The shooting started out incredibly slow - 6 hours in, we were still working on the first couple of scenes of the video. Since me and this other girl were asked to be in the very last scene, we spent the whole time sitting in the cold lounge, waiting. At this point, I could not help but wonder why in the world I had agreed to participate.
With the never-ending repetition of the same scene, it was apparent that everyone was feeling the tension in the air. The director was getting frustrated, and the crew members were all on there toes. About 20 shots later, we moved on to the next scene - and the same process went on for an additional 6 hours.
After 13 hours of shooting, I was convinced that this day had been a day to confirm that Japanese people are indeed 一生懸命 ("ikksho-kenmei"). It was incredible how each and every one of the crew shared the same passion - not even one of them failed to pay attention to the smallest details. Not a single member complained or showed signs of exhaustion (again, this was taking place on a late Sunday evening) and this truly showed how much Japanese people cherished the notion of group harmony, or 和 "wa" when working as a team.
Aside from my not being able relax on the my rare holiday, I was glad to have been able to witness my culture's 頑張る ("gambaru", to strive) spirit with my own eyes.
I genuinely hope that the shooting crew rested up properly before another week of hard labor started for them....
ご苦労様でした ("gokurou-sama deshita", Good Work)!
Interesting post - our university seems to be very concerned with its image and produces many of these kinds of advertisements. Were you a volunteer or did they pay you? Your description matches the discussion we had about TV production in Japan - lots of hours of shooting for a very short amount of actual air time.
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