Nishikata Film Review: Track (2015)

I saw Tochka’s latest PiKA PiKA animation Track (2015) at Oberhausen 2015 as part of the MuVi Award international competition which celebrates music videos that are “trend-setting and visually exceptional.” This year’s selection featured an eclectic mix of styles including the music videos for prominent artists such as Pussy Riot (I Can’t Breathe), Arcade Fire (We Exist) and Sia (Chandelier) and more off beat works such as Xiu Xiu’s Cinthya’s Unisex, Wang Rong’s Chick Chick, and a YouTube SmashUp of Wrecking Ball by Parag K. Mital. Fellow Japanese animator Yoriko Mizushiri was also on the programme with her latest work Maku which features the music of Shuta Hasunuma.

Track made it into the MuVi selection because it features the music of Atsushi Yamaji (山路敦司), but I wouldn’t really call it a music video per se. It is a collaborative stop motion animation made as a part of Smart Illumination Yokohama 2013 and was later reedited into a short film format for distribution. At the core of Tochka are the co-directors Takeshi Nagata (ナガタタケシ) and Kazue Monno (モンノカヅエ) from Kyoto (Read about my visit to their new studio last summer). They were assisted by a team of 28 animators (credited below) who draw in the air using penlights and are filmed at a slow framerate in order to pixilate the animators and their movements with light. The animators in a nighttime PiKA PiKA animation film are visible onscreen usually as black shadows and remind me of the kuroko (黒子) stagehands in kabuki or bunraku.

The film was shot under the promenade connecting Zō-no-hana Park (象の鼻パーク,literally: “Elephant Trunk Park”) to the YokohamaRed Brick Warehouse. The park gets its name from the Zō-no-hana breakwater which people say is shaped like the trunk of an elephant. Renovated into a public space for cultural activity in recent years, Zō-no-hana is celebrated as the birthplace of the port of Yokohama. Commodore Matthew Perry’s Black Ships (Kurofune) landed here on their second visit in 1859. Yokohama quickly became the gateway of foreign goods into Japan, with freight trains departing from the port for Tokyo.

This is an inspired location for a nighttime shoot because the illuminated row of plinths running parallel to the promenade and the iconic Yokohama skyline with the illuminated giant Ferris wheel Cosmo Clock 21 make a perfect backdrop to the film. In a nod to the history of trains departing the port of Yokohama, the animation takes place on a track built under the promenade.

With every film that they make, Tochka seem to be widening the possibilities of animating with light. This is one of their most complex uses of light with scenes depicting fish in the ocean, dinosaurs next to an erupting volcano, circus performances and a mural like those drawn by prehistoric man on the walls of caves.

The synopsis of the film in the Oberhausen catalogue reads: “Humans invented tools, discovered fire, and drew pictures in dark caves. Then murals were born with a mission to hand down everything to posterity. In these murals, you can find dreams and the joy connected with the discovery of fire. When I trace the history of the ancient peoples and imagine their lifestyle, I always feel grateful for modern civilization.”

Indeed, as with all of Tochka’s PiKA PiKA collaborative works, Track is an uplifting film that celebrates life and the human imagination.

Credits:

Photography by LittleGrayT

展示風景（LittleGrayTさんが撮影）：https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=agE7-lqJA5I

Animators / アニメーター

Ivan Lee / アイバン　リイ

https://vimeo.com/ivs

http://le-iv.tumblr.com/

Chihori Muro / 室ちほり

https://www.youtube.com/user/laugh2and2flat

Miyu Nakao / 中尾美愉

Natsumi Fukunaga / 福永奈都美