In July 2022, Sacred Guardian Singa reached out to Avalon, Knight of the Round Table on Twitter. Two heroes from two different corners of the world, calling each other fellow foreign local heroes. Singa said it plainly: “May we also fight together one day.” That day came. The two met in person at Local Hero Fest in Japan, a fist bump between a lion from Singapore and a knight from England. And now, a few years on from that first exchange, tokuAsia sits down with the man behind Avalon, Max Ellis of Shield and Sword Productions, to hear the story behind the hero and the decade-long passion project that brought him to life.
Q1: Tell us a little about yourself and what Shield and Sword Productions is all about, for those who are hearing about you for the first time.
I started film making in secondary school in the UK, and instantly fell in love with the craft. After several years of trying out various projects, I then started the group Shield and Sword Productions as my own creative brand and to bring together friends with a similar passion, carrying it on after I moved to Japan and branching out into various other forms of video based content. This passion, combined with my own interest of Japanese culture and particularly anime and tokusatsu, led me to take on the challenge of making original tokusatsu projects of my own.
Q2: You’re a British creator making tokusatsu in Tokyo, which is not exactly the expected background. What were the biggest challenges you faced breaking into this?
The biggest faces I had at the start was really a lack of help. I knew very little about the genre, much less people who could help me with things like making the costumes and doing the action and stunt work. Fortunately I braved reaching out to certain groups of people, and some of them could see that I was serious about doing this and offered to help me despite my limited budget and experience.
Q3: Toku has a very specific visual language: the henshin pose, the suit reveal, the monster-of-the-week structure. How do you fit King Arthur into all of that without it feeling like a costume party? And what does the tokusatsu format let you do with Arthurian legend that a straightforward British fantasy show just couldn’t?
Yes tokusatsu does have a very specific style, and I felt it was important to respect that when I set out with Avalon. It isn’t particularily hard as we all know, within tokusatsu there are lots of different styles and ways of doing things based on the core style points (just look at Kamen Rider for instance). Creating a hero based on arthurian legend that fits into this genre was not hard to do, but there were limitations. For example, I often get asked about form changes based on the knights of the round table, and that was something I wanted at the start, but the fact is that would have been way over budget with a lot of props that I couldn’t make proper use of, so I had to create a concept and story that worked within what I could do. This is why Avalon Knight of the Round Table is not a carbon copy of the Arthurian legend in tokusatsu form, but more of a “this is one part of the legend that no one knows about.”
There really aren’t any limitations. It is just a case of “this is what I wanted to do”. If I had wanted to take the same story and make it as a fantasy series without the hero costumes, it could be done, but that isn’t what I wanted to do.
Q4: Koichi Sakamoto is a legend in the tokusatsu world. How did you even get him on an indie fan project? And could you tell us a little about what that experience was like. Were there any valuable lessons you took away from working with him?
I was lucky enough to meet Mr. Tom Constantine, a British stuntman and tokusatsu fan (who also played John/Kamen Rider Garun in Kamen Rider Geats) who was training at Alpha Stunts, the stunt and action school founded by Dir. Sakamoto himself. Through him I had the opportunity to train at Alpha and meet Dir. Sakamoto, and many other tokusatsu directors such as Dir. Noguchi, who helped with Chapter 8 of Avalon. I would not be so bold as to say we became “close friends” like he and Tom are, but Dir. Sakamoto was kind enough to stay in contact, and was very eager to help when I said I needed help directing the first episode of Avalon.
I really wish I could say it was a good experience, but unfortunately, because we are filming indie and therefore can’t afford to book outdoor locations, we had to respect when policemen tell us to go away and on that particular shoot, they did so before Dir. Sakamoto could do more than direct the first appearance of Tatsumaki Ryuji. It is a gut wrenching shame, but Dir. Sakamoto was very cool about it, and he still stays in touch and lets me ask him for advice and supports Avalon. I hope one day we can get him back to film a full action sequence this time.
Q5: Walk me through what a shoot day actually looks like. How many people are on set, and who is doing what? And after a full week of work, what makes you sit down and keep going on Avalon instead of just switching off?
Typically the day will start with a meet up on site early morning, at a time when everyone can travel on public transport (since we can’t afford buses). And once we are all assmebled we will get set up and get to work as quickly as possible, because we are often filming for only as long as the light lasts. The number of people on set will vary depending on what scene we are shooting, but the core is usually myself, our Director of Photography, and Assistant Director for when I am in front of the camera, and then 4-5 cast members, more if we are shooting an action scene and need many combatants.
Easy, I would rather be doing Avalon than a full week of work. When I am doing my day-to-day job that pays the bills, all I am thinking about is what I can do to keep Avalon moving forward and what is the next thing to do, so when it gets to night time and I can sit down after my child has gone to bed and focus, I can plow on without a care. I just wish I had more time to do the work, but that’s life.
Q6: Back in 2022, Avalon reached out to Sacred Guardian Singa on Twitter calling each other “fellow foreign local heroes,” and Singa replied: “May we also fight together one day.” Well, that day came. The two have since met in person. What was that like, and does “fighting together” on screen still feel like a possibility?
It was an honor to meet Sacred Guardian Singa in person, especially at Local Hero Fest of all places. For the last few years Avalon has been the only foreign local hero, and my ambition with Local Hero Fest is to have a World Heroes show on the main stage. Of course, if the chances for Singa and Avalon to fight together in a cross over film were possible that would be fantastic, so if Singa is planning to come back to Japan for another Local Hero Fest, please let us know in advance and we can arrange something.
Q7: Where do you see Shield and Sword Productions going from here? And for anyone out there who wants to make their own tokusatsu but does not know where to start, what would you tell them? What is your hope for where the indie toku scene is heading?
Our main project right now is of course Avalon, Knight of the Round Table, but we are open to taking on other projects. We want to be more than tokusatsu, we want to create a variety of different content to share with the world. We are also eager to expand our line up of EGT Heroes to beyond just Avalon and Tekkaraiger, so we have many more series to tackle in the future.
If you want to do it, do it. Don’t just stop at “saying” you will do things. Life is short, and you will regret the things you didn’t do at the end more than the things you did. I am not saying it isn’t difficult, but there is no set rule on tokusatsu. If you have an idea and want to make it a reality, look up how to make suits, get a group of friends to be in your videos with you, and get out that and give it your all.
I hope more people around the world give tokusatsu a go, and not just in Japan. It is a lot of work, but it is a fun and challenging genre to make, and I hope more people will give it their best shot.
If this interview has got you curious about Avalon and the world of Shield and Sword Productions, go give them a watch and show them some love. Avalon, Knight of the Round Table is streaming now, and every view counts for an indie production running on passion and sheer determination. Find out more and keep up with everything Max and the team are working on through the links below.
To Singa and Avalon fighting side by side on screen one day: we are watching this space.
This article is written with assistance from Claude.
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