Godzilla vs Biollante Staff Message: Yuta Kato

Godzilla vs Biollante Staff Message

加藤雄大
Yuta Kato

本編撮影
Main filming

70ミリ合成はいつかやってみたかった

I’ve always wanted to try 70mm compositing someday.

大森監督と組むのは初めてですね。当時いちばん新進気鋭の力のある人で。学生の映画から出発して、自分たちでキャメラを回してきてますからね。映像に関してもよくわかる人だったから助かりました。

This was the first time I worked with Director Omori. At the time, he was one of the most promising and talented up-and-coming directors. He started out making student films, and he and his team had been operating the cameras themselves, so he had a great understanding of filmmaking, which was a big help.

撮影で印象的なのは、自衛隊の協力。空撮は全部自衛隊のヘリで撮影してます。普通は窓を開けさせてくれないさせてくいんですよ。でも僕が説明すると「あ、加藤さんはよくわかってるから、じゃあ開けていいですよ」と。昔から東宝と自衛隊との関係ってのはそこがすごいんですよ。

What was particularly memorable about the filming was the cooperation from the Japan Self-Defense Forces. All the aerial shots were filmed using Self-Defense Forces helicopters. Normally, they wouldn’t let you open the windows, but when I explained the situation, they said, “Ah, Mr. Kato understands things well, so it’s okay to open them.” The relationship between Toho and the Self-Defense Forces has always been remarkable in that respect.

特撮は先行して撮影に入ってますから、特撮に合わせて本編を組み立てたりとかもします。「あ、こういうふうにやるのか」ってことも含めてね。「あの角度行ってから、こっちだな」とかね。だからたまに撮影現場に行ったりラッシュ見ておかないと。特撮の合成部にもよく行ってたんですよ。三瓶(一信)さんとかいましたからね。あの当時、「生合成」も映画の中ではひとつのポジションがあったんですよ。ゴジラが去っていきますよね。あそこなんかも、御殿場の山の中で撮った画に、その奥の海を生合成で切ってもらってます。それと、最初のほうの車が砂漠の中を走ってきますね。あれなんかもそうです。生合成は合計で3カットくらいありますね。

The special effects sequences are filmed in advance, so we sometimes assemble the main story to match the special effects. This includes figuring out things like, “Ah, this is how we’re going to do it,” or “We’ll go from this angle, then to this one.” That’s why I occasionally went to the filming location and watched the rushes. I also frequently visited the special effects compositing department. Mr. Sanpei (Kazunobu) was there, for example. Back then, “live-action compositing” had a significant role in filmmaking. For example, when Godzilla leaves, the scene where he walks away – that was filmed in the mountains of Gotemba, and the sea in the background was composited in using live-action compositing. The scene at the beginning where the car drives through the desert is another example. There are about three shots in total that use live-action compositing.

合成の70mmのパンダウンについては面白い話があって。この映画の1年くらい前、アメリカ映画を観てたら、主人公から縦にパンアップして、ビルがあって、それを越えて空になって、星空まで行くっていうシーンが出てきた。こんなパン、普通はできない。そしたら、8Pの、フィルムが横走りのカメラで撮ったって出てたんですよ。「いつかやってみたいな」と思ってたら、ちょうどこの話が来た。でも8Pのキャメラは東宝にはない。で、イベント会社3社くらいに「合成をゴジラでやりたいんだけど、貸してくれないか」って声をかけたら、笑われた。というのは、当時の8Pって画がブレるんですよ。無理して作ってるから。4、5台テストしたうちの1台だけ「なんとかできる」と東京現像所の小川(利弘)さんが。「本当!?!?」って。それで、やったんですよ。

There’s an interesting story about the composite 70mm pan-down shot. About a year before this film, I was watching an American movie, and there was a scene where the camera panned vertically upwards from the protagonist, past a building, into the sky, and all the way to the starry night sky. That kind of pan shot is usually impossible. Then I saw that it was shot with an 8P camera, a camera where the film runs horizontally. I thought, “I’d like to try that someday,” and then this project came along. But Toho didn’t have an 8P camera. So I contacted about three event companies and asked, “We want to do a composite shot for Godzilla, could you lend us one?” They laughed at me. That’s because the image from 8P cameras at the time was shaky. They were being made under difficult circumstances. Out of four or five cameras we tested, only one was deemed “usable” by Mr. Ogawa (Toshihiro) of Tokyo Laboratory. I was so surprised! And that’s how we did it.

最後は「久しぶりにいい映画ができた」と思いましたよ。

In the end, I thought, “We’ve made a really good movie after a long time.”

かとう・ゆうだい･･････1943年、台湾台北市出身。東宝撮影所、東宝映画を経てフリーに。田中友幸プロデューサーのお声掛かりで『ビオランテ」の本編撮影を担当。「連合艦隊」(8年)、「ストロベリーロード」(99年)、「ゴジラ2000ミレニアム」(99年)などにも携わった。『ラストソング」(49年)で日本アカデミー賞優秀撮影賞を受賞。

Yudai Kato… Born in Taipei, Taiwan in 1943. After working at Toho Studios and Toho Films, he became a freelancer. He was invited by producer Tomoyuki Tanaka to handle the principal photography for “Biollante.” He also worked on films such as “Combined Fleet” (1988), “Strawberry Road” (1999), and “Godzilla 2000 Millennium” (1999). He received the Japan Academy Prize for Outstanding Cinematography for “The Last Song” (1994).

ゴジラvsビオランテコンプリーション, p 20