THE DEAL – AN INTERVIEW WITH HIROKI OHSAWA
When it comes to movies, the suspense drama genre has a weightage. A classic mafia spy combination where the dialogues have that enigma, and the leading characters have a classic personality, that charm in their attitude which entices the audience swiftly.
Hiroki Ohsawa’s “The Deal” is a short movie about a mob boss and female spy. A perfect suspense drama movie. The story revolves around a deal. This six minutes twenty-five seconds movie has outstanding dialogue, that helps to improvise the story ingratiatingly. The elliptical theme and alluring cinematography offer a visual experience and create the urge to delve into the surreptitious deal.
At the time of his schooling Hiroki directed and produced two award-winning films, My Name Is (2012) and Why, Now, Oden? (2012), and the university's promotional film, Myth of Jinka (2013). We got the chance to have a conversation with worldwide award-winning film and commercial director Hiroki Ohsawa to get to know more about his project “The Deal”.
Qs one: hi Hiroki, it's a pleasure to have you here with us. Hope you are doing well. How did the idea for making “The Deal” cross your mind?
When I was seeking a new idea for my next project, I was about to start my new career as a tenure-track lecturer in filmmaking at Kinjo Gakuin University in Nagoya, Japan. That’s why I decided to create something simple yet full of basic filmmaking techniques, from screenwriting to editing, for educational purposes. I chose a simple scene setup with a conversation between two people, but the question was how to make it interesting. So, I referred to the idea of “the bomb under the table,” one of the most famous visual storytelling techniques from the master of suspense, Alfred Hitchcock. As a result, “The Deal” became not just an award-winning film but also educational material for visual grammar.
Qs. Two: “The Deal” is an absolute classic suspense movie, how long did it take to complete the script? The journey from writing the script to making it live on the screen, how does it feel?
I wrote the script night after night after my full-time job, and it took about two months to complete the final draft. Filmmaking is about visualizing a written script as motion pictures, and I love it. It is said that the story of a masterpiece film can be understood even if it’s muted. That’s why a film is called a visual art.To begin with, I aimed to grasp the culture or society where my story is set. I investigated the customs and behaviors that my characters should follow and how those habits were integrated into the context. Next, I carefully visualized these aspects to ensure they blended seamlessly. For elements like dialogue, costumes, makeup, and props, I consulted people who were familiar with the culture. In addition, I repeatedly analyzed the visual expression in “The Godfather” (1972), directed by Francis Ford Coppola, because “The Deal” was also a mafia story. Finally, and most crucially, I concentrated on the story's central theme. If the theme embodies a timeless truth experienced by humanity for thousands of years, such as love, family, friendship, revenge, good and evil, or death, the audience will be able to relate to my characters and engage with the narrative.
Qs. Three: The title gives the proper justice to the movie. Would you like to share how you decided the title for “The Deal”
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I prefer to give my work a very simple title so people immediately understand what the story is about. The logline of “The Deal” is: In New York, a young mob boss has a business meeting with a sexy female spy sent by the enemy mafia, which plans to terminate him if they do not make a deal. Right after I came up with the brief idea of the story, I temporarily named it “The Deal,” and it never changed until the end.
When I think of the title of a film, I always look up IMDb. Initially, I was looking for something more unique than just “The Deal” because I found that several movies named “The Deal” already existed on IMDb. Eventually, however, I decided to go with the original title “The Deal” since I felt that it drew audiences’ attention and represented what was going on in the movie without any spoilers.
Qs. Four: The cinematography of the movie will surely gonna left a high-end impression on the audience. It is no less than a big-screen movie. Would you like to share your experience on this?
I was a cinematographer too in this production, so I planned every single shot by myself. I believe that a director must have a certain vision of their work and enough knowledge about cinematography to communicate with a professional DP. Now at Kinjo Gakuin University, I teach technical camera functions such as sensor size, resolution, focal length, frame rate, white balance, F-stop, shutter speed, and ISO, as well as all film grammar such as aspect ratio, shot size, framing, composition, camera position, camera angle, camera movement, and depth of field. I could make my own vision come true through a camera in “The Deal” maybe because I had this practical knowledge and these techniques.
Qs. Five: “The Deal” is a short movie that lasts less than seven minutes. How did you decide the length of your movie? As a filmmaker do you think short movies build pressure to sum up the story within a short period?
To be honest, I didn’t have any specific limit on the length of this movie. However, I tried to make it as simple as possible, so the script's final draft reached six and a half pages. As a result, “The Deal” became six minutes and twenty-five seconds, including the end credits, which makes sense because, as we know, one script page typically takes one minute in a film. If the length of a movie is just enough to tell a story, that’s the best length for it. Nothing longer, nothing shorter.
Generally speaking, the shorter the film, the harder it becomes to put a narrative story structure in it. Even so, this situation does not give me pressure but rather stimulates my creativity. If there were no limits on the process of visual storytelling, time-wise, budget-wise, or whatever, I might be too lazy to think hard about something unique.
Qs. Six: How long did it take to complete the movie “The Deal”
The production took one day to shoot, and it took about two months for editing, color grading, sound mixing, and so on. Yes, I did everything on my own. I tried to edit it in the most effective way to tell the story and showed the rough cut to not only professional filmmakers but also regular audiences, including my family, and then asked what they thought. Advice from experts is very helpful, for sure, but I also put emphasis on non-professional people’s points of view because most moviegoers who just want to enjoy watching a movie are not familiar with filmmaking.
Qs. Seven: Hiroki you are the director and writer of this movie, how did you manage all the responsibilities together?
For myself, it was easy to deal with the story because it was created by me and all the details were in my head. For the actors, on the other hand, I needed to be as objective as possible about the story because I wanted to discuss character development with them. I considered who the characters were, their objectives, and the obstacles they faced. These elements should be straightforward and clear, especially in a short film like "The Deal." After that, I discussed the character details with the actors before shooting, asked for their opinions and suggestions, and then let them develop their character arcs.
Qs. Eight: What drew you to the journey of a filmmaker? When it comes to filmmaking who is your biggest inspiration?
The comedy movie series “Austin Powers” changed my life completely when I was a kid. Before I watched them, I believed that a film was a noble art that was made by noble artists. When I watched the first movie of the series, however, I was very surprised at how funny the movie could be and that there were people who got paid for making such things seriously. Then, I dreamed that I’d like to do it for a living in the future.When I was in university, I started filmmaking for fun. The more films I made, the more questions I had about visual storytelling and narrative techniques. So, I decided to study abroad at the New York Film Academy in Los Angeles. After earning my Master of Fine Arts in Filmmaking, I worked as a professional film and commercial director in Hollywood and Tokyo for seven years.
Qs. Nine: what do you want the audience to feel after watching your movie “The Deal”?
As I previously mentioned, I employed the “bomb under the table” technique, so it would be great if it kept the audience on the edge of their seats despite the story’s simple setup.Additionally, I hope viewers believe the scene takes place in New York, or at least somewhere in the US. In reality, it was filmed on a studio set in Tokyo. I was fortunate to collaborate with two exceptionally talented and captivating actors. The mob boss was played by Derrick Dover, who has contributed to numerous films and TV shows not only as an actor but also as a producer and screenwriter. The female spy was played by Keren Louis, a professional model associated with several high-profile companies and brands. I hope the audience recognizes their remarkable performances, which made “The Deal” believable and attractive both visually and narratively.
Qs. Ten :Lastly, what suggestions do you want to give to the new filmmakers? And when will our audience gonna see your upcoming projects?
Don’t hesitate to make your own film. People are so good at finding excuses not to take on challenges, but you should find a way to break through a wall instead of being like that. Don’t be scared of being criticized by others because you will never overcome who you are right now without getting out of your comfort zone. If you love filmmaking, you’ve already done it before someone told you. Equipment and software are so developed and cheap these days. What are you waiting for?The best thing about being a part of the university is that I have access to its rich resources, including students and faculty, equipment and facilities, and funding. For my upcoming projects, I have organized some professional film and commercial productions with dozens of students at Kinjo Gakuin University. I’m directing most of the projects, and the students are producing, writing, shooting, and editing them. Several official commercials for the university have already come out online, and independent films aimed at winning international awards are in pre-production. So, stay tuned!
