"Rurouni Kenshin Final Chapter The Beginning" Director Keishi Otomo What is necessary in manufacturing is an awareness of details [Director's Interview Vol.120]

Unusual tension in the Rurouni Kenshin team

Q: This film contains many scenes that cannot be reshot, such as blood splatter and destruction. The fact that emotions and movements are connected also means that there is no gap. I imagine that the tension on set must have been tremendous.

Otomo: This is a funny story, but I later heard from the production staff that a certain director came to say hello, but was overwhelmed by the atmosphere on set and ended up leaving (lol). . After all, I thought there was an abnormal amount of tension on the set of ``Rurouni Kenshin.''

In the scene where Tomoe calls out to Kenshin, ``You really make it rain blood,'' we use CG to add blood spray, but there is movement, the costumes are affected, and the actors also add blood spray. I was exposed to a lot of water, and in terms of the conditions, I was always nervous that I couldn't take a picture unless it was a one-shot challenge. In the first place, I believe that even when it comes to plays, you can never film the same play twice. Overall, we were under a lot of time constraints (bitter smile), and due to the time schedule, we often had no choice but to shoot in one session.

 “Rurouni Kenshin Final Chapter The Beginning” © Nobuhiro Watsuki / Shueisha ©2020 Movie “Rurouni Kenshin: Final Chapter Part I - The Final/The Beginning” Production Committee

Q: I love director Otomo's ``dirty'' productions, but I'm sure it takes a lot of time to prepare.

Otomo: That's true. On days when filming starts at 8 a.m., what time do the costume and makeup departments start preparing? I also have to work as an extra. It's really difficult to do it properly (bitter smile).

There is an episode in which director Akira Kurosawa selected about 50 extras when filming a historical drama and gave them armor in advance to help them get used to it.That's what happened. Even the appearance and body shape of a person changes depending on what kind of occupation the person has and what kind of lifestyle they lead. Normally, the professional characteristics that would have taken 20 years to develop would have to be achieved in a single moment of shooting, in a one-night stand, so to put it another way, it would not be possible unless everyone had that kind of mindset. .

On that point, the ``Rurouni Kenshin'' team is particular about it even when I say ``Enough is enough.'' If it's a summer scene, the costume department and make-up department will go around the extras with mist sprayers to create a ``sweat'' effect.

The entire Kamiya Dojo is revealed for the first time! Movie “Rurouni Kenshin: Final Chapter Part I - The Final”

An easy-to-understand piece of art is the Kamiya Dojo set. The Kamiya Dojo has a history spanning decades, and the sweat of hundreds of swordsmen who have put their hands together in that space is probably stained. Just like curry that has been left to rest overnight tastes better, it tastes better in a space that has been soaked in time. How can we express this with a freshly prepared set? For example, when the art staff is creating a set, they walk around with shoes on purpose to avoid looking new, and then they wipe and polish the shoes. This kind of work becomes repetitive. ``How to create a sense of presence and presence'' is a small detail and analog, but it is a very important element.