"Me, me, me," Yoshika Matsuoka x Ayumu Omori x Shinichiro Kanagawa Three short films created by CM director [Director's Interview Vol.347]

An omnibus of three short films, ``Me, Me, Me,'' created by commercial directors who are active on the front lines, will be released at Shinjuku K's cinema from Saturday, September 2, 2023. Although the three films have different backgrounds and concepts, they were brought together for this screening because they have one thing in common: "Young actress x popular CM director." Why did directors who usually work on commercials end up working on short films? What was the difference between the production process of commercials and short films? We spoke with directors Yoshika Matsuoka, Ayumu Omori, and Shinichiro Kanagawa, who worked on each film.

Mai Fukagawa x Director Yoshika Matsuoka “Just a Summer Day Story” Synopsis

When Yotsuki (Mai Fukagawa) slowly wakes up, her body still heavy from last night's alcohol, her memories don't connect anywhere. The only thing I knew was that the view outside the window was probably not Tokyo. A strange man (Kanji Furudate) is sleeping in the room. In other words, it makes me feel like an "old man." After getting drunk and losing his memory, Yozuki ends up coming to Kiryu for some reason. "Uncle" that no one knows. This is the story of a "just" summer day spent in a strange place with a stranger.

Synopsis of “Spring” directed by Kotone Furukawa and Ayumu Omori

This work depicts a year in which Ji-chan, who has dementia, and her art school student grandson Ami (Kotone Furukawa) live together. In contrast to Ami who becomes an adult, Ji-chan becomes more and more depressed as her dementia progresses. Ami becomes increasingly frustrated, unable to draw what she wants to draw, and begins to lose confidence in her work and career path, but one day, she is moved by Ji-chan's story she hears for the first time...

Synopsis of “Winter’s Summer” directed by Hana Toshima, Itsuki Nagasawa and Shinichiro Kanagawa

The last summer of high school. The main character, Fuyuko (Hana Toshima), spends her time lazing around, unable to decide on her career path. And his best friend Noel (Tsuki Nagasawa) is the only person who understands him. Should I go to higher education or not? Should I leave this town or not? The two spend their days leisurely, contrary to the noisy surroundings, but Fuyuko grows irritated and impatient when she sees Noel, who is deciding on his future. When they arrive at a sunflower field in full bloom, the two reach a major crossroads.

Index

• Why did you make a short film?
• Differences between commercials and short films, production
• Script writing by three parties
• What is the role of the storyboard?
• Actors who led the way
• Future prospects from commercials to other media

Why did you make a short film?

Q: What inspired you to make this short film?

Kanagawa: I suddenly received a call from my high school classmate, Natsumi Enyama, who offered me, ``I won the scenario grand prize at the Isan Studio Film Festival in Gunma, so I have to make a short film.Will you be the director?'' That's what got me started. I had originally planned to make a short film myself, but it never came to fruition. I received a call just as it was gone, so it felt like fate. Until then, I had never made anything longer than 60 seconds, and even when I saw a 60-second commercial, I thought, ``The preview is too long'' (lol).

Omori: I photographed “Spring” six years ago. It was around the time I was getting used to the job, but the curse of not being able to sell as a commercial director has stuck with me ever since I entered the workforce. I didn't have to worry about such things, but I was riding on my back all the time, and it wasn't much fun to live. At work, I go to various places for meetings, and when I open my bag when I get home at night, there are about 4 to 5 plastic bottles that I received from each meeting, and I throw the rest down the drain. At that moment, for some reason, tears filled my eyes. I also felt like I was being consumed.

Around that time, my grandpa passed away. Similar to the movie ``Spring,'' I lived with my grandpa for three years during my university years. At the funeral, I looked at my grandfather who had become cold and said, ``Ah, people die someday.'' Then I suddenly thought about making a full-length version. After that, I wrote a script and submitted it to the Kiryu Film Festival.

“Spring” Watashi-Films© All rights reserved

Matsuoka: When I visited the set of `` Character '' (21), which was directed by my mentor Satoshi Nagai, I found the process of making the movie very interesting. ``This is the first time I've ever wanted to make a movie,'' I said to Mr. Nagai, and he said, ``Maybe I should try writing a screenplay.'' I liked writing stories when I was little, but I stopped writing as an adult and had never written a screenplay. The next day I was thinking, ``Hmm...'', I happened to receive an email from the Kiryu Film Festival inviting me to apply. The timing was perfect, and if I didn't do this, I would have run away (lol). I started writing because I thought I had no choice but to do it.

The rule for applying to the Kiryu Film Festival is that the film must be shot in Kiryu. When I thought about what to photograph in the scenery of Kiryu, I thought I would put a Tokyo girl like myself there who is tired from rushing to work. I tried to expand on the story and see how it could be created from there. I researched the actual location of Kiryu, and the pond on which the boat is boarded stuck in my mind, so I proceeded with the script, using that as a key location for the story. After that, the script I submitted won an award and I decided to film it. By the way, this is a true story of a friend of mine who woke up to find himself in a place he didn't know with people he didn't know (lol).

Omori: I liked that beginning. When two people meet like that, there's a strange feeling of tension that maybe something naughty might happen (lol). I don't think it's easy to create that kind of tension of whether it's going to be good or bad.

Matsuoka: I'm happy! thank you! Actually, I was allowed to film the scene where the two meet for the first time. In fact, it was the first time that Mr. Fukagawa and Mr. Furudate acted together in a play, and the situation was similar to that of the two in the play. The fact that they hadn't grasped each other yet created a sense of reality, and that had an effect.

Differences between commercials and short films, production