ATARASHII GAKKO! 'Tokyo Calling' by Pennacky
Rob Ulitski - 12th Jan 2024
Welcome to the wonderfully wacky world of sailor-suit (or is school uniform?) wearing Japanese girl group ATARASHII GAKKO! and their tribute to old school Japanese TV - not to mention the The Beastie Boys' classic video for Intergalactic.
First came their own version of Intergalactic. Then they took it to the next level with Tokyo Calling, and the fabulous video directed by Pennacky. From the performance to the choreography, to the numerous setpieces, it's exceptional work from a visionary creative team.
It's a love letter to tokusatsu - the heavy use of special effects in film and television programmes - the video is a satirical commentary on Japanese society, with jaw-dropping miniature work and a retrofuturistic aesthetic.
Sure, we have seen something like this before - in the Intergalactic video and elsewhere. But having the four girls of ATARASHII GAKKO! towering over Tokyo, Godzilla-size, is the most enjoyable thing we've seen so far in 2024. That includes Jeremy in his underpants.
Rob Ulitski - 12th Jan 2024
Credits
Featured here in the credits?
Production/Creative
- Director
- Pennacky
- Director’s Agent
- Jimmy Kitaji
- Producer
- Taro Mikami, Miki Sakurai
- Line Producer
- Nanaka Sakurai
- Production Manager
- Troy Ippei Fukuda, Aoi Tanaka
- Production Assistant
- Hitomi Iwanaga
- Production Support
- Shosuke Mori, Yusuke Morohashi
- Production
- CEKAI
Camera
- Director of Photography
- Kohei Shimazu
- 1st AC
- Shunsuke Yamauchi
- 2nd AC
- Narumi Nitta
- Film Loader
- Yuta Tokeshi
Lighting/Grip
- Gaffer
- Haruka Harazawa
- Lighting 1st
- Daichi Tokuhiro
- Lighting 2nd
- Toshio Ikeo, So Sato, Yuto Fukata, Masayuki Kawata, Lin Chen, Hiroto Wang
- Lighting Equipments
- Arc System
Art
- Production designer
- Yuusuke Ishii
- Production Design Assistant
- Haruka Shiotsuka
- Production Design Assistant
- Yuna Okutomi
- Production Design Assistant
- Mitsuki Enei
- Set Decorator
- Fumiya Iwaki
- Set Decorator
- Junzo Nishi
Wardrobe
- Stylist
- Hideyuki Kanemitsu
Editorial
- Editor
- Tomonori Horie
Grading
- Colourist
- Haruka Ariga
VFX
- VFX
- Ryuichi Ono
Other credits
Transportation
JCM
Rob Ulitski - 12th Jan 2024