"100 Meters" Interview with Director Kenji Iwaisawa

The animated feature film " 100 Meters ", based on the manga by Uoto , who is also known for " Orb: On the Movements of the Earth (Chi: Chikyu no Undo ni Tsuite), " which was adapted into a TV anime, was released on September 19th. It is directed by Iwaizawa Kenji, whose debut animated feature film "Ongaku" was nominated for the Annie Awards, known as the "Academy Awards of the animation world," and has received high praise at film awards both in Japan and abroad, and is produced by Rock 'n' Roll Mountain, the same company that produced "Ongaku." As with "Ongaku," director Iwaizawa used the rotoscoping technique, which involves shooting live-action footage and tracing it to create hand-drawn drawings, to create " 100 Meters", aiming for "a special expression that could only be achieved with rotoscoping." We spoke to director Iwaizawa about the behind-the-scenes production.

◇The original story was so edgy that it needed to fit into the length of a movie.

"100 Meters" is Uoto 's debut serialized work, which was serialized on Kodansha's web manga app "Magazine Pocket (Magapoke)" from 2018 to 2019. The story is based on the 100-meter track and field event, and depicts the madness and passion of those who are captivated by the brilliance of the 10-second "100 meters" and put everything on the line.

Director Iwaizawa became interested in Uoto 's work after reading " Orb: On the Movements of the Earth (Chi: Chikyu no Undo ni Tsuite) " and came across " 100 Meters"

"I think Uoto Toyo drew ' 100 Meters' when he was very young, in his early twenties, and while I thought I would sense the freshness and heartwarming quality that is typical of a young person's debut work, it was also very edgy and gave me the impression that he was no ordinary artist. I also found it unusual that it was themed around sprinting, and I wondered how he would portray it, but it didn't have the image of a sports manga with sweat, tears, and youth, and if anything it was more cold. I thought it had a different perspective from ordinary sports manga."

Director Iwaizawa received an offer to direct the animated feature film a few weeks after reading "100 Meters" The first thing that Director Iwaizawa and his staff focused on during production was the story structure.

"In order to fit a story that spans five volumes of the comic into the length of a movie, it was inevitable that some parts would be cut down or restructured. I didn't want it to be a digest, so while there are many fascinating episodes in the original, I thought objectively about how I should structure it to become a movie. I drew my own line, asking myself, 'What is the most important thing?' and 'What mustn't be changed?' and worked out the structure. After that, I showed the initial structure to Uoto, and there weren't any major changes, so I guess it wasn't too far off. I want to make it an interesting movie, and have people who learn about 100 Meters through the movie become interested in the original. I think that's the ideal thing for a movie to be."

Regarding the scenario, during discussions with Uoto, some surprising suggestions were made.

"Uoto suggested that we change the way the characters speak from the original in this way. I had the impression that he values ​​words, so we tried not to make any major changes to the lines, but Uoto said, 'Wouldn't this be more natural in spoken language?' We were a little taken aback, thinking, 'Isn't that a really important part of the original?' However, it's true that there is a difference between when the characters speak and when you read the manga. I was surprised and grateful that Uoto suggested how he wanted the lines to look when turned into video."

◇No monologues to immerse the audience

One of the main focuses of the production was to eliminate the monologues of the characters, many of which are present in the original work. They wanted to show something visual to replace the monologues.

"This is more of a personal preference. When you turn it into a film, there is more information than in a manga, so some parts can be conveyed without words. Also, monologues and flashback scenes inevitably end up being explanatory, so in most films the tempo slows down and the momentum of the work weakens. I'm sure there are ways to do it well and make monologues not feel explanatory, but I wasn't confident I could do that, so I focused from the start on figuring out how to structure the film without including monologues or flashbacks."

He said that monologues and flashback scenes often lose the audience's interest.

"I think people lose concentration when they watch something that is too explanatory or the tempo slows down. I think that a sense of immersion is especially important in a movie theater, so I'm conscious of that."

He also paid particular attention to the tempo and contrast, saying, "Because it's rotoscoping, rather than focusing on movement, I think I was more concerned with how to present still images."

"Viewers get bored if the same images are shown one after the other, or if there is constant movement, or if the tempo is the same, so I tried to add some stillness, as well as very short and long cuts, to add variety to the overall work. There is also a bold shot that shows only the sky, with no characters running. When I went to the Takahata Isao exhibition, there was a tension chart that showed how viewers felt in each scene. The works were from the 1960s and 1970s, and Takahata has always placed importance on getting into the viewers' emotions. I am always thinking about what would be interesting for me as an audience member."

◇Live-action movement, animated look Special expression unique to rotoscoping

This film was created with the aim of being "interesting as a film," but its most distinctive feature is that it was made using rotoscoping. Director Iwaizawa first encountered rotoscoping when he was in his early twenties. Rotoscoping itself is not a new technique, but Iwaizawa, who originally aspired to be a live-action film director, had no idea about it, and he gave it a try, thinking, "I also liked drawing, so if I traced live-action footage, it might become something like animation. Rather than making an anime, it might become something that looks like anime. I thought it would be interesting to have an animation that has the movement of live-action but looks hand-drawn."

The work he produced was well-received, and he felt a sense of accomplishment, thinking, "If I do it this way, maybe I can do it." He says, "What I'm doing hasn't changed since I started working on live-action films, but I've changed my perspective. I've been able to do more because of this approach."

"There are some expressions that can only be achieved with Rossscope," he said, and he was conscious of creating special expressions in "100 Meters." For example, there is the scene of the final match of the national high school tournament, which was depicted in one take for 3 minutes and 40 seconds from the start of the match to the end.

"That scene really could only be done with rotoscoping. It might be possible to create something similar in 3D, but if we were to hand-draw that scene, it would take a lot of time and money, even if we gathered a lot of skilled animators. If we were going to spend that much money on it, we decided not to do it. That's how special the scene is."

Looking back on the production of "100 Meters," he says that, of course, rotoscoping was used, but "we maintained an independent production method until the very end." Director Iwaizawa said that when making his films, he "is always conscious of entertainment," and added, "If people are going to watch a movie, it has to be entertainment. I don't want to make a film that just does what I want and only those who want to watch it will see it. My way of directing is a little unusual, but that can also be elevated to entertainment. I really want people to think it's interesting."

Finally, we asked about the highlights.

"You can only feel the power of the sound in a movie theater, so I would encourage everyone to experience it for themselves. We've worked hard to make the visuals as gorgeous as possible, so I think it's a film that truly deserves to be experienced."