REEL 2010 from Kaya Ono on Vimeo.

I had the pleasure of meeting Kaya Ono at a barbecue in prospect park earlier this summer. She’s a recent graduate of SVA (major in graphic design/motion graphics) and has a very impressive body of work. She did a fascinating opening for the Hamptons International Film Festival last year and I especially like this concept piece she did for Alexander Calder. You can check out the rest of her portfolio here or go directly to her Vimeo account.

♪ In the summer time our genitals become itchy (itchy)
When they become itchy, use Delicare M’s
[humming humming] it works!
don’t scratch them, use Delicare M’s♪

translation by Spoon & Tamago

For the past 2 years Canon has been flexing their digital imaging muscle during Milan Design Week. Yesterday they presented Neoreal (part 3), an installation titled “prism liquid,” in which numerous projectors cast moving images over a spider-like architectural structure. The multi-sided structure provides multiple canvases for the hallucinatory motion video to move through as it slips and slides off different surfaces.

They collaborated with video artist Takahashi Kyota, architect Akihisa Hirata and designer Hikaru Mori.

The diligent folk over at Canon were kind enough to upload an image gallery and video, immediately after the release…. but the finicky folk running their website directs all my links to their top page. So you are just going to have to go in a and look for it.

Related:

• Milan Design Week 2010 | Japanese Design
• Akihisa Hirata

Kenichi Tanaka, a graduating senior from the Aichi Prefectural University of Fine Arts & Music, recently created this info-graphic motion video for his senior thesis. The video, in 10 minutes, provides a statistical overview of, what the author considers, some of the odd  characteristics of Japan.

As evidenced by the YouTube comments, the video is quite controversial – and rightly so – as it ignores comparisons with other countries and sometimes focuses on details that make you wonder if the author is pushing a certain agenda. It was basically begging for all the pedantic nerds of cyberspace to attack it.

But with that said, I have to say I really enjoyed it. It was executed very well and, assuming its audience are people who know nothing about Japan, it seemed to accomplish its goal of getting you interested in the country.

The original Japanese version is available on vimeo.

thanks for the tip kaori-chan!

“A man from Fukuoka, a woman from Tokyo….” I had no idea what this sweet commercial was for up until the final 5 seconds! It’s based on an actual documentary that was filmed over a 1-month time span. Impressive and romantic!

In an announcement made last night, we learned that Studio Ghibli will be releasing a new film during the summer of 2010, two years since their last film, Ponyo. The film will be titled, The Borrower Arrietty (借りぐらしのアリエッティ) and will be based on the british tale The Borrowers, an enchanting story about miniature people living under the floorboards of a home.

Besides the fact that any new Ghibli release is newsworthy in my opinion, the real reason this story caught my attention was because I instantly recalled my parents reading this story to me as a child. Details are murky but I remember the excitement of how the little people would borrow items from their neighbors upstairs and use them in ways never thought of before. Toshio Suzuki, the producer of Ghibli movies since 1991, spoke at the press conference saying, “in a society based on mass-consumption of stuff, we thought the concept of borrowing was relevant for our times.”

It’s a well known fact that Hayao Miyazaki, as he grows old, has been passing the director baton to the up and coming. But I can’t say I’ve ever enjoyed a non-Miyazaki directed Ghibli film. But that doesn’t mean I won’t be checking out the directorial debut of Hiromasa Yonebayashi, a previous animator for the company.

via Nikkei News

Most recently she worked on the show open and promo packaging for VH1 Divas, which aired back in September. I love the way she tells a story, and builds up anticipation, typically without the use of words at all. Also be sure to check out her short films, all of which are available for viewing on her website.

VH1: Movies That Rock

adidas : 60 years of originality

My wife just sent me this clip (2004) from Toribia no Izumi, also known in its reincarnated life on Spike TV as Hey! Spring of Trivia. A research team scoured through 10,000 middle school textbooks (from several areas of study including history, science and music) and aggregated the graffiti/doodles into different categories.  The clip (Japanese only) is highly entertaining but for those of you who don’t care to watch, here are the top 3:
#3 – glasses and/or sunglasses
#2 – beards
#1 – speech bubbles

In each case prime victims appeared to be historical figures, but popular artwork and sculpture were not spared. I was surprised that poop, given that it is disproportionately easy to render versus comical effect, was not higher on the list.  It was 25th.

It would be really interesting to compare with a similar study conducted in the States. Any volunteers?

(the original animation can be seen HERE. I just liked the above better)

I think my favorite piece of advice is, “don’t worry about the future…the real troubles in your life are apt to be things that never crossed your worried mind…” oh yea, and of course, “floss.”

HERE is the original essay if you want to follow along. Although I recommend against it as all the google ads detract from the experience.

Thanks, Dad

PS My younger brother just graduated from college and is off to Vietnam for a year to teach English! I wish him all the luck, which he will not need as long as he follows this advice!

The interface is surprisingly user-friendly, however it’s completely in Japanese. But if you are able to recognize some movie titles in Japanese you may be able to navigate around.

Check out these images from the set of The Seven Samurai…

…and this one from Rashomon…

…and these of Kurosawa in New York walking around Rockefeller Center! Right where I work!! AAHHH!

via Mainichi Daily News