"Ninja Gaiden Remastered" - Director's Notes

The opening video to the original Ninja Gaiden Nintendo game, remade shot for shot in live action with fully orchestrated music.

Stranger Things Studios would like to thank both Nintendo and Tecmo for having made such an awesome and nostalgic game to imprint on our youth.  We'd also like to thank them in advance for letting this YouTube video remain available online.  After all, imitation is the highest form of compliment, am I right? 

or Watch it on YouTube

Director's Notes:

I felt like Han Solo walking into my garage.  Against the far wall I had used tap nails to put up sheets of corrugated cardboard.  I taped the edges together with painter’s tape, and then applied two layers of a vibrant green semi-gloss paint that I found in my mother-in-law's basement.  As it dried, the cardboard had warped.  It did not look impressive, nor professional.

All I hear in my head was Luke Skywalker saying "What a piece of junk!" as he beheld the Millennium Falcon for the first time.  Almost verbatim, I looked at my ninjas and assured them that "She might not look like much, but she's got it where it counts.  I made a couple of special modifications myself.  Now, we're running a little behind schedule, so if you don't mind taking a seat we'll be underway."

I'm down for any excuse
to buy a new sword!

I have wanted to do this movie ever since Stranger Things Studios came into being.   It has been my ultimate goal: to reshoot the opening to Ninja Gaiden, shot-for-shot, in live action.  Up until now, I had neither the equipment, nor the knowledge to attempt this movie.  Even with both, I did not have the confidence to take it on.  Yet, I knew that if I didn't try now, I was never going to.  With fall on its way, time was running short, and I would have to wait until April before I would have my next chance.

What's the big deal about Ninja Gaiden anyways?  The original Ninja Gaiden for Nintendo is near and dear to my heart.  More correctly, it's more of a love-hate relationship.  It took me 20 years to beat the game.  I've had it stolen, I've sold it, I've re-bought it.  I could get to the final boss on one guy, but I could barely get in the door before I died instantly.  Again... and again.. and again...

The intro is an incredibly short video, simplistic in look, but amazingly difficult to attempt.  Each shot had its own challenge.  Watch the Before/After comparison:

or Watch it on YouTube

L to R - Tommy, TouYa Cha, Jon Strong (director)

Take the establishing shot. I visited around 10 locations over the course of two weeks before I settled on the one we used.

Now, how much do we do on set, and how much do we do on green screen?  How do we keep the camera steady, or the ninjas perfectly in frame?  I knew from shooting "Stranger Things Have Happened" that task was surprisingly difficult without a dolly track, and there was no way we were going to have the time to make one.  Will it look too fake on a green screen?  How do you even go about the jump? 

The lighting had to be right.  The skies had to be clear.  The sun had to be low in the sky.  There wasn't much of a window to shoot in.  If you've read any of my other director's notes you'd know I'm always behind schedule.  With this movie however we were only ever 30 minutes behind, and that was because I had to run tests on the green screen before we could use it.

We did the best we could, which turned out immensely better than I thought it would.  I'm hyper-critical about it, but damn proud at that same time.