Runner-Up Prize at the YAMATO Film Festival!

At the 9th Short Film Contest held on March 3, 2019, at Sirius—the Cultural Creation Hub in Yamato City, Kanagawa Prefecture—our film The Forest of Spirits and Kappa was awarded the Runner-Up Prize at the YAMATO FILM FESTIVAL 2019.

The inspiration to submit to this contest came from the launch of our “Filmmaking Workshop” in late 2018, co-hosted with Akihiko Imai of arasuji.com..

Combining Mr. Imai’s storytelling techniques—usually taught to professional and amateur creators—with my own trick compositing methods, we created a groundbreaking workshop that proves: “You can make a film with ultra-low budget, ultra-short production time, and even solo.”

Naturally, questions arise:

Can you really make a film this way? What level of quality can you achieve?

To answer those questions, we decided to submit a film to the YAMATO Film Festival, which had a deadline just three weeks away.

The contest required that the film:

• Feature footage from Yamato City
• Be under 10 minutes in length

So we quickly scouted locations and brainstormed ideas in the car with Mr. Imai.

Soon after, we began shooting based on the script and rough storyboards.

This marked the start of our hands-on use of the unique “Super Previz Method” taught in the workshop.

First, I went out alone with the storyboard and shot all the background footage.

In the Super Previz Method, actors are filmed later using green screen and composited into the backgrounds.

Because it’s a solo task, I was able to finish all the background shooting in just one day.

Next, I began editing—without any actors.

Using miniature figurines, I created temporary composite shots to check the flow and framing of the film. This helps prevent oversights and streamlines the actual actor shoot.

Then, I arranged a half-day shoot with designer Miwa Watanabe (https://sabi-iro-design.com/), who kindly agreed to appear in the film.

We completed setup, filming, and teardown in just three hours.

That same day, I replaced the figurine shots with footage of Ms. Watanabe, and the film was nearly complete.

After some fine-tuning and adding background music, we submitted the film about three days before the deadline.

That film—The Forest of Spirits and Kappa—went on to win the Runner-Up Prize.

It’s about six minutes long, so please give it a watch (sound included).

I believe it will show you that filmmaking is possible even at a hobbyist level.

Especially with the Super Previz Method, you can reduce the shooting period to a fraction of the usual time, lighten the load on your cast and crew, and more easily realize your original vision.