NOVEL NEXT Chapter 122: Chapter 124: Swordsmith (×) Architect (√)
Unlike a certain tech-savvy director who tends to blur the line between personal passion and public production, affecting the viewing experience and over-promoting his idols, Shinji, as a mature commercial director, knows when to insert personal touches and when to compromise for commercial success.
In the case of Super 8, "commercial" can easily be substituted with "nostalgia."
If he were making this film solely for his own enjoyment, Shinji would likely remove the Heisei Big Three altogether and replace them with the Crown Prince (Taro), Leo, and Ultraman 80.
Moreover, Mebius' role in the film would be replaced by that person.
Shinji, born in the early '90s in his previous life, had a childhood filled with only Showa-era Ultraman series.
While he liked the Heisei Big Three, when Ultraman Tiga aired on TV, Shinji was already in middle school.
No matter how much he liked it, it couldn't be considered part of his childhood, and thus it held less emotional value compared to the Showa-era predecessors.
If Shinji were to write the script without any concerns, the main characters of the movie would undoubtedly be Jack and Leo, with Ultraman himself as the third lead.
This was because, during his childhood, Shinji had the most tapes of Jack and Leo at home.
While other Ultraman series had to wait for TV broadcasts, he could watch these two every day, to the point where he knew their plots by heart.
As for Ultraman, although Shinji didn't have tapes of the series, he had plenty of cassettes and comic books.
When he couldn't watch TV, his favorite thing to do was listen to the cassettes while reading the comics.
These "comics" were essentially just screenshots with accompanying text.
At the time, Shinji was too young to read, so he had to rely on the stories narrated on the cassettes and imagine the scenes in his mind.
These precious memories were irreplaceable parts of Shinji's childhood.
After crossing over to this world, Shinji did catch up on the Heisei Big Three, but his perspective as a transmigrator was vastly different from that of a real child.
He watched the series more as an Ultraman fan than anything else.
However, as a director, Shinji was well aware that while a director could insert personal touches into a film, they shouldn't overdo it.
Too much, and the movie risks becoming too personal, hindering its appeal.
This might be fine for an indie or arthouse film, but for a major commercial production like Super 8, this was something to be avoided.
"I must be naturally opposed to small character casts," Shinji joked to himself as he looked at the script for Super 8.
Though Shinji had always adhered to the principles of commercial filmmaking, there was one rule he never followed: keeping the main cast under five characters.
In both Fate movies, the number of Masters and Servants alone exceeded ten.
Super 8 was no different; given that the movie's title had a big "8" in it, the main characters naturally had to be eight Ultramen.
Otherwise, it would be false advertising.
However, a movie only has so much runtime.
Even though Shinji's version of Super 8 had a runtime starting at two hours, it was still impossible to give every character equal screen time.
Thus, among the eight Ultramen, some would have more screen time, and some less.
In Shinji's plan, the main characters of Super 8 could only be Daigo Madoka (Tiga) and Hayata Shin (Ultraman).
As for Hibino Mirai (Mebius), his role in the movie was more akin to Wolverine in X-Men: Days of Future Past—a key figure who ties the story together, but the true protagonists were Professor X and Magneto.
This wasn't just because of the relationship between Daigo and Hayata that could bring out other human hosts, but also due to the overwhelming popularity of Tiga and the original Ultraman.
Tiga's popularity was immense, even though some die-hard fans on the internet would try to diminish it by saying things like, "Tiga isn't that popular in Japan." The reality was that Tiga was highly popular both in Japan and worldwide.
As the only Ultraman series before Ultraman Z to win the Seiun Award, Tiga's popularity, while never surpassing the original Ultraman, was still easily within the top three.
This was why, no matter how much Shinji disliked Johnny & Associates, he still invited Hiroshi Nagano to reprise his role as the lead—because of his popularity.
As for the original Ultraman, there's no need to mention it: with an average viewership rating of 36.7%, Shinji was willing to call it the "eternal god."
Of course, making Super 8 a great film required more than just assembling the right cast.
If that were the case, the movie might as well be a fashion show for the human hosts.
A compelling story and thrilling fight scenes were the real keys to a successful Ultraman movie.
However, with Master Li still training the Heroic Spirits and the battle stage in Yokohama still under construction, the action scenes would have to wait.
For now, Shinji was filming the indoor scenes—specifically, the scene where Mirai first arrives and is dragged by Daigo to meet his elders.
These indoor scenes were easy to shoot, required minimal technical effort, and were the perfect way to ease the actors into their roles.
Given the movie's setting, Mirai recognized these "brothers," but they had no idea who he was.
The older characters were baffled by Mirai's constant addressing them as "brother," with the hot-tempered Hokuto even kicking this "troublemaker" out of his restaurant.
As for Daigo, he could only apologize profusely to the older characters, all the while maintaining an awkward but polite smile, looking very much like a man stuck between his mother and his wife.
Takami Yoshimoto, who played Daigo's girlfriend, felt this most keenly.
"Why do I feel like I'm the third wheel in your relationship?"
During a break in filming, Takami Yoshimoto teased Hiroshi Nagano and Shunji Igarashi as she watched them.
The two men felt a bit awkward and exchanged glances filled with frustration but didn't dare say anything, all while eyeing the director, who was busy reviewing the footage.
"What are you looking at?" Shinji shot them a glare in return. "With Igarashi's 'fall-from-the-sky' trope, he'd be the perfect female lead in any other movie."
"Director! How could you say something like that..." Shunji Igarashi, who hadn't yet gained the nickname "The Uncatchable Mirai," almost burst into tears at Shinji's teasing.
As the lead of Tsuburaya Productions' latest Ultraman series, he already felt bad enough about being overshadowed in what was supposed to be Mebius's movie.
Now, hearing this from the director, he was struggling to hold it together.
Before Takami Yoshimoto could laugh, Shinji's next comment nearly caused her to lose it as well.
"Actually, if Daigo and Rena's relationship hadn't already been established in the TV series, the real female lead of this movie should be the Red Shoes Girl. So, Rena, you're not the third wheel; you're the fourth."
"Hey! Can a director even make calculations like that?!"
"If you're not the 'fall-from-the-sky' type these days, how can you even call yourself a female lead?" Shinji responded with absolute confidence.
And then, he was promptly met with disdain from all three actors.
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After wrapping up the scene with Mirai and his "brothers," Shinji didn't move on to the next sequence in the story.
Instead, he started shooting the scene where Daigo is biking to work at the beginning of the film.
In most cases, movies are not shot in chronological order.
Filming typically involves completing all scenes in a given set, regardless of their order in the story, before moving on to the next set.
This approach maximizes the efficient use of set designs.
After all, building a set is a laborious task, and redoing the same set multiple times would be a significant waste.
It's best to film all the required scenes at once.
This is especially true for outdoor locations, where renting fees are often charged daily. It's more economical to concentrate filming in one location and minimize rental costs.
Although the Fuyuki City government helped Shinji secure the locations, the production still had to cover the rental fees.
Shinji wasn't like James Cameron, the kind of obsessive director who spares no expense or time to achieve his vision.
Cameron, known for his perfectionism, famously spent over a million dollars just to reshoot scenes with custom-made tableware that featured the White Star Line logo, even though the audience would never see it.
If it were Shinji, he probably would have just used the Matou family's tableware instead.
Despite his admiration for Cameron, Shinji had no intention of becoming like him.
Cost control was always a critical aspect of Shinji's filmmaking philosophy.
For example, even though the story of Super 8 was set in Yokohama, all the filming took place in Fuyuki City.
Even for the outdoor scenes involving the human actors, Shinji had no plans to film in Yokohama.
Being an important city in the Tokyo metropolitan area, Yokohama's location rental fees were quite steep.
Since Fuyuki City was also a port city, it could easily stand in for Yokohama without anyone noticing.
This substitution would work for close-up shots, but for the Ultraman versus monster battle scenes, some iconic Yokohama landmarks would still need to appear.
Fortunately, these scenes didn't require actual location shots but could instead rely on a classic tokusatsu filming technique—miniature sets for the battle stage.
"So, I'm counting on you two for this," Shinji said, placing a hand on each of their shoulders and smiling encouragingly at Shirou and Archer, who looked utterly confused.
"Are you kidding me, Matou Shinji?" Archer swore loudly. Shinji had just made an outrageous request—he wanted the two of them to project entire skyscrapers onto the battle stage.
"Couldn't you just have props made for that?" Shirou asked.
"Most of the buildings will indeed be props, but some key structures need to be projected," Shinji explained, waving a finger. "First of all, in terms of precision, projections are much more detailed, especially when it comes to interior designs."
"Second, the speed of projecting buildings is much faster than making models."
"Also, with projected buildings, you can control their overall strength, making them easier to destroy during battle scenes."
"And lastly, and most importantly, the buildings you project will have magical properties. When they're destroyed on screen, the effect of the debris flying out of the frame will be incredible."
Hearing Shinji's explanation, Shirou sighed in resignation. "By the time this movie is done, my Reality Marble might turn into Unlimited Building Works."
He could already picture his inner world filled with countless skyscrapers.
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