Norman England
Director, photographer and actor.
On the occasion of the launch and promotion of his latest movie New Neighbor, we chose to interview Norman England. Born in California, he moved to Japan in 1993, so it's almost 20 years he's been working on many Japanese sets playing as many roles as he could: actor, cameraman and set photographer. His story is the story of continous struggle driven by his passion and love for cinema. Starting from kaiju eiga sets, passing through the ultragore shootings of many cult movies like Tokyo Gore Police or Vampire Girl vs. Frankenstein Girl he told us many anecdotes and offscreen stories. His vision and personal experience of Japanese sets are worth reading to finally demystify the local industry which many western fans tend to emphasize way too much.
AsianFeast: We usually start with a few questions to introduce our guest. The most difficult ones probably. Who's Norman England? Where does he come from and where would he like to go? And basically how did you get involved into this thing called cinema?
Norman England: I was born in the San Francisco area but grew up in a town called Rockland County, about 40 minutes from New York City. I got involved in filmmaking in the ‘70s with a Super 8 camera I begged my mom to buy. With it I made many unwatchable sci-fi films. It wasn’t until ‘98 on the set of the Resident Evil 2 TV commercial and standing side-by-side with director George Romero that I thought to do something professionally with film. What that would be, I hadn’t a clue.
16-years later, I’m working a variety of jobs for the Japanese film industry doing just about anything asked: set photography, English subtitling, “making of” videos, scriptwriting, PR writing, poster catchphrases, set reporting, acting and directing. The reason for the variety is that I get bored doing just one thing. And you asked where I would like to go: space. I’m a child of the ‘60s and we were promised a life in space. I’m still waiting.
AF: Let's start from the West. We know you're one of the leading experts of Romero's masterpiece Dawn of the Dead. We also share a great passion for some underrated movies. And for what we know you're not that enthusiastic about the recent US cinema. So the question is: What's gone lost? Why has the US imagination progressively depleted compared to 20 years ago? As children born in the 80s, we've culturally grown up with those US movies, so it's quite interesting for us to know your opinion on that.
NE: The biggest difference between now and then is that back then art had more impact and sway. Film and music were cultural events that had the power to change the way people saw the world. The production and release system has become so automated with the steps so clearly defined that movies today feel less like “art” and more like “product”. Things are more niche now too and films are often made for an intended audience. This isn’t always a bad thing as when things I love such as blood and guts are taken to wild extremes, but nowadays when a genre film tries to have wide appeal film studios force them to include “points”. One popular point is family. World War Z is a perfect example. “Let’s have Brad Pitt fight for his family’s survival and since everyone loves families it will thus be a story everyone can relate to.” This kind of thinking infuriates me. If The Exorcist were made today I’m sure the focus would be on saving the family unit rather than fighting the devil, as you can see in the case of the film The Conjuring. So what should be the subject of the film has been reduced to mere background noise.
Another part of the blame goes to our machines. We’ve automated a lot of skills. The result is film effects that look big and rich, yet when stripped away have no core, no heart. This might sound odd, but I’m a fan of flaws. I like seeing the wires. I like seeing the matte lines. Of course careless effects are infuriating, but I don’t watch films for realism; I watch to escape from reality. Wires and such remind me that human beings, not machines, make these effects. When I see a well-crafted effect done in the “analog” method I’m much more excited by it than seeing the same thing done digitally. No offence to digital artists, but I respond much more to the imperfect work of Ray Harryhausen than I do to the flawless look of Ender’s Game or Man of Steel.
AF: How did it happen that you decided to go to Japan? Was it really the call of Godzilla? We read that the first Japanese set you stepped on was Godzilla 2000.
NE: I was into Godzilla as a boy but lost interest when I got into Rock and Roll in the late ‘70s. During the ‘80s and ‘90s I played in a popular rock band in New York City. This was during the Japanese “bubble economy” when lots of Japanese were moving into New York. Through my new Japanese friends I discovered a world of Japanese pop culture I didn’t know existed and got back into Godzilla.
In ’91 our drummer suddenly quit and I was at a loss as to what to do with my life. With the band gone and nothing to tie me down, I decided to move to Japan. But there was no real reason or deep thought behind it. It seemed like something risky, and I like doing risky things.
The first Japanese set I visited was Gamera 3. You can see me running around in the background during the Kyoto Station battle scene. Godzilla 2000 was the second. I ran in that too and flash across the screen wearing a yellow Hawaiian Star Wars shirt. Those were great experiences. I mean, isn’t it every kaiju fans dream to run from giant Japanese monsters?
AF: When you arrived in Japan there was the explosion of J-horror. You had the chance to directly get in touch with that world. Was it really so creative and revolutionary as it seemed from outside?
NE: At that time I was reporting on J-Horror (a term I hate) for Fangoria magazine and not involved in the creative process. Honestly, I don’t think it was any more or less creative than today. The difference is that back then there was a big audience for Japanese horror films so there was a need for product. The audience is smaller today.
The horror boom ten years back was a great time. I visited so many movie sets and saw so many cool things. One of the best and scariest moments was on the set of Ju-on 2 when Takako Fuji, playing Kayako, crawled out of the womb of Noriko Sakai. I was sitting next to the film camera and snapping photos as Kayako crawled right up to my face. That was creepy.
AF: Then you were on Godzilla: Tokyo S.O.S. I really love this episode of the G saga. What was your experience on this set? We know you also collaborated many other times with Kaneko Shusuke, who later went to direct Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack. This is one of our favorite titles at all. We would say that it's way better than the following Final Wars, and many fans rank it very high among all movies.
NE: I had my very minor screen moment in Tokyo SOS because director Tezuka said, “So, are you going to be a runner again this time?” In response I asked, “Don’t you have anything sitting? I’m sick of running from giant monsters!” To my surprise Tezuka said he had something for me. I wasn’t supposed to speak, but the foreigner next to me kept screwing up his line until Tezuka just said, “Norman, you say the line.”
While I visited the sets of Godzilla 2000 and Godzilla X Megaguirus a few times, it was Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack or GMK, Godzilla X Mechagodzilla and Godzilla: Tokyo SOS when I went almost daily, with GMK being the set I was the most immersed in. I went 4 times a week from the start of its production to its finish. I have about 25,000 photos from the set and kept a very detailed diary of it. It was the best half-year of my life!
All my days on the Godzilla sets were mindblowers. No two days were alike. One day you’d have Godzilla falling into a building and the next you’d have Mothra shooting webbing all over everything. I made the most of the experience by constantly zipping between the live action and VFX sets, taking photos, helping out, chatting up cast and crew, and just learning as much as I could about filmmaking Godzilla style. During the shoot of GMK when we were over in Yokohama I was running around taking photos wearing a soldier helmet I picked up from wardrobe. Director Kaneko saw this, laughed, and said to me, “I think your purpose on the set is simply to enjoy.” I sure did!
AF: Time for another hard question. What are your favorite G-movies?
NE: Being an old-school guy, I put Destroy All Monsters and Ghidorah the Three-Headed Monster at the top of my list. They have a very wonderful sense of the fantastic, great music, and eye catching analog effects.
AF: There's a movie we really love that involved you. It's Stacy: Attack of the Schoolgirl Zombies. It's full of interesting ideas starting from these zombie schoolgirls. Not sure about it, but it looks like a subtle critique to Japanese obsession with idols and young girls. Moreover, it's full of cool jokes like the Blues Campbell chainsaw. What do you remember of this set? How did you get there?
NE: Really? Although I’m in the film, I don’t really like it. I remember the set quite well as it was the first time for me to work with director Naoyuki Tomomatsu. I did my scenes in the Gaga office, the company producing the film. I remember that Kenji Ohtsuki was very snobbish until he found out I was a Fangoria writer, then he wanted to be my best friend. Whatever.
Tomomatsu is an unusual director. I’ve worked on several of his films but recently threw in the hat. The last things I did for him were the “making of"s for Lust of the Dead 1 and 2. Asami put it best when during the shooting of Dead Sushi, a film I shot stills for, she said, “Tomomatsu sets are pure hell.” For example, during Lust of the Dead 1 we shot 34 hours without a break and when they served breakfast it was a single, 100-yen McDonald's hamburger each.
My swan song to his productions was the Lust of the Dead 2 behind the scenes video. By this point I had very little interest in his films and approached it thinking, “If I were on the set of an Ed Wood film surely Ed himself would be more interesting than his films.” I like how this one came out because I captured all of Tomomatsu’s inane methods. He called me recently to do the “making of” stuff for pt 4 & 5, but I was committed to shooting stills on Shusuke Kaneko’s 少女は異世界で戦った (Shoujyowa isekaide tatakatta - no English title as of yet) and so luckily had an excuse. I wish him all the best.
AF: Then you really got involved with a lot of directors. Usually we refer to them as "Sushi Typhoon" directors, even though we know their production is partially tied to Nikkatsu's brand. What amazes me of that entourage is that they really look tied, like a sort of family and they really seem to enjoy their work. Seen from outside they look like a bunch of crazy people having fun. Is our impression correct? How would you tell in your own words the story of this specific period of Japanese filmmaking that you directly experienced?
NE: From what I know, Sushi Typhoon isn’t dead. It’s on hiatus. But what you’re referring to is more the period when directors Iguchi and Nishimura, along with CG director Tsuyoshi Kazuno and makeup artist Tiga Ishino, formed a company of sorts called “Pabaan”. They had an office on the outskirts of Tokyo. From this home base they made many films, Dead Sushi, Zombie Ass, Helldriver, etc.
Pabaan was in a three-story building with a large basement and a garage that when opened exposed boxes of fake body parts and weird latex creatures. They filmed a lot in the neighborhood, which I’m sure must have driven the neighbors crazy as the streets were constantly overrun with zombies and blood was everywhere.
As far as a family, I’d say there is a tightly knit group of regulars, which in a loose way I feel I’m part of. You have to understand that it’s all about work. We all need to eat and pay rent. Directors such as Iguchi and Nishimura are an important source of income for many of us. They get a project budgeted and give out work to those of us who have proven themselves in the past. When I say “proven” I mean “shown that you can handle the work”. Filmmaking on the budget level of these films are made is very demanding on the body and the mind. Also, as everyone in this world is a bit odd, it’s good to work with people you know so there are no unnecessary surprises.
Unfortunately, Pabaan recently shut down and everyone went their own way. Everyone is still involved with each other’s films but the shared office dream is over. The last job I did at Pabaan was stills for Zombie TV.
AF: Before going to New Neighbor we would like to know about The iDol, Feed Me and It's All Good. What's the story behind them? And why is their availability so limited?
NE: The iDol was my first attempt at filmmaking. It’s far from perfect, but I like it a lot. If I can ever find the time I’ll get it up on Vimeo as a cheap pay per view. Feed Me and It’s All Good are failed attempts and I’d rather they not be seen. Both were plagued with behind the scenes issues.
One film I’m proud of is the Bringing Godzilla Down to Size documentary I directed that appears on the War of the Gargantuas / Rodan box set from Classic Media. While it’s a documentary about giant monsters, its focus is on the art direction and miniature craftsmanship of Japanese giant monster films. It was a great shoot and the end product came out better than any of us hoped. To this day I have not seen a bad review of it.
AF: About New Neighbor, we were very impressed to see how different it looks from Japanese indie production. First we do notice a lot of irony, which is way different from their typical comedic approach. What gave you the inspiration for the whole story? Are they really so obsessed about sexual stuff in the eye of a foreigner? I loved how Ayano’s character is depicted as a poor girl lost in a world of deviants, or maybe, if we change our point of view, she could be considered the real deviant in a world of depravity and sexual freedom.
NE: During our stage show following a screening of New Neighbor in Tokyo last year, director Iguchi said, “Norman used a lot of the same actors I use, yet they look and feel like different people.” I was proud of that comment because it means I have my own way of directing and am not just letting the actors do what they want. The overt irony and lack of over-the-top comedic stuff is because that’s the kind of person I am. I prefer to put my thoughts out front; Japanese often try to hide behind silliness.
The story is based on several things. For starters, I’m sick of listening to Japanese women moan about reaching 30 and how it’s time to get married, like it’s some kind of duty. They then complain about every guy around them being not up to their standards, finally settling on the one they feel is most apt to give them the best lifestyle, which they claim is for their eventual children but is really just for them because they are entirely materialistic. Women complain about their objectification by men, but to me this is just the other side of the same coin. On a personal level, both Ayano and Asami represent a former girlfriend who had a lot of deep personal issues and caused me a lot of grief.
On the whole, I would say Japan has a lot of sexual issues. I think it’s hard to really know based on western reports because western writers try to sensationalize Japan, but we are inundated with sexual imagery and the porn industry outsells mainstream cinema, which was certainly not the case 20 years ago. Then you have “snack bars” from one end of the country to the other employing a lot of women. It doesn’t bother me so much, but I think in a perfect world it wouldn’t be this way.
AF: Another very positive aspect we noticed is the nice photographic details, a well cured lighting, and that's not so obvious if we look at the recent Japanese cinematographic output where you have this flat lighting without any shadow. I find it really disappointing to be honest. It looks like the quality of filmmaking has really downgraded recently. Were you particularly careful about this aspect?
NE: There are many things that separate amateurs from pros, with lighting and sound high on the list. I used Shu G. Momose as camera operator, Hiroshi Ota for lighting, and Kyuya Nakagawa for sound, all of whom form the core crew of the majority of films from director Nishimura. They are very good at what they do and I made sure not to skimp in that way. I was very happy when after seeing the film for the first time actress Asami said, “This is the kind of film color scheme and feel I’ve always wanted to be in!” I’m very happy with the whole look of the film, and particularly the last scene, which took about 27 hours to shoot.
AF: I also found the direction of actors very positive. Sometimes Japanese actors tend to over-act their characters, while here they are very well balanced. And we must say that we really love Asami. Sometimes I think they should use more her status of «cult» actress. Sometimes Japanese production does not seem that smart in catching this fundamental aspect of entertainment. Is she as funny and cool as she seems?
NE: I try to alter the body language of Japanese actors if I feel they are doing something that would only make sense to a Japanese audience. Body language is as important as spoken language and there’s no way to put a subtitle on body language. In that way I have the non-Japanese audience in mind.
Asami is a very sweet woman and an enthusiastic actor. I first met her on the set of Machine Girl and since then we’ve worked together several times. I’m very indebted to her for New Neighbor, as I am to her co-star Ayano. Asami went all out for the movie and came to the set fully prepared. Moreover, she had ideas of her own, several of which I give the thumbs up on. Really, she was a total joy to work with. I’m happy to say that when the film premiered in Tokyo last October Asami emailed me and wrote, “I’m so glad I was in this. Team Norman is #1!”
AF: We read you're working on a new project. Can you tell us something about it?
NE: I probably don’t have to say this, but I will: It’s very difficult to get films financed. I no longer wish to finance films with my own money and the competition for budget is fierce. I’ve got a proposal I’m working on now that I hope will be my official feature film debut. I’ve got a wonderful lead actress committed as well as my usual awesome staff. I believe too that after working so long I not only know my way around the Japanese set but also know how to deal with the Japanese film bureaucracy and can come up with a final product that will be both Japanese and non-Japanese friendly.
We’ll, let’s see what happens...
