I’ve been thinking a lot about the one story I have yet to write about in this fine blog. 3 Girls is the first story I wrote in Ashita. Of all the stories it the one with the biggest cast and it’s the most complex story. It combines some traditional Japanese cinematic images with some hints of my nostalgic memories of my time in Tokyo.
The story (and the movie) begins with Yuki, running towards the camera in complete fear. “Help me,” she screams. She’s being followed by a mysterious figure in white. The mystery woman’s chase of Yuki comes to an end in an alley where hell is about to be unleashed.
Meanwhile Miki and Ayumi are hard at work at the local Asian karaoke bar, they complain about work and money and are expecting another slow night. Then suddenly a mysterious white figure appears in the bar.
Somehow, Miki, Ayumi and Yuki’s paths all cross and are linked by this mystery woman. These three girls are cursed…
Of the six stories in Ashita, this will be the scariest. The acting, again in this story is top notch. Yuki is played by the wonderfully athletic Tomomi Kataoka. I’ve never put an actor through more physically trying scenes than I did Tomomi. I asked to run down the same alley in fear about 35 times in cold November and December weather. Lucky for me she once was a lacrosse player and was a wonderfully good sport about the whole thing, especially when she ran a hole through her boots. Mystery Woman, who can instill fear into all, was played by Maki O., who I commend for having the most complex make-up job (she’s painted entirely in white) and who wears only a thin white kimono (again in November and December). Though people think her acting job may have been easy because she has no dialogue, I disagree. To be able to remain so stone faced and emotionless to create a frightening atmosphere is not an easy task. Maki, too, was a good sport and we all had fun walking down the street with her while she was completely painted white. Or walking into a Starbucks to order coffee and warm up and there is was in the middle of the café all in white.
In the bar, Miki is played by my beautiful wife Izumi Di Rocco, whose portrayal of a down on her luck bar maid is dead on. Her younger, more flamboyant, pink haired counterpart, Ayumi, is played wonderfully by Minami Kubota. Minami is a sweet, young girl who caught us all by surprise with the viciousness of her acting. There is a certain scene when Ayumi yells at her boss (played by Takashi Fujita) it is, to put it simply, fantastic. I never thought such a sweet looking girl could be so visceral. It’s brilliant. Izumi and Minami have wonderful chemistry that gives them a natural big sister/little sister relationship. And when their characters cross paths with Yuki it is what is sure to be one of the most chaotic scenes in Ashita—and one of the most frightening.
I had a lot of fun shooting 3 Girls. It was full of wonderful surprises and nice little moments that I always smile when I remember them. The first was the pink hair for Minami. Sometimes casting against type works, anyone who met Minami would have thought her perfect to play a sweet, innocent girl (many suggested her for Sayaka in the Teddy Bear story) but my gut told me to put her as the bitchiest character in the movie. Somehow I knew it would be right. But her natural look was too sweet, we needed to give her a more an edge, like she just stepped out of the hippest club in Shinjuku. So I sat down with Ashita’s make-up artist Masayo and the first thing I said is that I wanted her to have colored hair, red, purple, blue. I don’t know something. Pink was the first color we tried and once I saw it, there was no turning back. We matched Izumi to look as flamboyant but with a more conservative, older look. We gave Izumi dark eye make-up, long nails and a big white feather boa over a fur coat and Chinese dress. Both girls looked awesome and carried the right kind of attitude for their parts. Izumi had experience working in a bar, so she had not trouble getting into the mood of the character, Minami took method acting very serious and she got a job in a karaoke bar for a few weeks just to garnish the experience.
When I watched the footage for 3 Girls is feels like it was a much larger shoot than it actually was. Though it was the one of my more open sets where anyone was allowed to watch, we had so much fun shooting that it doesn’t feel big to me. Some of Ashita’s most complex shots were pulled off with almost no difficulty, combined with the dedication of girls willing to freeze to death or run up and down the same alley 35 times so I could get enough coverage. For me, 3 Girls, was a completely new way of shooting. I did not preparation, no story boarding or shot listing. It was decided on set at the time of shooting—and it was deiced quickly because it was some nights it was so damn cold. We did a lot of rehearsals, but I planned no shots—which for me was difficult, because once the actors get the mood of the scene I spend most of the second half of rehearsal writing shots and shot lists. But for 3 Girls, I decided everything on set which was a refreshing experiment that I may or may not repeat based on the circumstance.
I am avoiding giving you more information about the story or the finer points of its meaning simply because I want you to be surprised. 3 Girls, like all of Ashita’s stories has a strong message about loneliness, however there is significantly more metaphors, mixed in with powerful imagery in this particular story, that should leave audience’s heads spinning to find the answers to the questions this story asks.
The story (and the movie) begins with Yuki, running towards the camera in complete fear. “Help me,” she screams. She’s being followed by a mysterious figure in white. The mystery woman’s chase of Yuki comes to an end in an alley where hell is about to be unleashed.
Meanwhile Miki and Ayumi are hard at work at the local Asian karaoke bar, they complain about work and money and are expecting another slow night. Then suddenly a mysterious white figure appears in the bar.
Somehow, Miki, Ayumi and Yuki’s paths all cross and are linked by this mystery woman. These three girls are cursed…
Of the six stories in Ashita, this will be the scariest. The acting, again in this story is top notch. Yuki is played by the wonderfully athletic Tomomi Kataoka. I’ve never put an actor through more physically trying scenes than I did Tomomi. I asked to run down the same alley in fear about 35 times in cold November and December weather. Lucky for me she once was a lacrosse player and was a wonderfully good sport about the whole thing, especially when she ran a hole through her boots. Mystery Woman, who can instill fear into all, was played by Maki O., who I commend for having the most complex make-up job (she’s painted entirely in white) and who wears only a thin white kimono (again in November and December). Though people think her acting job may have been easy because she has no dialogue, I disagree. To be able to remain so stone faced and emotionless to create a frightening atmosphere is not an easy task. Maki, too, was a good sport and we all had fun walking down the street with her while she was completely painted white. Or walking into a Starbucks to order coffee and warm up and there is was in the middle of the café all in white.
In the bar, Miki is played by my beautiful wife Izumi Di Rocco, whose portrayal of a down on her luck bar maid is dead on. Her younger, more flamboyant, pink haired counterpart, Ayumi, is played wonderfully by Minami Kubota. Minami is a sweet, young girl who caught us all by surprise with the viciousness of her acting. There is a certain scene when Ayumi yells at her boss (played by Takashi Fujita) it is, to put it simply, fantastic. I never thought such a sweet looking girl could be so visceral. It’s brilliant. Izumi and Minami have wonderful chemistry that gives them a natural big sister/little sister relationship. And when their characters cross paths with Yuki it is what is sure to be one of the most chaotic scenes in Ashita—and one of the most frightening.
I had a lot of fun shooting 3 Girls. It was full of wonderful surprises and nice little moments that I always smile when I remember them. The first was the pink hair for Minami. Sometimes casting against type works, anyone who met Minami would have thought her perfect to play a sweet, innocent girl (many suggested her for Sayaka in the Teddy Bear story) but my gut told me to put her as the bitchiest character in the movie. Somehow I knew it would be right. But her natural look was too sweet, we needed to give her a more an edge, like she just stepped out of the hippest club in Shinjuku. So I sat down with Ashita’s make-up artist Masayo and the first thing I said is that I wanted her to have colored hair, red, purple, blue. I don’t know something. Pink was the first color we tried and once I saw it, there was no turning back. We matched Izumi to look as flamboyant but with a more conservative, older look. We gave Izumi dark eye make-up, long nails and a big white feather boa over a fur coat and Chinese dress. Both girls looked awesome and carried the right kind of attitude for their parts. Izumi had experience working in a bar, so she had not trouble getting into the mood of the character, Minami took method acting very serious and she got a job in a karaoke bar for a few weeks just to garnish the experience.
When I watched the footage for 3 Girls is feels like it was a much larger shoot than it actually was. Though it was the one of my more open sets where anyone was allowed to watch, we had so much fun shooting that it doesn’t feel big to me. Some of Ashita’s most complex shots were pulled off with almost no difficulty, combined with the dedication of girls willing to freeze to death or run up and down the same alley 35 times so I could get enough coverage. For me, 3 Girls, was a completely new way of shooting. I did not preparation, no story boarding or shot listing. It was decided on set at the time of shooting—and it was deiced quickly because it was some nights it was so damn cold. We did a lot of rehearsals, but I planned no shots—which for me was difficult, because once the actors get the mood of the scene I spend most of the second half of rehearsal writing shots and shot lists. But for 3 Girls, I decided everything on set which was a refreshing experiment that I may or may not repeat based on the circumstance.
I am avoiding giving you more information about the story or the finer points of its meaning simply because I want you to be surprised. 3 Girls, like all of Ashita’s stories has a strong message about loneliness, however there is significantly more metaphors, mixed in with powerful imagery in this particular story, that should leave audience’s heads spinning to find the answers to the questions this story asks.
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