Second Unit - shooting

The shootings often take place in massive warehouses as studios. It is normally dark, cool and super quiet when the shooting taking place.

Cameras and lights were all set and the same table, ink stones and tools which were used in a main shooting were set. Actors who are pretending to be someone else's hands were make-uped and costumed.
We were still practicing last minutes in a corner of this big warehouse - Studio L. Some of them have not been very keen on practicing but after they saw cameras and lights, all of them became very passionate calligraphers.

It took a couple of days to finish taking everything they wanted. Different angles, different lights and etc. There were some monitors you can see what camera was catching at the time. I was laughed by colleague that I killed my breath while I watched my ‘pupils’ calligraphy.

They used 3D cameras which were as if they were monsters of machines of transformers. And they needed to shoot very close ups.
Set the desk on soiled and snowed ground, set the scrolls and inks, then camera decide the distance between or angles.
Then camera man changed lenses many times, checking lights, and checking again. Took ages to start shooting, I remember.

Then the ‘hand’ actors had to squeeze in between camera and scrolls, often they were forced to be twisted or take unnatural posture which made hard to do proper lettering.

But some of them done quite well, some of them didn't.
In any cases they were okay for non-Japanese audience or stuff. They all looked happy what they shot but they were obviously not fluent enough for the big silver screening in Japan.

I explained that to the second unit director, and they decided to shoot my brush tips without my ‘lady’ fingers. I squeezed my hand between monster camera and the paper, done ‘Kai’ twice, almost without looking (as my funny posture) then that was that.

All the shooing were done.
My leaving date was decided, some of my colleagues for six months were already gone for a holiday or to the next film. Funny feeling that people saying good-bye each other every day.

I'll continue a bit more about individual things I've done a little bit more.
Thank you x