“FIST BUMP,” part of the J-VAVE’s radio program “GRAND MARQUEE,” features Tokyoites.
The episode on May 1 welcomed a video director Eisuke Shirota, who directs manga-themed videos, usual music videos, and TV commercials. He shared his philosophy on staying creative, how he made a manga-esque trailer for Chainsaw Man, and spoke up about how ads are perceived in society.
INDEX
Chainsaw man‘s manga-esque trailer saw a global buzz
Celeina (MC): First of all, let me give you a brief profile. After graduating from Tama Art University, you worked for a commercial production company before starting your freelance activities in 2018. He is good at directing not only live-action but also cross-motion graphics, animation, and other visual techniques to bring out the charm of music, and has worked on TV commercials for various companies, manga PVs such as “Chain saw Man” “One Piece,” and “HUNTER x HUNTER,” as well as KIRINJI I understand that you have directed music videos for KIRINJI, Shugo Tokumaru, Siamese Cats, OH-SHUN, YUGA, and also for Mr. Takano’s Frasco.
Takano (MC): That’s right. We are very close, actually.
Shirota: Because they are my men.
Takano: They made the music video for Frasco. They are a weekend creator unit called “yorocine”.
Shirota:Originally, yes. We were a unit that only worked on Saturdays and Sundays.
Takano: There is another person named Yone-chan (art director Shun Yonemura), and yorocine was formed by Shiro-chan and Yone-chan, and they made a music video for a song called “Viewtiful” by Frasco.
Celeina: It was cute. It felt like a collage, like a lot of pictures from advertisements. I was really attracted to it.
Takano: It’s a mass of sense.
Celeina: Mr. Shirota, I know that you are currently active mainly in commercials and music videos, but I understand that you also make a lot of “manga music videos. Could you tell us what this manga PV is about?
Shirota: There is no strict definition of manga PV, but it is basically promotional PV for a book of manga. I myself am more of an advertising director than a manga PV craftsman, and my first priority is to think about how to make people want to read the work, but there seems to be a demand for it, and I often receive orders to make it.
Takano: The manga PV for “Chain saw Man” is getting a lot of buzz. People from South America have commented on it.
Shirota: The PV of the 9th volume of “Chain saw Man” is also popular overseas, and the YouTube comment section is filled with comments in languages I don’t understand. It seems to be holding the No. 1 position on the “Jump Channel”.
Celeina: I was drawn in by the way the images moved in time with the music and BPM.
Shirota: The music video for “Star Guitar” by The Chemical Brothers was made by a director named Michel Gondry. In the video, a train passes through a cityscape, and in fact, everything is in sync with the BPM. I feel a sense of mission to link and synchronize with the sound (haha).
Takano: It feels good, doesn’t it? Like the timing.
Celeina: Besides the BPM, is there anything else you keep in mind when you are making a video?
Shirota: For manga music videos, I try not to add too much fine movement. I can make it look high quality by blinking, shaking the hair, etc., but a manga is a finished manga, and if it were animated, the animation would probably be even better. So, I focused on doing the best I could with the original drawings as the source material.
Takano: I see. So it has a bit of a two-dimensional feel, or perhaps it really feels like the manga is moving.
Shirota: Manga is amazing, isn’t it? A single person can create something like that. I think it is an amazing art form, and I respect it.
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What he cares about when creating music videos and TV commercials
Celeina: Is there any difference between making advertisements and music videos?
Shirota: Whether it is a music video or an advertisement, I always try to incorporate the “character” of the product or artist, their unique mood and feel, and establish an identity that is unique to that particular video. I try to establish a kind of identity that is unique to the video.
In the case of commercials, the time is short, so I pay attention to the rhythm of the music and how much it can catch the viewer’s attention in a short period of time. I am not talking about “Star Guitar” as I mentioned earlier, but the biggest thing is that I want to make music videos that have ideas and are different from others.
Celeina: When you were working for a commercial production company, you had so much love for music videos that you made one personally?
Shirota: That’s right. I made a music video for a song called “Mountain Mountain” by cero.
Shirota: I actually studied architecture instead of film at university. The architectural model-making skills I acquired there came in handy when I switched to film (haha).
Takano: Dioramas are also available at ……
Shirota: I made everything by myself.
Celeina: Did you make the diorama for this music video by yourself using the technology of the architecture department?
Shirota: I was a failed architect (haha).
Takano: No, no, the quality is too high (haha). When I saw it for the first time, even before I got to know Shiro, I thought, “Is this un-official? I was so surprised at the quality.
Celeina: Were you originally friends with the members of cero?
Shirota: Not originally, but I became a fan of cero when I saw them perform live, and I went to their shows frequently. Also, Mr. Takagi runs a bar called “Roji” in Asagaya. I think he mentioned it in his MC at the live show. I thought he was doing something like that, and although I am shy and don’t often go to such places, I got carried away and went there. I felt at home there even though it was my first time there, and we became friends.
Takano: You went there about 5 times a week, right?
Shirota: At the time, I was sharing a room with a friend near Gakugeidaigaku Station, but I went to Asagaya five days a week. I thought it was too much for me, so I moved to Asagaya.
Celeina: Mr. Shirota asked us to choose a song that we would all like to hear on the radio at this time of the day.
Shirota: It’s a song called “Failure” by Summer Eye, a fellow Roji member, Tomoyuki Natsume, formerly of Siamese Cats, who is now performing under the name Summer Eye. It is a great song, and I would like to recommend it to anyone who has ever made a mistake to listen to it. The melody is good and the lyrics are wonderful, so I hope you will pay attention to it.
INDEX
Ads are the best creative to enjoy for free
Takano: Shiro-chan, you said you wanted to use this radio opportunity to say something.
Shirota: It’s not such a big deal, but it’s like I’m here to do advertising for advertising. He said that advertising, especially TV commercials, are the finest creativity that can be seen for free, and the quality, ideas, and budget per second are by far the highest per second compared to other visual media, movies and dramas, of which there are many.
Takano: This is true.
Shirota: Of course, commercials with flawless visual beauty are great, but if you think about it, there are also commercials that are a bit strange, that make you wonder what they are doing so seriously. I think that kind of diversity is the beauty of advertising. What I particularly like is that, as part of the culture that comes from advertising, commercial songs and catchphrases that we hum in our daily lives enrich our lives. It is not so grandiose to say that I sympathize with the message or that it has changed my life, but I feel that it is a noble human activity to have melodies and catchphrases that are known by people of all ages and genders, regardless of region or age.
Celeina: As an adult, when I sing a commercial song from those days, it warms my heart when we all resonate with each other.
Takano: It’s amazing that they are still around.
Shirota: I think it is precisely because it is something trivial that we can feel a great sense of connection, and I think it makes us quite happy. I fundamentally believe that advertisements are a sound mechanism for delivering a product that someone else has created and is proud of to a large number of people. Life is richer if you enjoy it, including the silliness, without treating it too harshly, and as a creator, I would like to make advertisements that make people feel that way.
Takano: I am also an ad creator in a roundabout way, but you said it all. I really appreciate your ads, everyone.
Celeina: “FIST BUMP” is a circle of friends connected by goof touch, and you introduce your friends to us.
Shirota: He is Taiichi Hiramoto, a designer at Shigesato Itoi’s company “Hobonichi”. Hobonichi is a company that creates web media, develops products, and creates various other things that add color to our lives. Taiichi was in charge of designing a wonderful product called “Hobonichi’s Earth Ball,” which, when you hold your smartphone up to a globe, a three-dimensional AR display shows you how big this country is and what it produces. We have been classmates since college, so we have known each other for about 15 years. We got our driver’s licenses together, and there was a time when we stayed at the same house.
Takano: In a word?
Shirota: When I stayed over, he would pour sugar on my bread and serve it to me.
Takano: I don’t know what that means (haha). I will check tomorrow. Tomorrow I will connect you to the designer, Taiichi Hiramoto.
Celeina: “FIST BUMP” today was Eisuke Shirota, the video director. Thank you very much.
Shirota: Thank you very much.
GRAND MARQUEE
J-WAVE (81.3FM) Mon-Thu 16:00 – 18:50
Navigator: Shinya Takano, Celeina Ann
