"Missing Child Videotape" Director Ryota Kondo x General Producer Takashi Shimizu: The Sense of Shooting a "Scary Atmosphere" [Director's Interview Vol. 466]

Commitment to analog noise

Q: Were there any difficulties in directing the actors' acting?

Kondo: When I was working on an independent film, I would share my ideas about scary ways of speaking and acting, and communicate what I wanted to do, but I was worried that professional actors would not understand. However, professional actors have a high level of understanding, and they can tell what you mean without you having to say much. It was very easy to work with them.

On set, rather than giving acting instructions, I tried to communicate properly. I wanted the director to think, "This director seems to really love horror and wants to do something really scary. Well, I'll do it for him." That's what I was careful about.

"Missing Child Videotape" ©︎2024 "Missing Child Videotape" Production Committee

Q: Could you tell us why you decided to use analog VHS tapes as found footage, rather than digital videotapes?

Kondo: I was very particular about it. The more analog it is, the more raw it feels. I actually got hold of a 20-year-old VHS tape that was used to record TV programs, and filmed over it. I also overlaid the footage I had filmed there and dubbed it three times. So, everything that appeared in the film was real, degraded footage. How the noise was introduced was important, so I looked for a way to incorporate noise well. For example, if you stick a magnet to a VHS deck, you can get some nice noise (laughs).

Shimizu: Such experimental attempts are important. I also wasn't satisfied with the digital feel of the film " Rare People" (2004), so I pointed the camera at the TV screen and reshot it two or three times. It ended up being a production process similar to Derek Jarman's " Blue " (1993) (laughs). But that kind of steady work is really important, and noise made with CG doesn't have the realism it needs. I wanted something unpredictable, so I think it was worth the effort.

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Director/original idea: Ryota Kondo

Born in Hokkaido in 1988. He started working as a film production staff member while in college, and after moving to Tokyo, he studied under Hiroshi Takahashi at the Film School of Tokyo. At the same time, he started making his own films, and his style of consistently pursuing horror has been praised. He is currently directing videos for TV Tokyo's "TXQ FICTION." <Work history> "OTHER SIDE", "Living and Dead" (16), "If You Hear That Sound" (21), Japan Horror Movie Award MOVIE WALKER PRESS Award, "Ice Forest/Woman's Tale" (22), "Missing Child Videotape" (22), 2nd Japan Horror Movie Award Grand Prize, "The Call of the Demon (included in "One Hundred Strange Nights")" (23), "Looking for Isinagakikue" (24), "Apologies to the Iinuma Family" (24)

General Producer: Takashi Shimizu

Born in Gunma Prefecture in 1972. Studied theater at university, and after working as an assistant director, made his directorial debut in 1998. The original project "Ju-on" series (1999-2006), which he wrote, wrote and directed, was made into a V-cinema and a feature film before being remade into a Hollywood film. He is the first Japanese director to have a film reach number one in the US charts. Recent works include "Kununari Village" (20), "Jukai Village" (21), "Ushiku Village" (22), "Kikaijima" and "Minna no Uta" (both 23). In addition to horror films, he has also worked on "The Witch's Delivery Service" (14), "I Can Hear the Blue Hearts/A Boy's Poem" (17), and "Homunculus" (21). Planetarium "The Man from the 9th Dimension" (16) is currently being screened at the Miraikan National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation. "Who is that girl?", released last summer, was a huge hit.

Interview and text: Fumio Koda

Editorial staff and writer for CINEMORE. My favorite movies are ``The Goonies'' and ``Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.'' My recent favorites are 4K digitally remastered classics by Akira Kurosawa and Yasujiro Ozu.

Photography: Kazunari Aoki

"Missing Child Videotape"

Nationwide release on Friday, January 24th

Distribution: KADOKAWA

©︎2024 "Missing Child Videotape" Production Committee