kato hidejin 251117 videosalon seminar

 

TMI Note: These are just brief translation of several points that gets mentioned / talked about in the seminar. It was nearly 3 hours long

• hidejin said his first proposal for nazekoi started with karin rising from coffin placed at the cetner of the stairs (where karin is praying under spotlight), but management said it's too much like keyaki and told him to change it
• hidejin said sometimes he had to make mv proposal without even knowing the song or lyrics, so he have to make a blind guess on what akip going to give for saku next. for addiction he got the song and maybe even lyrics already. he's been pretty lucky and manage to draft something close to the feeling of the song tho
• said that takahiro and infinity dancers are very responsive to his requests, like how he asked for string dance in a whim
• he saw takahiro riling the girls like "GOOOO FOR ITTTT!!! YESSS!!!" so he thought he should do it too, and did it when filming hikaru BAN solo dance. but when he went to direct MV for other groups, he was told that's not the norm lmao
• he said that when he riles the artists, he think that the expressions in the performance does look different, and he wondered if he should just try to ignore the looks ppl gave him 
• hidejin was wondering if karin and ten should play addiction according to their irl personalities (karin doing the bullied kid, ten offering the umbrella). then he discussed with konno and they decided with this current one, also because they want to give them the chance to play something different from how they are
• hidejin said kpop had a lot of particularities when filming mv, like the person singing the line has to be at the center and look at the camera, or when they are moving their faces need to be visible. he thought that jpop idols shouldn't really follow it or they will just be mere imitation of kpop
• hidejin said for the dance scenes they have to take it multiple times, and the management would ask for a break after the 7th or 8th time, and he said compared to other groups saku girls never said that they are tired and just kept going
• hidejin found a location place in hk / tw that could work for shonin but sony said no bcs scheduling, so he ended up going with the church

• Q how have your impression on run ten rin changed over the years?
• hikaru: hasn't changed much, very high professionalism, clearly says what she wants and they would discuss about it
• ten: when he spoke to her during nazekoi and ban, thought that she'll do better if she get to do what she wants freely, so he did. but recently she understand things better, hence the character setting for addiction
• karin: hasn't changed much as well, become much more social. they first met during choreo lesson, and he spoke to her about the mv details, and when he asked "do you have any questions? anything that you don't understand?", karin just stand there silently for a minute or so going "hmmm...." . so compared to back then, you can say that they now can converse normally. hidejin said it's not just because they have gotten closer after working for several times, but he think that she herself has become more social
• hidejin said there is no discussion prior to him making the mv proposal, the management tend to give him keywords or what concept they want to do. but there are also groups that doesn't have anything in particular and lets him do what he wants, which saku also does with him since the very first single
• hidejin: this group (sakurazaka) really puts creators first. there are a lot of moments where i feel comfortable, even when discussing with konno-san and such, it feels like they understand what i want to take. there are so many things that i feel grateful of 
• hidejin is asked if there was ever a time where the song is decided by the mv proposal, and he said he has no idea, those are decided by akip

• Q asked how he decided on the yu x yuzu pair dance in ikumodo MV
• hidejin said when he filmed natsuchika, he thought that yu can dance in such a graceful way, "as if she have wings." he even asked management to let him direct her center MV when she got one, but those went to different directors
• for yuzuki, she didn't get a lot of cuts in shonin mv and he felt bad about it. since that part in ikumodo is a pair dance between a maid and a non-maid (yu), he decided it should be a 3ki member and picked yuzu
• in ikumodo mv, there are also parts at the beginning that is centered by hono and kira
• ever since he filmed start over and shonin, he thought that kira is amazing and he wanted to see her as center, so he did so here
• and he never filmed hono as center before, so that is also why he picked her
• he also decided on things with takahiro, though he can't recall if they decided on it or was it takahiro. but he just simply decide because he wants to see after watching performances, such as giving the girls a chance to show their growth and to stand out
• hidejin said keeps track of saku activities, such as to see how they perform now, but careful about keeping his distance. there were also periods where he decided not to check anything
• asked if there are any members who left impression on him when watching the group's performance. said he's impressed that they are sincerely expressing and not just "maybe this expression will fit the song", especially named miichan (who surprised him with her range of expressions) and hikaru
• when asked about the strength of team sakurazaka, hidejin said "honest and sincere" regarding in creating a work . they sincerely face the mv proposal that he has created, and he thought that it is something that has been passed down since keyakizaka time, and think it's important for them not to ever lose it . ofc there are moments where he needed to give them the push, but he always thought that they face it seriously and he hope that they can continue doing it
• ended with hidejin wishing he could talk a lot more, especially just talking about the members just like another fan like "so and so is so amazing, right?"