Not to mention that these three days have all been spent filming one single “TV day.” What does that mean? It means that according to the script, all of the pieces which we have been filming will fall within ONE episode and therefore they all supposedly transpire over the course of ONE day. This also means that I have worn the same outfit for three days straight (now getting a bit itchy). And it means that the pimple that has courteously found its way into the middle of my forehead during this week of all weeks will appear and disappear from scene to scene over the course of this one “TV day” when the show airs. Freaking great . . . sighhh
Anyway. We have been zipping around Tokyo in a 12-seater van loaded with AV equipment and LOTS of Krispy Kreme donuts. Let the church say Amen. Let the church say Amen Again. Ehhemmmm, As I was saying . . . we’ve been zipping around Tokyo from one area to another to capture some general shots to be used as fillers, some street interviews, and some scripted scenes. I think I’m starting to figure out what I do and do NOT like about this whole TV show host thing . . .
First let me tell you about what I like . . . street interviews are really fun! For example the other day in Harajuku we met a girl who was dressed in a style that she calls “cyber angel.” She looked like a gothic Samurai from the waist down and like a party-warehouse-going-out-of-business-sale from the waist up. Her hair was the funkiest thing I had ever seen. She had braided all kinds of stuff into it. Rubber straws, pipe-cleaners, and yarn. LOTS of purple, orange, and yellow yarn. She was wearing super heavy black eye make up which looked like it had been applied in the dark. And she had about 40 metallic facial piercings. Seriously her face looked like it could de-magnetize every credit card and hotel room-key in a 2 mile radius. What was I talking about again? Oh yah, street interviews . . . so we had a chance to ask her all sorts of questions to really get insider her head. The psyche of a Tokyo teen is unbelievable!
One of the street interviews was with the driver of a velotaxi, a taxi with three wheels that is peddled, not motorized. Think Flintstones flintmobile with a Japanese twist, Got it?
Anyway, this interview was TRULY interesting because of the way that it was filmed. Stay with me because this is going to require some brain power to follow this explanation. The Velo taxi has only 3 seats – one for the driver in front, and two for the passengers in the back. So with 2 hosts and a driver there was nowhere for the cameraman to sit. So, how did we film the interview? Glad you asked. First, Mark and I got in the taxi and the camera man filmed from afar as we rode up and down the block to get some general shots. Meanwhile, as the driver was driving and our microphone packs were off, we asked him all of the questions we would later get him to answer again once the cameraman was IN the taxi. That was filming #1. Then Mark got out of the car, the camera man got in, and the sound guy turned on my mic. Time for filming number two . . . only one issue: with limited pivot-room in the back of the taxi, the camera man could not film my questions AND the drivers responses – it was one or the other . . . so . . . the producer passed me a hand-held camcorder and asked me to extend my arm out of the window and film myself asking questions and talking to my “imaginary co-host” while the driver was driving. So I did just that. I pretended that the camera man sitting next to me was my co-host and I filmed myself having a one-sided conversation with him in Mandarin. Then I would ask the driver a question in English, and continue to film myself as I looked back at my imaginary co-host to translate the driver’s response into Chinese. I honestly don’t think I have ever used my brain this much in my life. I’m not sure what’s harder . . . actually DOING it at the time or trying to explain this to you now. Ugh.Aside from street interviews, another thing that I really enjoy is pretend shopping. Literally all we have to do is pretend we are shopping while the camera man follows us around. The producer will shout “Michael, come down the escalator and make a right in front of the camera”; “Mark, flip through that rack of Hello Kitty boxer shorts and hold up a pair”; “Michael, sift through the stack of T-shirts and pick one out and examine it.” This is fun because it’s so simple and you really can’t mess up. It’s especially fun because there is a lot you can do with facial expressions too as you are trying to react “naturally” for very purposefully panned activities.
Oh, and also . . . we had a lot of fun today filming the opening scene at Tokyo 109 (The times square of Japan, remember?) We filmed the scene when the two hosts first bump into each other in the middle of a 5-way crossing in the midst of hundreds of moving people. The filming was cool because the camera man walked in front of me (backwards) through the massive crowd as he filmed me doing my best “I’m looking for a needle in a haystack” face. I don’t even know what it was that I enjoyed so much about this, but it was really, really fun. Like REALLY fun.
So those are the highlights. Now on the opposite end of the spectrum I have come to absolutely dread the “commentary” that we have to give at the end of each episode. Basically I have to give a 2 minute monologue to wrap up each episode by comparing and contrasting the cultural elements that we are witnessing here in Japan with what we know to be true in our own home countries.
The issue is that I have to do this all in Chinese! GASP! Now I will have you know that my Chinese is not too shabby for an American kid, but my vocabulary stops at an elementary school level. So giving a 2 minute dissertation on topics like societal norms, ecological conscientiousness, and government involvement in constructing cultural courtesy is admittedly a BIT out of my league. So what ends up happening is the research writer scrips the whole thing for me in language that I can barely understand, much less memorize. It is even more awkward when there is a whole AV crew standing watching me struggle under the pressure, and passers by stop to scope out the scene as well. Let’s just say I average about 15 takes for each of the 2 minute commentaries that I am asked to give. . . and just when I’m on a roll, you can bet that a police siren, or helicopter, or dying crow will be picked up by the microphone and interrupt my flow. Oh LAWD. Please pray for me y’all.
Anyway, I’m about half way done with the filming. Should be home on Sunday night. Can’t wait to move into my new condo ASAP so I can finally sleep in my own bed again after 3 weeks.
Flying off to Kyoto tomorrow morning to film the last episode. Should be cool.
Layter Dayz.
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