Time once again for this week’s Top 3 New Artist Videos for the week of March 17, 2015. This is where we showcase what we think are some the best three artists of the week and share their videos with you. This week I have some catching up to do, so some of these videos are already a year old. But no matter, they are still a part of the underground to this date. I play these artists and my 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 without further ado, let’s get to today’s Top 3.
#3) Prima Donna – Sociopath.
This band is from Los Angeles and they have been turning heads and making people sit up and take notice for quite a while now. The band formed in 2003, but didn’t release and album until 2008. In 2009, they opened for Green Day throughout its 21st Century Breakdown World Tour. This band is happening! PRIMA DONNA “Sociopath” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F-vXGwhXTwg)
#2) Wolf Alice – Moaning Lisa Smile.
I wanted to play Wolf Alice’s latest single for you, but I think it’s best for you to have some background on where this band’s head is at, so I will show you one of my favorite videos of last year. Wolf Alice are a four-piece alternative band from North London. Wolf Alice has been getting rave reviews. “Clash” magazine says of them, “…the lovechild of folk and grunge”. The “Fluffy” single by Wolf Alice had the band being compared to bands like Elastica and Hole. Well-known music critic, Kitty Empire, wrote that the sound of Wolf Alice was “an engaging strain of off-kilter indie rock”.
The band says they are a “Rock Pop” group. You decide. I think they are hot!
#1) Courtney Barnett – Pedestrian at Best.
At number 1 is Courtney Barnett! Courtney Barnett is a singer-songwriter and guitarist from Melbourne, Australia. She is best known for witty lyrics and very dry, deadpan humor. In October of 2013, she started getting noticed in the US and UK press when she released her debut album and tore the house down with rave reviews at her CMJ Music Marathon performances. From these shows, Courtney Barnett was mentioned by both the Rolling Stone magazine and The New York Times as a performer to watch out for.
Well, that’s it for this week. Week after next, Robot55 is going to go make a video for a hot new girl’s band in Japan named, “Su Ko D Koi.” We played their song on the radio show and the reaction from the audience was amazing! We haven’t had that many calls and emails about a new artist in a long time. I hope to have that video up for you in the first week of April! Until then, see you next week with more cool alternative/underground/new artists!
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
As we announced last week, the new “Ninja Slayer” show is starting on Niconico on April 16th, 2015 at 11:00 pm. All of us at Robot55 – and Universal Vision – are more than proud to announce (brag) that we are working with the fine folks at Ninja Slayer, Road and Sky Company, King Records and Kadokawa as a team and bringing that exciting new animation to the world! Read about that here: Ninja Slayer Animation Begins April 16th at 11pm on Niconico (http://robot55.jp/blog/ninja-slayer-animation-begins-april-16th-at-11-pm-on-niconico/)
Mina Shirakawa poses in a bathing suit for cameraman Ken Nishikawa
We are also making a special program just for the fans of Ninja Slayer and that show premieres on that new “Ninja Slayer” show starting on Niconico on April 16th, 2015 at 11:00 pm; it’s a special program in a program. I still can’t tell you all too many details on the show, but I can share some tidbits. Today, we had some video production for that show and several beautiful Japanese girls came to the studio and dropped our jaws with their Ninja antics as well as their swim suit photo session!
Rico san also posed for the show!
That’s right! You read it here first: Beautiful Japanese Ninja Girls and their swimsuit pin up scenes…. and you can see it all on Niconico on April 16th, 2015 at 11:00 pm
I’m expecting that it will be a smash hit. What more could a guy want to watch?
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Oh, and all the girls who will appear on our show, Matsuo Yuki (松尾由紀) , Minami Rin (みなみ鈴 ), Rico (りこ）and Mina Shirakawa (白川未奈) appear courtesy of Presence LLC (URL: http://www.pre13-office.com/)
Mike and Ken with beautiful model, Yuki Matsuo
There’s some more very exciting news coming out about the involvement of Robot55 (and the sister company, Universal Vision Ltd. – http://universal-vision.jp/) with the video production about this smash hit adventure.
Get all the inside information here! Stay tuned!
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What the heck, eh? One more photo for the road!
The best video production job in Tokyo! (Left) Minami Rin, (Right) Mina Shirakawa and Mike Rogers (Dead and gone to heaven!)
It’s a beautiful day! Time for Saturday Comedy Theater! Today, I’d like to feature two of my most favorite of all time silent movie comedy bits.
First off is one I have seen a hundred times but it still makes me laugh out loud with the genius of the idea. The boxing scene from Charlie Chaplin’s “City Lights” which was released in 1931. It was immediately successful upon release on January 30, 1931, with positive reviews and box office receipts of $5 million. Today, critics consider it not only one of the highest accomplishments of Chaplin’s career, but one of the greatest films ever made. It inspires me because, whenever I’m doing a low budget video production and need a good idea (and who doesn’t?) I think of this movie. Chaplin, due to a well thought-out script and idea, is able to pull off one of the highlights of cinematic history for a relatively low cost. True genius! And hilarious! Take 6 minutes to watch this and have a great laugh!
Next up is one that I bet many of you have seen photos of but probably have never seen the actual film. Ever see the old silent film photo of a man hanging from a clock high above the streets? That’s it! Harold Lloyd’s 1923 comedy classic, “Safety Last!” This is truly brilliant too!
Harold Lloyd’s 1923 comedy classic, “Safety Last!” Watch the video first, details below:
(If video doesn’t play, click here: Harold Lloyd’s “Safety Last”- 1923 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QEcTjhUN_7U)
Safety Last! was released in 1923 as a romantic comedy silent film starring Harold Lloyd. It is about a man who gets out of jail but wants to marry his sweetheart so he goes to the city to find success. In this scene, he is running from the police and the only way to escape is by climbing a tall building. I have to admit, after all these years in film and video, I still don’t know how they did this in the early 1920s… Did they have a Chroma-key (blue screen) back then? No! Right? So how the heck did they make it look like he is 30 floors above the crowded street?
This film, as I said, includes one of the most famous and iconic images from the entire silent film era: Lloyd clutching the hands of a large clock as he dangles from the outside of a skyscraper above moving traffic. Safety Last was highly successful and it sealed the status of Harold Lloyd as a major star in early motion pictures. This film is still extremely still popular at film revivals, and it is viewed today as one of the greatest of the film comedies. Also, get this, that isn’t a stunt-man climbing, it is Harold Lloyd! And he did that in spite of losing a finger in an accident a few years beforehand!
We hope you enjoyed today’s film productions. Today, at Robot55, we are going to make a video production and shoot photo stills of some pin-up and bikini girls for a TV show we are making … Yeah, life is tough… I’ll try to post some photos for you soon!
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At Robot55 we make video productions for businesses and services and products, but we also pride ourselves on making videos for art and music. This video was made by the team at Robot55: Albatross Bar in Shinjuku: (【動画制作 お店紹介 30秒 7万円】 新宿アルバトロス 編 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VwdgP2bFL9I). 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!
We’re back to this Week’s Top 3 New Artist Videos by Robot55 (pronounced: “Robot Go-Go” 「ロボット・ゴー・ゴー」) where we showcase what I think are the best three artists of the week and showcase their videos. These are all videos of bands that I have been playing on my regular weekly FM radio show, “What the Funday” on InterFM that is broadcast all over Japan! (Please come and “Like” our FB page if you like cool Alternative sounds and get information as to how you can hear the show anywhere in the world for free!
First off, I’d like to introduce this delightful band from London, England. 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. I’ve been playing today’s song every week for the last three weeks. I love it!
The History of Apple Pie – You’re So Cool (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W7-_O5K7rOU)
The Just Joans are David, Katie, Chris, Allan, Doog, Fraser. They are named after the Daily Record’s “Agony Aunt” and make music about everyday angst. Currently the are based in Glasgow, Scotland. I love the song but also appreciate how they did their video production on the cheap and were still able to pull my heartstrings and give me a chuckle.
Just Joans – Hey Boy…… Your oh so sensitive (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rn1YBRmmXig)
Next up is a fab Garage Punk band from Los Angeles, CA who are really making a name for themselves. Adam Bones on guitar & Rikki Styxx on drums are from L.A. and recently have been touring and opening for some big names.
A review in Buzzbands LA says: “The Two Tens serve up lightning-quick garage rock that turns the clock back to first-wave punk. The single “Scene” persistently asks “Where’s your scene?” and delivers an answer in just over two minutes: Wherever you’re keeping your old Ramones vinyl.”
The Two Tens “Scene” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XLVXDPSdGD4
And now this week’s Freebie. Today is Glen Matlock, the original bassist for the Sex Pistols. The “Original” Sex Pistol, Glen Matlock, performed “Yeah Right” live at O-WEST, Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan on 5, February, 2014. By the way, did you know that Glen Matlock was actually the one who wrote the Pistols’ classic, “Pretty Vacant”? Here he is doing his original song that was released as a single, “Yeah Right!”
Well that’s the Top 3 for this week.
Check out last week’s Top 3 here: This Week’s Top 3 New Artist Videos & Shonen Knife!〜ミュージックビデオも制作 robot55.jp/blog/this-weeks-top-3-new-artist-videos-shonen-knife/
See you next week with more cool alternative/underground/new artists!
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At Robot55 we make video productions for businesses and services and products, but we also pride ourselves on making videos for art and music. This video was made by the team at Robot55. 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!
Well, have you ever wondered why some videos go viral? Have you ever wondered how to make a viral video? Well, today, you might be in luck; here’s more free tips.
We been working on producing a viral video for a famous Japanese company. I hope to be able to show that one to everyone soon; we are all expecting that it will be a hit. But in the meantime, to that end, I have been researching data and studying how to make a viral video. You know making a viral video isn’t just blind luck; there is a method to the madness. The making of a viral video comes down to three things: 1) A scientific approach (understanding your target audience and they way they think) and; 2) The artistic touch (humor or a great idea) and; 3) Luck.
Yes, of course, like with everything in life, luck is important. While I cannot guarantee that you will make a viral video by following my points below, I can guarantee that these points will increase your odds of making one. There are 6 key factors in making a viral video and that you definitely will benefit by reading this article.
1) Be funny or outrageous!
Funny and outrageous is probably the best way to go viral. Problem is, how many of us are “funny”? And, even if we are, for business use, is it widely acceptable? (I mean is it “family friendly?)
I write, produce and direct an extremely popular Sunday morning show in Japan. We are pretty outrageous (by Japan standards) for our humor. In our program, we often make “corners” in our show for sponsors. I’ve noticed one thing about big company sponsors; they love you doing outrageous stuff and think it’s hilarious on your show, but they don’t want you doing that on their sponsored part of the show! I mean, they laugh out loud when you make jokes that they are not a part of; but when they get involved they suddenly become VERY conservative.
It reminds me of something I was told many years ago by a Program Director at a big Tokyo radio station (when my program’s rating were breaking the charts). He called me to his office and said, “I want you guys to be funny… But try not to be so funny.” No kidding. I told him that we are either funny or we aren’t… But it is important to keep your target audience in mind!
Like I said, people at companies like it if you do wild and crazy stuff, and “push the envelope,” but they don’t like it when they are a part of it, and their (your) boss is breathing down their (your) necks. So keep that in mind.
Being funny but being widely acceptable? Wow! Of course, that ups the ante quite a lot and makes things much more difficult: How to be funny, yet not take the chance of offending anybody? I suggest talking with your staff! Use the funny and crazy people inside your company or hire professionals (and I mean people who do write humor or comedy for a living! It can be expensive, but it ups your odds of success.)
Here’s a good idea that can’t possible offend anyone (except this kid’s mom!)
2) Think “How would a Las Vegas Magician do it?”
When making your video, remember to try to think like a Las Vegas musician. Remember the last time you saw a good magician? When the magician showed you a trick that made you go “Wow!” You immediately wanted to see it again and you wanted your friends and family to see it too, right? That’s a secret to getting a video go viral.
3) Promote ONE idea and ONE idea only. Don’t Hard Sell!
This is actually kind of easy. Of course you all have heard the “KISS Principle”? The KISS Principle is: Keep it simple, stupid! If you have a great idea, then don’t clutter the message with extraneous information. A great example is the video below. At the end, it shows the product. Simple and sweet!
Now, imagine if, at the end of the commercial, they went through a litany of information like: ingredients, a sale, what grocery stores were carrying the product, their new gallon can? That would just ruin the short and simple message. So keep it as short as possible. Remember: “Brevity is the soul of wit” – Shakepeare
4) Use highly quality production
There’s nothing that more of a turnoff to your video than poor production. The three worst offenders are: Poor lighting; poor sound; and poor or out of focus camera work.
Now, if you are a small company, then professional video services might be just out of reach of your budget. But fear not! I give free video tips every week on this very webpage! Please check out our regular column: Video Tips! Make Your Own Video For Your Business For Free! Part 2〜ビジネス動画を自分で作ってみよう！その２〜 (robot55.jp/blog/video-tips-make-your-own-video-for-your-business-for-free-part-2/)
Here is a TV commercial that I worked on and that is my voice at the end. But I think this is a fine example of the kind of idea that is “cute” and could go viral (if it weren’t on TV constantly already). The idea is simple and funny and I think everyone can relate to it and it is a hit TV commercial.
The guys can especially relate to the second one where they were embarrassed in front of the beautiful women because of their silly antics!
5) Promote!
Once the video is made, you must promote! And that means getting everyone down to the computer keyboards and posting the video link anywhere and everywhere possible. And I don’t mean just do it one day and then drop it; you must have a thought out plan of action that runs a few months. Rome wasn’t built in a day, you know! This doesn’t happen by magic, it takes effort. The video on the company webpage, YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, company blogs, Linkedin, all social media and everywhere is critical for your success. Get your team to think about possibilities. Make a daily schedule showing assignments.
Of course you could spend a ton of money on promoting your video, but, then again, doesn’t that sort of defeat the purpose? You intend upon making a viral because it is great promotion; it is believable (because regular people are promoting you) and, so, it is cost effective.So we don’t want to spend a ton of money on advertising for our advertisement (sounds absurd when it is put that way, doesn’t it?)
But what to do? Need a good idea? Need to “think out of the box”? Check this out:
Ever heard of a Greek artist named “Stefano”? He is drawing pictures on Euro bank notes and has become famous for doing so.Will he become rich? I don’t know, but he has very wide name recognition and hasn’t spent much money, only time and effort.
Stefanos has hijacked the euro banknotes including small characters to transform the traditional engravings into scenes to protest and promote himself (lots of good art is protest, is it not?) Of course, I won’t condone this (wink! wink!) but, you have to admit that, by doing this, Stefano has made a big name for himself… A what did it cost him? Not much. He’s all over the European and worldwide press.
Here’s a few examples. This is pure genius in viral marketing.
Stefano and skateboarders. This is some of his “safe” designs.
According to research conducted by Jun Group (2011), videos that are 15 seconds or shorter are shared 37 percent more often than those that last between 30 seconds and 1 minute. If you make your video longer, that stat goes down. Those shorties are only shared 18% more often than videos of longer than 1 minute.
Also, 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.
So keep it short!
And finally, #7! (OK, I said there were six tips, but there’s 7! So sue me!)
7) Use a cat!
(Chuckle!) When all else fails, then use a cat. This is, I think, the Hail Mary pass of all ways to do a viral video… But hey, Grumpy Cat has over 7.5 million “Likes” on Facebook, so who am I to argue with a successful cat? I wanted to use a cat for the top photo of this blog post, but we don’t have a cat…
So, I’m hoping instead of always peeing on the rug, our dog can get a few million Facebook friends and start making millions too! I’m going to name him, “Sort of Grumpy Dog.”
If you have any questions at all, please feel free to contact me, Mike, or Ken at Robot55: Email: contact@robot55.jp
We promise to help you, even with free advice, if you need it. Let’s have fun and make fun videos for our lives and our businesses! Because having a good life and making money is fun too!
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Want to see some videos we have made for happy customers in the last few weeks at a reasonable price?
Just over a week ago, I posted an article that featured some very cool animations by a Stop-Motion animator named Adam Pesapane who is better known as simply, “Pes.” That article featured one animation in particular that is the shortest film ever nominated for an Oscar. It is called, “Fresh Guacamole.” It is a fantastically fun animation and you can watch it and a couple of others here: Need a Break? Watch These Three Fantastic Short Animations! (robot55.jp/blog/need-a-break-watch-these-three-fantastic-short-animations/)
That article was extremely popular (thanks!) so today I decided to give you some more by other well-known Stop Motion Animators. Of course, this isn’t a Saturday morning kids channel matinee, so these video productions are for adults as they are kind of bizarre and, maybe a tad bit scary, for kids… Especially kids who are used to something like Disney Cartoons.
First up is a guy named Dillon Markey. Dillon Markey is known for his work on The Mr. Men Show (2008), Robot Chicken (2005) and Robot Chicken: Star Wars Episode III (2010). Dillon has also worked with many famous animators and even Pes, so I thought he’d be cool to kick us off.
I think if I were a little kid, Dillon’s animation might give me nightmares!
In the late seventies, I used to go to an Art Cinema in Los Angeles to watch movies with my friends. I remember, at that theater, was the first time I had ever witnessed a David Lynch movie. It was “Eraserhead.” Yeah. That was a freaky movie. I saw it several times
One time before “Eraserhead” played there was a short film entitled “Asparagus.” I’ve looked for that animation for years and haven’t ever found it, until today. Alas, this is not with the original soundtrack (which was much more moody and psychedelic) but this new soundtrack also works well for me. This is awesome. It is by a band called, “KR3” who used Suzan Pitt’s animation for their music. Here’s “KR3 Fractures and Sparks.” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z5q7M7dA24I)
Finally, these artists and their works are all very cool, but what collection would be complete without some sort of explanation or history? That brings us to the “grandfather” of all of this sort of animation who, without him, this stuff might not have ever happened. His name is Ray Harryhausen. You may not know the name, but if you were interested in 50s & 60s Science Fiction, then you definitely have seen his work.
Raymond Frederick “Ray” Harryhausen (June 29, 1920 – May 7, 2013) was an American visual effects creator, writer, and producer who created a form of stop-motion model animation known as “Dynamation.” His most memorable works include the animation on Mighty Joe Young (1949), with his mentor Willis H. O’Brien, which won the Academy Award for special effects; The 7th Voyage of Sinbad (1958), his first color film; and Jason and the Argonauts (1963), featuring a famous sword fight against seven skeleton warriors. His last film was Clash of the Titans (1981), after which he retired. Harryhausen moved to the United Kingdom and lived in London from 1960 until his death in 2013. During his life, his innovative style of special effects in films inspired numerous filmmakers including John Lasseter, Peter Jackson, and Tim Burton.
Ray Harryhausen was even friends with science fiction writer, Ray Bradbury! Wow!
Here is a compilation of some of Ray Harryhausen’s many works. If you are over 45 years old or so, I think you might like this drive down memory lane!
Recently, it seems that animations are all the rage (well, duh, this is Japan!) We at Robot55 are proud to announce that we are working with the fine folks at Ninja Slayer on bringing that exciting new animation to the world! Read about that here: Ninja Slayer Animation Begins April 16th at 11pm on Niconico (http://robot55.jp/blog/ninja-slayer-animation-begins-april-16th-at-11-pm-on-niconico/)
So, until next time! Enjoy the show! I’ll have some more great videos and animations here for your pleasure next week!
The good news is finally out! The new Ninja Slayer animation begins April 16th, 2015 at 11 pm on Niconico! (What’s Niconico? Please refer to “Japan’s YouTube? It’s Niconico!” (http://robot55.jp/blog/what-is-nico-nico-douga-its-japans-youtube/))
All Ninja Heads unite! The Ninja Slayer comic that has been a boom all over the world, including Japan, will be released as an animation and delivered to you at your home PC, or your smart phone on Niconico! (Nico Nico Douga!)
As a matter of fact, the humans at ROBOT55 have been involved in the production of this cult program, and I think they can deliver an interesting and smashingly funny program for you.
Screen Capture of Ninja Slayer Trailer video (below)
What? You haven’t heard of Ninja Slayer? Well, here’s a quick rundown:
In the distant future at Neo Saitama, some evil ninjas were brought back to life through the use of cybernetic technology and, in a turf war, they killed the wife and children of a Japanese Salaryman, Fujikido Kenji, who escaped death and then his soul melded with that of another enigmatic good ninja. He cheats death and becomes Ninja Slayer a Grim Reaper destined to kill evil Ninja in a personal war of vengeance.
“What?!” Yeah. That’s what I first said. This Ninja Slayer is deliciously ridiculous. I love it!
So don’t forget! Ninja Slayer animation begins April 16th, 2015 at 11 pm on Niconico!
There’s some more very exciting news coming out about the involvement of Robot55 (and the sister company, Universal Vision Ltd. – http://universal-vision.jp/) with the video production about this smash hit adventure.
