Episode 1: Oooolterraaah good
[I wanted to write about the Hey! Say! JUMP DVD, so I started this journal. Maybe I'll write more. But maybe this will be the only thing. Anyway, please feel free to write a comment.]
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When I got my Hey! Say! JUMP DVD this week, I watched it 3 times right away, and probably 5 times more after that. That doesn't sound like a lot, but I haven't watched some of my all-time favorite movies that much. I liked it a lot, I mean really a lot. I already knew the song was stick-in-your-head great, and the video was high-tech fun. I do wonder why it was done with such serious faces on 9 out of 10 JUMPers. You'd think they were battling alien terrorists instead of jumping to their dreams. Still, the PV really soars, and it's great to finally see it on a real TV.
The Making Of video was the most exciting part, because the PV had already made all the downloading rounds. I had such high expectations after the great Hey! Say! 7 DVD last summer. Like the Making of Hey! Say!, this is also a lot of fun, just not quite as much. I think that's partly because they were so new working with each other. They are little groups of friends and individuals instead of one happy family like with Hey! Say!
Some of it seems like we've seen it before (with HS7), such as the first scene with them getting out of the minivan for the day at work. When they pick up cameras and point them at each other, they're wonderful scenes in the first video, but only good scenes the second time around.
I really like Yuto in this. He's playful, he has the most personality on camera, he works hard, and he cares a lot about what he does, but he's always ready to goof around. Hikaru always looks relaxed and charming. I love the way he reacts after he's done rapping - it's such a natural way to finish all those tongue-twisting words. Yabu suddenly seems like a young man, at first a little out of place but then he's more lively. Inoo, in the PV I felt like he was having a tough time rising above the crowd, but backstage, I think he's great - smiling and casual and in control. Daiki: I never thought I'd see the kid who did "Fastener" again in my life, but somehow in this video I saw him once again.
Okamoto has some barriers to overcome being the newest. Maybe there's some jealousy for his family ties. So I'm glad to see he feels welcome and a part of things. He seems open and generally happy to be there. Takaki is no longer the only 17 year old, but as an original "7" he's still the big brother. In the opposite direction, Morimoto has to grow into his chibi star role - even though he's the baby, he's not an original "7." But he's getting there.
Finally, Yamada and Chinen are two of my favorites, but there is something about them I wish I could change. It's hard to say. They are both incredibly cute and they know it. Maybe they're a little too self-aware. When the camera is on, you can almost see them thinking "I am on camera right now" so they can't really be themselves, which is a shame. But with those great smiles and talent, they are two stars.
This video is different from Hey Say with so much green-screen computer graphic stuff that it's a little hard to connect the Making Of video to what they're really Making. It must have been a little hard for them too. In "Hey Say," you saw the wall they jumped over, and the stage and the lasers when they danced. With UMP, it's interesting to watch the process, but there is a lot more that we miss. Once you've seen the finished video, you understand a lot more about how it was done, and you end up with big respect for the computer graphic artists. They really made those flying pods come alive.
I do love the little cartoon storyboards. I wish they'd make them a book! Whoever dreamed up the idea of a "light shower?" Very creative.
There is one scene in this Making Of video that really sticks in my memory. It's where we see Chinen actually making one of the 2 second shots in the PV which are so awesomely good. He stands still, almost blank-faced, not reacting to anything as the music plays. The director flips the clapboard in front of the shot, then suddenly, it's his moment and he glows. You see him light up like a billboard over Shibuya station, smile his bazillion yen smile, and then - stop - the moment is over.
That's what a Making Of video is all about. You get a chance to be there and see them do their best.
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When I got my Hey! Say! JUMP DVD this week, I watched it 3 times right away, and probably 5 times more after that. That doesn't sound like a lot, but I haven't watched some of my all-time favorite movies that much. I liked it a lot, I mean really a lot. I already knew the song was stick-in-your-head great, and the video was high-tech fun. I do wonder why it was done with such serious faces on 9 out of 10 JUMPers. You'd think they were battling alien terrorists instead of jumping to their dreams. Still, the PV really soars, and it's great to finally see it on a real TV.
The Making Of video was the most exciting part, because the PV had already made all the downloading rounds. I had such high expectations after the great Hey! Say! 7 DVD last summer. Like the Making of Hey! Say!, this is also a lot of fun, just not quite as much. I think that's partly because they were so new working with each other. They are little groups of friends and individuals instead of one happy family like with Hey! Say!
Some of it seems like we've seen it before (with HS7), such as the first scene with them getting out of the minivan for the day at work. When they pick up cameras and point them at each other, they're wonderful scenes in the first video, but only good scenes the second time around.
I really like Yuto in this. He's playful, he has the most personality on camera, he works hard, and he cares a lot about what he does, but he's always ready to goof around. Hikaru always looks relaxed and charming. I love the way he reacts after he's done rapping - it's such a natural way to finish all those tongue-twisting words. Yabu suddenly seems like a young man, at first a little out of place but then he's more lively. Inoo, in the PV I felt like he was having a tough time rising above the crowd, but backstage, I think he's great - smiling and casual and in control. Daiki: I never thought I'd see the kid who did "Fastener" again in my life, but somehow in this video I saw him once again.
Okamoto has some barriers to overcome being the newest. Maybe there's some jealousy for his family ties. So I'm glad to see he feels welcome and a part of things. He seems open and generally happy to be there. Takaki is no longer the only 17 year old, but as an original "7" he's still the big brother. In the opposite direction, Morimoto has to grow into his chibi star role - even though he's the baby, he's not an original "7." But he's getting there.
Finally, Yamada and Chinen are two of my favorites, but there is something about them I wish I could change. It's hard to say. They are both incredibly cute and they know it. Maybe they're a little too self-aware. When the camera is on, you can almost see them thinking "I am on camera right now" so they can't really be themselves, which is a shame. But with those great smiles and talent, they are two stars.
This video is different from Hey Say with so much green-screen computer graphic stuff that it's a little hard to connect the Making Of video to what they're really Making. It must have been a little hard for them too. In "Hey Say," you saw the wall they jumped over, and the stage and the lasers when they danced. With UMP, it's interesting to watch the process, but there is a lot more that we miss. Once you've seen the finished video, you understand a lot more about how it was done, and you end up with big respect for the computer graphic artists. They really made those flying pods come alive.
I do love the little cartoon storyboards. I wish they'd make them a book! Whoever dreamed up the idea of a "light shower?" Very creative.
There is one scene in this Making Of video that really sticks in my memory. It's where we see Chinen actually making one of the 2 second shots in the PV which are so awesomely good. He stands still, almost blank-faced, not reacting to anything as the music plays. The director flips the clapboard in front of the shot, then suddenly, it's his moment and he glows. You see him light up like a billboard over Shibuya station, smile his bazillion yen smile, and then - stop - the moment is over.
That's what a Making Of video is all about. You get a chance to be there and see them do their best.