[CINEMORE ACADEMY Vol.2] Screenplay How to make the movie “The Brightest Roof in the Universe”

How are movies "made"?

If you know the origins of movies, watching them will become more interesting. Therefore, CINEMORE is launching a project titled ``CINEMORE ACADEMY'' where creators learn how to make movies, and will deliver the ``real'' of film production.

This time, our lecturer will be Toshihide Michito Fujii, the director who revolutionized the Japanese film industry with `` The Journalist '' (19). We will ask him in detail how he made this movie based on his latest film, ``The Brightest Roof in the Universe,'' which is scheduled to be released this fall.

Following the first "Planning Edition", this time we will be covering the "Screenplay Edition". Producer Hiroko Maeda, who was also in charge of producing `` Swallowtail Butterfly '' (1996) and `` Kill Bill '' (2004), will also be in attendance as she was last time.

We will delve into the details behind creating a screenplay, which ``normally takes four to five years to complete,'' while unraveling the process of creating a script and adding valuable behind-the-scenes stories.

Index

• What is the "plot" that forms the basis of a screenplay?
• The most important thing when writing a script is thorough research.
• The key to ``to-gaki'' is to have an image come to mind.
• The happy relationship with the original author that supported the adaptation
• What is an interesting script?

What is the "plot" that forms the basis of a screenplay?

This time, ``The Brightest Roof in the Universe'' is based on Tomo Nonaka's popular novel `` The Brightest Roof in the Universe '' (published by Kobunsha Bunko). Director Fujii and PR Maeda appear to have worked together to produce the script.

Q: In the last episode, we heard that Mr. Maeda came across the original work for ``The Brightest Roof in the Universe'' over 16 years ago, and that it took a long time to acquire the rights to make it into a movie. After that, after Mr. Fujii was chosen as the director, he spent another three or four years working on the script. I thought it was quite long, but how much time does it usually take to write a script?

Fujii: Well, I think it depends on a case-by-case basis, but from my perspective, it's common for it to take about four years.

Maeda: Me too. 4 or 5 years is fairly common.

Q: That's right! I was suddenly surprised (lol).

Fujii: Regarding ``The Brightest Roof in the Universe,'' I remember that four years ago, they were in the process of selecting a scriptwriter, and another scriptwriter was doing some writing. However, I ended up writing the script, and I started working on the plot three years ago.

There was a time when we thought we should try cranking in once two years ago, but due to various circumstances, cranking in was moved to 2019, so we brushed up the script even more. Rather than working 365 days a year, Hiroko (Maeda) and I were working on other projects, and we were using the time to put what we learned and felt back into the script. Mr. Nonaka, the original author, also participated in the writing of the script, and I think everyone was able to thoroughly refine it while having group discussions.

However, three months before I started shooting, I realized, ``This is what I want to shoot right now!'' and I made a big change. As Kaya Kiyohara was chosen to play the lead role, and as the cast was assembled, the image became more concrete, and we made final adjustments.

Actual script for “The Brightest Roof in the Universe”

Q: You mentioned the plot, how is it different from the script?

Fujii: Basically, there is a plot to organize the synopsis and plot, and to me, a screenplay has a very large element of being a blueprint. The format of the plot is quite free, with some people writing in the first person like a novel, and others following events sequentially.

When it's original (the original work doesn't exist), I often write carefully. In order for me, the production team, and the production committee to organize things, we need a plot, and once the plot is in place, we write the script. I think plotting is a big part of the preparation before writing the screenplay.

By the way, I currently work in a style where I almost never write a plot, but in the case of ``The Brightest Roof in the Universe,'' I did. It's been a long time since I saw a movie based on the original work, so I needed to sort out which elements to keep and which elements to drop.

The plot for ``The Brightest Roof in the Universe'' was created by working with Hiroko several times on what is called a ``long plot,'' about 15 sheets.

Q: I heard earlier that it usually takes four to five years to create a script, but how long does it take to create a plot?

Fujii: There were so many different things, and there was a time when I was asked to write the plot for a year and I was disappointed (bitter smile). Regarding ``The Brightest Roof in the Universe,'' I remember working on the plot for about six months.

Rather than continuing to write for half a year, I developed the plot that Hiroko and I had created, then developed it with the people involved and received their opinions, and the time gradually grew.

Q: Director Fujii is also working on the script this time, but if a separate scriptwriter is hired, who will be writing the plot itself?

Fujii: I think it's often created by the scriptwriter.

Q: When hiring a screenwriter, there may be a "screenplay fee", but is there a general market price?

Maeda: Whether it's the director or the script, the total budget is the base. It's called "total project cost," but the director's fee and script fee are determined according to production and advertising costs. If the total budget is small, the amount will depend on it, so I don't think there is a clear market price, but there seems to be one for TV screenwriters. I heard that there is something like ranking.

A long time ago, when I was working in television, I was told that ``TV dramas belong to the scriptwriters and producers, while movies belong to the director.'' In TV dramas, the power of the scriptwriter is overwhelming, so I think that's why the rankings are naturally possible. Of course, even in movies, there may be some great screenwriters who say, ``I won't do it for less than a certain amount of money,'' but basically the films I've worked on so far have been considered based on the total budget.