Tail lights in Otomo's Akira

[Alex Bates]

By the way, speaking of Akira...  What do you make of Kanye West  
"sampling" Akira (and daft punk) for his video "Stronger"?  It includes  
the tail lights in question.  See:
http://www.christianmontoya.com/2007/06/28/screencaptures-of- 
similarities-between-kanye-wests-stronger-and-akira/
In any case, your students might find this interesting.

Alex Bates
Dickinson College

On Oct 26, 2007, at 11:41 AM, Gerard Kraus wrote:

> Dear Bruce,
>
> I was always under the impression that the tail light remnants were
> reminicent of the long shutter speed photos of metropoli(ses ?) and the
> traffic caught on them with lines or white and red light. They could  
> also
> suggest the speed at which the youths drive around the city.
>
> Best,
> G?rard
>
>
>
>
>
>> Dear Colleagues,
>>
>> I am showing my class Otomo's Akira and trying to spend time talking
>> both about content issues/historical background and also about formal
>> issues/artistry.  Otomo often makes streak of the taillights of the
>> motorbikes linger on screen after the bikes have driven away.  I
>> assume that this is a technique he borrowed from cinema and
>> replicated in the anime format (as with the many another borrowings
>> from cinema in both manga and anime), but I just  don't know enough
>> about the technical way you do this is cinema.  Can anyone imagine
>> what I am talking about and provide an explanation?  I assume it has
>> to do with some cinematic analogue to shutter speed or something like
>> that.
>>
>> Best,
>>
>> Bruce
>>
>>
>>
>> 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
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>
>
> -- 
> G?rard Kraus (ggk05 at aber.ac.uk)
> Department of Theatre, Film and Television Studies
> University of Wales, Aberystwyth
> http://www.aber.ac.uk/tfts
>