Toru Matoba
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
[citation(s) needed] — This article is missing references. Please improve this article by including relevant citations. As a reader, exercise caution when encountering unsourced statements. |
|---|
Toru Matoba (的場 徹 Matoba Tōru) was a Japanese special effects director and cameraman. Matoba began his career in 1938, working as an assistant cameraman at Nikkatsu's Tamagawa Studio. In 1941, he enlisted in the Imperial Japanese Army and was deployed in China; upon returning to Japan in 1946, he found Nikkatsu Tamagawa Studio to now be in the possession of Daiei, who renamed it Daiei Tokyo Studio. Matoba's employment at the studio was nonetheless resumed, and he was transferred to its Special Photography Department. Training under Goro Watanabe and Tatsuyuki Yokota, Matoba rose to the position of special effects director, working on early Daiei tokusatsu films like Warning from Space (1956), The Invisible Man vs. The Human Fly (1957), and Killer Whale (1962).
In 1965, Matoba was hired as a special effects director at Tsuburaya Productions, working on five of the company's first seven television series. He became a freelancer by 1970, but continued to work in special effects in the form of P-Production's TV series Spectreman which he developed and directed the pilot for, as well as directed the special effects for its first four episodes. Matoba established his own company in 1972 and became a director of documentaries until the mid-1980s. He passed away in 1992 due to unknown causes.
Selected filmography
Director of special effects
- Warning from Space (1956)
- The Invisible Man vs. The Human Fly (1957)
- Buddha (1961)[a]
- Killer Whale (1962)[b]
- Ultra Q (TV 1966) [episodes 7, 10, 13, 15-16, 20-21, 23-24, 26]
- Ultraman (TV 1966-1967) [episodes 2-3, 5]
- Monster Booska (TV 1966-1967) [episodes 1-24, 26-27, 33-34, 42, 45-47]
- Ultraseven (TV 1967-1968) [episodes 7, 9-11, 19-20, 23, 26-27, 30-31, 47]
- Operation: Mystery (TV 1968-1969) [episodes 1-3, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 17-18, 21, 24]
- Ultraman: Great Monster Battle (1979) [compilation movie]
Actor
- Monster Booska (TV 1966-1967) as island chieftain [episode 9] / man launching fireworks [episode 26] / captain of cruiseferry [episode 42]
Notes
- ↑ Matoba is credited as a special effects cinematographer with Chikashi Makiura, and Tatsuyuki Yokota and Soichi Aisaka as the special effects directors; however, Matoba was actually in charge.[citation needed]
- ↑ Matoba is credited as a special effects cinematographer with Hiroshi Ishida, and Chikara Komatsubara as the special effects director; however, Matoba was actually in charge.[citation needed]
|
| ||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| ||
Comments
Showing 1 comments. When commenting, please remain respectful of other users, stay on topic, and avoid role-playing and excessive punctuation. Comments which violate these guidelines may be removed by administrators.
|
