Nankai Electric Railway was among the first railways in Japan to accept Visa contactless payment at its ticket gates, so visitors can travel just by tapping a card. For London production company Connected Pictures, we directed on set and shot a short documentary for Visa about the partnership. Our documentary filming in Osaka followed the Nankai network from Kansai International Airport, through the city and up to the temple town of Koyasan.
How we produced it
Filming on a live railway takes careful permission. Our local fixer handled every conversation with Nankai: permissions, schedules, and access to stations and trains. That left the visiting team free to concentrate on the story, confident that each location was secured.
We filmed over three days. First, interviews with two people from Nankai at a company training centre. Next, B-roll of the main interviewee around the stations and on board the trains. Finally, without talent, the rail and bus route that climbs from Osaka to Mount Koya, the mountain temple complex that draws visitors from around the world, and the airport station where many of them first arrive. On-set director Andrew Goldie ran the shoot on location, while Connected Pictures' director joined remotely from abroad. We shot on the DJI Ronin 4D and Sony FX6 in a 2.35:1 widescreen frame.
What we delivered
We delivered the interviews and B-roll for the finished short documentary, which Visa has published on its YouTube channel.
See more of our documentary production in Japan and our production support in Japan.
Client: Visa
Production company: Connected Pictures (London)
Location: Osaka, Kansai International Airport and Koyasan (Mount Koya), Wakayama, Japan
Services: On-set direction, cinematography, local fixing, railway filming permits, interview filming
Crew: On-set director Andrew Goldie, local fixer, camera crew
Kit: DJI Ronin 4D, Sony FX6
Deliverables: Interviews and B-roll for a short documentary