Official report of the staff talk for the superb sound screening of “Ghost in the Shell SAC_2045: The Last Human,” conducted on 25 November 2023

The theatrical release of “Ghost in the Shell SAC_2045: The Last Human” has begun. On 25 November, Saturday, the third day of the film’s release, a superb sound screening staff talk was held at Tachikawa Cinema City, where Tatsuma Furukawa, who directed and edited the film, and Hajime Takagi, sound designer throughout “SAC_2045” series, took to the stage and experienced a superb sound screening with direct sound supervision by Takagi. The behind-the-scenes stories behind the production of the film were presented in front of an enthusiastic audience of fans who had just experienced a screening with superb sound supervised by Takagi.

 

■“Ghost in the Shell SAC_2045: The Last Human” Extreme Sound Screening Staff Talk Outline
Date: 25 November (Sat) 14:15 – 15:15 *After screening event
Speakers (titles omitted):Tatsuma Furukawa (director & editor), Hajime Takagi (sound designer)
Venue: Tachikawa Cinema City Cinema One (2-8-5 Akebono-cho, Tachikawa, Tokyo)

 

 

Tatsuma Furukawa, who directed and edited the film, and Hajime Takagi, who was in charge of sound design throughout “SAC_2045” series, appeared at “the Ghost in the Shell SAC_2045: Last Human” being staff talk event held at Tachikawa Cinema City, a theatre with a love for cinema, with an audience of film lovers. Takagi smiled at the audience gathered in the theatre and said, “I’m glad so many people came”, while Furukawa said, “I hope we can talk about some in-depth topics that we usually can’t talk about”, as the event was held after the screening, and the audience was already looking at him with great interest.

 

This time, Takagi went directly to the theatre to adjust the sound for the “extreme sound screening,” and he is proud of the fact that “the level is so high that there is no better place than here,” especially in terms of the resonance of the OP and ED, the sound quality and the low frequency feeling, as Takagi knows the original sound source inside out. He is proud that “the level is so high that there is no better place than here”. When asked what adjustments were actually made, Takagi replied, “To begin with, there are international standards for film sound, but in reality, the size and shape of a cinema theatre can sound slightly different. This time, we adjusted the sound while listening directly to the theatre speakers, and rather than seeking something deeper, it’s more like adjusting the sound to deliver the audience the sound we envisioned as much as possible,” while revealing that the experience can be experienced with valuable sound, he added “So, from now on when you see the film in the theatre, if you think it’s not enough, you can tell the theatre ‘Ghost in the Shell.’ So, when you see the film in the theatre, if you find it lacking, please give feedback to the theatre saying that the specs of ‘Ghost in the Shell’ are not like this,” which was met with surprise from the audience.

 

Furukawa, who was only in charge of editing in the previous film ‘Sustainable War’ but was in charge of directing in addition to editing in this film and says that he was “more deeply involved than in the previous film,” reveals his honest feelings about the film’s release, “I feel like it’s over.” Furukawa, who was originally a fan of  “Ghost in the Shell” series, says that he was “ecstatic” at the time of the previous film, but “this time I was able to finish it… looking back, it was a happy time.”

 

On the other hand, he usually works with director Fujii on live-action films, and when asked about the difference in editing between live-action and animation, he revealed that there was not that much difference. “This time, it was a 3DCG film, so I took on the challenge of creating something interesting and moving as a single film, just as I do with live-action films.”

 

Similarly, Takagi nodded in agreement with Furukawa when asked about the differences between the sound of live-action and animated films, but one clear difference was that “the work is to edit what was made as a series, so we have to cut the original footage and make editing points, but there are more points than in the previous work. I thought it was going to be the same as the previous film, but then we had to remove frames, slow down the motion, etc., and it ended up being more than 1,000 cuts. Furukawa smiled apologetically and said, “Normally, once the editing is finished and picture lock is applied, we don’t change the footage after that, but this time we said, ‘Excuse me, please let us do it’ “and made changes even in the dubbing stage.

 

When asked about his reflections on the film, which was completed after such hard work, Takagi replied, “There’s no end to what I could say. I could talk about it for about two hours with drinks and snacks.” While inviting laughter, he added, “There are parts where the gunfight, which was about 30 seconds long in the series, was shortened to about 10 seconds in the film version, and when you hear the finished film it sounds like the same sound is repeated in some parts. I should have added more variation…” He reflects on this, but Furukawa is adamant: “Nothing in particular. On the other hand, Furukawa was quick to add, “Nothing in particular”. “I didn’t have it last time, but this time, when I went to the screening, Director Aramaki greeted me with a smile, which made me feel happy”.

 

For the climax scene, which took a different turn from the series and was re-recorded almost entirely from scratch, it was necessary to adjust the nuances of the existing and newly-recorded audio. Takagi revealed that one of the biggest differences was the nuances of Takashi Shimamura at the end. ‘In the series, Takashi is talking to Motoko in a situation where he has very little freedom because he’s devoting his denbutsu resources to other things. But in the film version, Takashi is also devoting resources to Motoko and there are moments when he can speak freely, and after discussions with director Fujii and director Kamiyama, we agreed that we wanted a natural voice.

 

In the series, the interpretation of the climactic scene was left to the viewer to decide whether Motoko pulled out Takashi’s “code” or not, but in the film version, a clear answer is depicted. Takagi revealed that “even within the production team there was no agreement”, and Furukawa, who said that “when we started work on the film version, we were not satisfied with it, or felt that we couldn’t get over the ending of the series,” added “Director Kamiyama saw something other than easy defeat or dystopia, and we came to understand this in our discussions. I came to understand through our discussions that Kamiyama was looking at something that wasn’t an easy defeat or dystopia,” he says. Then I added the process leading up to the climax, saying, ‘Then, how about this ending?

 

In light of these changes, Takagi says, “As a result, the important part is how what is expressed in the film is linked to reality. The most valuable thing about the Ghost in the Shell series is that it’s a story that illuminates the real world, it’s art against society. But what’s different from the past is that reality is worse than when it was first distributed on Netflix, and really hellish things have happened all over the world, so this work has taken on a more fantastical nature than when it was distributed,” he muses.

 

“Ghost in the Shell SAC_2045: The Last Human” was newly created in light of the changing times, but Furukawa reveals that the title “The Last Human” was chosen because “the initial intention was about the element, but in discussions with Director Kamiyama, we talked about how it was actually the opposite.”

 

Fujii and Furukawa told Kamiyama that they wanted the film to end as a single film, with hope for the various options. “So we thought about what would happen to Motoko and Takashi’s conversation in order to reach that point, and I think that Motoko and Takashi’s thoughts are easier to swallow. I think we have created something with a certain hope. I hope you will visit the show as many times as you like,” he said confidently, and the event ended peacefully, surrounded by warm applause from the passionate fans.