us to make.

Pre-Production FUN!

2009-04-17T20:29:00.008+09:00

Shooting creeps closer... Busy week of meetings, order giving, finger wagging, yelling matches, beatings, and secret interment camps. You know, the typical stuff that makes filmmaking such a FUN activity!

Seriously, though, things are going really well. My staff is the closest. Not only are they consummate pros, they are fun, interesting, passionate folk all around.

Last Sunday, I went with DP Shu G and lighting director Ota to check out the location. It's an 80 year old home located in a quite neighborhood near Koenji. Walking into the home is like stepping back into pre-war Japan when Japanese were no more than 4 feet tall. I say this because the sink in the kitchen comes up to just above my knees. It's going to be interesting to put Stephanie and Shogen in that setting. I mean, Shogen is a whopping 184cm in height!

After that, Abbey, the owner of the house and my one-time music partner Kumi's manager, invited us to join them on the tail end of the Hanami season, or the cherry blossom viewing time, that night. A bunch of us headed over to Inokashira Park and took a spot by the lake. And have no fear, we sat on the mandatory, traditional blue tarp! Wouldn't be Japan without that totally unnatural surface to sit on.

I drank a bunch of beer and got a decent buzz going. Spent much of the time chatting with Kumi about music. We're thinking to continue our music collaboration if we can find a common ground in our musical goals. But, for the moment, until shooting is over, I really can't commit to anything. But, I tell you, I could do a lot worse. Kumi's a total talent and her possibilities are endless.

After the park we went over to "Jap Inc," a store in Kichijoji that makes some of the most outrageous jewelry and "art things" in Japan. They also provide outfits for films and music acts. I first meet the couple, Youko and Kawakami, that runs the place on the set of the film "Lorelei" as they made the outfits for the film. It's my intention to have they do the alien outfits for my dream project "Invasia," if I can ever work my way up to that level of filmmaking.

The Jap Inc people had a bar in Kichijoji, but recently closed it. In response, they've made a small bar on the side of the shop. We took over the place after it closed and proceeded to get even drunker and just had a good time all around. Youko and Kawamaki are also musicians and our musical tastes are in total alignment. I LOVE their band and can't wait for their next show in June. I'll be there, fist in the air, screaming, "rock and roll will never die!" Although, as we all know, it has.

The rest of the week was given over to meetings and planning for the shoot.

The next two weeks promise to be hectic. Not only do I have my 50th birthday coming up (please pass the cyanide!), but also "The iDol" will be playing at a theater in Tokyo and I'm obligated to go and give a talk after the screening. I also am going to attend the CD release show of Stephanie at Zepp Tokyo. After that, I'll be in the deep dark, wonderful hole of shooting. Can't wait!!!

Moving Forward...

2009-04-09T23:15:00.010+09:00

Things are getting hectic! I don't even know why I'm writing in the blog... I guess it's a good way to let off steam and put things in perspective.

Work on my new film, 'It's All Good,' continues. The shooting dates are set: May 7 and 8. I have to thank my staff and cast for getting it together on this point. It's hard enough to get a couple of buddies to agree to a date to meet, imagine trying to get 35 people to agree on a date! Especially my lead Stephanie, who has a new CD coming out from Sony on the 29th of April and will be shooting my film smack dab in the middle of her promotional tour!

The location is turning out to be the biggest challenge. It's an old house not lived in for god knows how long. Some of us on the film went over to clean it out during the weekend and it's proven to be a bigger job than anyone anticipated. We could only scratch the surface of all the boxes and dust in it. I mean, the place is around 80 years old! It will take several more full days of work to get it up to snuff. But it's worth it. It's a great, unique location.

It's a little late in the game, but I got Shinji Nishikawa to do the storyboards for the film. A professional storyboard artist and designer by trade, Nishikawa has done storyboarding for, among other films, many of the recent Godzilla movies and designed many of the Toho giant monsters from over the past 20 years. I first met Nishikawa on the Godzilla set years ago, but, following the series ending, I hadn't seen him for ages until a chance meeting at the Famous Monster Event two weeks ago. The short of it is: he read my script and asked to sign on! Cool! I love his work! We had a totally fun meeting the other night full of non-stop discussion and going over the script. I'm excited to see his work. Well crafted storyboards are a real joy, and Nishikawa is one of the best at it.

Also, I'm happy to announce that our other latest staff member is Yoshihiro Nishimura, director of the film 'Tokyo Gore Police.' Nishimura will be creating the film's alien parasite. I'd originally planned to do the creature CG, but, to be honest, I always wanted to do it 'in camera.' I don't hate CG, but I also don't love it. I was on the set of Nishimura's latest feature a few weeks back and after getting home I got the idea to ask him to make the creature since his work is so outstanding. I went to his studio the other day where he looked over my designs and showed me a few samples of similar effects he's done. I'm pleased to announce that he said he'd build the thing and operate it.

*Whew* The less CG the better!

Oh, and the photo at the top has kind of nothing to do with anything I wrote about. I went to a stage show the other day in Yoyogi and it had to be the worst I've seen... EVER! But I went with Kumi, Mayu, Abbey, Mari, and Noemi and so had a good enough time. This is a shot taken during intermission. Man... I should have just left then and there! At least I got a comp ticket! To make it worse, Mayu and I got coffee before the show and didn't eat. It's a safe bet to say that our hunger pangs during the first act didn't enhance our enjoyment of the play!

That's about it for now... I have to get back to work!

FM Night... MORE!

2009-03-31T16:08:00.021+09:00

Found a couple of shots on-line from reviews of the show. Didn't have any of myself, you know. I was too busy to take many anyway. In fact, I was so busy at the show that I didn't even eat all day!

The event officially came to a close the next night after all those involved had a wrap party. Chris Walas also did an autograph meet at the store Bandit near Yoyogi Station in Tokyo the following day. I got there near the end of the session and was kind of surprised to see such a long line. But I really shouldn't have been. It's mostly because of his work on GREMLINS, a hugely popular film in Japan, that drives his popularity here. In fact, one woman who came started crying she was so happy to meet Chris. As I explained to him: Japan is kind of a repressed society so when people have the chance, the flood gates are open!

After this we all went out for eats. I spent most of my time with Mayu, Kumi, Dr Abbey (Kumi's manager) and Horii, who lent me his guitar for the show. As is typical at these things everyone sat themselves in descending order of importance, with guest of honor Chris at the head of the table surrounded by Masters of Ceremony Hijiri and Ishida. I opted for the side table so I could chill with the women. (Chris admitted later that he felt I got the better of the deal... as I said to him, "It's lonely at the top, man!")

We all had a wonderful time and it put a nice cap on the show. Especially after this. The other table decided to go to Karaoke, something I hate. So the group at my table went to a small cafe and spent the time writing messages to each other in some of the leftover program books.

It's moments like this and when I'm with such terrific people that I am happy about my decision to move abroad and live in Japan.

My biggest thanks go out to Dr. Abbey and Kumi, who are two of the sweetest people I've met in Japan. Love you guys!!!

Here are some new shots from the show:

This is the main hall... It's a Buddhist temple after all!

This was during our Forry tribute... I was kind of choked up.

This is from my stage talk... Not sure what I was going on about. Something important, no doubt. (I guess I was checking my notes written in invisible ink on invisible paper...?)

This is Kumi and I on stage. Her voice is as sweet as her looks! I kicked ass too!

This is Chihiro, who I met at Yubari Film Fest last year. She's into gold...

Here's the after event group crammed into the lobby.

Here now are shots from the next day After Party:

The WAY-COOL table!

* * *

The TOTALLY UNCOOL table!

***

Horii, Mayu, and some white guy!
***

More from the COOL table!
***

Just in case you forgot how lovely Mayu is!

***

Me, Yukiko (who did makeup FXs on my film FEED ME) and Chris!

***

Oh my god! It's the crying girl again stalking Chris on the street!!!

Famous Monsters Night

2009-03-29T16:04:00.019+09:00

What an intense two-weeks! First, I went to the set of my director buddies Yoshihiro Nishimura and Naoyuki Tomomatsu, who are co-directing an over-the-top film, which I can't detail until I'm given the OK to run my article and photos in Fangoria. Let's just say that I got covered in stage blood despite my best efforts! Took some great, if not classic, photos on the set, which I can't wait to get out into the public consciousness!

But my main focus this month was the Sci-Fi / Forry Ackerman event at which I was a guest. This went down yesterday (March 28, 2009) at the Buddhist Hall in Tsukiji (yeah, the famous fish market). I had been a bit leery as to how the venue would work out since it appeared really small on paper, but it turned out to be just the right size with a nice theater seating 200 people and a small, but cozy lobby.

I set up my booth in a corner. Though a guest, I was also selling copies of my films (need money for my new film!). The iDol I finished a while but, but my new film, FEED ME, was completed just two days ago. And, I kind of couldn't get the DVD menu right. So, for the show I had to make discs with permanent Japanese subs and a main menu that acted like a single start button. Screw it! It's still sweet anyway!

I got there early, as I had to do sound check with Kumi. We only had two rehearsals prior but the last one had gone really well, so I was confident the show would go fine. As expected, the mix on stage was not satisfactory, but that's usually the case. I was assured that it sounded great on the main floor.

The focus of the show was a tribute to Forrest J Ackerman, the man so many of us over 35 and into sci-fi and horror owe a doubt of honor too. Saki Hijiri, our fearless leader, made a fantastic opening DVD roll that had clips and images from hundreds of classic sci-fi films. I don't know if I should brag about this, but I could rattle off the titles of over 90% percent of the films.

But I had to spend much of my time manning my booth. Fortunately, I had plenty of lovely women to help pass the time with.

One of the other guests at the show was Chris Walas, who was FX guy on such classics as The Fly, Enemy Mine, Gremlins and Indiana Jones (the good one! The first one!). Chris said that when he does these events in the US all the women are over-weight. It was as if every woman at the show was a model or just pretty. Of course my favorite is Kumi, my partner. But one of the other women, Mayu, is a professional model. But looks are only worth so much, and all the women there were fun and personable too. It completely went against the notion that only geeky guys attend such events. I'm pressuring Mayu to get into acting because I think she has the perfect look for a sympathetic school teacher, and she has the look I want for a script I'm writing now (not a main character, I would not use a non-pro as the main, but as a supporting cast member I could do A LOT worse!).

One of the highlights of the show was Saki on one side of the stage and Ishida on the other, analyzing a screening of THE GOLOM, the classic German B/W film. Saki is known as "Mister Sci-Fi" in Japan, with Ishida holding the title of "Mister Horror." Listening to the two of them comment on the film (and others) was pure joy.

My first time up on stage was for the Forry tribute. Saki, who knew Forry well, started off by showing shots from his home and some clips of Forry when he came to Japan and was on TV. After that each of us got to speak for 5 minutes about how Forry influenced our lives and our personal experience with one of mankind’s sweetest human beings. I told about my first meeting with him back in 1975, when I was just 14 years old! I also could give the US perspective on what it was like to be an American and the godsend his magazine, Famous Monsters of Filmland, was for people like me. Finally, I could relate the trips I took to his wonderful home in the Hollywood Hills in the 1990s. Oh Forry! Why did you have to leave us!

But, Chris was the guy who knew him best. And Chris was really eloquent in summing up Forry's many good points.

After this was my turn on stage. Many of the people there knew about me and the work I've done over the past ten years in Japanese cinema. Several of the people in the audience turned out to be staffers on films I've worked on, from Godzilla to the JU-ON series. It was also my chance to show them directly the advances I've made in my own film career. I showed the trailers to my two narrative films, The iDol and FEED ME. I absolutely LOVE talking on stage and I LOVE making jokes and getting an audience laughing in unison. To pat myself on the back, I think I did a fantastic presentation. Although I was kind of annoyed that the playback of my trailers was shown 4X3 and not in wide, 16X9, aspect ratio. But, I expected that. Still, it was effective and my trailers went over very well.
The show ended with Mari Shimizu, the voice actress for the classic ASTRO BOY animation talking and then, with Kumi and Hori-san, enacting a script from ASTRO BOY. Wow! Mari is a true voice acting talent.

Following that was my turn with Kumi. She got up first and sang a song from the Toho film MATANGO. Then I joined Kumi and we did "Rejoice in the Sun" from SILENT RUNNING. Holy Crap! We played it perfect and the audience went nuts! It was my first time to make music on stage in 18 years and it was as if I had never left. I was so into it despite the fact that I was basically holding up all the music since it was just me on acoustic guitar. But Kumi's voice is so sweet and full. We had a truly big sound.

After this we retired to the lobby. Kumi was running a bar and everyone was drinking and having a good time exchanging business cards and talking up a storm. I had a lot of fun with Chris, who was really down to Earth. It's nice to talk to guys like Chris who know about filmmaking, the challenges and the joys of the craft.

All in all, it was one of my best days in Japan and today I feel really charged and ready for my new film. Speaking of which, the production is coming together. I got a fantastic cameraman and lighting director last week. And I'm working out the schedule with the actors, which is always a pain. Especially with Stephanie. She's got a new CD coming out on April 29th, and Sony wants her to do promotion at the same time I'm set to shoot. But it'll all work out. It's a tired phrase, but my motto is always, "where there's a will, there's a way." I have a lot of will!

It's All Good...begins!

2009-03-21T15:59:00.005+09:00

My new film is moving right along... Still haven't worked out the exact shooting date but I'm getting closer. There are three main elements to bring together for the shoot. To get them all to meet at the point in time I wish, I have to nudge each a bit, pulling them all in until they converge on the date I want. It's tough, but it's also fun. I enjoy working with people and finding the best way to bring them into the production.

My new film is a short movie that follows a husband / wife couple who are philosophically at odds with each other. Throw into the mix an alien parasite and it's looking to be a typical story from the demented mind of Norman England.

I got two wonderful actors to star in the film. One is Shogen, a model / actor (or is that actor / model?) from Okinawa. I met Shogen at the Yubari Film Festival last year along with his manager Taka Yamashita. Both Shogen and Taka are immensely cool guys and it's my pleasure to be working with the two of them.

I'm also pleased to announce that along with Shogen, the movie will feature Stephanie, who starred in the latest Shusuke Kaneko film PRIDE. I saw PRIDE for the first time at Toei last November and really liked Stephanie a lot. Although it was her first film, she had a natural style and she fit the role to a T. But, although I had already written the script for this film, I hadn't even thought to use her. In fact, I was planning to do the film in Japanese all along. But then I cast Shogen, who, although 100% Japanese, has a strong western look, probably a result of his being from Okinawa. Stephanie, I should point out, is a mix of Japanese and Armenian blood, with her dad being born and raised in the US. Stephanie, too, grew up in LA and moved to Japan when she was 14. Stephanie is a singer by trade, and is signed to Sony Music in Japan. She has an amazing voice with a five-octave range. Check out this video or her on Youtube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k68EajO0hYg&feature=related

After casting Shogen I wondered who would have a look that would compliment him. It was following my second screening of PRIDE that I it hit me... "How about Stephanie?"

I'm happy to report that she read the script and loved it!

I met with Stephanie and her manager Tanaka along with director Kaneko last week. It was a fun meeting. Both Stephanie and her manager are really kind and enthusiastic. Stephanie's English is as natural as any I've heard, which is what I hoped for. Plus, she has a unique look, which is another plus for the production. Her personality is completely unpretentious too and just after a few minutes of talking I felt as if I'd known her for the longest time.

In any case, one of the first hurdles of IT'S ALL GOOD is over. Now it's trying to get everyone's schedule in sync. That's the bigger trick!

Busy... Busy... Busy...

2009-03-06T20:20:00.012+09:00

Spent Saturday readjusting the music of "Feed Me" to my latest and *by all that is holy* final cut of the film! (Is it a crime to like to tinker?)

The man doing the score is Giuseppe Strano, an Italian living in Tokyo. I met Pepe(his nickname) a bit over a year ago at the Shimokita shisha place I frequent and we became fast friends. Pepe, like me, is a total music nut. We found that we both share a passion for artists such as Brian Eno, Led Zeppelin and Goblin. This last point was one of the reasons why I sought Pepe for the music for Feed Me. Much of my favorite film music was composed by Italians. In particular, the horror scores of men like Claudio Simonetti and Fabio Frizzi. Amazing stuff there! Not only was Pepe familiar with their names, but their work too. He knew right away what I was after. And what a great score he delivered! It's got tastes of Goblin and Frizzi, but is equally original.

Pepe's personal music is also very high quality. He played me a new track during a break. As usual, I was engaged until the end of the piece. He's asked me to play on one of his pieces in the future, as well as to direct one of his music videos. I'm all for that!

At the end of the month, as mentioned in a previous blog, I'll be a guest at the first Famous Monster's Night event being held in Tsukiji. One of the things I'm excited about is that I'll be playing a song on stage with my friend Cumy. Saki Hijiri, founder of the magazine Uchusen Magazine and our event leader, asked us to do a song from the sci-fi film "Silent Running." You know, that Joan Baez hippie ditty “Rejoice in the Sun.” It'll be my first time to perform music in front an audience in nearly twenty-years! But I'm looking forward to it. It's gonna be great!

Here's the in-progress website for the event:
http://famousmonsters.jp/default.aspx

I met Cumy a couple of months ago along with her manager Dr. Abbey. They are both really solid people and have brought me into a whole new circle of friends. Cumy works in Tokyo as a model and a singer. She's also done some acting in the past and is hoping to get back into the field. Besides being one of the prettiest women I've had the pleasure to meet, she's also one of the kindest. Working and hanging out with her is always enjoyable. If our stage performance goes over well we're hoping to do more such performances together. At least at future Famous Monster Night events.

In addition, Cumy is the #1 web poet in Japan! She's a very special woman!

Here’s a link to Cumy’s site:
http://psytocumy.com/

As for my upcoming film... Looks like it's set to shoot at the start of May. I'm talking to a really cool actress for the lead female role. I also enlisted Takeshi Yagi as my Assistant Director. Yagi-san is, for those who don't know, a long time producer at Tsuburaya and directed the last Ultraman feature. I'll post more info here when I have something to report...

2009-02-21T22:11:00.004+09:00

A couple of weeks out of the blog, which is just as well. Gotta have time to do things in order to have things to write about!

My big news is that I finally have Final Cut Pro and thus I finally have the ability to edit my own films when I like as I like. I've been able to spend lots of time with my new film, FEED ME, in order to get it just the way I like it. I enjoy experimenting and it's tough to ask my editors to do this and that just to see if it will work. It's easier if it's just me and my film. I'm also planning on going into THE iDOL and reviewing the entire project in order to make sure that it too is "just the way I like it." I love editing. I like exhausting all the endless possibilities until I figure out what I feel is the correct sequence of shots.

The photo for this blog entry is a frame from FEED ME. Cool, no?

Next month I'm participating in an event in Tokyo being held to honor the memory of Forrest J. Ackerman. As everyone knows, Forry was the creator of Famous Monsters of Filmland, the magazine instrumental in deviating many boys in the 60s and 70s from what would have been a normal life. And for some reason those of us who were deviated by his publication are eternally grateful for that.

One of the men heading the event is Saki Hijiri, founder of Uchusen Magazine, which is kind of comparable to Famous Monsters. Also on hand will be Hajime Ishida, who ran the Japanese version of Fangoria in the 90s and has the distinction of being the only Japanese to have had his photo run in Famous Monsters with that classic caption: "Wanted, More Readers like." I used to meet Hajime now and then back in Osaka when I lived there, and wrote for the Japanese Fangoria before moving to the REAL Fango back in the US. Haven't seen Hajime in about ten years. The two "guests of honor" at the show are Chris Walas, who did FX and makeup for films such as The Fly, Raiders of the Lost Ark and Gremlins. The other guest is…me. Also on hand will be my friend Kumi, who is a lovely singer and one of the most beautiful women I have ever met.

One of the things I'll be doing is talking about Forry to give the US point of view on the man and his influence. Other than just being able to buy FM on the stands, I'll talk about the trips I took to his home back in the 90s. Those were great times and listening to Forry's tales was a total blast and are memories I cherish.

I've also officially begun production on my new film, a short called "IT'S ALL GOOD." Because of a conflict in staff / cast schedules I had to cancel my original shoot back in January. I'm now gearing up for a late April / early May shoot. More news on this when it becomes official.

Also, I just completed the subtitles for the movie "G," an amateur kaiju film made by my friend Kiyotaka Taguchi. It's playing next week at the Yubari Film Festival. Oh, I'm sorry, I forgot to write "international" in the title. That might be because when I was a guest there last year I saw exactly 7 non-Japanese, myself included. 7 out of 9,000 people hardly makes it "international." But Japanese like the "international" label… Whatever…

Taguchi's "G" film is, despite the low budget, a pretty good film. Mostly because the FXs are a real stand out. Taguchi is an FX artist by trade. He did some of the FXs in The iDol too. In the past I've acted in his films. In one I played a gangster, and in another – get this – I played the Prime Minster of Japan. I was assassinated… Why do I always die in movies?

That's all for now.

2009-01-30T21:02:00.004+09:00

Friday night. Rainy Tokyo. Had a decent week. My friend Ed Godziszewski (did I spell that right?) is in town. I've known Ed since 1999 when I met him in LA and we've been good buddies since. The thing that started our friendship was a mutual interest in Godzilla, Japan's most famous "actor." But fringe interests such as that can only sustain a friendship so long, and I've found Ed to be knowledgeable in a great number of areas. He's also one of the most patient people I know. Not to mention a good listener, which anyone who knows me, knows is important as I tend to run off at the mouth a lot.

I've written for Ed's excellent Godzilla / Japanese monster mag, "Japanese Giants" and that was always fun. Ed's a good editor and a decent guy to write for. Our relationship really jelled when we made the film "Bringing Godzilla Down to Size," which he wrote (along with Steve Ryfle) and produced. Although hardly a seasoned producer, he knew enough to let me and my staff do our job and not impose when out of his field. One of the worst things that can happen on a film is when people who don't know what they are doing insist on things, as if simply watching films gives you expertise in making films. I'm thankful for Ed (and Steve) for giving me the opportunity to hone my filmmaking style further and for giving me the chance to apply to film some of the things I'd learned from the hundreds of days I've spent on the set of the past several Godzilla productions.

Last Sunday Ed and I got together with my friend Shusuke Kaneko, who directed the 90s Gamera series, the Death Note films and the Godzilla epic GMK. When the three of us get together it's a non-stop romp through film history, with each of us praising or condemning as many films as we can set our teeth into. Our main topic was the 1965 film Doctor Zhivago, directed by David Lean. Although nominate for an Oscar for Best Picture, I feel it to be a hooky film with questionable sentimentality. Kaneko's new film "Pride" just opened and Shusuke went over various aspects of the production and the recent PR tour he did. Ed and I hope to see the film (although, as mentioned earlier, I saw it at the Toei lab back in December).

I spent the day today (and the rest of the coming weekend) working on my new script and starting to think on how to approach my next film (not the one I'm writing). I really want to take my filmmaking style to the next level. Man... if you only knew how tough it is... But that's cool. I like the challenge and I know that no matter what I do, someone will not agree with my choices. But that's life. I'm fine with it.

Reaching the end of... FEED ME!

2009-01-24T00:00:00.003+09:00

Got back into the editing of FEED ME. This is a new film I've been working on with my friend JR Lipartito. We shot it over the summer and are nearing the end of the edit. It's kind of a sad time when you reach the end of the line on this kind of thing, especially when it's enjoyable and stretches you creatively.

One of the things I enjoyed about working on FEED ME was that the cast and crew were, with the exception of our DP Rob and ghost actress Mariko, for the most part non-pros (oh, yeah, and one of our PAs was Ultraman director Takeshi Yagi). It was a good opportunity to see what makes a pro a pro. This in no way means that the people working on the film didn't give their all. They did. And the results exceeded my hopes in many ways. It's a small film with a budget of around $1,000, which the final results, in my opinion, belie.

The film also marks the first time I could work with JR, a fellow New Yorker living in Japan I first met back in early 2002 during a talk show given by director Shusuke Kaneko and monster suit maker Fuyuki Shinda at the Okamoto Taro museum. JR, like me, has wanted to be a filmmaker for the longest time and, like me, is working to make that desire a reality. Actually, he worked on my documentary "Bringing Godzilla Down to Size," so I guess you can say this is our second time to work together. But on that film he had the less-than-glamorous position of P2 Card handler. For FEED ME, JR took on the task of producer and editor. As one of the most agreeable people I know, it was and remains a pleasure to work with him and we are already planning our next film, a story that I wrote called IT'S ALL GOOD.

Speaking of this, I'm a little unhappy because I was supposed to have shot that film last week, but my lead actress got a gig in a US film and had to leave Japan. For the moment the production is pushed back until she returns. More on this film when there is something to write about.

For now, FEED ME is coming to an end. When it's done I'm thinking to make it available on the web via a download. More on that when there is something to write about.

2009-01-17T16:35:00.004+09:00

Kind of a lame two days. As my cheap ass, just bought last year LCD monitor developed a line right in the center of the screen. I had no choice but tighten my belt and head over to one of my most hated spots in Japan: Akihabara.

I didn't always hate Akihabara. In fact, Japanese electronic stores are a joy to maneuver thru. And no where is this more obvious than in Akihabara, where everything under the sun is on sale somewhere, and at a discount if you shop smart.

So, what's the problem?

About 3 years ago the "anime otaku" culture took over Akihabara. Today, there are lots of girls in maid outfits on the street trying to get you into their idiotic stores for coffee or whatever served by girls wearing cat ears and french maid outfits. I don't have a problem with cute girls, but this is beyond the pale. As a man, I find it demeaning. But that's just me... And to be honest, I guess I'll get coffee at one of these places just so I can see how far Japanese culture has deteriorated

By mistake, my friend Mike and I wound up in an anime store and were pressed in an elevator between 20-something nerds with backpacks stuffed with "goods." The walls of the elevator were awash with drawings of unrealistically busty women. It was all we could do to get the hell out of there are fast as possible. Actually, we thought it was a game store as we're both looking for a used PSP. The store we wanted turned out to be the same shop's sister store next door. Ah! The horror!

In the end, I picked up a nice 26in Samsung computer monitor. The thing is so large I don't even feel like I'm looking at a computer. It's like looking out a window! I mean, 26in! That's bigger than the TV I grew up with back home in New York. And now I have to sit with this thing about 1/2 a foot from my face? Still, it's cool and I'm happy with it.

Today is the screening of my friend Shusuke Kaneko's film PRIDE. I was supposed to go to the premiere, but I blew it off. I like hanging with Shusuke at these premieres, but for some reason I just felt like skipping it. It's a good film and all, but I've seen it and when you've been to one premiere, you've been to them all. Besides, I was invited to my friend's birthday party tonight and I'd rather go to that.

2009-01-15T21:19:00.006+09:00

It's Thursday night and I'm sitting at Shisha again with my buddies Mike and Paul. Kind of a cold day in Shimokita. I went out for dinner with my friend Motomi, and that was really good. Japanese food... Yakitori... Very tasty. One thing that really hits the spot in winter is "Atsukan," you know, hot sake. Warm feeling. Raised spirits... Kind of a fake euphoria...

I finished the Kow Otani video today. He and his singer, Aika, were really pleased with the final result. I'm especially happy with the main menu. It's the band's symbol floating in a bubble over a highway in the California desert that then pops when the viewer hits play. The background shot is one I took back in 1993 just before I moved to Japan during a camping trip I took with band mate Geoff Notkin. That's was a terrific trip. We spent days in the desert dealing with cold nights and hot days. Only down point was Geoff's veggie leaning. All we could eat was god awful bean right out of the can. But I got some amazing photographs on film, which today would be caught on digital film, resulting in a probably more accurate image yet lacking in that pathos found only in film.

One of these days I should get the best of those shots on-line for the whole world to laugh at. Or enjoy. It's up to the viewer...

Mike's engrossed in his recently hacked PSP, playing Nintendo games from the 80s on it. Some really great graphics made only possible through the limitation of 8-bit technology. His favorite film is Karate Kid and he found a tie-in game. Looks nothing like the film, but that's the point. You have to fill in the gap with your imagination.

Now that I'm done with the Otani film, I'm going to start on a new screenplay. I'm planning on taking my Macbook over to Aoyama and sit in a cafe during the afternoon and try to organize my thoughts, which I'm brimming over with, and try to get them into shape. At the moment my main character is named "Rinka," but I might change that. A character's name is important, you know. This is why I often feel that a person should be given the right to change their name upon reaching adulthood. I mean, you parents name you before they even know who you are. As a writer I find it best to imagine the character and then find a name that fits them. This is why I often start a story with one name and then change it later on. For example, in my film The iDol, the main girl started life as "Miyuki," which changed to "Mayuko" and then in turn changed to "Mayuka." It's an interesting evolution.

Christ! I still don't know what a blog is supposed to be about. Do I write about what's around me when I'm writing? If so, let me explain... I'm sitting in "Shisha," which in the US is called "Hooka". I guess that's how you spell it. I prefer Shisha, which I guess is related to the naming situation I was describing above. There are 10 others here, mostly non-Japanese. So it's "gaijin" night at Shisha. But sometimes it's all Japanese. The white girl to my left is playing on a DS, while Mike is on his PSP. In a moment I'm going to get on my cell phone and send a text message to my friend Miho in Yokohama. This Saturday is the premiere of my friend Shusuke Kaneko's new film PRIDE. I saw it last month at Toei Studios for a screening of the first print, which is struck to check the colors. In Japanese you call this kind of print "0-go". The director and DP make some comments and then a new print is struck, which is then called "1-go." So, I'm interested to see where the colors have changed, although to be honest, I'll probably be hard pressed to tell the difference. I suppose it if was my film I'm be attuned to those small changes.

Anyway... back to the real world...

2009-01-14T11:51:00.001+09:00

BLOG BASICS:
I'm a little unsure as to why I've opted to attempt an on-line space dedicated to my thought ramblings. Some friends do it, and it gets fairly intense with their writing about perceived social injustices or a total delving into their hobby / interests. Others use it as a promotional tool.

I'm not saying that any of these approaches are wrong. I suppose my reasoning is to save myself a little time in my various correspondences as I often have to tell the same stories over and over and it gets a little tiresome. Those friends can just log in here if they find a spare moment. But then again, the stories I share are often personal in nature and when writing I keep that person firmly in mind. With a blog it's as if you're just screaming into the Ether, unsure who is listening and what their judgment will be.

MAKURANOSHOUSHI:
With that out of the way, I'll keep things to the here and now. I'm sitting in a local café in my town of Shimokitazawa and am getting ready to put the final edit on a video I've done for musician Kow Otani.

Otani's been a good friend of mine since 2001. But even before that I was a major fan of his work. He wrote 3 excellent scores for Shusuke Kaneko's Gamera trilogy, and basically scores for TV, film and even video games. He's also a popular session player in Japan too and plays for groups such as "Southern All Stars" and "Dreams Come True." His work is everywhere!
I was fortunate to hire Otani to do the scores for my first two films, THE iDOL and BRINGING GODZILLA DOWN TO SIZE. Both scores exceeded my expectation and, beyond that, just working with Otani is a lot of fun. He's a super positive guy overflowing with musical cues.

In an attempt to repay him for his work on my other films (and, hopefully, future work) I took the task of creating a music video for the upcoming release of his CD with singer Aika in a group they call "Makuranosoushi." I've seen the group 3 or 4 times and really like their work. Otani approached me two months ago with the project and a stack of DV tapes shot at one of their shows a year ago.

To begin, I had to edit the show down from 12 hours of footage to 5 minutes. Holy crap did that take time! And I'm not an editor. Fortunately, I've been peeking over the shoulders of my editors so I had a good grasp of how to use the software, in this case Premiere Pro.

Otani and Aika came over the other day to review the final edit before I prep it for the mastering company. I'm happy to report that they were totally ecstatic over the work I did. I should mention too that I received help from J.R. Lipartito on the edit as well as Tony Mullen, who created three neat CG animations for the video.

Well, today J.R. comes by and we'll finish this sucker off!

After this I put the final touches on FEED ME, which is a whole other film and story!

Welcome to my world! (And you can keep it!)

2009-01-13T22:46:00.000+09:00

Well, I've decided to take the plunge and enter into the self-centered world of blogging. My first order will be to import my blogs from Myspace, a site I got completely feed up with.