"Future Generation Film Skill Masters Course in SAPPORO"
From July 19th to July 26th, a workshop featuring film, visuals and acting called “Future Generation Film Skill Masters Course in SAPPORO” took place at ICC.
This workshop was hosted by Robot Communications, known for their release of hit films “Limit of Love: Umizaru” and “Bayside Shakedown: The Movie”, IMAGICA, one of the best post production facilities in the country, the Sapporo Film Commission, and the Hokkaido Film Industry Promotion Association.
The eight-day workshop consisted of five days of film lecture and three days of acting lecture. The film segment was lectured by 6 people consisting of the producer of “Limit of Love: Umizaru” and “Always: Sunset on Third Street” Chikahiro Ando, affiliate of special effects studio Shirogumi and VFX director Takashi Yamazaki, and VFX producer of “Negotiator” and “Dororo”, Shuji Asano. The acting segment featured the director of “Bayside Shakedown: The Movie”, “Udon”, and “Shaolin Girl”, Katsuyuki Motohiro, director of theater group Tokyo Tanbarin, Hiroko Takai, and Hideki Nagai of the theater group Seinendan.
It is rare for such an impressive group of lecturers to gather in Sapporo, bringing together an audience of 50 including students, professionals, and amateurs, some traveling from as far as Osaka to take advantage of this chance.
The theme of the film segment, “The real way to make a movie, from A to Z”, discussed what films are, production, acting, postproduction, and visual effects. After lectures in these categories, the participants split into groups, asking questions until their minds were packed with information.
The participants consisted mostly of students, who listened intently to their heroes and mentors.
On the other hand, the acting segment began with a warm up game called, “introduce each other”, then moved on to improv exercises in which the participants took a line from their favorite song and acted out a scene. They were even given an opportunity to act according to a script written by the lecturers and shoot one such scene. The participants were so engrossed in acting that they ran out of time to edit their footage.
Participants in both segments were very satisfied with the workshop, commenting on the content of the program and inspired by the A-list lecturers.
Hokkaido and Sapporo is not only an internationally renowned location for filmmaking, it holds good reputation for its film commission, lighting, sound, and special equipment providers, location scouting personnel, and extras.
Such a workshop featuring famous industry professionals was made possible by the fact that all of these things contributed to a relationship built on trust.
A completely successful workshop.
We hope that the participants can hone their skills and become a major force in their respective fields.
Article by Eiichi Sato
Translation by David Neptune
