John UM
The story of “The Mobile Suit Gundam THE ORIGIN”, which tells the story of the first generation of “Mobile Suit Gundam”, which is about to usher in the 40th anniversary, is also composed by Fujita Junji, who participated in the first generation. .
On the occasion of the end of the ORIGIN” animation, Entertainment Station magazine performed on Fujita. 采访, ask him to talk about the significance of “Mobile Suit Gundam” in the history of Japanese animated music, and the story of “THE ORIGIN” music production. .
In 1979, the “Mobile Suit Gundam” animation was broadcast. At that time, Fujita Junji, as an employee of KING RECORDS, has participated in a variety of animation works, including Sunrise’s previous work, Invincible Superman Zambot 3. Therefore, at that time, he did not think that “Mobile Suit Gundam” would be particularly successful, but as one of the animation works he participated in, he made the best efforts. .
At the time, KING RECORDS had just entered the animation market soon. In order to gain a firm foothold, they must be sincere and serious about the right to each theme song and soundtrack in their hands. Therefore, they have no special feelings for Gundam. .
However, after the broadcast, the animation began to gain popularity little by little. Fujita also gradually realized: “Is this film still quite powerful?” “Gundam” is a robot animation, the main sponsor is Fujia, a super-alloy toy company, was not broadcast on the broadcast network of dozens of TV stations; such a work was able to achieve such great repercussions and recognition in the society, which made Fujita somewhat surprised. .
Originally, the first generation of “Gundam” should be broadcast for a year. At first, because the ratings were not high, it was only 10 months after being broadcast. However, as the animation continues to replay, the popularity has gradually increased, and the plastic model has also begun to be out of stock. Fujita still remembers that when he took a steel pula home with his work, the child cheered. .
1979 Animated music is completely different from now. The animated music in the eyes of the record company is equal to the “thematic song business.” This is because the Japanese animated music pioneer, Japan, has always come this way. It wasn’t until “Mobile Suit Gundam” that the record company began to notice the soundtrack, realizing that the audience would pay attention to and love the soundtrack broadcast on TV. .
At that time, the soundtrack was called “playmate”, meaning “accompaniment” of “drama”. These soundtracks are basically not handled by the record company. They are directly commissioned by the animation production company or audio production company to the composer to find the studio recording. The record company feels that it is selling songs, just thinking about taking the soundtrack as an accompaniment. .
The record company will pay for the same as it is now, provide the studio, gather the musicians, and record the soundtrack in the best possible state. It is after the Gundam. .
At that time, Fujita did not use this work to create a sense of the trend. It was just that their group of people were at KING RECORDS and wanted to record music in the studio. They met “Gundam”. .
At that time, the recording environment was not much different from the present, but the equipment was changed from a 16ch or 24ch tape to a mobile hard disk, which made it a lot easier. .
The soundtrack at that time was basically a two-channel simultaneous recording. It was basically a tape, and it was recorded at the beginning of “two ones.” This recording does not cost too much money and saves the process. .
However, the score of “Gundam” is multi-channel, using only one or two companies throughout the company, used to record songs and pop songs. Fujita applied for equipment to the boss, and the boss asked: “What do you want to do?” He replied: “Recording the TV accompaniment.” The boss is puzzled: “TV accompaniment, can’t use more tape recorders?” Fujita Bitterly ask: “Please let us use it to record, we have to record the accompaniment into multi-channel and sell it.” Although the boss finally agreed, but still swearing: “That stuff, sell it.” .
Like “Gundam”, the record company took the initiative to record the soundtrack with the same project as ordinary pop songs, which should be the first in the industry. Although there were already several original soundtracks for foreign films on the market, the idea of using an animated soundtrack to compose a product in a multi-channel recording area did not exist at the time.
Despite this, Fujita still has some self-confidence, and feels that the original soundtrack of “Gundam” can still be sold, and probably sells a few thousand. Prior to this, KING RECORDS had ever produced a record of the “Altman” series of soundtracks, and some people bought it. Fujita also believes that Japan does have a soundtrack enthusiast. As for the original soundtrack of “Gundam”, it sold tens of thousands of pieces, which is far from what he expected. .
In the “Invincible Superman Zambottle 3”, Fujita had no experience, and the soundtrack was recorded in mono. Although the recording was in KING RECORDS’s own studio, he brought the mother to the sound production company. When the works were popular, the audience wrote a letter saying, “Please come out with the original soundtrack.” They had no master tape in their hands and had to borrow from the audio production company. .
Although they decided to release the original soundtrack, they felt that the soundtrack could not be sold, so the side of the record was a soundtrack and the other side was a radio drama. After the release of the record, the sales were gratifying and the fans who bought it were very happy. Fujita felt a little regret: as early as this, it would be nice to use a stereo recording. He decided to wait for the next time to work with Sunrise and try to record stereo. It can be said that it is because of the experience of “Zanpot 3” that there will be the success of “Gundam” music. .
Prior to this, the work of musicians has always been despised, and people have been said to “area accompaniment.” However, in “Gundam”, the record company took up the responsibility, gathered the musicians that the musician wanted to use, and recorded the best sound in the studio in stereo, which gave Watanabe Yuefu and Songshan Youshi two music. The home is very happy. Fujita was also very happy to see how they felt from the heart. .
Since the “Mobile Suit Gundam” in 1979, after several stars, Fujita in “THE ORIGIN”, once again face the one-year war of the universe. Returning to the original point makes him feel a little interesting. .
When receiving the commission of THE ORIGIN, Fujita has become the producer of Creative Music Publishing. He originally founded a music publishing company at GONZO, and when GONZO was about to collapse, he founded his company. .
Chuangtong is the advertising agency of “Gundam”. Perhaps because of this fate, Fujita received contact with Chuangtong and asked him to be the music producer of THE ORIGIN. In the creation of a pass, it is difficult to take over this burden. But Fujita wants to do it. At this age, he may not have such a great glory in the future. What’s more, he wants to participate in the animation of “THE ORIGIN” based on A Yanliang’s comics. .
In this way, he resigned from Creative Music Publishing, and as a free body, he began to participate in the music production of THE ORIGIN. .
In the beginning, Fujita did not know how many works the series could do. When he finished the fourth part, he was relieved. He was very pleased to learn that there were still works behind him. I did not hesitate to resign to make this film, and his feelings for “THE ORIGIN” are also very deep. .
Because the story of “THE ORIGIN” is connected to the first generation, Fujita originally wanted to show this connection in music. However, one of the first generation music writers, Teacher Watanabe, has passed away. The two teachers of Watanabe and Matsuyama did a unified work in “Gundam”. If one is missing, it is not good to ask another. .
To describe the story of THE ORIGIN before the one-year war, what kind of music should I use to make the audience look and listen and not feel uncomfortable? Fujita and the staff members racked their brains and came to the conclusion that they were the teacher of the ministry. .
Fujita said that the service department, like Watanabe, not only does animation music, but also participates in various media such as movies, TV series and stage plays. The world of “Gundam” is a human drama. Music is not only used to set off the battle, so you need a musician who can express a variety of situations. The first candidate they listed was the service teacher. .
In the production exchange, because An Yan’s supervisor and sound supervisor Fujino Yuji had their own ideas, plus the service department’s own experience, Fujita himself did not ask too much. He only said that this is a war film, not for the children to see, the rest of the teacher is free to play.
Fujita’s own musical theme for this work is “I want to be like a real person” and “I want to make a documentary-like atmosphere”. The music he hopes to make can be placed in the World War II documentary. .
The first thing I made was the soundtrack of the original publicly available short film. The teacher of the department has also made a lot of explorations for this piece of music, and has been thinking about “such music is not in line.” Because the film is only 90 seconds and highly concentrated, it requires a certain degree of speed, pattern and depth. The service department teacher also wants to explore the way to express “Gundam” here. .
The soundtrack of this film became the theme song of the work. Because this is the story of Xia, they did not make a lot of themes, but made an overall 90-second theme song for Xia. To a certain extent, the theme of the musical foundation of the work has been determined from the beginning, such as the dark part of Xia, the part of the battlefield, and the turmoil before the war of one year. The teacher of the service department wrote the first 90 seconds of music among many themes. Therefore, Fujita believed that when he was composing, he also thought about the overall theme song in his mind. .
Among the many pieces of THE ORIGIN series, Harmon’s song made Fujita a lot of hard work. A Yan always supervised his own emotions and had a clear impression on the songs. However, the impression was more biased towards foreign music. .
The teacher of Fujita kimono and the singer Sawada, who sings for Harmon, think about this impression: this song can neither deviate from the impression of General A Yan’s supervisor, but also stay in the audience as a “Hamong’s song”. In my heart. Because the characters in the “Gundam” series rarely sing, how do you write this song so that the audience can not feel unnatural? They even considered that the original songs drawn by A Yan’s supervisor in the comics were originally used in animation. But that was not appropriate, they decided to write a new song. .
Since the impression in the mind of A Yan’s supervisor was deeply ingrained, it was not easy to shake this impression. Fujita could only try to ask him “please believe us, let us write!”. Because Harmon’s role is to sing on the piano, Fujita thinks that he must make a suitable song. This puts a lot of pressure on him. Today, this has become a memory. It is because of the hard work, and when I have a good result, I feel more joy. .
The soundtrack of the work is divided into 3 recordings, each recording 2 episodes of music. As the story gets more and more exciting, music is changing. .
In the cosmic war, MS flies in space and the colony falls to the earth. The story is very exaggerated. But the music can’t suddenly turn 180 degrees, and the style that starts from the first part changes gradually. .
The story of the battle of Rum is a bit miserable, and many people in the colony have lost their lives. With this in mind, they have spent a lot of thought about what kind of music Xia’s fierce battle should match. Fujita did not ask for different music because it was a battle of Rum. However, when the teacher of the service department watched the work in the theater himself, he also felt the feelings. These thoughts brought the music of the later battle of Rum. Just because music is always on the extension of the music he created before, he imagines what kind of music to write next is easier. .
Actually watching Episode 6, you will find that the music is played all the time, and the music used is actually more than the demand list of the music conference. The music that is not on the demand list was written before the service department teacher. The past music, used in the later part of the battle of Rum, is also very suitable. Fujita believes that this shows that the music and pictures of “THE ORIGIN” and the battle of Rum have been very consistent from the beginning, no matter where they are used, they will not play. The 80% of the music can be combined with the picture, which is very amazing. .
“THE ORIGIN” will change the ending songs in each episode. Fujita said that because each episode of this work is released in the theater, there is no animation of the film, and there are many people participating in the production. Therefore, the end of the film is very long, and it needs to play 5-6 minutes of ending songs. They imagined that at this time, the audience watching “THE ORIGIN” in the theater was watching the positive film with what kind of mood, and what kind of new songs were used to watch the performance table after reading?
Because the content of each episode will be different, they pay attention to these and make the appropriate ending song: Since it is such a story, what kind of lyrics should be played, what kind of tunes, what kind of singers should come sing. The previous ending songs are often sung by the singer or the popular singer that the record company wants to push. The song sounds like a split with the positive film. This time, they hope that the song will be the end of the work, and if possible, connect the next episode. Therefore, every song is also very difficult to do. .
Because animations and songs are often composed by different people, it is very gratifying that the teacher of the department, Takashi, knows that the theme song is also carried by himself. This also shows that the teacher of the service department has deep feelings for this work. .
The 6th episode is sung by the famous creative singer Yamazaki. Fujita explained that in each episode, he would talk to everyone including General A Yan, and what kind of ending songs should be written. Different songs are created by different singers, and I feel that I can write almost the same. When the discussion of the sixth episode of what kind of music should be written, the service department teacher offered to ask Yamazaki to sing. .
The first 5 episodes of the ending songs were sung by the singer who first cooperated with the service department teacher. Yamazaki has a deep friendship with the kimono teacher. The service department teacher said that the opportunity is rare. He wants to write a song for the singer who has been dealing with it. Everyone agrees. .
Fujita believes that this time, the service department teacher can consider from the beginning: “The range of Yamazaki’s will is so wide, so it is more appropriate to write such a song.” In the sixth episode, it is no longer the first time. The singer who meets writes the song, but can write the song he wants. This is the biggest difference between this theme song and the past. .
In addition, the previous ending songs have a big theme, such as Serra or Xia. This time, the ending song, because it is necessary to connect a year of war, so the protagonist is both Xia and Amro. Before, “THE ORIGIN” never had a song of Amro, so they all wanted to write a theme song for Amro, and asked A Yan to supervise the concept of the ending song. .
In the heart of A Yan’s general supervision, the story of the Rum’s post-war is the story of the child’s Amro who finally grew up. He described that the young boy who likes machinery, Amro, was involved in the war and got an opportunity to grow. Therefore, they want to make music with the impression of “a teenager who is awakened by adults.” .
The next step is lyrics, composition, and arrangement. The teacher of the service department is the type of composition that gets the impression from the lyrics. Without the lyrics, it is difficult for him to fix the impression of the song. Coincidentally, the lyricist Matsui Goro also had a frontier with Yamazaki. Matsui wrote beautiful lyrics, and the service department teacher also made wonderful music based on the lyrics. .
The previous ending songs are all grand types of orchestral accompaniment, but Yamazaki’s singing is more suitable for me than the orchestra. Perhaps because of this, everyone thinks that Amro’s song should be this feeling. Yamazaki’s gentle singing voice was fully utilized in this song. From the first part, I have been writing the ending songs of the magnificent gas field with orchestral music, and in the last part, it has become a reassuring song. .
After watching all the 6 animations of THE ORIGIN series, the audience will have a deeper understanding of the feelings of the characters of the first generation of “Mobile Suit Gundam”: it is because of this premise that it will produce such a feeling. Therefore, the original “Gundam” will also shine a glory for a long time. .
Fujita said that although the release of “Red Comet Birth” is relatively long, the audience in the theater will feel that the time is very short. Especially the first half of the war drama is simply amazing. He grew up watching the hand-drawn animations, so he saw that neither the hand-painted nor the CG, but the warships that merged the two, and the MS Sea and the super rockets that shuttled between the warships were really fascinating. .
The first half of the war scene is certainly eye-catching, but in the works, you can also see people’s dark and sticky strategies. Whether it is Kelian or Kythelia, there are ghosts in the animation. The animation also enriches the story between people. It is very interesting. He hopes that everyone can enjoy this work.