Final Project!!

Due to the file size I can't upload it to youtube or vimeo, so I put it on megavideo. Here is my final project, enjoy.

http://www.megavideo.com/?v=CN64IESL

Final Stages of Final Project

I am currently in the final stages of finishing my final project I am pretty happy about how it is all coming together. Seeing as how this is the first time I've had to go out and shoot and edit a project on my own I'm feeling very good about how it is currently looking. Some of my footage was a little dark, but the color-corrector on final cut has been a big help. Although my actual footage and editing is not that great, the content is really good. I'm hoping the interviews and content will be the driving force for this project. I have people talking about the educational system in Japan and how it drives kids the express themselves as well as people talking about the underground/mainstream scene here in Japan. The story is pretty cohesive and follows a pattern. I still need to edit and adjust my audio levels as well as my music. I also need to add subtitles for one part, but besides that I am almost done. Back to work!

Final U.P.I. Project

Despite some setbacks with sound slides I have finished my U.P.I. Project. Due to the file size, the video quality is a little low, but you still get the feel for it.

Graffiti in Japan from Danny Quick on Vimeo.

U.P.I. Project

I am starting to put together my project for U.P.I. about graffiti here in Japan. I've spent the last couple days trying to gather all my materials for it. This has included scouring the the shadiest alleys and corners in Tokyo to find graffiti as well as looking through hundreds of photos from other people online to find the right stuff. I am glad I have such a large catalog of stuff to choose from, it really gives me a lot of options. I wanna be sure to include a wide range of styles of art in this project to show the full spectrum of graffiti here in Japan, because it is widely varied. Aside from all of the photo sorting I have been editing my interview with Astro MBS, a writer who I met while in Tsukuba. He was a real chill dude, real down to earth. He looked kinda hardcore with tattoos all down his arms and neck but he was the nicest dude, it was real surprising. I've also spent time looking for the right music to go along with all of this. I want to use something that I produced so I have been looking through my catalog of music to find the right sound. I am actually only writing this blog in procrastination so I better get back to work

Shooting Continues

I spent yesterday wandering around various record stores in Shibuya getting a little extra B-roll for my final project. While doing this I took the liberty to do some record shopping, as I haven't done as much as I would like while here in Japan. One thing about the record digging scene is Japan is that they have pretty much everything you could ever dream of. In the first 5 minutes, I every record I picked up was something rare that I've only read about or seen online. Another thing is the ridiculous price tags attached to all these records. I understand (somewhat) charging over 60$ for a rare record, while still expensive that is not to ridiculous. But some stuff I would see back in the states for about 5$ was costing upwards of 50$ here, which is just crazy. I guess its just the economy and the fact that there is alot more disposable money circulating in the hands of people here in Tokyo than there is in the U.S. and especially Philly. Nonetheless I definitely have to incorporate something about records or record digging in my final project. It is such a big part of hip-hop and the fact that the scene is so good here, it wouldn't be painting the full picture if I did not include it.

Finished Mobile Phone Project

Graffiti in Tokyo (by Danny Q. and Kenta S.) from ron carr on Vimeo.

Mobile Phone Project

Last week, me and Kenta spent some time in the Shin-Okubo section on Tokyo, exploring and photographing a small skate park called "The Ghetto". "The Ghetto" is nestled between a plethora of love hotels, and it was originally a love hotel itself, later converted the skate park it is today. The appeal of this place is the ridiculous amount of dope graffiti all around the building and inside. There is work by some of the best and well known writers in the Tokyo area, making a prime location to do a project about Graffiti in Tokyo. It is especially a good place to do a project with only a mobile phone for a couple of reasons. Mobile phone filming, by nature, is kinda of lower quality and "artsy." With all the complex styles and colors associated with the graffiti at "The Ghetto" it really gives you the room to do some interesting stuff. All this being said I am excited to get to work on this project and see how it turns out.

A day (and night) in Tsukuba

I spent my last Saturday in a small town about an hour outside Tokyo named Tsukuba with the goal of doing filming and interviews for my final project. I arrived there Saturday afternoon with the hopes of getting some good material I could use. I left on the first train Sunday morning with a feeling that my life would never be the same again. I met up with a guy named Kimi who I had been emailing back and forth for a couple weeks, figuring out a time to come up and do some interviews. We spent the day kicking it in his apartment as he did a recording session with a rapper from Cameron who grew up in Tokyo. This guy (his name escapes me as I write this) was very opinionated and knowledgeable about the hip-hop seen here in Japan. He provided me with alot of good material I could use. After that, Kimi took me and Li to a very small gallery opening his friend was having. Although the room was small, it was lined with great photography, graffiti, and random pieces of art in general. Although only a few people spoke English, everyone was really nice and seemed to be excited about why I was there and what I was doing. They made sure I was constantly be given more food and beer, two things I cannot say no to. The interview I conducted with one of the graffiti artists was very interesting and provided me allot of insight into what it is like to be a graffiti writer here. He talked about fighting with his mom who wanted him to do something else with his life but his only real interest was graffiti. After hanging around the gallery and (attempting) to talk to people for about an hour and a half, we moved on to a restaurant on another side of town that a friend of Kimi's owned. It was very small and run by Kimi's friend and his wife (both about 30 years old). Both were very nice and gave Li and me a sampling of different kinds of Japanese food and drinks I have never even heard of before. At one point, another man in the restaurant treated us to a huge plate of sushi and began to talk to us about how his son was in America. Eventually, a group of about 10 of Kimi's friends showed up for me to interview. Here were some of the highlights and things that touched me of these interviews: 1. Everyone was really 100% all about the music. They had a genuine love for not only hip-hop and music in general. They talked about how their lives were inseparable from the music because it had been a large part of their lives for so long. They not only group up with it but it also helped them grow up. One of the guys talked about why he produces and makes beats. He talked about how his friends come to him and his music helps provide an emotional outlet, a kind of therapy. He feels like he is helping people by making music. Kimi spoke about how the driving force for him learning to speak English was his dream of coming to America and being part of hip-hop culture in L.A. He talked about how this drive had a profound impact on his life. Something he kept stressing also was that we are all people first and the music is just a vehicle to bring people together. He also spoke about a friend of his who died shortly after completing his album and how he really put his heart and soul into before passing away and the affect this had on his drive and passion to make music. After all the recording was done, we spent the rest of the night just hanging out, playing cards, talking about everything from music to just life in general. It really made me see that even on the complete other side of the world where everything is so seemingly different, everything is really the same. Our similarities as people and as music lovers transcends all the cultural differences we may face. This was possibly my best night in the short time I have been in Japan and I stumbled back onto the first train back to Tokyo at 5 am with new perspective on life.

So it begins

I spent yesterday beginning research for my final project, which will focus around some aspect of hip-hop culture here in Tokyo. I spent my time wandering from record store to record store in Shibuya looking for an angle on my piece. I came across a lot of interesting stores full of old and new vinyl, clothing, and a good amount of used DJ equipment. Also, the majority of stores I visited were covered with dope graffiti on the outside. This gave me the idea to do my first project (the UPI one) on graffiti in Tokyo. I feel like it could be quite interesting and without a doubt ties into my final project. Manhattan Records was probably the best store I went to, as it had a good selection of clothes and vinyl all in one place, complete with a live DJ spinning records. One thing I have noticed about all the Dj's and stores I have heard playing hip-hop around Tokyo is that they play real shit. What I mean is, right now a lot (the majority) of hip-hop coming out of the U.S. is watered down dance music, not the real soul music on which hip-hop has been built around. It's almost like going back into a time machine 10 to 15 years to when the music was good. For example, walking around in Harijuku I heard one of the hip-hop clothing stores playing a song from the producer Marco Polo's album. I was shocked because while he is one of my favorite producers and artist, he is considered underground in the U.S. So it was kinda of a nice shock to hear this random store in Harijuku playing his music. What has happened back in the U.S. is that major labels have taken control of the music, so they make the songs, they decide whats hot, then they push it down your throat via the radio, mtv, bet, etc. They have almost taken the music aspect out of the term music industry. Here in Japan this is not the case. It is still up to the people and DJ's to decide what they like and what they want to hear. Maybe I will attempt to focus on this in my documentary. Enough ranting. On top of all this, I have been in contact with a producer/Dj living and working here in Tokyo and he has agreed to met and let me interview him and has told me he will bring along some of his friends who are also in the industry. Hopefully talking to these people will shed some light on where I want to go with this. I would say it has been a pretty good start though.

Three Day Project Day 3

After two days of standing in the background and trying to blend in (as best as I can), it was time for me to attempt to interact with someone. I did not spend anytime outside the Big Box, but rather went straight to the arcade with the goal of challenging someone in a game or two. First up was Mario Kart 2, arcade style. There were already two people playing and two more spots open so I took a seat and waited for the next game to begin so I could join in. In my best Japanese-English dialect I asked them if they would race against me. I assume they understood because next thing I knew I was in a heated battle with turtle shells and banana peels whizzing past my character. I considered myself a fairly accomplished Mario Cart player back in the days of nintendo 64, and I was able to hold my own to finish in 2nd place. I again attempted to tell my competitors "good race" but I'm still not sure they understood. The next game up was Street Fighter. I waited a couple minutes to get a spot and decided to try to my luck against the computer first, seeing as how it has been years since I have played. I destroyed to computer and was feeling pretty good about myself at this point, but that was all about to change. Again in my Japanese-English (mostly english) hybrid, I waited for the kid next for me to be done and challenged. I did not know what I was getting into. To say I was slaughtered would be an understatement, seeing as how I got about one hit in the whole three rounds while taking a great deal of punishment. After it was over the kid did not gloat or act cocky or anything of that nature. He just continued to play as if killing me was business as usual, and I have a feeling that it was. After my embarrassing defeat I decided it was time to conclude my three day project and exited the arcade with my head held low.

Three day project part 2

My experience on day two of this project was somewhat similar to day one, although I did manage to scribble down some notes as I did my observations. I found myself outside of the Big Box in Takadanobaba at about 6 O'clock. There were a group of about 6 or 7 teenagers standing around waiting for a bus, and about three policemen standing around looking quite bored. I saw parents dragging kids along by the hand trying to get them to hurry along to the station. Pretty uneventful, no wonder the policemen looked so bored. I made my way to the 6th floor of the Big Box, where the arcade is located. It was even more crowded than the day before, with a line of people waiting to play one of the 6 Street Fighter games. There were about 4 or 5 groups of girls in their which I found interesting. In america you would never see an arcade as a hang out spot for girls. Also besides these groups, I also witnessed a good amount of couples playing together. The staff in the building was extremely nice as almost every one working there went out of their way to say hello to me. After about a half hour of hanging around the arcade, I left thinking about how I would do my "interaction" on the third day of this project.

3 Day Project part 1

Yesterday afternoon I began my three day project in Takadanobaba, not to far from where I am staying. I posted up around the station, outside of the Big Box with the goal of observing people as they went about their daily business. Everyone coming in and out of the station is in a hurry, which is something I have noticed in my time here in Tokyo. They breeze past the people on the street soliciting various restaurants as if they did not exist. After about 10 minutes of nothing too eventful happening I journeyed into the Big Box arcade to continue to my observation. It was relatively crowded, which is no surprise seeing as how every arcade I have gone into since I have arrived has been at least half full. I watched people from every generation playing and competing in a wide array of games. A teenager was playing some type crazy fighting game with robots, while some 4o year old man in a business suite played tekken. At this point I decided to head in and return to the same spots tomorrow ( later today at this point) with a notepad to continue my three day project.