All posts in “動画”

Johnny Sokko and His Giant Robot – Giant Robo (ジャイアントロボ) For You Japanese Fans!

2015年2月22日 / No Comments

(Image at top is the first – totally ripped off design – of the robot for Robot55.)

May I brag? I’ve had so many people tell me that they love the Robot character we use for Robot55. Thanks. I made him myself…robot55sUh, no… That’s not true. Ayumi, our president made him. Besides being a sort-of genius engineer and designer, she’s a mad scientist!


Since I can remember, Japan has always had a lot of robots (be they real, giant or otherwise) as well as monsters and ghosts. When I was a kid growing up in Minnesota, we always thought it was strange. I remember asking my  mom (who was Japanese) why the Japanese had so many weird monsters and robots everywhere. It’s bizarre when you stop to think about it; Japan had lots of robots, etc. since way back when. Now, in 2015, Japan has robot restaurants and all sorts of funky aluminum creatures… And, as for monsters, I guess Fukushima Dai-Ichi could fit that bill.

How little did we realize when we were little kids, that this 60’s Japanese Kitsch was extremely cool…. How little did we realize that those toy cars made out of aluminum beer cans that came from Japan in the sixties would be worth thousands of dollars to collectors today. How could we realize, as little kids, how dumb we were? The robots, monsters and toy cars from Japan were waaaaaay cool. Us dumb dorky kids were the ones who weren’t cool.

I looked up some cool videos of the seminal Japanese robot character: Giant Robot. That cartoon was known as “Johnny Sokko and His Giant Robot” in the USA.  I turned on this Youtube video link and watched. “Ah!” I thought, “I remember this TV show! His finger is a rocket!”

A minute later, my wife peered out of the dining room, when she heard the theme song of Giant Robo and exclaimed, “I loved this TV show! When it ended, I cried and cried!” (She started to cry right there too! She’s so sweet)

Watching my wife relive a moment of her childhood brought tears to my eyes! She reminded me of my mother; and, her emotions remind me, once again, just how romanticist and delicate the Japanese can be.

I love Japan and the Japanese people! 

Here’s a trailer for Giant Robot…

… Maybe this is just one more clue into why the Japanese have a fascination with robots and giant radioactive creatures from space and the bottom of the ocean….


NOTES: Giant Robo first appeared in Weekly Shonan Sunday in 1967. The Giant Robo manga (comics) first appeared in a weekly comic book called Weekly Shōnen Sunday on May 1967. Written by Mitsuteru Yokoyama, Giant Robo tells the story of Daisaku Kusama, the titular Robo and an evil secret society known only as “Big Fire.” In October of the same year, a live-action adaptation premiered on TV Asahi.

Make Your Own Video For Your Business For Free! Part 3 – You Need a Map: How to Write a Script!〜ビジネス動画を自分で作ってみよう！その３〜

2015年2月21日 / 8 Comments

Welcome back! This is Video Tips! Make Your Own Video For Your Business For Free! Part 3 – You Need a Map: How to Write a Script!” where we give you free simple tips on how to make better homemade videos for your business, service, restaurant, or organization (and even home and family videos!) We are going to help you each week correcting the most basic and common mistakes of homemade videos. So, in just a snap, you can make your business (or family videos) MUCH better by just keeping in mind every week’s simple 3 point lessons. These easy tips will greatly improve your video for business and all your home photos and videos of the kids and family too! So, let’s get started with part 3: You need a map: How to write a script.

In a post last week, entitled: 90% of All People Say a Video Helps To Decide a Purchase! (www.robot55.jp/blog/90-of-all-people-say-a-video-helps-to-decide-a-purchase/) we gave you important data and numbers on effective videos. One of the most important numbers was “10 seconds.” Here’s what the article says:

2) “10 seconds.”
That’s how long you have to grab the attention of viewers in a video marketing clip. According to research by Visible Measures, 20% of your viewers will click away from a video in 10 seconds or fewer. And it doesn’t get a lot better than that. You’ll lose about 1/3 of your viewers by 30 seconds, 45% of them by 1 minute and almost 60% by 2 minutes. And those numbers remain the same no matter how long the video is.

 

So, it is critical that the first ten seconds say what you do and gives a message that your potential target audience wants to hear. If your video isn’t sending it’s core message out in the first 5 ~ 10 seconds, then your viewer will click it off and stop watching. You don’t want that. But how do we make a good message in such a short time? How do we know what the message should be?

First off, remember the “6 W’s”

1) Who (Who are you?)

2) What (What are you selling, promoting?)

3) When (When are you open or selling? When is the event?)

4) Where (Where is your business, event?)

5) Why (Why is your business, event, service good or different?)

6) How (How can I do business with you?)

Then, with these questions in mind, think about your potential customer and what they want; if you are selling used cars, then a woman looking for a new dress probably won’t come looking at your site or video. People who might find you or your video are looking for used cars. So, knowing that fact, and that a video must be short, let’s write a script!

But how? Like this:

1) Hi! I’m Mike Rogers. President of Flaky Used Cars.

2) We sell the best in used cars for the lowest prices.

3) We’re open all the time.

4) We’re that big pile of wrecked cars you see when you drive by Farmer Wilson’s Pig Ranch.

5) We have tons of old wrecked and used cars that have been dumped here over the years.

6) We accept cash and credit cards. Come on over.

So, there is the basics for our short video.

But wait! Should I use this, in this order? Maybe not! Think again about your customers; what are they looking for? In this case, I reckon my potential customer would be someone looking for an old car chassis for a classic car or the bumper for his Ford truck that he wrecked last weekend.

So, we need to start with what the customer might be looking for. So, instead of #1 first. We should start with #2:

“We sell the best in used cars for the lowest prices.”

But, let’s go one step further and make it more appealing for our potential customers. Asking questions is always good. Let’s make that sentence a question for the viewer!

#2 “Are you looking for the best in used cars for the lowest prices?”

Ah! Now that is more like it! As a viewer, I know exactly what this is about in a few seconds. Perfect!

So, let’s continue by taking the sentences above and rearrange in this order (2-1-5-4-6-3):

2) Are you looking for the best in used cars for the lowest prices?

1) Hi! I’m Mike Rogers. President of Flaky Used Cars.

5) We have tons of old wrecked and used cars that have been dumped here over the years.

4) We’re that big pile of wrecked cars you see when you drive by Farmer Wilson’s Pig Ranch.

6) We accept cash and credit cards. Come on over.

3) We’re open all the time.

Get it! This is darned near perfect. It gets my message out about what we do in less than 4 seconds. If you can get this crucial duty done correctly on your homemade video for your business, then you are ten steps ahead of the game even if your competition spend ¥500,000 on their video: Because, no matter the cost, if you don’t grab your viewers within ten seconds, you’ve lost them.

So, please use this basic “map” above anytime you are thinking about making your own video. If you need help, please don’t hesitate to write to me directly. I’ll help you. No problem!

There’s a few old sayings I’d like to repeat:

“Failing to plan is planning to fail.”

and

“80% of success comes in the planning.”

Trust me this little bit of planning will save you much time and effort and is extremely important if you want to get the message out and grab people within the first 10 seconds.

Of course, if after making your video, you decide that you do want a little more of a professional video production in Japanese or English (or any other language) then please think about us at Robot55. We are specialists in 30 Second and 60 Second videos for all areas of business videos, restaurant videos, service videos, product videos and more. Contact us if you just want to talk about it (free consultations) and let us give you a free estimate.

Or if you have any questions at all about making your own video, feel free to write directly to me and ask away!
 I’m here to help you! Let’s have fun making videos and making more money for your business!

Email: contact@robot55.jp

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For more free tips:

Video Tips! Make Your Own Video For Your Business For Free! Pt. 1 (www.robot55.jp/blog/video-tips-make-your-own-video-for-your-business-for-free-pt-1/)
Video Tips! Make Your Own Video For Your Business For Free! Part 2 (www.robot55.jp/blog/video-tips-make-your-own-video-for-your-business-for-free-part-2/)
Make Your Own Video For Your Business For Free! Part 3 – You Need a Map: How to Write a Script! (http://robot55.jp/blog/make-your-own-video-for-your-business-for-free-part-3-you-need-a-map-how-to-write-a-script/)
Video Tips! Make Your Own Video For Your Business For Free! Pt. 4(（www.robot55.jp/blog/video-tips-make-your-own-video-for-your-business-for-free-pt-4/)

 

ROBOT55格安動画講座 – 上手な動画撮影のコツ 其の弐

2015年2月19日 / 1 Comment

こんにちは！ROBOT55（ロボット・ゴー・ゴー）です！

昨日のブログでは商業サイトを運営する９割の方々が動画がビジネスの役に立っていると答えている、というお話をしました。

ただこの数字の対象となっているのは殆どが動画制作に何十万、何百万も予算が使える企業ばかりです。僕ROBOT55はどちらかといえば個人ビジネスの方々がメインのサービスを提供しています。そんな「志は高いが予算は低い」方々にDIYでウェブ動画を制作する為に少しでもお手伝い出来ればと不定期に行なっているのがこの「上手な動画撮影のコツ」シリーズ。 Continue Reading…

Very Best Cameras Japan

2015年2月19日 / No Comments

With the 2020 Tokyo Olympics coming up, the eyes of the entire world will be on Tokyo and Japan. Along with that, of course, there will be a massive influx of foreigners coming to Japan’s shores and they will be bringing with them their friends and families and that gives us in Japan an incredible business opportunity.

There is, and always will be, another opportunity for smart business people to share their businesses, products, services and ideas with folks outside of Japan through online shopping or auction sites like E-Bay. Did you know that E-Bay annual sales in 2014 were $17.9 billion dollars? And now there is a boom in Japanese online retailers taking advantage of this exploding market.

Last week, we met an extremely smart and charming woman who is the president of an online store called “Very Best Cameras Japan.” Very Best Cameras Japan sells new and used cameras equipment on E-Bay…. And their business is growing by leaps and bounds.  The president was proud of her work and of the company, so she wants to expand and increase her sales so she asked us to help her make a video. We did! Here it is:

This video is effective because it is short and to the point. It gives Very Best Cameras Japan a “human face” and allows us, the potential customer, to see the people we are dealing with when making an important purchase. I think she did a fine job and she comes off as, kind, extremely polite, honest and sincere. As a customer, I have no problem with dealing with her for my business.

When thinking about making a video like this, remember the data I shared with you yesterday in “90% of All People Say a Video Helps To Decide a Purchase!”

Important numbers and words:

1) “90%.”

90% is the percentage of online shoppers at a major retailer’s website who said they find online video helpful in making shopping and buying decisions. Retailers who provide online video to show off their products report that the products with a video sell a lot more than products with no video.

2) “10 seconds.”

That’s how long you have to grab the attention of viewers in a video marketing clip. According to research by Visible Measures, 20% of your viewers will click away from a video in 10 seconds or fewer. And it doesn’t get a lot better than that. You’ll lose about 1/3 of your viewers by 30 seconds, 45% of them by 1 minute and almost 60% by 2 minutes. And those numbers remain the same no matter how long the video is. (Read more: www.robot55.jp/blog/90-of-all-people-say-a-video-helps-to-decide-a-purchase/)

At Robot55, we specialize in this sort of English language video for businesses in Japan. All of our staff are seasoned professionals and our narrators have thousands of FM radio shows, How to Video narrations, game narrations, animation narrations and even real TV commercials under our belt. We are proud that we have a stable of true professionals who have lived and worked in TV and radio in Japan.

Not only that, but we help the business owner to write their script in a professional manner… And we are doing that part at no charge!

The business owner merely needs to jot down what they want to say, and we will make it up to be a short and effective business promotion video, in English or Japanese… Of course, we also do subtitles in other languages. I will post the Japanese subtitled version of the above video in another post coming soon.

No one can beat our discount price for this level of quality.

Contact us and let’s get started on making a video for Youtube, Facebook or your homepage that will increase your business and sales.

Email: contact@robot55.jp

Very Best Cameras Japan URL:  http://stores.ebay.com/Very-Best-Cameras-Japan

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NOTES: Here is the script for the video above. Use this as a model for your own script!

Looking for the best in new and used camera equipment from Japan?
Welcome to Very Best Cameras Japan. My name is Naomi and I’m the president and owner of Very Best Cameras Japan.
Very Best Cameras Japan sells new and used photographic equipment. Our inventory is wide, versatile and constantly changing.
The Japanese are famous for care of technology and equipment we can assure you of the best quality products at Very Best Cameras Japan.
We always take special care to wrap and pack our items safely and securely and to ship them as promptly as possible.
We personally respond to each and every customer’s questions and inquiries.
Very Best Cameras Japan promises to give you a shopping experience that is easy, reliable, and saves you money!
Oh, and we also speak English.
Very Best Cameras Japan! 

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 *For more help on writing your script, see Make Your Own Video For Your Business For Free! Part 3 – You Need a Map: How to Write a Script! (www.robot55.jp/blog/make-your-own-video-for-your-business-for-free-part-3-you-need-a-map-how-to-write-a-script/) 

Top 6 Favorite Foods Amongst Foreign Tourists to Japan

2015年2月12日 / No Comments

Well, a survey of tourists leaving Japan shows what everyone already knows: Sushi is a favorite among tourists (and Japanese alike). Here is a list of the top favorite foods amongst tourists to Japan!

A recent newspaper article I read said this:

Foreign tourists visiting Japan enjoy sushi above any other national dish, according to a survey by the Japan National Tourism Organisation. The state-run agency said it interviewed more than 15,000 foreign tourists as they left Japan and asked what their favorite food had been during their visit.

So what were their favorite foods?

Drum roll please!

At #6: Gyudon! Gyudon is everywhere in Japan too. Gyudon is beef and vegetables on a bed of rice and it is probably the best value for the money in town. You can have a full stomach for under $5 (USD)! I recommend Sukiya as they have nearly 2000 shops all over Japan (and English menus!)

#5: Udon! You need the best and most delicious and inexpensive Udon in Tokyo? Check out Takamoto Seimenjyo: Gaijin Gourmet! Awesomely Delicious Udon in Kamiyacho, Tokyo!

udon shop

At #4: Tempura! Fish, shellfish or vegetables deep fried in batter! I don’t usually eat fried foods but I have been to Tenya a few times and it is fast, cheap and delicious.

At #3: Sashimi! (good sashimi is expensive so I don’t really know any cheap places… But try out #1 below!)

At #2: Ramen! A noodle soup that originated in China, came in second with 21 percent of visitors placing it top. I can’t really recommend any ramen shop because there’s millions of good ones everywhere in Tokyo!

At #1: Sushi! Four out of ten people picked sushi as #1. Sushi is morsels of vinegar-flavored rice usually served with sliced raw seafood. Well, there’s a million great sushi places in Japan too! (Well, duh!) But if you have kids who are picky eaters and you are on a budget traveling in Japan, then try out Hamazushi! The kids LOVE this place! Gaijin Gourmet: My Favorite Robot (Sushi) – Hamazushi

Of course, as the Olympics get closer, there will be more and more of these establishments making English language videos for the foreign audience coming to Japan and you can bet that Robot55 will be there making these video productions for the shops, especially in the Tokyo area. As we produce these videos, we will post them on the Robot55 webpage.

Bon apetite!

 

昭和39年東京オリンピック

2015年2月12日 / No Comments

ホモ・サピエンスの皆様こんにちは！ロボット・ゴー・ゴーです♬

2020年に東京で再びオリンピックが開催されるということでロボット界も大騒ぎなんですが、今日はここで今から半世紀以上前に東京で行われた最初のオリンピックのアメリカ・ユニバーサル・ニュースの貴重なアーカイブ・ニュース映像をご紹介したいと思います。

Continue Reading…

Is Your “Noren” Too Low? Izakaya? Chain New Youtube Video

2015年2月11日 / No Comments

In Japan, a Noren is the cloth sheet that hangs at the front of any establishment that shows that they are open for business. A customer must usually lift the Noren to enter any shop.

If a “Noren is too low,” then it is said that it becomes difficult for new customers to enter because they cannot see the inside of the shop. So, a Noren that is “Too Low” is bad for business. People want to be able to see inside your shop to see the look and atmosphere and staff. If they cannot, many people will hesitate to enter.

But, when you stop to think about it, if a customer is already at your shop’s entrance to where they can just lift up the Noren to look in, then you already have them at your shop’s front door and that’s half the battle of just getting them inside and becoming a customer.

But how about people who are far away or standing at the station waiting for friends and looking for a suitable place to dine or shop? Well, that’s where a video on Youtube and then embedded into your webpage or Facebook page or other Social Media can help you to get new customers and to help them to find you and enter your shop! With Youtube video, people can see inside your shop, meet you and see what kind of a place you are running, and then they can feel comfortable entering for the very first time.

You know what the old saying is? “Familiarity breeds content.” If people know what the inside of your place looks like and who you and the staff are, it makes it MUCH easier for them to enter.

There’s an interesting bar and eating establishment near Fuchu station named Chain. The restaurant specializes in a friendly and warm atmosphere and various dishes featuring quality beef and other cuts of choice meat braised or pan fried. I tried several of the dishes and they were quite delicious.

chain izakaya

Chain is run by a husband and wife team of Masamichi and Takeo Suzuki.

Chain doesn’t have their own webpage, but they decided to make a video for Youtube and place it on their Facebook page as well as on other social media sites. So we took the Robot55 team out to Chain and made the video for them and their customers as well as potential new customers.

Here is the video. I think with this, you can see what sort of place Chain is and the kind of people running it as well as get an idea about the food and drink menu.

With a video like this on your website or Facebook page or blog, new and first time customers can get a glimpse of what’s inside.

It makes it every easy for folks to lift the Noren at your shop and come on in. And that is good for your business!

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Izakaya? Chain

１８３－００４５ 東京都府中市美好町３－２－２－２０１号

3-2-2-201 Miyoshi-Cho, Fuchu City, Tokyo.

Hours: Mon – Sun:5:00 pm – 12:00 am

Tele: 042－207－2941

Map: http://yahoo.jp/fkvWZ9

 

 

The Tokyo Olympics – 1964 News Reels

2015年2月10日 / No Comments

The 2020 Tokyo Olympics are coming. I was searching for information on the subject when I stumbled upon some old video of newsreel footage that show the scenes and I thought you might like to go with me on a blast to the past.

These two are Universal News newsreels (Yes, Universal used to do the news also!) Probably a common denominator between these videos of 1964 and the 2020 Olympics will be that the USA is probably one of the top two medal winners. I expect that China, and not the Soviet Union, will be the ones to beat in 2020.

This first one is entitled, “The Olympics – U.S. Widens Tokyo Lead from Oct. 19, 1964. Here’s the description:  “(1) brief shot of Harold Wilson of Britain (2) Tokyo Olympics as Hirohito watches; Sharon Studer wins 3rd medal in butterfly swim race; platform diving won by Leslie Bush; track events include 100 meter spring won by Hayes – slow motion of finish; women’s 100 meter (partial newsreel).”

By the way, did you know that Japan came in third in medals in the 1964 Tokyo Olympics? Wow! What’s happened since then? It’s anybody’s guess, but Japan has been an also-ran in the Olympics in the last few decades.

Here’s a medal chart:

1964 Olympics medal countWikipedia has all the details:

The 1964 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XVIII Olympiad, was an international multi-sport event held in Tokyo, Japan from October 10 to 24, 1964. Tokyo had been awarded the organization of the 1940 Summer Olympics, but this honor was subsequently passed to Helsinki because of Japan’s invasion of China, before ultimately being canceled because of World War II. The 1964 Summer Games were the first Olympics held in Asia, and the first time South Africa was barred from taking part due to its apartheid system in sports. (South Africa was, however, allowed to compete at the 1964 Summer Paralympics, also held in Tokyo, where it made its Paralympic Games debut.)

Tokyo was chosen as the host city during the 55th IOC Session in West Germany, on May 26, 1959. These games were also the first to be telecast internationally without the need for tapes to be flown overseas as they were for the 1960 Olympics four years earlier. The games were telecast to the United States using Syncom 3, the firstgeostationary communication satellite, and from there to Europe using Relay 1. These were also the first Olympic Games to have color telecasts (partially). Certain events like the sumo wrestling and judo matches, sports huge in Japan, were tried out using Toshiba’s new color transmission system; but just for the domestic market, not for any international coverage. History surrounding the 1964 Olympics was chronicled in the 1965 documentary film Tokyo Olympiad, directed by Kon Ichikawa.

The second video is about the dawning of the Bullet Train. Check it!

I think there is one more thing though that might be common about the 1964 Tokyo Olympics and the 2020 Tokyo Olympics; There’s going to be lots of foreigners from around the world coming to Tokyo so Japanese businesses need to up their game and promote their businesses to these wealthy foreigners while they can!

Web video and local productions in various languages will be key to growing your business.

If you need anything concerning video production in Tokyo and video production in the English language, please ask us at Robot55.

Making a homemade video – 上手な動画撮影のコツ 其の壱

2015年2月9日 / 2 Comments

お店やネットビジネスをされている方々にとってビデオを制作してYouTubeやFacebook、TwitterといったSNSを使って拡散するのは非常に効果的です。初めて行く場所や２軒目を探す時に食事する場所やカフェ、バーをネットで探した経験のある方も多くいらっしゃると思いますが、沢山良さそうで似たようなお店がリストアップされてしまったら、そこにビデオがあるかないかで初めて扉を開く勇気がもらえるかどうか、全然違いますよね。 Continue Reading…