Lucky Seven SP: Spot the Stuntman Shot Game
First of all I'd like to say that this is not a review. I don't do reviews. And the use of stuntmen is not something bad, and in some cases completely necessary. Especially for TV dramas that doesn't have the kind of budget and time a cinematic film might have. I do this because I don't have anything better to do and I find it interesting especially I know the basics of editing for visual storytelling.
During this week I have watched Lucky Seven SP again (since stormy has subbed it and just released it) and was looking closely to the actions scenes. Some of my friends have been wondering about the existence of stuntmen in Lucky Seven. And yes, stuntmen does exist in the production, throughout the drama series as well. A friend has asked me for examples and since it is very hard to explain in text only, I'd give examples with caps in this post. Perhaps, after reading this, it can help some people who hasn't already able to spot them. I find it quite fun, or maybe it is just me XD
One of the key technique of using stuntmen is that usually the said actor will wear loose clothes to begin with, or something to blend the distinctiveness of the said actor, like for example the helmet Jun wore in the first scene. So if they shot it from a distance, it wouldn't be too obvious the difference in body shape. But regardless, usually they'd hire a similar body shaped stuntman and usually, say, Jun, would have the same stuntman throughout the drama. Of course, there could be situations when they'd use two or three different people as well as stuntmen.
On another note, with the CGI technology, things aren't as simple anymore. So that's why movies are harder to become the object of this "Spot the Stuntman Shot" game (i made up this name myself) because you sometimes can't really tell. They can do as advanced as cutting off somebody's hands and replaced them with another just so the actor can appeared to be able to play the piano really well. Like what happened in the ending scene of Tokyo Sonata. But for TV dramas such as Lucky Seven, they don't usually use such advanced techniques because, of course, it is very much more expensive.
This is basically my analysis, and I am in no way involved in the production so perhaps it is not 100 percent accurate. Although I can say that I was pretty sure.
First of all..
The skateboard scene. If anyone know whether Matsumoto Jun has a secret expertise of being a skillful skateboarder, please let me know. Because AFAIK, he is not known and the publicity will make a big deal of that if he really does this.
These shots below are basically can be done by a real skateboarder. Because these skills may look simple but kinda dangerous and time consuming if done by someone who has not trained before.
And then of course, this. Jun did the shot from the side and from the front. But these could be done by a stuntman (in the making video when he did the shot from the front and side, they prepared a mattress on the ground, which is not possible to do with these two shots)
This could be as well, tho I am not so sure.. It is just him skateboarding normally, but every shot of him skateboarding was done in such ways that I have a theory that he might not be able to skateboard (which is nothing wrong with it, because hey, me too, Jun). But if anybody knew any better, please let me know..
Then here comes the fighting scenes.
Good news is, there's not much of stuntwork. Just some where it requires Shuntaro to get direct hits or a significant fall. Aside from these shots I capped below, I am 90 percent sure that the rest of the shots in the said scene was done by Jun himself. I believe the scene had more than 20 shots, and I could only predict about these 3. The last one could be done by Jun himself, but I am not so sure.
AND THAT'S ALL! Yes, believe it. But I only got through Jun's action scenes. Too lazy to do Eita's.
These two caps below was just to show how the editing works in this scene. No stuntman detected. This was quite simple way yet smart technique on how to blend together action choreography and editing.
If you've seen the making, Jun did this shot with a mattress underneath. He needed to roll like about 2-3 times in the air and landed with a flying kick to his opponent which is in the next cap. I don't think it is humanly possible but the editing make it happened.
They combined the "rolling jun" shot with this flying kick. If you moved the video per frame, you'd see that he didn't do the rolling the body thingy before the kick. So in the shooting, he just needed to do a normal flying kick from the railing to the opponent. With quick editing and pacing, none of the audience will notice that. I am not counted because I am obsessive compulsive and has nothing better to do at the moment.
During this week I have watched Lucky Seven SP again (since stormy has subbed it and just released it) and was looking closely to the actions scenes. Some of my friends have been wondering about the existence of stuntmen in Lucky Seven. And yes, stuntmen does exist in the production, throughout the drama series as well. A friend has asked me for examples and since it is very hard to explain in text only, I'd give examples with caps in this post. Perhaps, after reading this, it can help some people who hasn't already able to spot them. I find it quite fun, or maybe it is just me XD
One of the key technique of using stuntmen is that usually the said actor will wear loose clothes to begin with, or something to blend the distinctiveness of the said actor, like for example the helmet Jun wore in the first scene. So if they shot it from a distance, it wouldn't be too obvious the difference in body shape. But regardless, usually they'd hire a similar body shaped stuntman and usually, say, Jun, would have the same stuntman throughout the drama. Of course, there could be situations when they'd use two or three different people as well as stuntmen.
On another note, with the CGI technology, things aren't as simple anymore. So that's why movies are harder to become the object of this "Spot the Stuntman Shot" game (i made up this name myself) because you sometimes can't really tell. They can do as advanced as cutting off somebody's hands and replaced them with another just so the actor can appeared to be able to play the piano really well. Like what happened in the ending scene of Tokyo Sonata. But for TV dramas such as Lucky Seven, they don't usually use such advanced techniques because, of course, it is very much more expensive.
This is basically my analysis, and I am in no way involved in the production so perhaps it is not 100 percent accurate. Although I can say that I was pretty sure.
First of all..
The skateboard scene. If anyone know whether Matsumoto Jun has a secret expertise of being a skillful skateboarder, please let me know. Because AFAIK, he is not known and the publicity will make a big deal of that if he really does this.
These shots below are basically can be done by a real skateboarder. Because these skills may look simple but kinda dangerous and time consuming if done by someone who has not trained before.
And then of course, this. Jun did the shot from the side and from the front. But these could be done by a stuntman (in the making video when he did the shot from the front and side, they prepared a mattress on the ground, which is not possible to do with these two shots)
This could be as well, tho I am not so sure.. It is just him skateboarding normally, but every shot of him skateboarding was done in such ways that I have a theory that he might not be able to skateboard (which is nothing wrong with it, because hey, me too, Jun). But if anybody knew any better, please let me know..
Then here comes the fighting scenes.
Good news is, there's not much of stuntwork. Just some where it requires Shuntaro to get direct hits or a significant fall. Aside from these shots I capped below, I am 90 percent sure that the rest of the shots in the said scene was done by Jun himself. I believe the scene had more than 20 shots, and I could only predict about these 3. The last one could be done by Jun himself, but I am not so sure.
AND THAT'S ALL! Yes, believe it. But I only got through Jun's action scenes. Too lazy to do Eita's.
These two caps below was just to show how the editing works in this scene. No stuntman detected. This was quite simple way yet smart technique on how to blend together action choreography and editing.
If you've seen the making, Jun did this shot with a mattress underneath. He needed to roll like about 2-3 times in the air and landed with a flying kick to his opponent which is in the next cap. I don't think it is humanly possible but the editing make it happened.
They combined the "rolling jun" shot with this flying kick. If you moved the video per frame, you'd see that he didn't do the rolling the body thingy before the kick. So in the shooting, he just needed to do a normal flying kick from the railing to the opponent. With quick editing and pacing, none of the audience will notice that. I am not counted because I am obsessive compulsive and has nothing better to do at the moment.