"Special Screening of Director Kosai Sekine" Film and video are communication tools for deep dialogue with people [Director's Interview Vol.245]

It's interesting what comes out of everyone.

Q: When filming commercials/MVs, I don't think you often used full-fledged acting. When shooting short films and movies, how do you direct the actors?

Sekine: When it comes to feature films, the process is completely different from commercials and music videos. But I found it very interesting. When I made my first feature film, I tried to zero in on my career and cancel my previous experiences. But in reality, there were situations where the skills and experience we had cultivated were put to good use. I wanted to extract the best parts of my experience in commercials/MVs and how to make movies and combine them on-site. This made it easy for me to shoot, and it was also easy to convey my intentions to the staff and cast.

I talk with the actors about the presence of their roles, but I don't give detailed performances. As long as we both understand the presence of the role, it's up to the actors to interpret it. Great things can come from that. I started to try to respect what was born, and I gradually realized that that's what makes movies interesting. However, on the other hand, there are some areas where my own quirks come out, such as the content of the art or the position of the camera. But the staff and cast try to understand and respect what I want to do, so I think we can do it without stress.

And in the case of movies, it's important to create situations that take precedence over the acting. What needs to be presented in the play, and the direction and scene are shaped by that. I think that's all there is to it.

Q: “Just being alive is love. ”, Shuri and Masaki Suda were wonderful. The angles and camera work are cool, but they never really pull you in, and you're drawn in by those two. Of course, Shuri-san was very aggressive, but Masaki Suda, who seemed restrained, was also amazing.

Sekine: The original work is a masterpiece by Yukiko Motoya, and I was in awe when I wrote the script. In developing the film, we began by retelling the story objectively from the original story, which was written from a female first-person perspective. The role of Tsunagi, which Mr. Suda played, was actually hardly portrayed in the original work. As a man myself, when I wanted to understand the mentality of Yasuko, the woman played by Shuri, I needed the perspective of a man named Tsunagi. I thought that this would lead to dialogue and, inevitably, objectivity. As I write the script in this way, I can't help but immerse myself in the script, and I naturally begin to feel the essence of the work. That's why I don't think the angles and camera work were unnecessarily trying to look cool, but rather they were naturally shaped that way.

“Just being alive, love. ” Preview

Shuri-san volunteered to play Yasuko. I talked with her about her life up to that point and the hardships she had faced, and Shuri said that she thought of Yasuko as herself and would love to play her. On the other hand, I wanted to see Suda-san have a kind of simple-mindedness that was different from the roles he had played up until that point. When I talked to him, he said, ``I'm basically that kind of person, and there may have been relatively few roles where I could express that kind of inner nature.'' In that sense, the two of them were truly there as Yasuko and Tsunagi. I think that's what made it so good.

Q: If you're used to the production environment of commercials, which have a good budget, you'll probably find it quite difficult to make movies and short films, but I get the impression that the quality of director Sekine's films has declined. there is no. How do you usually approach production?

Sekine: That's difficult, isn't it? The short film that will be screened this time, ``Nighthawks In Bangkok'' (12), was an independent production with a really small budget. But it's really fun to run the camera ourselves. On the other hand, commercials have a good budget and are in a good environment, but the enjoyment of creating them is completely different. Even if there is a budget, not all of it is used for creativity and production, and it must be used for other things as well. Occasionally, there are works that are advertisements but are almost self-produced, and those are the most interesting, the most creative, and the most memorable.

In the case of movies, the budget is small, so I've started paying as much attention as possible to making sure that everyone isn't being forced to do something unfortunate, and that I'm not forcing them to do anything. If we can do this while being conscious of not hurting each other, I think it will be a very enriching place mentally. We can create things together like humans, and that's what I want as well. In a sense, I think this is also reflected in the texture. I think that when people put their heart and soul into making something, that part is taken seriously.

Confront Taro Okamoto