[Translation] SMAP Magazine: "To me, SMAP is..." series (Katsuhito Ishii)
Katsuhito Ishii (movie director, CM director): The first time I worked with SMAP was in 1995 for the commercial for “Knoll’s Cup Soup.” After that, I worked with them mostly on commercials such as “NTT East Japan Flet’s Hikari” and “Fujitsu FMV.”
The 15-minute mini-film “Birdman Fly” that was the promotional video for their single “Fly” left a strong impression on me. We were filming the last scene where the 5 of them, as “Birdman,” were chased to the roof top of a building. With no where else to go, the 5 of them ended up jumping off the building. While we were filming that scene, Kimura-san suddenly suggested, “Let’s jump off with our backs going down first!” He said, “It’s better if the scene looks cool right? We will be fine as long as you give us more padding on the ground.” This idea was supported by Nakai-san, “That sounds good! Sounds good!” Of course it would be more entertaining if the scene was filmed that way. Since it was quite dangerous for them to land on their backs, we had them spin their body around right after they jumped off and spread their arms out as if they were flying.
The 5 of them has always approached their work that way: they get involved with the creation process in order to make a better finished product. It is pretty common for idols to return to their dressing room when it is not their turn to film, but SMAP always stay at the filming site even when they are not being filmed, discussing if they should do this or do that. This always makes my job way easier.
Looking back to when I first met SMAP, my impression of Kusanagi-san probably changed the most. When we did the commercial for “Asparagus Drink,” we had him do a lot of dumb and silly things and he gave his all in performing his role. I thought at that time, “This guy is pretty funny.” When we film the movie “Yama no Anata, Tokuichi no Koi,” Kusanagi-san seemed to really enjoyed playing his role as Tokuichi. Even after we have completed and okayed a scene, he still continued practicing the same scene on his own. I have never seen any other actors like him (smile).
I have always thought, from a long time ago, that SMAP are not very idol-like. I always considered them more as actors than idols when I interacted with them. I always get fired up from watching the kind of concentration and focus they put into their work. For example, when filming a commercial they can keep the lines going by doing numerous improvisations; a lot of times they have to do certain movements, and when there bodies were able to react quickly enough, they would add a comment here, make up a punch line there. This is their forte. In that regards, all members of SMAP are top notch in how quickly they react in any given moment. Because they also dance, their forms are nice, and they have good rhythm. I think this also greatly benefit them as actors.
The 15-minute mini-film “Birdman Fly” that was the promotional video for their single “Fly” left a strong impression on me. We were filming the last scene where the 5 of them, as “Birdman,” were chased to the roof top of a building. With no where else to go, the 5 of them ended up jumping off the building. While we were filming that scene, Kimura-san suddenly suggested, “Let’s jump off with our backs going down first!” He said, “It’s better if the scene looks cool right? We will be fine as long as you give us more padding on the ground.” This idea was supported by Nakai-san, “That sounds good! Sounds good!” Of course it would be more entertaining if the scene was filmed that way. Since it was quite dangerous for them to land on their backs, we had them spin their body around right after they jumped off and spread their arms out as if they were flying.
The 5 of them has always approached their work that way: they get involved with the creation process in order to make a better finished product. It is pretty common for idols to return to their dressing room when it is not their turn to film, but SMAP always stay at the filming site even when they are not being filmed, discussing if they should do this or do that. This always makes my job way easier.
Looking back to when I first met SMAP, my impression of Kusanagi-san probably changed the most. When we did the commercial for “Asparagus Drink,” we had him do a lot of dumb and silly things and he gave his all in performing his role. I thought at that time, “This guy is pretty funny.” When we film the movie “Yama no Anata, Tokuichi no Koi,” Kusanagi-san seemed to really enjoyed playing his role as Tokuichi. Even after we have completed and okayed a scene, he still continued practicing the same scene on his own. I have never seen any other actors like him (smile).
I have always thought, from a long time ago, that SMAP are not very idol-like. I always considered them more as actors than idols when I interacted with them. I always get fired up from watching the kind of concentration and focus they put into their work. For example, when filming a commercial they can keep the lines going by doing numerous improvisations; a lot of times they have to do certain movements, and when there bodies were able to react quickly enough, they would add a comment here, make up a punch line there. This is their forte. In that regards, all members of SMAP are top notch in how quickly they react in any given moment. Because they also dance, their forms are nice, and they have good rhythm. I think this also greatly benefit them as actors.