"JUNK WORLD", a new work following the stop-motion animation "JUNK HEAD", which was made almost single-handedly by director Takahide Hori Hori and took about seven years to produce, will be released on June 13th. Director Hori was born in Oita Prefecture in 1971. In December 2009, he started independent production of the short film "JUNK HEAD 1", about 30 minutes long. Director Hori had no experience in video production, but he made "JUNK HEAD" using stop-motion animation in an era when CG was at its peak. The unique world view became a hot topic, and although it was an indie film, the feature film released in March 2021 was a hit, grossing over 140 million yen, and won numerous film awards. We asked him about the new work, which took about three years to make.
◇ The number of staff has doubled
Producing stop-motion animation involves mind-boggling amounts of work, for example, "It depends on the movement, but a scene involving a person walking five or ten steps can take a day."
"It feels like time has stopped. Before you know it, an hour has passed. There's no room for error. Rather than shooting multiple shots and then editing, it's a one-shot deal. So I don't get lost in the editing process."
The arduous task continued for around three years at Director Hori's studio, YAMIKEN, located near the sea in Chiba Prefecture.
"I'm basically involved in everything, so I'm working at full capacity. I hardly ever leave the premises. I buy groceries at the supermarket on weekends and do the laundry, but apart from that I'm pretty much in the studio. At first I had insomnia. I'm not a short sleeper, but I could only get two or three hours of sleep. I get so worried that I can't sleep. I was in a daze in the mornings, but I knew it was a waste of time, so I went to a psychiatrist and was able to sleep around five hours. Since then, I've been able to work hard. I'm always stressed because most things don't go the way I want them to."
"The previous work was made by an average of about three people, but the new one is made by about six people," he said, doubling the number of staff members.
"We definitely needed more people. But we were all amateurs. Two of us joined because of 'JUNK HEAD,' but the rest are amateurs, though they are in the art field. But they all have great taste. They're all like geniuses. They give us ideas. I want them to work in a good environment and feel comfortable, so creating that environment is part of my job."
◇ Authenticity is important
The setting of the new work is 1042 years before "JUNK HEAD", where humans and artificial lifeform Mulligan will investigate the strange events that occurred in the underground city of Karpbar, which was supposed to have become a ghost town. The new work uses CG and 3D printers.
"In the end, since I had no experience with CG or 3D printers, I started by learning. At first it was difficult, but once I learned a bit, I was able to speed up. In the previous work, I made each doll individually out of clay, so there was only one for each character, but now that I can duplicate them, I can shoot different scenes at the same time. CG is used for the scenes with the airship flying and the rocky background. It is on the simpler side as far as CG goes. The way we make things has changed, but we kept searching for ways to retain the good points of stop motion. We use 3D printers, but the painting is done by hand. The unevenness of hand painting adds to the flavor. I think that a sense of realism is important after all."
We value the sense of authenticity and the unique visual expression of stop motion. This has not changed since our previous work. We are also trying to challenge ourselves to do things that traditional stop motion does not do.
"I am aware that this is my greatest strength. Stop-motion gives it a realism. Even if tens of billions of yen are spent, it is rare to see a film that really feels like it was made by a human being. Even if it is a little awkward, the view changes when you feel the background. There are some expressions and direction that are only possible with a low budget, and some that are only possible on this scale. However, many stop-motion animation works want to show that they are stop-motion. For example, cotton is used for explosions. This is a bit different from that route. I want to create a new genre. Sci-fi is expensive, and this type of method is good for immersive visual expression on a low budget. I feel the potential."
◇Further sequels
The new version has Japanese audio. In the previous version, "JUNK HEAD," the characters spoke in a "mumble mumble" and had subtitles.
"Ever since 'JUNK HEAD,' I've thought it would be better to have it in Japanese, but I don't have the skills, so I resorted to mumble mumble. This time, the setting is complicated, so there are some things that won't be understood unless I explain them to a certain extent. I thought it would be difficult to watch if I used subtitles the whole time, so I made it into Japanese. However, there are people who like the mumble mumble version (with Japanese subtitles), so we'll be releasing it at the same time. The mumble mumble version has its own charm, too."
The voice actors were staff members including Director Hori. Although they are not professional voice actors, they have a unique style.
"Basically it was just three of us. I did Dante, Prion, baby Robin and the monsters. I did raise the pitch a little though. I really wanted to hire a professional, but due to budgetary constraints I couldn't afford it. However, I understand this world view better than anyone, so there may be a sense of unity there."
The new film, like its predecessor, is an indie film. It's being distributed by Aniplex, but it's sticking to its indie ethos.
"I'm given the freedom to do what I want, so it's easy to do my job. We're indie, but I don't know what other options there are. I don't know anything about the industry, so I don't know what other people are doing."
Further sequels are also planned and preparations are underway.
"The plot has already been written, and we are aiming to have the storyboard written by the end of the year and release the film in a few years' time. It depends on how the film does at the box office, but I'd really like to increase the staff to around 20 people. I can't make the film without making money, so I'm putting my new dolls up on an auction site. I could even buy some for the main roles. In my heart, I'd like to keep everything and open a museum, but I have to make money."
He is also enthusiastic about his work outside of the "JUNK" series, saying, "I have stories and I have several films. I can do stop-motion, and adding stop-motion elements to live-action is also interesting. I want to try sci-fi, horror, and zombie films someday, so I'm always thinking about them. I have a lot of ideas, and I can bring those ideas to other works and create new things one after another." We hope that he will continue to pioneer "new genres" that have never been seen before.
