YouTubeing - The World of Golden Eggs

[Bruce Baird]

Dear Colleagues,

I was not in on the ground floor on establishing this forum, but I  
would like to say that I think questions/issues such as this one  
should be acceptable without apology and thank Mr. Sharp for bringing  
it up.

Best,

Bruce


On Mar 15, 2007, at 10:13 AM, J.sharp wrote:

> Since this list is meant to be about all aspects of Japanese visual  
> culture,
> not only film, I wanted to ask a little about the background of a  
> program
> called The World of GOLDEN EGGS that a friend of mine alerted my  
> attention
> to on Youtube:
>
> www.youtube.com/watch?v=VgjBIcGc9bM
>
> Set in South Park-style American suburbia, it is something of a  
> curio. It
> seems like the intent of these brief skits is to teach English to the
> Japanese. I gather its been quite a popular phenomenon over the  
> past year,
> migrating onto other platforms such as iTunes podcasts and mobile  
> phone
> downloads, although it originally surfaced on cable TV.
> One interesting aspect is its use of CG for the animation,  
> particularly the
> expedient method known as Toon-Shading.
>
> Toon Shading means the models are animated as 3d objects, and then  
> rendered
> to give them the finished look of a traditional hand-drawn cartoon.  
> Using
> software developed by the company SoftImage by Michael Arias, the  
> technique
> was first used to animate the opening Boar God attack in Studio  
> Ghibli?s
> Princess Mononoke (1997), and is often used as a shortcut for the more
> challenging work of the traditional animation, with which it is often
> combined. The most obvious use if for the 2003 film Appleseed.
>
> Anyone caught this?
>
> Jasper Sharp
>
>
>
>
>
> --
> Midnight Eye: The Latest and Best in Japanese Cinema
> www.midnighteye.com
>
> ===
>
> Available now in bookstores everywhere:
> The Midnight Eye Guide to New Japanese Film (Stone Bridge Press)
> by Tom Mes and Jasper Sharp
> http://www.midnighteye.com/features/midnighteye_guide.shtml
> "Easily one of the most important books on Japanese cinema ever  
> released in
> English."
> - Newtype USA
>
>
>
> --------- Original Message --------
> From: KineJapan at lists.acs.ohio-state.edu
> To: KineJapan <KineJapan at lists.acs.ohio-state.edu>
> Subject: Mainichi Concours 2006
> Date: 19/01/07 18:29
>
>>
>> The results of the 2006 Mainichi Concours, one of the last of the big
>> yearly film awards, were announced:
>>
>> Best Japanese Film: Yureru
>> Best Director: Negishi Kichitaro (Yuki ni negau koto)
>> Best Screenplay: Kato Masato (Yuki ni negau koto)
>> Best Actor: Sato Koichi  (Yuki ni negau koto)
>> Best Actress: Nakatani Miko (Kiraware Matsuko no issho)
>> Best Supporting Actor: Sasano Takashi (Bushi no ichibun, Nezo no ban)
>> Best Supporting Actress: Aoi Yu (Hula Girl, Neji no megami,  
>> Hachimitsu
>> to Clover)
>> Best New Face Award: Tsukaji Muga (Mamiya kyodai), Dan Rei (Bushi no
>> ichibun)
>> Tanaka Kinuyo Award: Kusabue Mitsuko
>>
>> Award of Excellence in Japanese Film: Hula Girl
>> Best Cinematography: Kawakami Masato  (Kiraware Matsuko no issho)
>> Best Art Direction: Taneda Yohei (The Yuchoten Hotel, Hula Girl)
>> Best Music: Kako Takashi (Hakase no aishita sushiki)
>> Best Sound: Shiratori Mitsugu (Hula Girl, Yureru); Onodera Osamu  
>> (Yuki
>> ni negau koto)
>> Best Technical Award: Koike Yoshiyuki (editing for Kiraware  
>> Matsuko no
>> issho)
>>
>> Best Documentary: Edward Said: Out of Place
>> Animation Award: Toki o kakeru shojo
>> Ofuji Noburo Award: Tekkon kinkurito
>> Fan Award: Death Note
>>
>> Best Foreign Film: Flags of Our Fathers
>>
>> Special Awards: Imamura Shohei, Kazami Shoko
>>
>> Forgive me if I got any of the name readings wrong. The original
>> Japanese article is available at:
>>
>> http://www.japan-movie.net/news/?i=223
>>
>> As I mentioned the other day, the Mainichi tends to be fairly
>> conservative, but they are one of the few major awards that also
>> focuses on the technical staff and other genres like documentary and
>> animation. Ofuji Noburo is one of Japan's great animators, and the
>> award named after him commemorates some significant contribution  
>> to the
>> art of animation.
>>
>> Aaron Gerow
>> KineJapan owner
>>
>> Assistant Professor
>> Film Studies Program/East Asian Languages and Literatures
>> Yale University
>>
>> For list commands, send &quot;information kinejapan&quot; to
>> listserver at lists.acs.ohio-state.edu
>> Kinema Club: http://pears.lib.ohio-state.edu/Markus/Welcome.html
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>
> ________________________________________________
> Message sent using Hunter Point Online WebMail
>

Bruce Baird
Assistant Professor
Asian Languages and Literatures
University of Massachusetts Amherst
But?, Japanese Theater, Intellectual History

717 Herter Hall
161 Presidents Drive
University of Massachusetts Amherst
Amherst, MA 01003-9312
Phone: 413-577-4992
Fax: 413-545-4975
baird at asianlan.umass.edu




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