77 Star, the production company that’s trying to make a short length anime feature “1,000 Stars and Squalls” 「千の星とスコール」, has opened up another section to produce a made-in-Singapore tokusatsu (Live-action Special Effects/SFX) series. Like the Animation Master Course and the Voice Actor Course, the company will be conducting another programme to train staff for it’s tokusatsu production section.
Special Effects Course
77 Star’s Special Effects Course starts on 4 Feb 2008 and is now recruiting trainees. This course is tailored for those who are keen on learning the secrets behind Japanese SFX production.
This two-part course is conducted in English.
The first stage, Level 1, is supervised by Noriaki Ikeda (池田憲章), a renowned sci-fi critic who had written extensive articles on the tokusatsu genre. Ikeda belongs to the early generation of Ota-king (元祖オタキング) , together with luminaries such as Toshio Okada (岡田斗司夫)
Course Supervisor Noriaki Ikeda (池田憲章)
The curriculum for Level 1 is as follows:
Level 1 (1 lesson 90 min) $1200
Lesson 1: What is SFX?
Lesson 2: Movies and Special Effects
Lesson 3: Visual Effects in Drama
Lesson 4: The Visual Rush of SFX
Lesson 5: The Limits of SFX
Lesson 6: Analysis of Eiji Tsuburaya’s (円谷英二) SFX techniques in “Godzilla” and “Ultra Q”
Lesson 7: Analysis of Hiroshi Futta’s (佛田洋) SFX techniques in “Super Sentai” and Heisei-era “Kamen Rider” series
Lesson 8: Analysis of Shinji Higuchi’s (樋口真嗣) new generation techniques in Gamera, “Sakuya Yokai Den”, “Lorelei”, “The Sinking of Japan”
Lesson 9: The making of Keita Amamiya’s (雨宮慶太) visual SF works “Mirai Ninja”, “Zeiram” and “Garo”
Lesson 10: Contemporary Japanese SFX Production Support Crew: photography, lighting, art direction, composition, manipulative operation, special makeup, pyrotechnics, CG works, miniature production and post production.
Those who progress to Level 2, can expect to learn the following:
Level 2 (1 lesson 90 min) $1200; Technology provided by: TOKYO LABORATORY LTD aka TOGEN (東京現像所).
Lesson 1: Makeup
Lesson 2: Animatronics
Lesson 3: Costume
Lesson 4: Suit Actor
Lesson 5: SFX Action Choreograph (操演)
Lesson 6: Wire Action
Lesson 7: Miniature Shooting
Lesson 8: Gimmick
Lesson 9: Bullet-time
Lesson 10: Bluescreen
Singapore’s Local (Tokusatsu) Hero
Come March, 77 Star will be recruiting staff for its tokusatsu production section. The company intends to produce a Singaporean henshin hero TV series. The series is based on the Japanese “Local Hero” (ローカルヒーロー／ご当地ヒーロー) concept.
Akita’s local hero – Chojin Neiga
According to Mr Enomoto, this made-in-Singapore tokusatsu series is inspired by Akita’s Chojin Neiga (超神ネイガー).
超神ネイガーvsホジナシ怪人 第01話 「ピンポンダッシュに豪石!!」
The action-comedy series will be fully produced in Singapore, and it will feature familiar places and themes close to home. Like Chojin Neiga, the Singaporean henshin hero will be fighting misfits that perpetuate our social dis-grace (not flushing the toilet, blocking the train doors, killer litter, playing with ringtones on the train etc).
Now, 77 Star is looking for people interested in the production: concept artist, story writer, film crew etc etc. If our Local Hero series become a surprise hit like Chojin Neiga, the company will merchandise the character.
ご当地ヒーローコレクション vol.1 DX 超神ネイガー
Who knows, our Local Hero might become another coveted soft vinyl figurine from independent tokusatsu figure maker West Kenji.
Will Singapore’s definitive superhero follows the Japanese Henshin Hero tradition or the spandex-clad American Super Hero style? That’s for our generation to decide. If we want a cool, local superhero that we can be proud off and that will inspire the generations to come, this is our chance to make it happen.
