“Mocap: The Stage” Opens This November
Go behind the scenes for a rare look at the world of motion capture actors.
For the majority of us gamers who have a much larger backlog of games in the “I need to get to it eventually” pile than the “I actually played it” one, we’re all too accustomed to the multitude of CG art and motion graphics flinging themselves into our eye sockets. Rarely do we take a step further to glance behind the digital curtain to see exactly how much effort went into these carefully constructed sequences we’ve become so used to experiencing in our video game experiences.
But if we did take that extra step, we’d be opening our eyes to an expansive world of motion capture goodness, full of high kicks, fancy footwork, and a ton of action to spare. This November, you can see what the lives of motion actors is really like in the situational comedy stage play called simply, Mocap: The Stage*.
In this production, produced by Hideki Sugiguchi from Motion Actor Inc. and Hiromi Shinjo from AC Factory, we’ll get to see the world of motion actors that transcends typical CG animation.
THE STORY
Sometime in the 2020s, a major video game company will announce the production of their latest game. It will be produced with an unprecedented epoch-making system with the latest motion capture technology at its core. Staff and performers on the project gather at a motion capture studio to start production on the new game, but none of them are told the details of the game and must begin recording sessions without knowing anything. Of course, this leads to a domino effect of problems, and yet they’re able to overcome them with their knowledge and experience. However, little did they know the biggest incident was about to attack when they finally learned the true purpose of the game production and the secret hidden in the newest motion capture system…
ABOUT MOTION ACTOR Inc. & HIDEKI SUGIGUCHI
For those of you who are gamers, you may already be familiar with Sugiguchi’s work. Starting out with gymnastics and acrobatics as a young child, he first became a stunt performer and appeared in many feature films such as CASSHERN in 2004 and many instances in the Kamen Rider franchise. He has since moved on to mostly motion capture work that has been featured in a multitude of video games such as NieR:Automata and Final Fantasy XVI. (You can view a list of his works on Wikipedia in Japanese here.) As the head of Motion Actor Inc., he leads a group of highly talented motion actors that we’ll finally get the chance to witness for ourselves at this stage performance.
A MESSAGE FROM HIDEKI SUGIGUCHI
I wish everyone who has used our company’s reference materials could see this play. At some point, I’d like to release it with English subtitles, so I hope you can support us when that happens!
THE SCHEDULE
The play will run for 5 days with a total of 6 performances.
- Wednesday, November 15–7:00pm
- Thursday, November 16–7:00pm
- Friday, November 17–7:00pm
- Saturday, November 18–1:00pm & 6:00pm
- Sunday, November 19–3:00pm
THE VENUE
Shinjuku Theater Sun Mall
Sun Mall Crest B1
1–19–10 Shinjuku, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo 160–022
Subway Marunouchi Line, Shinjuku Gyoen Mae Station, Exit 2 (Okidomon)
Exit 1: Escalator & Elevator
Exit 3: Elevator only
TICKETS
- Pre-sale S Seats: 7,500 yen
1st & 2nd row in the center block + bonus item
S Seats are sold out for the first and last performances. - A Seats: 5,800 yen
THE CAST
- Hideki Sugiguchi (杉口秀樹)
- Hiromi Shinjo (新上博巳)
- Mai Tsuchiya (土屋舞)
- Mao
- Maito Kudo (工藤舞人)
- Tatsuya Kaneko (金子起也)
- Akira Takizawa (滝沢信)
- Mitsuhide Konuma (小沼光秀)
- Nao Kondo (近藤直央)
- Yoshitaka Naoi (直井よしたか)
- Tatsuya Ichinose (一之瀬達也)
- Tatsuya Tada (多田竜也)
- Usagi Nagatsuki (長月うさぎ)
- Ryohei Shimizu (清水龍平)
- Maki Kanno (菅野真紀)
- Machiko Ajisaka (鯵坂万智子)
- AC Factory — Official Site
THE CREATIVE STAFF
- Planning & Structure: Motion Actor Inc.
- Script: Shie Torifuku (鳥福志恵) — Hiromi Shinjo’s Penname
- Director: Hiromi Shinjo (新上博巳)
- Stage Design: Kisaku Yasumi (易美樹作)
- Lighting Planner: Kaoru Higuchi (樋口かほる) from Rokukobo
- Lightboard Operator: Shotaro Takahashi (高橋翔太郎) from Rokukobo
- Sound: Tamotsu Ishigami (石神保)
- Stage Manager: Hideo Kobayashi (小林英雄)
- Props: Takatsu sousyokubijutu Co.Ltd.
- Video Production: Takahiro Sugiguchi (杉口貴洋) from moovies
- Visual Effects Supervisor: Takahiro Kobayashi (小林敬裕) from UNDERGRAPH Inc.
- Action Director: Hiromi Shinjo (新上博巳)
- Production: Motion Actor Inc. & AC Factory
- Production Assistance: Misato Yasuda (安田みさと) from TSUMIKI Inc.
- Production Assistance: Mizuki Shimizu (清水瑞希)
- Costume Design: Megumi Tenno (天野めぐみ)
- Photography: Ryuichi Ichino (市野龍一)
- Photography: Koji Sasagawa (笹川功二)
- Photography: Hiroshi Takahashi (高橋広吏)
- Advertising: Nozomi Sugita (杉田のぞみ)
For more information on this stage production, be sure to visit the official website here. (Japanese only)
* English translations by Blaze ’n’ Rekka.
This article may be edited in the future with additional updates.
Special Thanks: Hideki Sugiguchi, Takahiro Sugiguchi
