Production Diary for the Movie Taisho

Release the Hounds

2010-03-20T08:48:00.002+09:00

Taisho goes out on Monday to readers, come hell or high water. I've gotten it to the point where I feel like I'm just annoying the characters by making little, nitpicky changes.

I've got a list of questions I still have about the script, but I think it's solid. We'll see what my readers have to say when they get it. If any of their notes jibe with my own, I know it's a problem. If not, they're still probably right ...

Nervous as a girl on prom night. Gah ...

完了です。

2010-02-16T16:53:00.003+09:00

As of 2:30 this afternoon, Taisho is complete again.

I've got a few spots to polish, but it's all there. Man, it feels weird to be re-writing again.

I'll be looking for readers soon, so if anyone's up for checking out a 101 page script and telling me what does or doesn't work (and why or why not) I'll be forever indebted.

Me? I'm gonna celebrate with a bottle of wine and some Nintendo 64.

2010: The Year I Make Contact ... Again

2010-02-09T07:07:00.003+09:00

Taisho is almost complete.

Work on Spindle continues as quickly as it can, and I've also managed to squeeze an hour or two of writing time in the mix. I like working this way. I can switch gears when I start to get burned out on a project and it's usually enough to knock me back into fighting shape.

With regards to the Act III sequences listed earlier, I've managed to blow through Escape and Tickets. Chase has undergone a major (MAJOR) revision and Wounded now needs to be tweaked. The beginnings of Breaking Takeshi exist in chicken-scratch form and I'll be putting it into the script sometime this morning.

Anyway, it's really coming together. Four more sequences, a few tweaks to the earlier stuff (mostly foreshadowing or revising things that no longer make sense due to changes made later in the script) and I'll have this puppy ready for the world.

良いお年を

2009-12-29T21:47:00.003+09:00

Just a quick post to wish you all a happy new year. Taisho has taken a backseat to Spindle these last couple of weeks, but will be up and running concurrently with its older, wiser sibling shortly.

Until then, I hope this finds all of you healthy, happy and well now and through all of 2010.

Thank goodness this decade's over. What a ride.

The Evolution of Gordon

2009-12-23T18:38:00.002+09:00

There’s been some great feedback in the comments lately. It’s always nice to hear what people I respect think about the few tidbits I’ve put out here and I’m very thankful for your input. It’s one of the main reasons I started this blog. I hate writing in a vacuum and love the back-and-forth of collaborative work. I don’t always agree with everything that’s being said, but I’ll always respect any constructive feedback.

One comment in particular really struck home. I’ve posted a few introductions to some of the characters of Taisho. Gordon’s introduction describes him as a former eikaiwa worker whose company went belly-up and left him stranded. He ended up selling bootleg goods on the street.

My friend MG is one of the few who’s read Taisho’s earlier incarnation and his notes on that version were very helpful in creating what it’s slowly becoming. He read Gordon’s new bio and commented that it wouldn’t have been too hard for him to find employment with another eikaiwa and he didn’t like the fact that Gordon’s from Iowa. MG had never seen anyone not from the Middle East or South America selling bootlegs. Gordon’s situation seemed unrealistic to him.

This caught me off-guard. At first, I thought part of MG’s reaction could have been due to the limited amount of information I presented on each character. I’ve been struggling with how much I should share vs. how much I should hold back, and thought I may not have given enough information to form a clear picture.

My reply was in 3 parts:
1. I’d been approached by an American about buying handbags in Den Den Town. It does happen.
2. Gordon was a bad employee and made some questionable choices that led him to where he was.
3. It’s not always easy to get hired again. The death of NOVA was a good illustration of what sometimes happens to English teachers in Japan.

At the time, this felt sufficient. But the points MG raised refused to go away.

The eikaiwa stuff in Gordon’s bio is a survivor from the earliest incarnations of Taisho. In the original idea, Jack and Gordon were both English teachers who found themselves in (much more mundane and boring) trouble. Thankfully, the script has evolved, and most of the characters have evolved with it. Jack used to be a street vendor and a kind of pathetic romantic. Michelle was Jack’s horribly unlikable girlfriend. Takeshi, Kobayashi, Nikolai, Chastity, Bukowski, Uma ... all have undergone dramatic changes from one version to the next.

But Gordon, I began to realize, has remained comparatively static. His actions through different versions of the script have changed, but as a person, he was not much different from the character sketch I threw together while still living in South Dakota. Did the version of Gordon from 2006 match the Gordon I was writing today?

Looking at it from this perspective, my arguments started to feel hollow. Sure, he could be from Iowa. That didn’t necessarily seem weird and would ultimately depend on the person that ends up being cast. But something was definitely wrong with the parts about being an ALT.

MG was right: It wouldn’t have been that hard to find another eikaiwa. Using NOVA’s demise as justification didn’t hold water. When NOVA went nova, it flooded the market with ALTs. There simply weren’t enough jobs to go around. It was (hopefully) a once-in-a-lifetime event.

And besides, Gordon didn’t work for NOVA. He worked for some piddly little company in Umeda. He could have found another job somewhere, no matter how bad an employee he was. Thinking back to some of the people I met teaching English in Osaka, not every eikaiwa has rigid standards as to who they hire.

So ultimately I had a character who appeared to have made a pretty baffling choice. His job disappeared and, in spite of ample opportunities to stay on the straight-and-narrow, he decided to break the law.

Where did this leave me? Was the character shot? Would I have to rewrite the script again to fix the “Gordon Problem?”

Not really. All of the issues with Gordon’s story are incidental to the events depicted in Taisho. Where he’s from and how he got there doesn’t affect what ultimately happens. I could make him a car thief from Abu Dhabi. The story would end the same way.

That being said, Gordon needs to be as real as I can possibly make him. Perhaps MG was the only one who found Gordon’s origins to be troublesome, or maybe he was the only one willing to say something about it. Either way, I’ve come to agree with him.

So, Gordon’s a little different now. He came to Japan as an eikaiwa worker but his taste for things the police don’t appreciate much led him to make some “interesting” friends, long before he met Jack. He’s been in Osaka for years, slowly getting more involved in the business his friends (perhaps from South America and the Middle East) were conducting. He’s been mixed up in more than bootlegging.

Also, his eikaiwa no longer went belly up. Gordon chose to quit after a year because he was making more money on the streets than he was sitting in a box for eight hours, pretending he gave a shit about a salary man’s vacation plans. He likes doing what he does.

Gordon is a nice guy and a good friend, but you wouldn’t want to cross him. He was on the wrong side of the tracks for a long time before Taisho began. Perhaps before he came to Japan. But when the chips are down, you can count on him to help you.

Is this new origin more believable? I think so. More importantly, is it better? There’s really no way to tell for sure. All of this may be thrown out the window the minute Gordon is finally cast.

But the character just felt wrong. I understand that the enjoyment of almost any movie requires at least a little suspension of disbelief, but I want to avoid it as much as possible. Call me unrealistic, but I hate just blowing off a story problem, no matter its size.

MG’s comments made me think a little harder about parts of the world I’m creating that I may have been neglecting. Gordon is now a stronger, fuller character. And, because of that, Taisho feels improved.

Although, the Abu Dhabi idea is starting to sound pretty good ...

Self-Destruct Sequence Initiated

2009-12-18T22:59:00.003+09:00

Tonight, I present the final list of sequences for Taisho. It's shorter than the previous lists, but each of these sequences should be longer than average.

There's a very strong possibility I'll have a script ready for deconstruction by the end of the year. Feels weird to be this close to completion. After that, a quick polish and some maintenance (a few things in Act I no longer make any sense due do some Act IIB adjustments) and it'll be solid.

Another One Bites the Dust

2009-12-15T17:50:00.003+09:00

As of today, Act IIB is complete. The page count sits at 82. Body count sits at 4. Both numbers will rise dramatically in the near future.

Act III underway. Time to put this sucker to bed.

This Little Piggy ...

2009-12-13T16:41:00.002+09:00

Howdy all,

More updates will be coming along before too long but I was "lucky" enough to take part in the global extravaganza known as the Goddamned Swine Flu, and am just now feeling up to writing anything.

When I left off, Jack was in some pretty dire straits and it was about to get even worse. Current page count sits at 76. Act IIB very close to complete.

I'm going to go snack on my last remaining Tamiflu and hope none of you have to feel the way I did last week. Wash your hands and gargle.

Line-up #4: Uma

2009-12-02T21:53:00.000+09:00

Uma is a black market dealer and a chronic agoraphobe. In the age of the internet, he’s discovered that he can have anything and everything shipped to or picked up from the sanctuary of his apartment and has decided to never leave it again.

In spite of the fact that he’s completely shut-in, Uma has contacts throughout the underbelly of Osaka and knows more of what’s going on in the city than should be possible.

If you can pay for it, Uma’s the guy to get it for you. He and Jack are on as good of terms as you can be with someone who never goes outside, but Gordon has his doubts.

Line-up #3: Gordon Merriwether

2009-11-26T20:57:00.003+09:00

Gordon Merriwether is Jack’s best friend. A country boy from Sioux City, Gordon came to Japan as part of an eikaiwa that went belly up and left him stranded. He began selling bootleg merchandise on the streets of Den Den Town and soon found he had a real knack for the work.

Gordon is a bit of a computer geek and as friendly as a guy from Iowa can be. Jack’s counted on him for help and vice versa for quite a long time.

But with the new trouble Jack’s gotten himself into, it’s unclear just how much Gordon can be there this time.

Line-up #2: Michelle Murakami

2009-11-18T06:21:00.000+09:00

Michelle Murakami is Jack’s older sister. Goes by “Shelly” most of the time. She graduated near the top of her class from Ritsume Universtiy in Kyoto and speaks 3 languages. Currently putting those skills to use by spending most of her nights in clubs and bars and most of her days asleep.

Jack has been her primary means of income for about a year. This has been a source of friction between the two as she used to be the one who always took care of him. He came to Japan on a dependent’s visa that she sponsored. Now that she has to rely on him, her pride is more than a bit injured.

Jack is also sick of having to support her as she flits from club to club, apparently with no intention of using her degrees for anything besides getting drunk and getting laid. He thinks that telling her how to live her life is actually helping, but Michelle resents it immensely.

Somewhere along the way, Michelle lost track of what she wanted to do with her life and has fallen in with some bad people. Jack would like to be there for her but their relationship has deteriorated to the point where they can’t be in the same room for more than a minute or two before they start fighting.

As Taisho begins, Michelle claims to have found a job and won’t need to rely on Jack anymore. Jack is relieved, but soon begins to wonder just what kind of employment Michelle has discovered.

Everything Goes to Hell

2009-11-16T19:20:00.006+09:00

The first thing I wrote in my file on Taisho IIB is "Everything goes to Hell." Through all the changes I've made to the script, I've managed to stay true to that mantra for this quarter of the film.

To that end, I'd like to share the list of sequences for this act:

IIB has seen its overall structure remain more-or-less in tact from the last version of the screenplay. However, while the frame has stayed the same, the flesh is quite different this time around.

Chastity still has her car (in spite of a very, very on-the-nose note by a good friend) but this may change if I can figure out how to get two people to be able to have a private conversation while rapidly moving from point A to point B. Motorcycles just won't cut it. Visions of two actors screaming into the wind and engine noise make me have flashbacks to a certain bridge in Den Den Town during the Spindle shoot.

My next posts will most likely be a couple of character bios. I was hoping to have a rough sketch to throw up next to the description, but after looking at the monstrosity I doodled next to Jack's bio, I may be better off just leaving it to your imagination.

Midpoint

2009-11-10T17:49:00.002+09:00

As of 1:30 today, Act IIA is complete.

As predected, the No-Show sequence disappeared. A few other surprises popped up along the way, and I moved a part of a sequence I was planning on running in IIB into Uma's Warning.

Page count: 65

Body count: 2

Slowly, slowly getting there.

Name That Store

2009-10-24T22:37:00.003+09:00

As I mentioned in the last post, the protagonist of Taisho, Jack Murakami, is the "owner"/operator of a music shop in Amemura. How he came to be a businessman is another story, but I'll keep that one to myself for now.

As I've been writing this monster, I've used various temporary names for Jack's shop as placeholders until something better came along. These names have included some gems like The Equinox (Yes, a Spindle nod), Disc Junky and The G-Clef. None of them have quite fit what I'd like the shop to be (and these are only the ones I was brave enough to share).

Jack's shop is small and crowded. The building is old and the wood floors are worn and creaky. It probably smells like damp plaster and incense inside.

But it's packed with cool stuff, from music to clothes to whatever. Imagine the greatest little hole-in-the-wall music shop you could ever set foot in. That's this place.

Trouble is, I can't come up with a decent name. Any suggestions?

Line-up #1: Jack Murakami

2009-10-14T22:28:00.011+09:00

I realized that I just threw a bunch random notes at you about the characters of Taisho in the last post, and kind of assumed somewhere in the back of my mind that you're all as familiar with the script as I am.

Obviously, that's not the case. Only some of you have actually read the first draft, and the characters in that draft sometimes bear little resemblance to who they've become.

I thought it might be a good idea if I wasn't so stingy with details, at least about who the hell I've peopled my script with. So here you go.

I'll start with the protagonist.

• Jack Murakami is an American citizen and the accidental proprietor of a run-down music and clothing shop in Amemura.

• His store has fallen on hard times and he’s been forced to make arrangements that he may live to regret.

• In the first draft, Jack was selling bootleg goods out of his car. I decided to run the store route after a trip to Amemura with a good friend of mine. It's a much more exciting location than I had originally planned and has opened up a wider range of possibilities.

• Jack is opinionated, stubborn and tough as hell but loyal to a fault and genuinely wants to do the right thing. Whether or not he always does ...

Blood on My Hands

2009-10-07T18:11:00.004+09:00

I spent a lot of time developing the characters of Taisho before I sat down to put a single word on paper. I know where they come from, their likes and dislikes, character quirks, family background and their favorite music. What they're like in bed, what scares them the most, what prejudices and irrational beliefs they hold in their hearts. I know them better than I know some of my best friends.

Then I sometimes kill them.

All characters must be available for sacrifice to the great god, Story. I understand this. But I'm not quite sure how to feel about having a character who I know likes takoyaki without mayonnaise get bludgeoned to death in an alley or something to that effect. (Perhaps that's a spoiler, but perhaps not).

Also, the sequence list has been bumped up by one. In between Comisseration and Unlikely Partners, please insert the following sequence:

Also, No-Show is looking dangerously vulnerable right about now. It may be pretty out of place in the way I've been writing up to now. I'll throw it on paper and see what it looks like.

This is turning into a kitchen-sink draft anyway. Forty pages is about 10 more than I'd like in the first act, but it's easier to trim back than to try to pad it later.

IIA Sequences

2009-09-27T16:23:00.004+09:00

A tentative list of titles for the sequences in the first half of Act II:

Some of these may change or disappear before too long, but this is where it sits right now.

Milestone

2009-09-25T23:32:00.002+09:00

As of 11:30 p.m., Act I is complete. 39 pages.

Not finished by any strech of the imagination, but it's all there again.

Finally.

Now on to Acts IIA, IIB & III ...

Progress and Mood Music

2009-09-21T18:51:00.008+09:00

Been awhile since I've posted anything but I've got a pretty good excuse:

I was busy writing.

As expected, the return to work has paid big dividends as far as my output is concerned. Lots of sequences have fallen into place. I put the final period on The Briefcase last Sunday and am beginning The Date tonight after the kids go to bed. That leaves only Heart-to-Heart before I've wrapped up Act I.

After that? I am going to put Acts IIA, IIB and III into the sequence format that seems to be working for me with Act I. After that, I'll just keep on keepin' on. I expect to go back to Act I and adjust many times as the rest of the film comes together.

Tonight's installment of Mood Music comes from my favorite band, Nine Inch Nails. The song Non-entity was first performed live on a benefit for Hurricane Katrina victims (I believe the same one that was famous for another Kanye outburst).

He recently released a studio version of this track, but it's not nearly as raw. This one feels like Taisho.

Mood Music: Bruce Springsteen

2009-09-04T23:51:00.002+09:00

The Boss's I'm On Fire.

Lust at it's scariest and most beautiful.

Summer "Vacation"

2009-08-27T10:08:00.002+09:00

Well, the summer break is almost over here and I accomplished the following things:

...
...
...

and, most importantly,

...

Busy does not begin to describe August. Business trips to Osaka, Okayama and Hiroshima were a lot of fun and I got to help some great people, but left me with little time to get any writing done. The page count still sits where it was when I left it off, back on Aug. 4th.

Oddly enough, with vacation's end I should have more free time to do writing. Weird how that works.

Sequencer

2009-08-04T16:05:00.006+09:00

On this pass through Taisho, I'm taking a different approach than I usually have in two ways.

1. Much more attention to transitions. The more I read and listen to screenwriters I admire, the more I realize that the last thing you see in one scene and the first you see in the next are much more important than I had believed.

2. Sequences. I'm working on blocks of scenes at a time, trying to look at each sequence as if it's its own mini-movie, if you will, each with its own title that encapsulates what each scene is about. It's a lot more detailed and takes a hell of a lot longer to sift through, but I think it's paying off.

To that end, here are the titles of the sequences in Act I:

Those of you who've read the script may be able to place a couple of these ideas, but much, much, much has changed since you helped me out.

I can't wait to show you.

Mood Music: Johnny Cash and U2

2009-08-04T00:26:00.001+09:00

Presented entirely without comment.

Johnny Cash's cover of U2's One.

Tumbleweeds ... Tumbleweeds ...

2009-07-30T23:01:00.004+09:00

Not a lot happening in the world of Taisho these days.

The summer holiday means I actually have more work to do instead of less. My days have been filled with planning for three different seminars at which I have to present over the course of the upcoming month.

The paycheck will look really nice, and I enjoy getting out and helping the new hires get settled or working with the folks I already know, but it's left me very little in the way of writing time.

That being said, I've managed to crank out 3 solid pages in the last couple days, so I'll have to be happy with that.

Wheee ...

'Twas Greek to Me

2009-07-22T22:06:00.005+09:00

Many many moons ago, when I was a young lad stomping around Kimball High, We got our first real computer lab. They were mostly monochrome, green-and-black screened things that didn't do much but let us practice our typing, and occasionally program the game Spy Hunter on a gigantic floppy disk.

Tucked away among these monstrosities (whose monitors gave off a high-pitched whine that only I could hear when they were left on) were a few graceful Apple computers, one of which actually had a >gasp< color monitor.

Naturally, I was drawn to that machine. I couldn't for the life of me tell you what model it was, but its 256 colors were like magic.

One of its other features that impressed me was its ability to type in fonts other than whatever that standard dot printer font happens to be. One of these fonts was Symbol, the one comprised entirely of Greek letters.

I looked at this font, thought it was pretty neat, and did what any 14-year-old boy with my social skills would do.

I memorized it.

Since then, whenever I set down to compose something by hand, I use this font. It's not Greek, just the letters are. Actually, I'm not even sure they all are anymore since in the 20 years or so I've been doing this, my handwriting has evolved to the point that certain letters look very little like their Symbol counterparts.

Why the hell would I do this?

When I work on a screenplay by hand, it tends to happen around people who don't know me very well. If someone were to pass by and notice me scrawling something NSFW that takes place in the story, he or she may take it the wrong way and I have to spend the rest of my day explaining what I'm doing.

Most people take a look at what I'm doing, realize they can't read it, and walk away. A few have asked about it but 99% of the time, it just confuses them, they think I'm weird, and they leave me alone to write in peace.

To that end, I'd like to share with you a page from one of the first passes I ever did on Taisho. It's horrible to the point that the scene doesn't exist any more so I'm not giving any storyline away and feel comfortable sharing it since it won't be in the movie.

The writing is not impossible to decipher but it takes someone not used to it a bit of time to figure out what I've written. This way I can write whatever comes to mind, whenever it comes to mind, without having to censor myself.

I have reams pages that look like this. Maybe I am weird.

Once More Into the Breach

2009-07-16T23:44:00.002+09:00

As of 11:45 this evening, the re-write of Taisho is underway.

I've been ready for some time now, but been trying to convince myself that I needed to put a little more work into the outline, or tweak the transitions one more time just to make it that much better before I actually sit down to write it.

I started to feel guilty about not writing though. That's usually my sign it's time to start. I'll write my way through anything that comes up instead of scratching more notes than I know what to do with anyway.

I'm also a little nervous. I'm taking the story I've been sitting on for over a year now and turning it on its ear. Nervous, excited and hopeful.

Here goes nothing.

Mood Music: Covenant

2009-07-09T16:48:00.004+09:00

Prometheus is a song that never fails to get me in the right frame of mind when I'm writing scripts like Taisho or Spindle. I've turned to this song for inspiration for years and it's never let me down.

This song feels like Osaka at night; organic-yet-electronic, a little melancholy, just a touch over-the-top, and a drumline full of attitude.

Without further ado, I give you Prometheus by Covenant:

Static and Feedback

2009-07-02T17:51:00.002+09:00

While writing Spindle, I wanted to have the main character explain what it's like to do what he does. His work could be a horribly dehumanizing experience which often destroys the people who do it, yet it's almost like he's addicted to it. I struggled for a long time to come up with the best way to encapsulate this, but never really got it.

Then one morning it hit me. Just like that, out of the blue, I had it.

And it was perfect.

I spent the rest of that day putting this idea on paper. I ran through sheet after sheet, working and reworking it into a single monologue. That night I took it home, popped it into the script, gave it another tweak and felt damn proud.

It was the best thing I'd ever written.

As I finished the script during the next few months, I continued to work on this monologue. By the time I finished the first draft, I was sure that my partners G & C were going to love it, bowing in awe to the magnificent writing abilities of their partner in crime. I gave them each a copy and told them to be honest, brutally honest. A week later I sat down with them in a Mr. Donut to go over the script and bask their accolades.

The only problem was, they hated the monologue. Hated it to the point of laughing about how bad it was.

How did I handle this? I got pissy.

I'd poured an ever-loving fuck-ton of work into that one bit of dialogue. I was sure it was my crown jewel but they basically told me that it wasn't worth the paper it was printed on. Even though their overall reaction to the script was very positive, I felt like they were hitting me personally, telling me I couldn't write.

I left Mr. Donut that day with my nose firmly out of joint.

I mulled their notes over for a day or two after that. Among other things, they said the monologue was wrong for the character, wrong for the scene, and wrong for the script as a whole. If only one of them had said this, I could maybe have dismissed it as a matter of taste but two people I respected really, Really, REALLY disliked it.

Was I missing something? I decided to go back and look at the monologue again from their point of view.

They were right. The monologue was absolute ass. Polished, professional-quality ass, but still ass.

I think this moment was a turning point for me as a writer. One of the hardest things for me to do is throw my work on the table for someone to dissect. But I'm learning more and more how important this is. Most of the time, I'm alone at a desk and just trying to move that goddamn cursor across the screen. I've got my script in my head, know where I want it to go, am deep inside my characters thoughts, feelings, etc.

The problem is, I'm often too close to know if it's any good. If I don't get feedback, I may end up with a screenplay full of speeches like the one I wrote (and fixed, thanks to G and C) in Spindle.

It's also very important for me to remember that feedback is not a referendum on my writing ability. It's far too easy to take something personally and I have to make sure to separate myself from my work. I know I can write. But it's entirely possible that I may not have written very well or just plain had a bad idea. Believe it or not, I'm human.

With Taisho, I've thrown my script to the wolves, and by "wolves" I mean some of my friends whose opinion I respect with regards to writing/movies/creative endeavors in general. I told them I wanted to hear their honest reactions and the ones who've written back have given me exactly that. Brutally so in some occasions.

This time around, instead of being a moron and taking it personally when a friend points out a problem with the script, I feel a twinge of embarrassment, then I get excited. I know what to fix now. I know how to make it better. Thanks to my friends, I've seen places where I knew I was forcing things but didn't want to admit it. A big plot hole. A couple of really great detail notes that are going to make the movie so much better. I can't tell you how great it is to get feedback now that I've removed my ego from the equation.

My friends are helping me rip Taisho to shreds so I can rebuild it even stronger. It's a strange thing, but I'm starting to like getting kicked in the teeth.

Mood Music: Union of Knives

2009-06-22T21:44:00.008+09:00

Welcome to a new regular feature: Mood Music!

Music is an integral part of my writing process. Whenever I'm stuck, I go for a long walk, turn on my iPod and find a song that seems right for the mood of the scene I'm working on. I flip through songs as I walk and by the time I come back, I've usually soaked up enough atmosphere to power through whatever might be blocking me.

That's what this will be. Every now and then, I'll post a song that has the right feel for Taisho or has helped me in some way with the writing of the screenplay. The artists and songs here are in no way, shape or form affiliated with me or my work, but they've been a great help to me on more than one occasion.

Think of these posts as my ideal soundtrack.

The first song presented is Evil Has Never by Union of Knives. I love this song, but I must warn you that the video's most definitely NSFW. No nudity, but don't watch it with the kids around.

What is this "Taisho" you speak of?

2009-06-16T19:07:00.000+09:00

What is Taisho?

Taisho is one of the many districts of Osaka and the one I called home. It borders the harbor and is built on mostly reclaimed land, so it jiggles like Jell-O when there's an earthquake. Rivers separate it from the rest of the city and there are very few pedestrian bridges, so a ferry service is in action during daylight hours.

Taisho is considered to be a "rough" area by many Osaka residents. When I told Japanese people where I lived, their responses varied from polite smiles to apologies for my misfortune.

I'll give them one thing: Taisho's not the cleanest place in the world. My wife and I occasionally tried to count how many different bodily fluids we could spot on our walks from the station to our apartment. (We hit 4 once. I'll leave it to your imagination). When the wind was from the south, the air smelled like solder. Looking that direction, you could see hundreds of smokestacks, one of which was constantly belching flame. Everything had pigeon shit on it and our elevators smelled like dog piss and cigarettes.

The people could be ... colorful as well. Homeless people lived in our garbage dumpster. A man was murdered in the apartment building two down from ours. Drunk teenagers would occasionally be found napping in the playground equipment.

I lived in this crazy place for three years. Three of the best years of my life.

Taisho is dirty. But it wasn't unbearably filthy, no worse than any other part of the city. Our neighborhood had everything we could need within walking distance, from carpentry supplies to McDonalds. Some of my friends living in the "nicer" neighborhoods in Osaka had a 20 minute bike-ride to the nearest grocery store. I had my choice of three within a block.

The air did stink for the most part, especially when it wandered through the firey smokestacks first. But we lived right next to Chishima park, one of the few green spots in the entire city. When the wind came from the west, over the harbor and catching the trees ... Ocean and green.

Yes, there were thugs and criminals. But they kept to themselves. If you didn't go out of your way to piss off the gangsters, they didn't bother you (The murder victim was ex-Yakuza). And the people were, for the most part, some of the friendliest I've ever met.

There was something wonderful about this place, both mangy and beautiful, violent and friendly. It's not somewhere to go to visit. There's nothing tourist-y there except for the Kyocera Dome which sits right near the edge of the district. There are no temples or castles to speak of. But there was always something to discover there, a surprise around every corner. Not always a good one, but a surprise nonetheless.

That's what Taisho is. It's where my son turned one year old. The place my wife had her purse stolen. A place where a drunk man chased me to my taxi. Home of the most magical little tea shop I've ever seen. Noisy ambulances at three in the morning. Fantastic Okinawan festivals. Smiling school children and insane men in our garbage. A view of the city at night that took your breath away.

Crazy, dangerous, filthy, wonderful Taisho.

God I miss it.

Yet Another Freaking Blog

2009-06-09T18:07:00.001+09:00

Hey kids.

Welcome to the official blog for the project Taisho!

Taisho is currently a feature-length, noir-esque screenplay, written by your humble blog-host, that I hope to film in the near future. Taisho is currently recovering from its first exposure to real criticism and discussion, and will be going through a revision very soon.

I thought it would be a neat idea to track this project all the way from the writing of the script up to the day it premieres. I'll also post any neat filmmaking or movie-related things I come across. Consider it a production diary that starts very, very early in the process.

I'm going to attempt to post on a semi-regular basis, and use this space to keep me honest and motivated. Hopefully you'll find something interesting here from time to time.

See you all at Cannes.