Film director Takashi Okamoto: Finding just one thing you love is the key to enjoying life

Film director　Takashi Okamoto(Takashi Okamoto)

■ Profile
Born in Nara prefecture.
She has been supporting the early days of music video production in the indie band world since around 2008. She began making films in earnest in 2017, and her short film "Rock Misato" won the Best Actress Award at the Fukui Ekimae Short Film Festival 2018. In 2021, her film "Disco's High" won the Encouragement Award at the Kobe IFF and the Discovery Award at the Japan Arts Center Film Grand Prix. Her other works have been selected for many other awards.

The film "Disco's High" will be released on July 8th. The director of the film is Takashi Okamoto, who supports the production of music videos for indie bands. In his own musical career, he said that he made the film with the feeling that "in a music industry where people are at the mercy of intangible things like talent and verbal promises, music should be at the center." We spoke to Director Okamoto about his struggles so far and the highlights of the film.

■I wasn't originally interested in music
Currently, I mainly work in bands, music video production, and still photography. However, to be honest, I had no interest in music at all. I started playing music in high school when a friend suggested we start a band, so we formed one. We just formed a band, didn't perform at all, and didn't even buy any instruments (laughs). But then I thought, "Being in a band is fun for some reason," and gradually I started to like the guitar. I wanted to study music professionally, so I went to a music college.
Since my student days, I started working as a touring guitarist, but I gradually began to feel the difficulty of establishing a foothold. Later, while touring various places with my band, I became friends with a cameraman and developed an interest in cameras. This led me to join a company that produces stage videos. After that, while still playing in my own band, I also casually got involved in producing music videos for indie bands, back when music videos were not as popular as they are now.

■ The struggles of making a music video
When it comes to corporate projects with sponsors, there's plenty of money and time, and schedules are well managed, but when it comes to indie bands, there's no money, the band members have low morale, and they're often late. At first, I was surprised, thinking, "They're so excited, I can't believe they're filming their own work." But, since I used to be in a band myself, I continued making them with the feeling that "I want to somehow make it big together." Gradually, I started to book locations while anticipating lateness and other issues (laughs).
That's what makes them lovable, including me.
Of course, not everyone is like that, and I'd like to point out that there are many highly motivated musicians out there.
It's also nice when the MV helps promote the band and makes them happy, when the MV gets a lot of views, or when people around me say, "Was it you, Okamoto-san, that made the MV for XX?"

■What do music and music video production have in common?
When it comes to creating a music video, there are usually two cases: when the other party requests "I want it made like this," or when I'm asked to "leave it to them." I believe that communicating through music and communicating through a music video are the same, so I listen to the song thoroughly and think about "what is the theme of this song?" In my case, I don't really like to create something that is formulaic, such as using the proper nouns from the lyrics exactly, so I try to restate the lyrics in the video in a slightly different way.

■ A film that was made by shifting gears from the original plan
With "Disco's High," I originally wanted to make a 40-minute film that was like a typical music video. However, after making casting offers to my favorite actors and artists, I ended up with a cast that was even better than I expected, so I shifted gears and thought, "I have to make something more substantial." In particular, the singing scenes at the beginning and climax feature songs I wrote and composed sung by people I like, so I hope you'll pay attention to them. Also, for the live performance scene at the beginning, I had said that the usual lip-syncing (matching movements to the music, like lip-syncing) would be fine, but they actually performed the song, which got me, as the director, excited throughout filming.

■A shoot that almost became a police matter
What surprised me was that when we were shooting a loud screaming scene in a wooden building, people thought it was a real crime and the neighbors almost called the police. Of course, we had proper permission, so nothing serious happened.
We also filmed during the difficult times of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, so we were often met with naive scorn just for holding an instrument. Some bands were considering disbanding due to the pandemic, so we had to ask them not to disband until the film was released, and it was difficult to secure filming locations. Of course, some people were often late, but based on past experience, we took measures to prevent this, such as setting an earlier arrival time (laughs).

■I want to continue giving indie artists more opportunities in the future.
I would like to continue making music videos while also working on film production. I like easy-to-understand action, so I would like to make a movie that includes a lot of "exaggerated action" and "easy-to-understand climaxes." Of course, I haven't given up on being a musician myself, but I think there are actually a lot of great bands and great songs that just aren't well-known. I would like to increase the number of opportunities, even if just by one, for more people to see indie bands that aren't well-known at the moment but have hidden talent. I'm happy when I become popular, but when my close friends become popular, I feel happy as if it were my own achievement, and I would like to be a part of that group.

■Message to university students
I hope you can find at least one thing you love that will become the core of who you are. I have lived my life making the things I want to do, that I like, and that I find fun my top priority. It doesn't have to be something big enough to be called a "dream," it's fine to just "like" something. If you can find something you "really love," you can live life happily. I originally wanted to be a manga artist but failed, but I found other things I love, like music, and now I'm enjoying life. Well, you'll do fine!

Interviewed by Student Newspaper Online on May 18, 2022 by Hayato Tane, a fourth-year student at Chuo Gakuin University