Japanese director Shinichiro Ueda’s new 26-minute film featuring
a long single shot was captured through video calling application Zoom, reported
Associated Press.

Ueda, whose claim to fame was a low-budget movie ‘One
Cut of the Dead’, has now garnered attention through his new project that
features footages shot on the smartphones of respective actors.

Ueda also released a sequel to his Zombie thriller called ‘One Cut of the Dead Mission: Remote’, during the pandemic. The 36-year-old, in an
interview to Associated Press, stated that he had been contemplating on
doing something positive that would put a smile on people’s face and added all
his instructions for the movie were given through video conference. He stated
that the actors were requested to capture footage on the selfie mode of their cameras
while-in character and then send the same through a messaging application. The
sequel was 37-minutes long and was an attempt at “light-hearted
entertainment.”

He said, “Watching entertainment has saved me, helped
me cope often when I was depressed. I sensed a mission of sorts that I have to
make this work now.”

The premise of his sequel ‘One Cut of the Dead Mission:
Remote’ depicts the hopelessness encountered by artists, performers,
musicians and filmmakers in a time festered by needs for social distancing that
have made pursuing usual work and livelihood difficult. Ueda added that he
himself had been confronting such blues during the lockdown.

The 36-year-old, who was nominated for the 13th Asian Film
Awards in the Best New Director category, said, “I grew up on
Hollywood films. I’ve watched more Americans movies than Japanese movies. The
works I watched were all made on a global standard, not something just
understood in Japan. That helped me develop the knack for pursuing works
enjoyed by everyone in the world, works that deal with universal themes and
primordial desires.”

Enumerating
his experiences about movie-making, Ueda added, “All the techniques, the filming, lighting, recording must continue without
stopping. The actors must keep acting without stopping. What’s being demanded
is enormous. But that difficulty is what makes it fantastic. In a sense,
everyone has to come together, to get that one shot.”

He added, “It’s only after 200 or 300 bad films you will
have that one great film.”

Talking about his long shots, the 36-year-old stated, ” All
the wonders, meaning and legacy of filmmaking are packed in that single take.”

Ueda, who claims to have been shooting movies since he was a teenager, said, ” I believe that what counts, beyond anything
else, is that you just keep making films. Just keep making mistakes.”