Memories of the Special Effects Era

[特別寄稿]特美時代の想い出・村瀬敬三

[Special contribution] Memories of special arts era: Keizo Murase

特撮の現場で生きるには、まず頭を使うこと、忍耐強いこと、そして何事にも打ち克つ強い精神を持つことが必要です。

To survive in the special effects field, you first need to use your head, be patient, and have a strong spirit to overcome anything.

私が特美(特殊美術課)へ入った1957年(昭和32年)は学歴などまったく問われず、ただ若さがあるだけでした。その頃は、利光貞三さんが造形のチーフで怪獣の顔の原型製作などを行い、八木康栄・勘寿兄弟が怪獣の体を作っていました。若い世代では、先輩の開米栄三さんが全体の補佐をしていました。私の師匠といえば八木さん兄弟を忘れることができません。私は弟の勘寿さんに世話になり、その遺言のような形で子息にあたる正夫さんを手伝って、特美を経た後にエキスプロ設立に関わるのです。

When I joined Tokubi (Special Art Division) in 1957, there was no question of academic background, just youth. At that time, Teizo Toshimitsu was the chief sculptor and created the prototypes for the faces of the monsters, while the brothers Yasuei Yagi and Kanju created the bodies of the monsters. For the younger generation, my senior, Eizo Kaimei, was assisting me in all aspects. When I think of my teachers, I cannot forget the Yagi brothers. I was taken care of by his younger brother, Kanju, and as part of his will, I assisted his son, Masao, and after working at Tokubi, I became involved in the establishment of Expro.

それは後の話になりますが、特美に入って間もない頃は、右も左も判らない新人ですから、口は動けど頭と手は止まったまま。そんな状態が続くと必ず師匠たちは言うのです。“今の若い者は何も出来ない、理屈じゃないんだ、手を動かせ!”そして私たちは、いつも馬車馬のように働くのでした。当時は現在のように情報もありませんでしたから、新しい素材を探して私たちは電話帳片手に走り回ったものです。メモは手垢で真っ黒になり、他人が見ても判読できないほどでした。

I’ll talk about that later, but when I first joined Tokubi, I was a newcomer who couldn’t tell right from left, so my mouth moved but my head and hands remained still. The masters always say that if such a situation continues. “Today’s young people can’t do anything, it’s not logical, move your hands!” And we always worked like workhorses. At that time, there wasn’t as much information as there is now, so we used to run around with telephone directories in hand, looking for new materials. The memo was so black with dirt from my hands that it was impossible for anyone else to read it.

映画の準備に入れば造形用のデザインが廻ってきます。でも新人の私たちは首をかしげ、眉の間にシワを寄せてニラメッコ、“どうしよう”の連発です。増して天下の円谷監督に“頼むよ”だなんて一声もかけられようものなら、ますます思い悩んでみんなで無口になってしまうのです。そんな時でも師匠たちは、黙ってハンダ付け用の火鉢の前に座り込むと番線を手にして、まだ図面もできていないのに怪獣の芯を作りはじめるのでした。そんな師匠たちの意気ごみと行動力には、ただただ驚くばかりです。手際よく働いて、見る見る怪獣の形にしていくその姿にいつしか魅せられ、“あんなふうに自分もできたらなぁ”と、ついついのめり込んでいくのでした。

Once we start preparing for the movie, the design for the modeling begins. But as newcomers, we tilt our heads, furrow our eyebrows, and keep saying, “What should we do?” Moreover, if we were to even ask Tsuburaya, the world-famous director, to say, “Please,” we would all become even more worried and silent. Even at such times, the masters would sit silently in front of the soldering brazier, pick up the soldering wire, and begin making the core of the monster even though the drawings were not yet complete. I am simply amazed at the enthusiasm and energy of these masters. Before I knew it, I was captivated by the way he worked skillfully and transformed the monster into a monster, and I couldn’t help but become obsessed with it, thinking, 9I wish I could do something like that.”

特殊美術の仕事はいつも新鮮な驚きと興奮を与えてくれました。がその一方で、私自身の生活は大変でした。なにせ安月給なので、ろくな食事もできません。朝はコッペパン1個。昼は抜き。夜は、残業があれば会社から食事がでますから、それが唯一の楽しみで、“今日も残業”と言われるとつい嬉しくて、思わず顔がほころぶのでした。

Special art work has always given me fresh surprises and excitement. But on the other hand, my own life was difficult. Since my monthly salary is so low, I can’t even eat a good meal. One koppepan in the morning. Skip lunch. In the evenings, if I worked overtime, I would get a meal from the company, so that was the only thing I looked forward to, and when I was told that I would be working overtime today, I couldn’t help but smile with joy.

そんなある日、師匠に呼ばれ、“お前、昼メシはどうしてんだ。聞いた話だと、昼休みは土手で雲はかり眺めてて、時間になったらさも美味しいものでも食ったように笑顔で帰ってくるようだが、本当は食べてないんじゃないのか?”私は黙りこくるしかありません。その日の3時休み、“ラーメン食べに行こう”と師匠のバイクの後ろに乗せられて、成城のラーメン屋へ連れて行ってもらいました。あの時の味は未だに忘れられなくて・・・。今でもラーメンを食べる度に、若き日のことを想い出します。

One day, my master called me and said to me, “What do you eat for lunch? I heard that during your lunch break, you would sit on the bank and look at the clouds, and when the time came, you would come home smiling as if you had just eaten something delicious.” It looks like it’s coming, but aren’t you really eating it?”I can only remain silent. During my 3 o’clock break that day, my master put me on the back of his motorcycle and took me to a ramen shop in Seijo, saying, “Let’s go eat ramen.”I still can’t forget the taste of that time… Even now, every time I eat ramen, I think of my younger days.

そんなこともありましたが、今考えてもなんと悲惨な生活をしていたことでしょう。

靴下を買う金もなくて、1年中下駄履きの人もいたほどです。あまりの辛さに、もう辞めようと何度考えたことか。でも仕事を換えたとしても何ができるわけでもないし、思い悩む日々が続きました。そして遂に師匠に“もうこの仕事辞めようと思う”と打ち明けたのでした。八木さんの返事は、こうでした。“この仕事は子供たちに夢と幸せを売る商売だ。君たち若者が今やらなければ、このさき生まれてくる子供たちに夢を与えることができなくなってしまう。君には私の跡を継いでほしい”私は、とても熱いものが体を走るのを感じずにはいられませんでした。子供たちに夢を与える仕事——。素晴しい言葉でした。私は一生、この仕事を続けていこう。自分の子供や孫に仕事を自慢できるような、そんな親になろうと、その時決心したのです。そうして今現在につながっていくわけですから、後悔などはしていません。

Even though that happened, when I think about it now, what a miserable life it must have been. There were people who didn’t have money to buy socks and wore clogs all year round. How many times have I thought about quitting because it was so painful? But even if I changed jobs, there was nothing I could do about it, and I continued to worry every day. I finally confessed to my master that I was thinking of quitting this job. Yagi-san’s reply was as follows. “This job is a business that sells dreams and happiness to children. If you young people don’t do it now, you won’t be able to give dreams to the children born in the future. I want you to follow in my footsteps. I want it.”I couldn’t help but feel something so hot running through my body. A job that gives children dreams. Those were wonderful words. I will continue this work for the rest of my life. That’s when I decided to become the kind of parent I could be proud of to my children and grandchildren about my work. That’s how I got to where I am today, so I have no regrets.

造形の仕事は、なにもないところから創造してカタチを成していくこと。時には新しい材料や仕掛けを、自分で発見、発明すらしなければなりません。私が一番嬉しく感じ、やってよかったと思ったのはソフトビニールを開発して円谷監督に認めてもらったことです。「宇宙怪獣ドゴラ」(64年)の時だったと思いますが、円谷監督から“予算が必要なら私が会社に話す。君に任すからやってみてくれ”と言われ、ドゴラの触手を作ることになりました。そして樹脂溶剤で有名なコニシにしばらく通って技術を覚え、初めてソフトビニール加工を社内で行い、試行錯誤の結果、成功させたのです。円谷監督は顔をほころばせて喜んでくれました。師匠たちも同様です。あの時ほど嬉しかったこと、特美で苦労してきて良かったと思ったことはありません。

The job of modeling is to create something from nothing and give it a shape. Sometimes you have to discover or even invent new materials and devices on your own. The thing that made me the most happy and glad I did was developing the soft vinyl and having Director Tsuburaya approve of it. I think it was at the time of “Space Monster Dogora” (1964), when Director Tsuburaya said, “If you need the budget, I’ll talk to the company. I’ll leave it to you, so you can try it.”After spending some time at Konishi, a company famous for its resin solvents, he learned the techniques, and for the first time performed soft vinyl processing in-house, and after much trial and error, succeeded. Director Tsuburaya was happy to see a smile on my face. So are his teachers. I have never been so happy as I was then, and I have never felt so glad that I had worked so hard at Tokubi.

“やればできるんだ”と、なんだか自信も湧いてきました。

I felt a sense of confidence, thinking, “I can do it if I try.”

そういえばゴジラの目玉や歯、爪は最初は金網を芯にしたハリボテ細工でしたが、これもまたこの頃、コニシで技術を覚えて怪獣に応用し、FRP成形ができるようになりました。しかしまだ当時はサラシ地にポリ樹脂を塗っていましたからもろくて、撮影の最中にトラブルが続出します。爪が石膏のビルに当って折れてしまったり、歩いてすり減って穴が開いたり、色が剥がれ落ちたり･･･。今でこそ笑い話ですが、スタッフの誰かが“爪ないよ爪ないよ”といきなり叫んでNGになったり・・・。その度に私たちは慌てて駆け寄ってボンドで修理する。そんなことが2年、3年と続きました。

Come to think of it, Godzilla’s eyes, teeth, and claws were originally made using wire mesh as a core, but it was also around this time that Konishi learned the technology and applied it to the monster, making it possible to make FRP molds. However, at that time, the material was still coated with poly resin, making it brittle and causing many troubles during filming. Nails may break when they hit plaster buildings, holes may form due to wear and tear from walking, or the color may peel off… It’s a funny story now, but one of the staff members suddenly yelled, “No nails, no nails,” and they refused… Every time that happens, we rush over and fix it with bondo. This continued for two or three years.

新しいアイディアをひねり出そうにも、絶えず次の仕事に追われていて、開発に廻す時間がありません。ゴジラの歯にしても、FRPの調合見合がまずいといくつも虫歯ができてしまい、最後には色を塗ってゴマカしたものです。

Even if you want to come up with new ideas, you are constantly busy with the next task and don’t have time to devote to development. Even in the case of Godzilla’s teeth, if the FRP was mixed poorly, many cavities would form, and in the end, they would be painted and a fake.

セットで岩場や山を作る時は、私たち同様、石膏部のスタッフは頭から爪先まで石膏だらけになります。一斗缶で石膏を溶き、柄杓で振り90回していくのひしゃくですから互いに石膏をかけ合っているようなもので、まるで子供の泥遊びと同じ。昼休みに食堂へ行けば、料理が来るまでみんなで体中をぼりぼりと掻きむしる。足元はもう真っ白。スタッフがが帰った後は、誰も座れないくらい汚れてしまうのです。食堂のお姉さんは“来ないでよ、掃除が大変なんだから”と箒をかざすけど、みんなはゴメンとも言わずにむしろ誇らしげに去って行くのでした。とにかく私たちはいつも体中、FRP、ラテックス、発泡スチロールの粉だらけ。撮影所の中で一番汚い、嫌われ者の集りでした。

When creating a rocky area or mountain as part of a set, the staff in the plaster department are covered in plaster from head to toe, just like us. Since you’re using a ladle to melt the plaster and then swinging it around with a ladle, it’s like throwing plaster on each other, just like a child playing in the mud. When we go to the cafeteria during lunch break, we all scratch ourselves until the food comes. My feet are already white. After the staff left, it was so dirty that no one could sit in it. The lady at the cafeteria held up her broom and said, “Don’t come, it’s hard to clean,” but everyone didn’t even say sorry, but instead walked away proudly. Anyway, our bodies are always covered in FRP, latex, and Styrofoam powder. It was the dirtiest, most hated group of people on the set.

撮影中には時折、“ラッシュ”と言って、NGシーンも含めた試写がスタッフを集めて行われます。そんな時に私たちは、暗い試写室の中でたちまちイビキをかき始め、あちこちからゴガゴガピュウピュそれが特撮の効果音(?)になってしまう有様です。でも、誰も私たちを叱る人はいませんでした。毎日、怪獣と格闘して疲れ果てていたのを知っているからです。

Occasionally during filming, the staff will gather together for a preview screening, including NG scenes, called a “rush.”At such times, we immediately start snoring in the dark screening room, and the sounds of gurgling sound become the sound effects (?) of special effects. But no one scolded us. Because I know that you were exhausted from fighting monsters every day.

そんな皆の力が集って、楽しく素晴しい映画ができ上がりました。苦労の連続でしたが、今ではすっかり良い想い出になりました。皆さんお疲れサマ。そしてこれからも、子供たちに夢を与える作品を作っていきましょう。

With everyone’s combined efforts, a fun and wonderful movie was created. It was a series of hardships, but now I have fond memories. Good work everyone. And from now on, let’s continue to create works that give children dreams.

Source: The Pictorial Book of Godzilla