"PiCNiC" People on the borderline challenged by Shunji Iwai x Tadanobu Asano x CHARA [That's when the movie was born Vol.1]

Special development and 72 hours of shooting

The method of shooting two consecutive films by the same staff was often seen in V-cinema, which was popular at the time, but in the case of " undo " and "PiCNiC", " undo " was cranked in first, and the shooting took place over four days. A schedule has been set up. However, things did not end as planned. Atsushi Fukumoto, who worked as a photography assistant, said, ``On the evening of the third day of shooting, the schedule for the next day was given to the staff, and it said that the scheduled end time was 72 o'clock.72 o'clock means 3 days. '' (`` The Legacy of Photographer Noboru Shinoda '' by Kazuya Horikoshi, SJP Publishing), he recalls.

In other words, the shooting will be extended by two days in addition to the scheduled four days, but as you can see from the time notation, it is not separated by 24 hours, which means that the fourth day, which is the last day of shooting, will be extended. This means that it continues on and on. Fukumoto explains, ``At the bottom of the schedule, it says, ``It's going to be a tough shoot, but I'm going to take a four-hour nap at a good filming location.'' That means I can't go home.'' In the end, it took almost that long to shoot " undo ," and if you look at the content alone, it wouldn't have been difficult to finish filming in four days. The commitment of Noboru Shinoda and Iwai, the photographers, is exploding.

Tomoko Yamaguchi ties up everything in her room, but ``I don't have any SM tendencies, so I felt like I did a string craft using string as a subject.'' (`` NOW and THEN '' by Shunji Iwai, Bondage art like objects created by Iwai (Kadokawa Shoten) naturally takes time to prepare. In the end, they rented another studio and worked on the decorations and lighting of the main room while filming a portion of the room, but Iwai wasn't the only one who was particular about it. Shinoda, the photographer, adds to this. Both `` undo '' and ``PiCNiC'' were basically shot on 16mm film, which was used in V-cinema and TV movies at the time, but they also partially used 35mm film, which was used in feature films. Specifically, in Undo , the famous scene where Yamaguchi and Toyokawa kiss on a slope and kindergarten children pass in front of them was shot in 35mm to create a telephoto and bokeh effect. There is. However, if you use 16mm and 35mm together, the difference becomes obvious because the graininess and sharpness of the films differ. Special development was used to create a unique look and create a texture that would be hard to believe was made in 16mm.

Regarding the special development of `` undo '', Shinoda says, ``Increasing low-speed film with a film speed of only 50 to 200.Of course, there are high-speed films with a speed of 200, but using 200 film as is and The look is completely different from increasing the sensitivity of high-speed film.'' Test shooting was carried out using several different types of film, and after verifying the changes in look due to sensitization and desensitization, it was decided to use EK (Eastman Kodak) film, as the difference was noticeable. As a result, the basic policy was established that `` undo '' would sensitize film with a sensitivity of 50, and ``PiCNiC'' would desensitize film with a sensitivity of 250.

“undo” preview

However, the use of special development had a major impact on photography. In particular, in the climax of `` Undo ,'' the scene in which Etsushi Toyokawa ties up Yamaguchi's entire body, when you watch the finished film, you won't believe that it's the same room as before. It looks like a space reminiscent of the gap between this shore and the other shore. To create that image, Shinoda attempted desensitization using film with a sensitivity of 50. Desensitizing rather than increasing sensitization means that the image cannot be seen indoors unless it is exposed to light equivalent to the sun. Under intense light and intense heat, Yamaguchi had to remain tied up for hours.

The footage shot in this way stands out among Japanese films of the same era, but at the same time, we must not forget the perspective expressed by assistant cinematographer Fukumoto. ``From Shinoda-san's point of view, even before he started shooting, he didn't intend to shoot in four days. (...) I think he was planning on shooting with almost no sleep.This is the difference between the current situation and movies today. The way we think about production itself is also changing.'' (`` The Legacy of Cameraman Noboru Shinoda '').

Looking back, Fukumoto says, ``I can't take pictures like this anymore.'' However, that doesn't mean we should think simplistically that movies like this were made because it was impossible in the past. If you create an environment where you are given 72 hours plus one week or more to shoot from the beginning instead of just 4 days, the chances of a talented director and cameraman creating such images will increase. It's coming.

After finishing filming for `` undo '' and having a preparation period of about two weeks, filming for ``PiCNiC'' began. Amidst the intense heat, with temperatures exceeding 30 degrees Celsius every day, a two-week shooting schedule was scheduled this time instead of four days, but there was a development waiting to happen that would destroy the movie itself.

Tokyo in 1994 seen from above the wall