Welcome to Shinju the Movie

This blog centralises the information available about the movie "Shinju", which is produced between April and June 2007 by members of the Edinburgh College of Art, Scotland (UK).

Cast - Kumo

About Kumo...

Kumo means 'spider' in Japanese. Mr Kumo acts as a spider which wraps its prey in ropes.



1st reference to Mr Kumo

Scene 07

INT. VALENTINE'S ROOM - NIGHT

The black branches of a Japanese woodprinted tree become visible in the previously empty picture frame on the wall in Valentine's room. Pink (cherry) blossom appears at the end of the branches.

The last breath of Valentine causes the blossom to depart from the tree and float through air. The stream of pink blossom petals crosses the dictionary and makes the pages turn over.

The page opened shows the crucial explanation of the Japanese character.

Shinjû ; Japanese ritual love suicide.

FADE OUT:

Props - Bath towel

The nurses wear a bath towel after their game.



Bath towel reference picture.

Props - Blindfold

The red blindfold which restrains the vision of Valentine at the end of the story.



Blindfold reference picture

Props - Dictionary

The dictionary from Japanese characters to English looks similar to below picture.



Dictionary with red ribbon, which is later on used as blindfold.

Crew - Assistant Director

About Assistant Director...

Crew - Costume Designer

About Costume Designer...

CALL SHEET - Monday 30st of April 2007

CALL TIME: 8:30am for crew, 9:00am for actors
MEETING POINT: WASPS studios, West Park Place (buzzer 3) - near Haymarket, Edinburgh.

CAST: Valentine
CREW: Director, Sound Recordist, Cinematographer, Visagiste, Production Designer

TRANSPORT: travel by your own means of transport (or arrange with others)
PICKING UP: no picking up
FROM: n/a

LOCATION: WASPS studios, West Park Place (buzzer 3) - near Haymarket, Edinburgh.
SCENES:

Scene 07: INT. VALENTINE's ROOM - NIGHT

BREAK FOR LUNCH

Scene 05: INT. VALENTINE's ROOM - NIGHT

TIME SCHEDULE:

8:30am Arrival of crew at location - unload and begin set up
9:00am Technical check and run through, arrival of actors
9:15am Begin shooting
1:00pm Break for lunch
1:45pm Resume shooting
4:30pm Tea - 30 minutes
7:00pm Last possible wrap time

PROPS:

- table
- room dividers
- floor matt
- bath tub
- mirror
- plate
- food on plate
- vase with with flower(s)
- framed art (umbilical cord, harness, tree)
- white serviette
- serviette ring
- pile of envelopes
- pair of reading glasses
- Japanese letter
- Japanese to English dictionary
- picture of Japanese wife
- Geisha makeover:
- wig
- make up
- hand held mirror
- brush(es)
- white powder
- kimono
- cupboard
- perfume bottle
- red ribbon
- sandals
- door

Cast - Kyoko

About Kyoko...





1st reference to Kyoko.



Upcoming actress Kyoko Mori playing the role of Nurse Kyoko in the film Shinju (Pearls).

Props - Spiderweb

For the garden scene where the mailbox is fenced off with a spider's web, we need to make one ourselves. Possibly with use of metal or very fine polyester thread. Don't forget the reflecting transparent spheres.



Spider web with morning dew

Storyboard

Enlarge

Props - Katsura

Japanese hairdressing for traditional Geiko (=mature Geisha) is called Katsura.



Wig or real



Front of wig



Side of wig

Below is the cover of the book that explains about the hairdressing and more.


Bilingual Maiko BOOK & DVD COMBO: Nihongami No Sekai
The Secret World Of Traditional Japanese Hairstyles

NOTE:

- Taka Shimada,a high chignon (a kind of knot of hair), usually worn by young, single women;
- Tsubushi shimada, a more flattened chignon generally worn by older women;
- Uiwata, a chignon that is usually bound up with a piece of color cotton crepe; and a style that ends up looking like a divided peach, typically worn by maiko. These hairstyles were decorated with elaborate hair-combs and hairpins, which often symbolized status.

When wearing kimono, it is customary to wear your hair in an up-do or wear it short. This is to show the neck. It looks awkward if your hair is worn long.

Props - Tatami

Tatami mats are a Japanese style of floor covering designed for comfort and durablitiy.

The Kaiteki Tatami mat is constructed of 4 layers of natural fiber sheets , covered with a high grade, tightly woven rushstraw, sewn to the base layers, and then bound with a high grade black border. Comfortable enough to walk on and yet soft enough to lie on. Kaiteki can be translated from Japanese as "Comfort"; "Not too soft - not too hard".

To minimize costs only the top layer of the tatami mat has been purchased.



Tatami mat

Props - Nawa

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Props - Shoji

In traditional Japanese architecture, a shōji (障子) is a room divider or door consisting of translucent washi paper over a wooden frame.



Shoji - room divider

Shoji doors are often designed to slide open, or fold in half, to conserve space that would be required by a swinging door. They are used in traditional houses as well as western-style housing, especially in the washitsu, and are now regarded in Japan as a necessity in looking Japanese.

Because of risk of fire, with lights behind the room divider, the shoji used in the film are made from fire retardent cloth, rather than paper.

Props - Prints

Nineteenth-century Japanese prints often used a pigment called prussian blue, and rarely contain more than four colours in a print.

There is little tonal gradation. Shapes are outlined, often in blue. The most famous artist, Hokusai, produced many rural and coastal landscapes but is best-known for a series of prints, Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji, which included his Great Wave of Kanagawa. For many people, Mount Fuji symbolizes Japan.

For the purpose of the Shinju film, two prints are needed in Valentine's room; one with the umbilical cord, another with a child on a leash. The idea is to design these prints in modern woodcut style.



It is an example of a woodcut print by Hokusai who is a famous ukiyoe artist in worldwide. This is his work in about 1832. It is decorated imaging the wave of the ocean with a blue light emitting diode.

A Photoshop tutorial is available at http://www.digitmag.co.uk/tutorials/index.cfm?featureID=1466

THE UMBILICAL CORD

Based on the following photograph:



Umbilical cord

CHILD ON A LEASH

Based on the following photograph:



Leash

Idea for last (empty) frame is below's Japanese cherry blossom tree.



Japanese Cherry Blossom Tree

The prints are in simple, rectangular, black, wooden frames.