Kaijū is a Japanese word that literally translates to “monster,” and is used to refer to a genre of tokusatsu entertainment. Kaiju films usually showcase monsters of any form, usually attacking a major Japanese city or engaging another (or multiple) monster(s) in battle. Related terms include kaijū eiga, a film featuring giant monsters or a single monster; kaijin (referring to roughly humanoid monsters); and daikaiju (giant kaiju), specifically meaning the larger variety of monsters. Godzilla is an example of a daikaiju; others include Gamera, Mothra, Rodan, King Ghidorah, Mechagodzilla and Daimajin. The term ultra-kaiju is longhand for kaiju in the Ultra Series. Toho has produced a variety of Kaiju films over the years (many that featured Godzilla and Mothra) but other Japanese studios contributed to expanding the genre in Japan by producing Kaiju films and shows of their own.
Now you know the history, here’s a few of my early favorites.
Finally, today’s throw-away film. This is the missing link between the 1933 King Kong film and the 1954 Godzillafilm. Sorry I don’t have a trailer for this. This is the only remaining bits from that film.
At Robot55 we make video productions for businesses and services and products, but we also pride ourselves on making videos for art and music. Our starting price is ¥70,000 and we are sure we can work out something that fits your budget. Oh, and we love making band videos too! Contact us! contact@robot55.jp
There’s been so very many Japanese Concept Cars through the years that have never made it into production. I think they are the coolest designs. Here are a few selcted videos from the fabulous and crazy, Science Fiction universe of Japanese concept cars. Since the 1950s, all Japanese car manufacturers have been testing and designing cars that, if you saw them on the road, you’d think that it was something out of a Hollywood movie! Some of these designs are out of this world and full of imagination!
I’ve searched the internet and found some short videos of a few of my favorites. So if you like Science Fiction, and you like cars! Then this is a short trip for you!
If you want to see more, I’ll try to find more next week and present them for you. If you just want to see still photos (not as fun as some of these videos, I think) then check out: Japanese Concept Cars (www.japanese-concept-cars.com/category/lexus-concept-cars/).
———————–
At Robot55 we make video productions for businesses and services and products, but we also pride ourselves on making videos for art and music. Our starting price is ¥70,000 and we are sure we can work out something that fits your budget. Oh, and we love making band videos too! Contact us! contact@robot55.jp
“I’ve always said, I thought the Sex Pistols was more Music Hall than anything else – because I think that really, more truths are said in humour than any other form.” – John Lydon (lead vocalist of the Sex Pistols)
“The Sex Pistols was a part of my life. Just a small part.” – Steve Jones (guitarist of the Sex Pistols)
————————————————-
This is a story (mostly my very stretched imagination) about how a band named the Sex Pistols really affected my life, and still does, to this day.
It was mid-1977. I was a college student. I had very long hair. Just like all the other guys did.
The FM radio was filled with lame rock bands like the Eagles, Fleetwood Mac, Foreigner and Journey or disco music. Real rock and roll was long gone; Kiss and Aerosmith started doing ballads. I thought it should be against the law for heavy metal bands to do ballads. It sucked.
In my car, I had a dozen cassette tapes. Ten of them were David Bowie and the other two were T-Rex. I couldn’t really stand listening to anything else. Except a few radio shows I really liked. (I wrote about some of those shows here: The White Stripes Jack White and Me (A True Story) (robot55.jp/blog/jack-white-and-me-a-true-story/)
One day, bored (and stoned) as usual, I came home from college. And turned on the TV. There I saw a news report about a sick new rock and roll craze that was sweeping England; it was the punk rock craze.
It was freaky: kids with short spiky orange colored hair and girls and guys holding dog leashes and collars on their boyfriends and girlfriends – who dressed in similar black leather attire with a tinge of fashionable Nazi regalia.
I thought it was way cool.
As the announcer kept telling the viewers that this was a “sick and twisted trend” in UK music, I watched and thought, “This is great!”
Later I would go to the local record shop and ask for “Punk Rock.” The clerk, with a confused face, scowled and looked at me and said, “What’s that?” I told him it was a new kind of music that was popular in England and he pointed me to the import section. I didn’t know what I was looking for exactly; I only knew these people had short and messy hair. I filed through the imports and then came upon the Damned’s first album (the one where pumpkin pie is smeared all over their faces.) I turned the album over and look at the back and saw some of the guys I had seen on TV: One was dressed as Dracula, another was wearing a waitresses uniform.
This is it! I bought the record and took it home. From the first listen, I was hooked!
On November 1st, 1977, I went to Tower Records on Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood and bought the first Sex Pistols album. November 1st is my birthday! What a great birthday present! I liked the Sex Pistols even more than the Damned!
I became a hard core punk rock fan. From then on, that’s all I listened to. I would go on to be a member in a one-hit wonder punk band and that was a turning point in my life.
To make a long story short, Punk Rock had changed my life and it set me up (for good or bad) as a person who wants to have fun doing what I like and to generally reject mass-consumerism and Pop-Music.
Fast forward many years later and, in 1996, the Sex Pistols who had broken up in 1977, had reunited and came to Japan. I had a chance (invitation) to go see them and perhaps interview them, but I didn’t. Just like my band, the punk movement of 1977 ~ 1980 was a great memory. I wanted to keep it that way. I wasn’t interested in seeing my past heroes as middle-aged fat punks.
I guess I should have gone, though.
A few years ago, Glen Matlock, the original bass guitarist for the Sex Pistols would come and tour Japan. He came to my radio station. I did go meet him then. I took my photo with him. See?
Glen Matlock and Mike Rogers in Tokyo. Feb. 4, 2014
I asked Glen Matlock that same day if he would allow us to make a promo video for his song, “Yeah Right.” He said, “OK!” So, with no planning and no pre-shooting planning meeting at the show, we shot this video. It was made taking video at his rehearsal and then shots of the live performance:
It was great fun and I’m glad I got to finally meet one of my heroes, Glen Matlock. Making his video was a dream come true.
Several months after that, famous photographer Sheila Rock came to Japan. Sheila Rock was the wife of famous music photographer, Chris Rock, and Sheila spent her youth taking photos of early UK punk greats like Generation X, the Clash and the Sex Pistols. Even though Johnny Rotten didn’t attend her event, I did, and I sat and talked with her and she even took my photo for me! I wrote about that in Sex Pistols, Clash, Gen X, Sheila Rock and Why We Sometimes Make Videos for Free! (robot55.jp/blog/sex-pistols-clash-gen-x-sheila-rock-and-why-we-sometimes-make-videos-for-free/) I think there’s a photo of me taken by the famous Sheila rock at that link, so please check it out.
Like I said, the Sex Pistols have greatly influenced my life even to this very day!
They taught me that it’s OK to be an individual and to not follow the crowds. They also taught me that in life, sometimes hype is bigger than reality.
I’ve used that idea and concept all my life since then. It has helped me greatly all my life.
Steve Jones said (quote at the top of this page): “The Sex Pistols was a part of my life. Just a small part.”
But, for me, the Sex Pistols were, and still are, a big part of my life.
——————————-
Actually, if you want to read a really true story of how I made successful ventures into the music business in Japan, by using ideas – hype and marketing techniques I learned from the Sex Pistols, please refer to: My Very Own Rock & Roll Swindle! How I Scammed the Music Business in Japan! (modernmarketingjapan.blogspot.jp/2012/04/my-very-own-rock-roll-swindle-how-i.html)
———————–
At Robot55 we make video productions for businesses and services and products, but we also pride ourselves on making videos for art and music. Our starting price is ¥70,000 and we are sure we can work out something that fits your budget. Oh, and we love making band videos too! Contact us! contact@robot55.jp
Gang! We just made the new video for Japan’s Hottest New Girl’s Group! Su Ko D Koi! These girl’s are fucking fantastic! Su凸ko D凹koi 「すっとこどっこい」. The song is called, “Busu” which means “Ugly.” Check it!
She sings、
“Ugly, ugly, ugly, ugly…. I know I am ugly….
But, I got a boyfriend and we have been going out.
But one day, out of the blue, he hit me for no reason.
I woke up in the hospital and he had his head in his hands.
Then he was gone….
But, I finally was able to realize that finally, he treated me like a woman!
At Robot55 we make video productions for businesses and services and products, but we also pride ourselves on making videos for art and music. Our starting price is ¥70,000 and we are sure we can work out something that fits your budget. Oh, and we love making band videos too! Contact us! contact@robot55.jp
Here’s this week’s episode of Stop-Motion Animations for April 11, 2015!
First up, is a guy named Lou Bunin. Lou Bunin was an American puppeteer, artist, and pioneer of stop-motion animation in the middle half of the twentieth century. He was a mural artist in Mexico City in 1926. There he created political- statement puppet shows using marionettes. Famed Italian photographer, model, actress, and revolutionary political activist Tina Modotti took many pictures of Bunin and his puppets and included them in her work, “The Hands of the Puppeteer.”
When he returned to the USA, Bunin created animated three-dimensional puppets to appear in the 1939 World’s Fair in New York. His 1943 political stop-motion satire, Bury the Axis, is also famous. Years later, Lou Bunin worked at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer films where he created the stop-motion Prologue to the famed film, Ziegfeld Follies (MGM).
Later on, Bunin went on to create a feature length stop-motion animation film adaptation of Alice in Wonderland in 1949. The film starred Carol Marsh as a live-action Alice. It is quite well done. Walt Disney, though, prevented it from being widely released in the U.S., because Walt Disney feared it would compete with his 1951 animated version. To add insult to injury, the film was banned in Britain as Bunin’s Queen of Hearts was seen as unflattering to Queen Victoria. This film has been restored and shown at museums around the US, including the Museum of Modern Art in New York City. You can see the full feature length film here. Below is the trailer!
Next up is Arthur “Art” Clokey. You may not know the name, but if you ever watched American TV animations in the sixties, you know Art Clokey’s work. He is best known as the creator of the character Gumby in the well-known “The Adventures of Gumby.” When actor and comedian Eddie Murphy parodied Gumby in a skit on Saturday Night Live, the animation enjoyed a sort of revival. There was even a Gumby movie called, of course, “Gumby: The Movie.” Others who viewed Sunday morning animations know Clokey’s other extremely famous work, Davey and Goliath which was sponsored by the Lutheran Church in America.
Charles R. Bowers was a cartoonist as well as a slapstick comedian during the silent film and early “talkie” era in America.
Wikipedia says: “Charles R. Bowers was forgotten for decades and his name was absent from most histories of the Silent Era, although his work was enthusiastically reviewed by André Breton and a number of his contemporaries. As his surviving films have an inventiveness and surrealism which give them a freshness appealing to modern audiences, after his rediscovery his work has sometimes been placed in the “top tier” of silent film accomplishments (along with those of, for example, Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton, Harold Lloyd). In comic style, he probably modelled himself after both Harry Langdon and Buster Keaton and was known to the French as “Bricolo.”
This is very good and I think it is brilliant in concept!
Well that’s it for this week’s animations. I hope you enjoyed them! See you next week when we will probably try out some different types of animations! Stay Tuned!
————————
If you want to see more, click on one of the links below!
At Robot55 we make video productions for businesses and services and products, but we also pride ourselves on making videos for art and music. Our starting price is ¥70,000 and we are sure we can work out something that fits your budget. Contact us! contact@robot55.jp
I really have worked as a Stand Up Comedian in Hollywood and around in small venues in Southern California when I was a teenager… I was very popular and got paid… OK. That’s not exactly true. I wasn’t a teenager, I was about 21 or 22 years old when I was a stand-up comedian; and it’s probably a bit of a “stretch” to say that I was “popular.” I did get paid a couple of bucks each time too (which was often more than I got from being in the punk band!)
Months before I became a Stand-Up Comedian, I was playing in a punk band and, from that, I got to see how the stage set-up was done for concerts. I saw an opportunity to be able to go on stage, tell off-color jokes and actually get paid a little bit (plus it was a great way to meet girls!) I figured that, in between the bands – while the Roadies were changing equipment on the stage – I could go up on stage and entertain the troops. (I wrote about my punk band in: The White Stripes Jack White and Me (A True Story) (robot55.jp/blog/jack-white-and-me-a-true-story/)
I actually went to clubs and owners to sell myself and my routine. For a while there, I got jobs; a lady from the department store I worked at actually got me lots of jobs too. She got me jobs at some sort of social events! She could have been a good manager! At that time, I was telling jokes in front of crowds of 50 ~ 200 people one or two weekends a month for a short while!
Sometimes I did so well, and the crowd liked my jokes so much, that the fans were crowding the stage and throwing coins at my feet. This time I am not exaggerating!
Other times, with the very same act and original jokes I wrote, even the next night in front of a different crowd, it was like I was giving a speech at a fricking funeral; it was dead. I definitely am not exaggerating about that either.
I was always confused as to why I was such a hit one night, then the next night, it was terrible! Like night and day!
The first time people threw money at me, I was mad because I thought they were throwing stuff at me to get me off the stage. That was until a friend told me, “Wow! You were great! People were even throwing money at your feet!”
Getting up on stage, by yourself, is much more difficult than people can imagine; you are completely alone. If you are in a band, that’s scary enough, but, in a band, you have your band members and instruments to hide behind. Being a stand up comedian is just you, naked (figuratively speaking), on the stage with a few dozen or, even hundreds of people just staring at you. Their eyes pierce you and their expectations are quite high (or incredibly low – which can be a problem too!) Their eyes and faces are saying, “Entertain me! make me laugh or get off the stage.”
Being a Stand-Up Comedian is a very rough job.
I did this gig, off and on, from 1979 until early 1981 or so.
My very last stand up routine was at my university at a talent show. People were roaring with laughter. I couldn’t figure it out. They were laughing in all the wrong places! I later asked a girl why people were laughing so much and she said, “Your facial expressions were hilarious!” I couldn’t figure that out. If anything my facial expression were of confusion because I couldn’t figure out why people were laughing at my jokes in weird places! It was then and there that I decided that I wasn’t good enough and didn’t have what it takes to be a Stand-Up Comedian.
But I’m very glad I tried my luck as a Stand Up Comedian. Being a Stand-Up Comedian is a great way to become a great public speaker. It is also a good way to overcome inhibitions and to learn how to control a crowd’s behavior.
How and why did I ever first become a Stand-Up Comedian? Let me explain further…
In about mid 1979, a few months after Sid Vicious of the Sex Pistols died, my punk band broke up. I was quite disillusioned with the entire “Punk Thing” by then anyway. Sid dying (he was my hero) was the last straw for me.
But, I had loved being on the stage as a Punk band vocalist and wanted to stay and hang out in Hollywood. So I decided try try my hand as a Stand-Up Comedian. It made sense to me at the time.
Being the front of a punk band was powerful. It was also a lesson in crowd control. When my band ended, at first, I wanted to start another punk band but everything I tried just didn’t work out to my liking. Also, I had learned a lesson from playing in a band with other people who weren’t so dedicated; having to depend on other people sucks!
Being a Stand-Up Comedian is really just you against the world, it seems. It’s a great experience and, no matter your age, I think everyone can benefit from having to stand up in front of a bunch of strangers and give a speech.
After all, giving a speech and doing stand up comedy are first cousins in the public speaking world.
In Japan, you can sometimes see young people standing at a busy train station and giving speeches. I hear it is a kind of initiation at some companies to make their new young employees overcome their inhibitions and become better representatives and salesmen. I think it is good.
I will always fondly look back to my 20 or 30 times as a Stand Up Comedian. Sometimes I was the funniest guy! King of the hill! Other times I was a pathetic little loser standing butt-stark-naked in front of a crowd of people without a friend in the world!….
Both are great learning experiences.
Everyone can benefit from public speaking exposure like that.
Like they say, “Don’t dream it. Be it.”
———————–
At Robot55 we make video productions for businesses and services and products, but we also pride ourselves on making videos for art and music. Our starting price is ¥70,000 and we are sure we can work out something that fits your budget. Oh, and we love making band videos too! Contact us! contact@robot55.jp
A couple of weeks back I wrote a short handy list on how to make a viral video. It has a list of six tips to help you make a viral video (Including, but not limited to using dogs and cats). While utilizing these six tips won’t guarantee a viral sensation, it will increase your chances. If you are interested in that, take a look at: 6 Easy Tips For Making a Viral Video〜バイラル動画のための6つのポイント (robot55.jp/blog/6-easy-tips-for-making-a-viral-video/) Today, I like to show and interesting bit about a child’s piano video that, while not a massive internet sensation, is a “viral hit” so-to-speak in a very narrow and niche market: Moms with little kids just starting out on the piano (well, that’s my guess.)
My buddy, Ken, and I have been making videos and TV programs for a long time. Making a viral video is an elusive goal. I’d love to be able to make a video with 10 million views. Heck, we’re very happy when some of the unknown bands that we made videos for surpass 20,000 views. We’ve also made some videos with some pretty well known musicians, and yet, in the music department, we’ve yet to come close to what I’d call a “Viral Video.” You know, my idea of a Viral Video is something like Psy’s “Gangnam Style” which, as of the moment of this writing, has nearly 2.3 billion views. If you can stand to watch it again, click here: Psy – Gangnam Style (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9bZkp7q19f0)
OK, well, maybe shooting for a few billion is asking a lot (but what’s a few billion between friends?)
It all depends on what your goal is for your video. In the 6 Easy Tips For Making a Viral Video〜バイラル動画のための6つのポイント it talks about quality production and professionalism… But there is something else that can make a video viral and I like to call it “Magic.”
What is this “Magic”? Take a look at this video of this little boy playing the piano. It was uploaded by his mom for purely posterity’s sake. I know all about this video. The intention of the mom in taking this video was only for posterity’s sake; she told me that she didn’t expect the video to ever get anymore than a dozen views or so. They made the video on an iPhone, one take. They did no promotion; no blogging, no Facebook, no nothing.
And yet, this video has over 18,000 views as of the writing of this blog post! How did that happen? I know MANY bands who would be so happy if their videos ever got 5,000 views! But a little kid playing Tchaikovsky at the piano shot with an iPhone and they are getting near 20,000 views???
How did that happen?
This video, for some reason, must be getting watched by other moms with sons or daughters who are practicing the piano. So the word spreads. The only word I have for it is “Magic.”
Actually, I know the whole story about this boy as I am proud to say that he is my son. Yet, I have to admit that I am amazed that a few of his videos have surpassed 15,000 views. I am amazed because I often make videos with artists and I do promote the videos, yet sometimes they just don’t “take off.”
I know for a fact my wife didn’t promote any of our son’s videos, yet he can hit over 18,000 views! Wow!
Here’s a great one I made for him and his mom, called Chopin Impromptu No. 1 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j7YWTH90Kwk
So, see? the Chopin Impromptu has very few views but it is professionally made. The iPhone one? It’s magic! (And a head slapper for me!) Chuckle!
At Robot55 we make video productions for businesses and services and products, but we also pride ourselves on making videos for art and music. Our starting price is ¥70,000 and we are sure we can work out something that fits your budget. Oh, and we love making band videos too! Contact us! contact@robot55.jp
It’s time for this week’s Top 3 New Artist Videos for the week of April 7, 2015. This week I want to showcase what we think are some the best girl bands around and share their videos with you. Some of these videos are from last year, but this countdown is only a few weeks old, so I have some catching up to do. I play these artists and these songs on my regular weekly FM radio show, “What the Funday” on InterFM that is broadcast in Tokyo and Nagoya (and all over Japan on the Radiko.jp network. You can listen to that (if you are in Japan) here: http://radiko.jp/).
So let’s get to today’s Top 3.
The first music video is from a Berlin-based Girl Group called Half Girl. I can’t find much information on this group but they are great! I love this track. Half Girl are Julie Miess (Britta), Vera goiter (Luise Pop), Anna-Leena Lutz (The Laughter) and Gwendoline Tägert (Mondo Fumatore) are composed Half Girl. From what I can guess they are considered Berlin’s All Girl supergroup. You will dig this tune and crack up.
Next up is a great band from London, England and this is their second time on our charts. They released their debut album “Out of View” on 28 January 2013, which went in at number 8 in the UK Indie Breakers Chart, and number 2 in the UK Record Store Chart.
And finally, last but not least and at #1 is The Fabulous Miss Wendy! The Fabulous Miss Wendy is a rock/punk/grunge band formed in Los Angeles. I was told by the late Kim Fowley that the Fabulous Miss Wendy is the next big rock female superstar and he compared her to iconic female musicians like Joan Jett. According to “Revolver Magazine,” The Fabulous Miss Wendy is “the sexiest rock star ever”! She started playing at the age of ten and was inspired by punk acts like the Misfits, The Dead Kennedys, and The Ramones. In High School, her classmates voted her “most likely to be a rock star”! Hee, hee, hee…. Is that cool or what?
At Robot55 we make video productions for businesses and services and products, but we also pride ourselves on making videos for art and music. Our starting price is ¥80,000 and we are sure we can work out something that fits your budget. Oh, and we love making band videos too!
Contact us! contact@robot55.jp
Well, what to do? Well, just in the nick of time, here are two of my recent favorite viral videos just for you to waste a few minutes time and have a laugh. Both are hilarious and I hope you enjoy them!
A little while ago I wrote a post about how to make a viral video for your business and also offered a few choice and hilarious short viral videos. You can read that article and check out some really funny videos here: 6 Easy Tips For Making a Viral Video〜バイラル動画のための6つのポイント (http://robot55.jp/blog/6-easy-tips-for-making-a-viral-video/)
—————
We are Robot55.
Our Mission Statement is:
“We make wonderful videos productions; for a profit if we can, at a loss if we must. But no matter what, we make wonderful video productions.”
Our Motto is:
“Let’s have fun!”
————-
At Robot55 we make video productions for businesses and services and products, but we also pride ourselves on making videos for art and music. Our starting price is ¥70,000 and we are sure we can work out something that fits your budget. Oh, and we love making band videos too! Contact us! contact@robot55.jp
