Japan’s Film Industry

Ping Mag has a great interview with Anna Baltl, a 23-year-old Austrian woman who has recently begun making music videos in Japan as a camera assistant at a small production company specialising in music clips. She explains how she got into the business and highlights some of the major differences betweens Europe’s film industry and that of Japan’s – both culturally and professionally.

How did you get hired by the Japanese company?

That was through Film Marmalade, a network for amateur and independent filmmakers in Tokyo. It can be helpful if you are looking for special people, like a Final Cut expert that is bilingual in English and Japanese. One day I showed up at Marmalade and met a director called John Williams who later took me to other film parties. In the end I got introduced to a Japanese camera assistant that decided to take me under his wings and “adopt” me as trainee. That is how the Japanese system works: even university graduates have to become scholars again and be accepted by a Senpai, a master. As you might know, film business is very hierarchical: you start as the assistant of the assistant and then work your way up… I started with a one-month training, and now I have a contract to start with. By Japanese custom you don’t talk about the salary in the beginning – and as you usually get paid by the end of the next month, I only know now what I earn…

How else is the film industry in Japan different from the international structure?

Regarding the production department and the camera team, the Japanese film system is distinct from international standards: First, it is usually a bigger team. Second, it seems to be far more separated than anywhere else. For example, the position of the chief assistant is peculiar to Japan. Basically, his only task is caring about the exposure of the footage. A rank higher is the DP, the director of photography. Because there is also the position of the lighting director to disburden him, he is mainly in charge for framing and the movements. He still is the decision maker; however, on set he doesn’t have to bother with all the technical details. Whereas in Europe, the cinematographer would tell his gaffer how he likes the lighting to be set. In Japan it is the lighting director that does the job by giving orders to the lighting crew.

Read Ping Mag’s complete interview here.