How was the project taken forward?

We were a loose collective of artists, designers, motion graphic artists, animators and editors. doing a project like this required a different kind of skill set than traditional big budget filmmaking since so much of what we expressed was a hybrid of traditional live action, character animation and graphic storytelling. it is not a full blown story but more a simple notion of organic, urban creative expression, making the graffiti and its characters come to life, fusing and seamlessly interacting with the city.

Tokyo vs. LA. As a gaijin (foreigner) living in Tokyo, it is hard to communicate with words what I see in my head. I can visualise and see how it moves, but it is hard for me to explain in a foreign language much less my own visual language. This limits my collaboration with English speaking creatives. Also budgetary constraints dictate who I can team up with and where I can work.

Since I am from and have intimate knowledge of the LA scene, I often produce there. right now I am working on spreading my network in Asia with hopes of collaborating with the Asian community on future projects.

Phase 01 : Tokyo + Shanghai : Urban Scapes
We started by filming urban scapes of Shanghai and Tokyo on the move on DV and digibeta. Our goal was two fold. Firstly, to capture active urban youth culture in their natural environment. We wanted it to be real, authentic. Secondly, we filmed footage to represent an urban aesthetic that is distinctly Asian. The idea was to build an urban landscape that represented a “panasian city” by shooting old Tokyo, new Tokyo, old Shanghai, new Shanghai. This hybrid, fusion city echoes an emerging cultural vibe that is happening between Asian cities. This new urban landscape was to be the setting, the canvas, for the youthful energy of the art traveling thru the city. We shot the footage imagining as if the art was already moving thru the cityscape as the camera followed it’s p.o.v.

Phase 02 : Fusion : Artist Collaboration
We brought the 3 artists together with Motion Theory in a big studio in L.A. Together they were inspired by the footage we shot, the music of DJ Uppercut and of course, by each other. We projected looping images of the hybrid panasian city and for the next 5 days, they created new forms. The first 2 days, each artist drew and sketched independently and with each other to provide raw materials for Motion Theory to react to and begin doing animation tests with. The remaining 3 days, the 3 artists collaborated to paint gigantic wall size murals, each art lasting only for as long as it took the paint to dry. It was ephemeral art making. The results of all this were raw elements to be fused together in an unprecedented way…

Phase 03 : Digital Action
Time and motion is the 4th dimension. The 4th artists in the collective, Motion Theory along with W+K Tokyo, synthesised all the pieces into a new form, creating a 2 min. video and 2 x 30 sec. spots (TVCM), featuring this collaboration, as well as print ads and posters. The process consisted of developing a cohesive story of urban active expression of the art in motion as it moved through the streetscapes of the panasian city, activating the space. The camera dives into Shanghai’s subway following the arts movement as it surfaces into the alleyways of Nakameguro in Tokyo. We feel the energy of global youth expression, experiencing the artists at work in the city as they orchestrate and synthesise their art into an urban visual symphony. The spots were crafted a series, with the story of “Instant Go” building on each sequential episode…

Who is the target group for this campaign?

Asian youth culture. Both influencers and mass youth culture across Asia. How can we inspire them to create, to move, to be physically proactive? There was such diversity in the audience, from the sophisticated and fast paced trendy youth of Japan, to Hong Kong, Taiwan, Seoul, to the youth of Beijing, Shanghai, Thailand, etc. It was a really diverse groups of kids, but the spirit of youth movement and urban mobility was cross cultural.