Chapter 477

At night, naturally, one couldn't sleep in the old house that served as the film set.

Could it be that he really wanted to have intimate contact with Sadako-san?

A group of people stayed at an inn on Izu Oshima; it was foreseeable that this stay would probably last four or five days.

In the inn's open-air dining hall, the entire crew was eating dinner there, and Naoki Nagayama and Shuichi Ido were chatting while having a drink.

"Nagayama-san, is that program called 'Twilight Meow Meow' definitely going to launch?"

Naoki Nagayama nodded: "If there are no accidents, preparations will be completed next week, recording will take place, and it might air the week after next."

"So fast?" Shuichi Ido was a little surprised.

"Hahaha, with Fuji TV as our backing, it's just a variety show, so of course there's no problem." Naoki Nagayama said relaxedly.

"But as you said last time, this isn't about selecting a certain idol to debut, but the entire group debuting. Is that really okay?"

Shuichi Ido was still a bit worried.

"We've established a company to handle the debut matters, and this time we have the support of the Burning agency. There's nothing to worry about." This was where Etsuro Kikuchi's usefulness was demonstrated.

"Then is Nagayama-san going back next week?"

"I have to go take a look eventually." Naoki Nagayama didn't make any excuses, "But it's just to take a look; there are people to handle the specific affairs."

"That's good~"

Shuichi Ido drank a beer and let out a long sigh, "This 'Ring' will probably be finished filming by the time that program airs."

"Yeah, if it's released before Halloween, we can even participate in this year's film awards." Naoki Nagayama said with a smile.

"By the way, the evaluation for 'Crows Zero'?"

"It looks like those people behind that movie have no good ideas left." Naoki Nagayama didn't care at all anymore; the movie's release period was almost over, and those forces smearing it really had no tricks left.

"I'm just afraid that during the evaluation..." Shuichi Ido was still a bit worried.

"Ido-san, it's not like you don't have teachers and classmates in the film academy, and it's not like I don't have friends in the film circle, and it's not like Kadokawa doesn't have money and channels. What's there to be afraid of~"

Come to think of it, in the film industry, Tree Friend Films might not be a top-tier tycoon, but its ability to withstand external storms was no longer weak.

"That's true~" Shuichi Ido let go of his anxious mindset; there was no helping it, it had only been two years, and he didn't have that kind of calm and composed cultivation yet. "Come, Nagayama-san, cheers!"

"Cheers!"

After dawn the next day, the entire crew gradually regained their vitality, and the entire filming process proceeded in an orderly manner.

With the addition of Naoki Nagayama, the filming progress of 'Ring' was raised to another level.

Shuichi Ido was a very experienced director with formal training, but when he filmed movies, he was accustomed to the old-fashioned director's method of shooting multiple takes and then selecting the most suitable one for editing, which naturally increased the workload many times over.

But Naoki Nagayama was completely different; he usually only did one take!

He only half-understood film theory; if you talked to him about montage, postmodernism, or the like, he could still spout off a few things;

But if you wanted to chat with him about the difference between classical film theory and modern film theory, or what the difference was between first-film semiotics and second-film semiotics?

Then he could only leave behind a chuckle.

However, with the help of movies he had seen in the future, Naoki Nagayama was always able to select in advance those shots that had been verified by film fans, thereby reducing the shots that originally required multiple takes for safety to the minimum.

For example, when searching for the buried well in the basement:

"Masataka-kun, when filming the basement, you can't use a flashlight with such a large aperture; use one with a smaller range. That way it won't illuminate other places, increasing the sense of unknown horror!"

When examining Sadako Yamamura's remains:

"Yuko-san, at this moment you are panicked, but not because of the remains; you yourself are already an experienced senior reporter, so this level won't scare you. It should be more of a sense of urgency and relief, because finding the remains means the problem can be solved!"

However, in the evening, when filming Sadako crawling out of the well, Naoki Nagayama always felt something was missing:

"Ido-san, Hualing-san's body language is very good, and the feeling of stiffness is also expressed, but I always feel something is lacking."

Ling Igarashi, with her white clothes fluttering, stood to the side; if she didn't comb her hair to the front, she actually looked... quite pretty!

However, the original work of 'Ring' did indeed describe Sadako as a stunningly beautiful woman, which was quite fitting.

Shuichi Ido glanced at Ling Igarashi: "Hualing-san's physical skills are no problem. Should we change the lighting or the angle?"

"Hmm, let me think." Naoki Nagayama walked to the well in the woods, pacing back and forth, thinking about how to shoot a better segment.

"Crawling out of the well... crawling out of the well... wait, what if she isn't crawling out of the well, but is being forcibly pulled back by the well?

Aren't earthbound spirits unable to leave the place they are bound to?!"

Naoki Nagayama had a flash of inspiration and said to Ling Igarashi, who was playing Sadako: "Hualing-san, keep the same stiffness and body movements as before, but this time try to walk backward into it!"

"Eh?" x2, Shuichi Ido also expressed confusion.

"We'll film her walking backward into the well, and then edit it in reverse!" Naoki Nagayama said, "Masataka-kun, come, the film for this scene is special, change to a new roll!"

"Hai!"

Ling Igarashi, having understood, tried walking backward a few times, and after becoming gradually proficient, filming began.

For the same action, walking backward was naturally more difficult than walking normally. When seen on the director's monitor, the distortion of the entire process was indeed much more twisted than walking forward.

"Ido-san, if we edit it in reverse later, the scene of her crawling out of the well will have both a sense of moving forward and backward at the same time; it will definitely be very strange!" Naoki Nagayama laughed.

"Yeah, looking at it now, it also has a weird feeling; it will definitely give people goosebumps when the time comes!" Shuichi Ido also nodded in agreement.

It was already late after filming this segment, and after Naoki Nagayama and Shuichi Ido discussed it, they ended today's filming.

"Tomorrow, we'll use black-and-white film to shoot when Sadako Yamamura's mother, Shizuko, is here!" Shuichi Ido mentioned tomorrow's filming plan, "And some archival footage of Sadako later..."

"There's about two days of work left." Shuichi Ido continued, "Thanks to Nagayama-san, the efficiency has increased quite a bit."

"Hahaha." Naoki Nagayama waved his hand, not taking the credit, but instead said, "Ido-san, if we're going to shoot, it's best to shoot more of the scenery here."

"Eh? Why?"

"For backup in the future!" Naoki Nagayama said, "I think this movie 'Ring' will definitely be a big hit; sequels, sequels to sequels, and so on, can all use it."

"Nagayama-san has already considered so far ahead?" Shuichi Ido was impressed.

When he returned to the inn at night, he had dinner with the crew again and soaked in the hot spring for a while. When he returned to his room to rest, Naoki Nagayama's pager went off.

There were no phones in the rooms of the inn on Izu Oshima, so Naoki Nagayama had to dial back from the front desk.

"Nagayama-san?" In the apartment in Tokyo, Akina Nakamori picked up as soon as the phone rang.

"Akina, it's me." Naoki Nagayama leaned against the pillar and replied, "Has Akina already returned home?"

"Hai, today's rehearsal is over." Akina Nakamori sat cross-legged on the sofa, drinking iced milk while talking to Naoki Nagayama, "What about Nagayama-san, are you in Kyoto?"

"No, I'm on a big island. Do you know Izu Oshima?" Naoki Nagayama didn't wait for her to answer and continued, "It's right next to the Izu Peninsula, and there's an active volcano called Mount Mihara."

"Ah, it's that place!" Akina Nakamori exclaimed, "Isn't that the suicide holy land?"

"Akina knows about it too?" Naoki Nagayama laughed, "It's a very scary place."

Akina Nakamori sat up straight and said a bit nervously: "When I was in school, classmates were always spreading these kinds of rumors, saying things like if things really don't work out, just jump into the crater of Mount Mihara or something..."

"... Are Akina's classmates really that world-weary?" Naoki Nagayama was speechless. In this era, the 'Heisei losers' shouldn't have appeared yet, right?

"It's not that, it's just that saying it like that is cool!" Akina pouted, "Those guys always keep it on their lips after seeing others get scared..."

"Ah, teenagers." Naoki Nagayama understood. Teenagers in this period always wanted to attract others' attention by saying anything.

"Ano... Nagayama-san, please don't jump down!" Akina requested earnestly.

Naoki Nagayama almost laughed out loud: "Akina, what are you saying? Why would I jump down?"

"I heard there's a strange resentment there, the resentful spirits of people who committed suicide there before. They will lure everyone who goes there; if you have resentment or despair in your heart, you will be tempted to jump down from the crater and join them!"

Akina on the phone was telling the gossip she had heard in a mystical way, and finally said, "Anyway, Nagayama-san, please don't stay there too long!"

"How can that be, there are still three days of filming work!" Naoki Nagayama comforted her, "Don't worry, we bought a lot of amulets from the local shaman, and we also perform some rituals every time we film..."

This was true. In this era, it wasn't just one or two people who were superstitious. The crew brought a priest with them every day, who did nothing but chant scriptures over by the house...

"I see..." Since it concerned his career, Akina Nakamori couldn't do anything about it, "But Nagayama-san, remember, no matter what happens, there is someone in Tokyo waiting for you to return!"

Feeling a warmth in his heart, Naoki Nagayama slowly said:

"Hai, I know! Akina, remember too, no matter what happens, there is also someone waiting for you!"

The sour, sweet love talk of the honeymoon phase made the innkeeper, who heard it occasionally, feel a sense of discomfort.

After glancing at Naoki Nagayama, he rolled his eyes and hurriedly left the front desk under the pretext of patrolling.

The subsequent chat was even more relaxed, lasting until late at night.

Akina Nakamori was busy with rehearsals in Tokyo; sometimes she was at a music festival in the morning, at a screening in the afternoon, and sometimes she had to teach the movements for the Kohaku stage at night.

If there were no rehearsals, then one notice after another would come knocking at the scheduled time. In short, there wasn't much free time.

Naoki Nagayama's side was better; he only had two movies and one program on his hands, so there were still some gaps if he shifted things around.

"Akina, in about a week, I will return to Tokyo, and I'll go see you then!"

"Hmm~" Akina agreed, and then asked, "Nagayama-san, what about the filming of 'Love Letter'?"

"It's estimated to be mid-November; whenever it snows, we'll go film!" Naoki Nagayama wasn't sure. By November, it would definitely snow in Hokkaido, but he wasn't quite sure about Kobe City, "Anyway, we definitely have to film twice in November, once in Kobe and once in Otaru!"

"Hai~"

When Naoki Nagayama finally hung up the phone, the innkeeper returned to the front desk leisurely.

Ever since Tai Sugiura confirmed the launch of 'Twilight Meow Meow' earlier, everyone involved began to move.

Etsuro Kikuchi ran to the Burning agency again, found Ikuo Suo, and begged for the connections of the Burning system to release the demand for program assistants across Japan.

Under the promotion of TV and radio advertisements and numerous agencies, quite a few age-appropriate girls had already called or written letters to sign up.

Because the screening conditions didn't need to be as high as an idol audition, the first batch of program assistants Etsuro Kikuchi planned were all from places relatively close to Tokyo.

After gathering the people, training them for two days, they would be ready to go on stage at any time!

However, he still called Otomo Yoshimura: "Otomo-san, I'm almost ready here. Is the schedule for the Cat's Eye sisters okay?"

Otomo Yoshimura naturally answered well on the phone: "Hai, it's already cleared, you can go to rehearsal at any time."

Etsuro Kikuchi nodded and said: "That's good, Ayano Fukuhara and Saka Nonaka here have also been looking forward to it for a long time!"

"The reunion of the Wild Cat Group..." Otomo Yoshimura had always had an obsession with this original girl group he had brought up himself, "I hope this time it can last a long time!"

"Otomo-san, it definitely will! The Wild Cat Group, and the backup Kitten Club!" Etsuro Kikuchi was full of confidence, "We will definitely make these two girl groups popular all over Japan!"

"Hahaha, I hope so!"

As one of the core figures, Yasushi Akimoto was also spending all day in the studio of Fuji TV at this time, supervising the stage layout while burying his head in writing the script.

"What song should I use to open the show? If it's dancing, will it be too difficult? It needs training, right?"

"And the guests for the first episode, are they the Cat's Eye sisters and the two-person Kitten Club from the Wild Cat Group..."

Yasushi Akimoto suddenly saw a decorative cat head on the stage, and a flash of inspiration struck him.

"Cat ears?! And that cat dance when they just came out?"

"Although it might not be that sexy if young girls dance it... but isn't a group of girls who want to grow up also very interesting?!"

After determining the direction, Yasushi Akimoto buried his head and started writing!

This grand entrance must not go wrong at all!

When writing about the filming process, I had to look at the analysis of 'Ring' late at night; my heart is pounding!