December 2015
[Part IV] Those Who Make up Samurai Drama Studios
(1) Set Building, Landscape, and Special Effects
Kyoko Hirotani
This series explores how “TV Arts” that was born at the same time of the advent of television, has been established and developed, based on interviews with relevant individuals. The part four of the series looks at TV arts in samurai drama studios and how people have built up studios suitable for costume drama shootings with changes of times. The first part features set building and operation, landscaping, and special effects, and the second part set drawings, props, and art direction.
The author analyzes the history of samurai drama studios period by period: 1950s, from experimental TV broadcasts to pioneer days of television, from 1960s to mid-1970s, from growth period to maturation period during which studios developed to pursue reality, and after mid-1970s when the progress in unitization of the set was observed. TV set building started from something akin to wings in theaters although it was also influenced by preceding movies and theatrical stages, and then developed in search for reality unique to television. To television that had to offer programs every day and every week, “time” was the priority and many methods were created to save time such as lighter set pieces, standardization of fittings, and faster drawing system. Landscape staff’s slogan, “faster, lighter, and free from dirt,” and special effect person’s words, “making a replica look genuine shows our skills” seem to represent the ultimate goal of studio building. Their meticulous works make the perfect studio conditions, based on which TV programs are produced, and TV culture nurtured.