Wakusei daisenso

Nakano Teruyoshi speaks about ''War In Space''

On this speciaI DVD extra for War in Space, we have with us speciaI effects director, Nakano Teruyoshi.

We hope to Iearn a Iot of behind the scenes information on War in Space from him. Host: SpeciaI Effects Director: Nakamura Tomo Nakano Teruyoshi.

We hope to Iearn a Iot of behind the scenes information on War in Space from him.

Mr. Nakano, thank you for being here.

My pIeasure.

And so, the first thing I must ask is. When you hear the titIe ''War in Space'', what's the first thing that comes to mind?

What I think of when I hear ''War in Space''??

Yes.

WeIIIIIII. ''that was so hectic,'' is probabIy the first thing I think of. We were very short on time.

There was that, and aIso...

The fact that it's an important fiIm because of its aII-star cast. I suppose that's it.

Now, Star Wars was a fiIm you saw with Tanaka Yuuko. Did you see it in America when it came out?

Ah yes, whiIe we were stiII pIanning our fiIm.

Ah yes, whiIe we were stiII pIanning our fiIm. Nakano Teruyoshi, Born 1936 in Manchuria.

Nakano Teruyoshi, Born 1936 in Manchuria.

Ah yes, weII, I saw it at home. Nakano Teruyoshi, Born 1936 in Manchuria.

Oh, in Japan. Nakano Teruyoshi, Born 1936 in Manchuria.

Oh, in Japan.

Oh, in Japan. In 1960, Toho company member, Eiji Tsuburaya discovered him, and he participated in many of his fiIms.

We saw it together, and... In 1960, Toho company member, Eiji Tsuburaya discovered him, and he participated in many of his fiIms.

In 1960, Toho company member, Eiji Tsuburaya discovered him, and he participated in many of his fiIms.

Yuuko-san said she wanted to make a movie Iike it. In 1960, Toho company member, Eiji Tsuburaya discovered him, and he participated in many of his fiIms.

Yuuko-san said she wanted to make a movie Iike it.

Yuuko-san said she wanted to make a movie Iike it. After Tsuburaya's death, he assisted with speciaI effects direction with such fiIms as ''GodziIIa vs. Hedra'' and its sequeIs,

After Tsuburaya's death, he assisted with speciaI effects direction with such fiIms as ''GodziIIa vs. Hedra'' and its sequeIs,

She toId me this around New Years. After Tsuburaya's death, he assisted with speciaI effects direction with such fiIms as ''GodziIIa vs. Hedra'' and its sequeIs,

After Tsuburaya's death, he assisted with speciaI effects direction with such fiIms as ''GodziIIa vs. Hedra'' and its sequeIs,

And I had first thought of this fiIm around October. After Tsuburaya's death, he assisted with speciaI effects direction with such fiIms as ''GodziIIa vs. Hedra'' and its sequeIs,

And I had first thought of this fiIm around October.

And I had first thought of this fiIm around October. He was recognized as a Ieading speciaI effects director and awarded for the first time in 1975 for the movie, ''Japan Sinks''.

He was recognized as a Ieading speciaI effects director and awarded for the first time in 1975 for the movie, ''Japan Sinks''.

I'm not sure when the date was, but anyway, it had been about two months since I'd originaIIy thought of this fiIm. He was recognized as a Ieading speciaI effects director and awarded for the first time in 1975 for the movie, ''Japan Sinks''.

He was recognized as a Ieading speciaI effects director and awarded for the first time in 1975 for the movie, ''Japan Sinks''.

But my first instinct then was, ''I'II never be abIe to make a movie Iike this,'' He was recognized as a Ieading speciaI effects director and awarded for the first time in 1975 for the movie, ''Japan Sinks''.

But my first instinct then was, ''I'II never be abIe to make a movie Iike this,''

I have your originaI pIans here, and it's dated October 12th.

Ah yes, the 12th.

And the fiIm was announced to the media on December 1 7th, I beIieve.

Yes.

So about two months passed.

Yes, not much time. I'm sure even the average man knows this, but a movie that's reIeased around New Years can be started around October.

But onIy if the director is stupid.

Yes, that IS pretty reckIess.

And on top of it, there's the editing to be done after the fiIming, and aII other cIean-up work.

So anyway. beIieve me when I say it was HARD WORK. That's the truth.

Federation Space Defense Force GOHTEN

First off, the one who wanted to use ''Gohten'' was Yuuko-san.

She wanted a story about a defense force in space.

And at the time, I toId her that if we used ''Gohten'', we wouId no Ionger be safe.

It wouId mean the movie wouId no Ionger be a typicaI ''outer space'' movie.

But I guess inside Yuuko's mind. There was stiII a vision of a sea ship.

And a Japanese one, at that. So that's how ''Gohten'' was born.

And Goten was designed by Toho's veteran designer, Taiko, right?

Yes.

And whose idea was the revoIvers?

Ah yes, that, WeII, how shouId I expIain it.

When you see the ship with the big revoIvers. It gives you the idea of combat.

So I guess itjust makes the ship more aestheticaIIy appeaIing.

Our main goaI was to make a ship that Iooked very interesting.

We wanted the audience to be amazed by it.

So our team discussed it, and we made it Iike a normaI space ship. But aIso a bit Iike the kind of ship that saiIs the ocean, too.

And that reaIIy comes into pIay in the finaI cIimactic fighting scene.

ExactIy. So as a preview of this Iarge battIe, we made sure the driII and revoIvers were visibIe from the beginning.

And since they're spinning around, it aIso gives you the sensation the ship is moving.

I thought it was interesting that the Iaunch pad that was used for the vesseIs is aIso the ship's ''guns''.

Ah, yes. That was a very fun aspect of the ship.

Then, there was that driII-Iike thing at the front of the ship.

The driII was mainIy just important for visuaI appeaI. If you pay attention, you'II notice it's never reaIIy used.

Itjust spins around.

That's right. AII it does it spin around. Instead,

Those Iaser beams shoot out and break whatever's in its way. Then, the driII is finaIIy used onIy at the very end.

So, we have this pefrectIy good driII, but we used two Iasers instead.

Now, ACTUALLY, the reason for this was, we wanted to save the driII for the big cIimax.

We thought ahead to what the ship was going to need to do, and then saved the idea for when it was actuaIIy needed.

Now, Gohten fIies in curved Iines and straight Iines.

Yes, now, the straight Iines are for when Gohten has to propeI itseIf through the atmosphere and actuaIIy fIy.

We have to consider that. That's the way it was done in Star Wars, Iots of Iong straight runs.

But we knew we couIdn't do that aII the time. And so, that's why we decided to throw in some curved Iines.

ActuaIIy, if you made it aII straight Iines, it wouIdn't work scientificaIIy.

But the curved parts come in handy with the revoIvers.

Yes, exactIy. That's why we mixed straight and curved Iines.

So Gohten's reaI size is, I heard, around 3 meters Iong. And another modeI is 1 meter Iong.

Yes, the 3 meter Iong modeI didn't work for aII the shots, so we Iater made one that was 1 meter Iong.

One was mostIy for cIoseups and the other was for fIying and such.

So you'd switch back and forth between them?

Yes.

The AIien Ship

Goten's adversary.

The aIien ship.

Yes, the aIiens' ship.

We had no idea how to design it at first. We went over a Iot of ideas.

Like dragons or mythicaI beasts. Something very sci-fi.

And then, the idea just suddenIy came to us.

Like a Iight buIb.

Yesssss. We figured and ancient Roman ship was the onIy way to go.

So we used that as a base and did our own variation.

We stiII wanted to give the ship character, Iike the wood was very oId.

So we gave the wood Iots of rings as oId wood wouId have, from the heIm aII the way to the rear of the ship.

UnfortunateIy, we didn't have enough time to buiId the whoIe thing the way we wanted.

I see.

It actuaIIy Iooked Iike this.

You used this as the image for the heIm of your ship.

That's right. And when it appears with a BAM,

and the expIosion.

You mean with Gohten.

Yes, yes.

In the scene where the cIiff breaks off and smashes it.

Yes, the big BAM, You see, actuaIIy. Ah, yes, this picture.

ActuaIIy, in the contract, we had originaIIy decided to make the heIm Iook Iike this.

But in that scene with the expIosion. I think maybe the expIosives in the back didn't work weII or something.

And it didn't end up Iooking Iike this. But I guess the image was cIose.

That's the first time I've heard that story.

You see, this is how we speciaI effects directors Iike to ''pIay''. If we'd been abIe to puII it off, it wouId have been nicer, I think.

There was aIso a part where the ship was shot as a siIhouette. And the ship then appeared to be encIosed in an orb of Iight whiIe being protected from the cIiff.

Ah yes. That ''barrier'' was reIativeIy easy to create with speciaI effects. Mix it with shots from the ''inside'' and it ends up Iooking very impressive.

And then, what's coming from the side here?

The oars?

Yes, the oars.

I guess I wanted to use this from having seen aII those pirate movies.

You know, where the men are rowing and shooting the cannons. I wanted to bring the gIamour of that worId into a sci-fi movie.

But since on their own, oars are obsoIete in space, I decided to turn them into weapons.

Oars with Iaser beams shooting out of them.

ExactIy. And I had an energy source and an antenna, which is how the ''x'' shape was formed.

That part was foIded under before.

Yes, it's foIded under and brought up when it's time to attack.

So it's Iike, two sheets suddenIy spring up and aII these Iaser beams start fIying.

I thought that was reaIIy impressive. That's what I wanted to do.

Something reaIIy droopy and useIess that suddenIy springs up and BOOM.

I heard that onIy one modeI was made of this ship; one meter Iong?..

Ah yes. Later, we. Iater, we. made parts.

For the cIoseups?

Yes, we made sections of the ship Iargerjust for cIoseups.

The HeII Fighters

These are the ''HeII Fighters'' of the aIien ship. I hear the staffjokingIy caIIed these the ''spinning eggs''?

That was the director's nickname for them.

Oh, reaIIy?

I don't know when he started caIIing them that. But anyway, these ''spinning eggs'' were intended to be a sort of tank.

I'm not sure most peopIe know about this, but there was an oId comic that had something simiIar caIIed ''tankuro'' in it. So some of the staff aIso caIIed them ''tankuro''.