Just had a shoot with Gruff Rhys from Super Furry Animals, my all-time favorite band since I was in teens. Having worked with many "celebrities", I rarely have star-struck, but this time I was like "....woooow." But Gruff was just as how I imagined, a very warm, humble, and thoughtful man.
I was proud to capture the voice I've been familiar with for past 12 years; the voice heard through discman on the train in Japan with teenage angst, the voice blasted out at the backyard of the dorm at party in California, the voice played on car stereo on the road trip with my friends, or the voice soothed me in my apartment in Brooklyn with some solitude. Memories, Memories, Memories...
This is the new project whose theme is "Language and Music", which my buddy Shawn has been developing. Gruff was the third person for the interview after a couple of another famed musicians, but he was indeed a perfect fit, especially given that he's heavily rooted in Welsh culture and language.
More details for the project to be announced soon with the trailer of what we shot, but it will definitely be a note-worthy project! Language and Music, and communication induced by them, has been a key theme for myself as well, so I am excited to be involved.
Next day we went to BAM to see his first feature documentary Gruff directed: "Seperado!"
インタビューの内容は「Language and Music（言語と音楽）」についてで、詳細はまだ明かせませんが大ざっぱに言うと様々なミュージシャンに音楽がどのように言語的（コミュニケーション的）役割を果たすかをインタビューする一大プロジェクト。今回インタビューしたグリフ・リースは３人目。このプロジェクトにはこれからもどんどん関わっていく（はず）です！
Supplementing to what's on the website... this was initially inspired by the earthquake in Japan. After participating and attending several series of charity events as volunteer, there are something that was still stuck in my heart. It felt like a scar attacked by invisible enemies.
I couldn't resist creating something of my own, not knowing which direction it'd take.
When I showed my rough cut, my friend Tomo has suggested me to send it Yell Art, whose agenda matched with what I was doing then.
After series of trials and errors, I've completed the piece and showed it to Shawn, the president of BNS Sessions, and RamKirin, one of the composer/vocal of the track "I AM",
and they applauded me saying this is exactly what they envisioned upon making of the track.
So here it is, the visual I made without knowing its goal, using motion graphic all on my own for the first time. Hope you take a breath to enjoy, and feel a moment of compassion to those who are lost and suffering.
It's been a couple of weeks since we shot the music video of "Cyborgata", the last track of Ari Why's new album "Proof of Giants" (by BNS Records).
This is my new directing piece since "Brain Bug" (short film), and I was so pumped to make this happen, and make it real good! It took me a while from writing story to location scouting to casting to organizing crew... in between jobs.
And BIG THANKS to talented & dedicated crew on set, the footage looks amazing. Now on to the editing - which will be another process, and should be able to release the complete piece in July.
Cast is ex-professional dancer Ana and a dance professor Diogo, immense talents from Brazil.
キャストは元プロバレエダンサーのブラジル人Ana とDiogo。
こちらもリハーサルから振り付けまで一生懸命答えてくれました。
Serious crew and cast...blessing.
真剣なクルー＆キャスト。それぞれに忙しい手を貸してくれた
Jaime, ヨウスケ、シュン君も含め、本当に皆さん感謝です。
A serious tree. Wonder what's inside of it?
崩れかかった木の祠の中には・・・本編を待て！
Ari Why and Me
Ari Whyとのツーショット。
Yosuke, Assistant Camera for this, shot bunch of awesome pictures too- so sharing some of them.
A short Japanese TV program I've worked on as a Production Manager/ Researcher will be on the air soon! (well, has been on the air last month... haven't updated blog so long). It's an inspiring short documentary about talented Japanese from different industry. Check it out if you can! Program: Dream Up! Broadcast: TBS Time 10:54 PM ~ 5/15 Yuriko Kajiya (ABT Ballet Dancer) 5/22 Kenzo Minami (Graphic Artist) 5/29 Junko Yoshioka (Wedding Dress Designer) 7/10 Rio Koike (Stand-up Comedian) 7/17 Tomoaki Kanno (Session Drummer)
