Another One...

Here’s another “Torakage Ninja” photo I shot that has finally made it through the intricate approval process of Japanese actor management and distribution companies. Hoorah! 

On the day this photo was shoot - the first day back to shooting after the 10 days in Iga - we went out near Mt Fuji to work. The ground was a complete swamp of dry, yellowed grass stalks and mud. Actor Takumi Saito had the no fun job of running back and forth while being followed by the camera crew in a truck. As there wasn’t room in the truck for me, I pretty much just stood on the sidelines hoping to get something usable with my zoom lens. Didn’t though… But when we repositioned ourselves elsewhere I was able to get this shoot, which I’m pretty happy with. A little less hair in his face would have been better but it's fine, I feel. Actually, I hate perfectly posed shots of actors...although Japanese production companies love those staged looked photos.

Oh, and the trailer for the film was just released. 

In other "happy" news, I wrote a teaser article for director Miike's "Yakuza Apocalypse" that was upped to the Fangoria site about 2 weeks ago. I'm penning a longer piece now for Fangoria (and one for Eiga Hiho) but am unsure when and where it will appear (on-line or in the magazine). 

Here's the link. 

[FANGORIA ARTICLE - YAKUZA APOCALYPSE]

Oh, and I'm not so thrilled with these Miike set photos. I've got better ones on their way. I had to get them approved ASAP. I guess they're OK... Fuck it.

I also just finished writing a screenplay that will be shooting in the Philippines from next week. Not my story, but I had to write all the English dialogue. I finalized the script with the director and producers yesterday in a grueling 7 hour script meeting. Actually, it was a lot of fun and it's nice to work with people who don't micro-manage you. That is, sometimes you work for people (i.e. piece of shit creeps) who need to put their dumb-ass fingerprints over everything simply because they want to say "I did that". 

So, yeah, it's nice working with professionals who understand the nature of cooperative creation, which is what filmmaking is, and don't do juvie shit. Jesus, even director Miike let me do what I wanted on the set of his film when it was my turn up at bat (so to speak). 

I digress...

Until next time.