This internet commercial is a huge hit in Japan now. It's for a sushi delivery company and it talks about the secrets that go on behind the scene of commercial shoots.
Here's a quick translation that I've made for you: At 0:14 the director yells, "Cut! She is sweating!" Narrator (The guy with the mustache and glasses): "In the heat of summer we shoot winter scenes! When we shoot TV commercials there are so many scenes that we hide. 0:21 Narrator: "That extremely smart dog won't act unless we use bait to get him to do his part... When he gets tired, we have a bunch of replacements for him..." 0:28 Narrator: "Shsssh! Our main actress is treated like God...." 0:30 (Guy has lines written on his shirt) Narrator: "...She doesn't need to remember her lines..." 0:35 Narrator: "In the world of commercials, she has no wrinkles or lines... And we make her taller and skinnier..." 0:40 (Cell rings on assistant's phone) Narrator: "There is nothing that interrupts her acting..." 0:44 (Samurai attacks narrator) Narrator: "Of course, I'm not cut! But the sound was pretty good, eh?... It's this.... (Narrator looks to guy cutting cabbage). 0:53 (People in suits sitting around monitor) Narrator (whispers): "Oh? The sponsors..." 0:55 (Assistant pouring whiskey into coffee cups) Narrator: "We pour whiskey into the coffee of these people who are always complaining....That way they don't care about 'strange things' or mistakes." 1:04 Narrator: "It's a secret but there are ghosts in the studio! One female ghost always tries to bother the female actresses because of rivalry.... There's also a ghost of a guy who wanted to become a director but failed... There's a samurai ghost too who is still trying to destroy his enemies!" 1:11 (Fat guy at computer monitor) Narrator: "For those times we have a guy who is a professional at editing out ghosts!" 1:17 (Narrator explodes) Narrator: "Commercial shoots are healthy and safe." 1:20 Narrator: "It's the age of computer graphics so nothing is impossible!" 1:23 (Dummy explodes in parking lot) Narrator: "If we didn't have computer graphics, this is what would happen..." 1:26 Narrator: "When you are talking about commercials, you are talking about the scenes with people smiling." 1:28 (Bored and sleepy kids) Narrator: "But it is here that the biggest secret is kept. This subject is a taboo amongst TV commercial staff." 1:31 Director: "Yoshida!... Bring that!" 1:33 (Yoshida (guy in red) runs onto the shoot with sushi) Yoshida: "Everyone! Here you go!" 1:38 (Kids start jumping up and down) Kids: "Hooray! Hooray! Hooray!" 1:45 (Director yells 'Action!') 1:46 Narrator: "The perfect smile is 'Gin no Sara.' It is the hard and fast rule of this business! 1:50 (Main actress crashes through wall) Narrator: "When the pissed off main actress won't come out of her dressing room! She'll come out with a great smile here!" 1:54 (Hollywood Actor retuning on Helicopter) Narrator: "When the Hollywood actor says he's going back to Hollywood and not coming back, he returns immediately with a big smile!" 1:59 Narrator: "Gin no Sara" (Gin no Sara is, of course, the name of the sushi delivery company that made this commercial).
I think it is pretty safe to say that judging from my son, and all of his friends, as well as what I've seen from older boys (and adults) that Lego is most definitely the most popular boys toy in the world.
Lego Imperial Star Destroyer
May I also venture to say that, what Apple computers are for adult men over 25, Lego is to the 4-years-old boys to 16-years-old market for young men. Lego is, perhaps, one of the greatest toys ever made. Lego is a hands-on solutions for science, mathematics, spatial concepts, designing and 3D skills (there's probably more that I'm not seeing). Through Lego, kids learn to combine logic with reasoning and eye hand coordination. They get to transform, explore and combine ideas and objects. Not only that! The kids get to use their imaginations after the toy is constructed and deconstructed (which they all inevitably seem to be at my house) into brand new objects that are conceived of whatever my son wants and imagines them to be!
I am convinced that Lego is pure genius and probably one of the greatest toys ever made! I think Star Wars Lego is the greatest boys toy ever made bar none! Why I say that is because my son and his friends have been Star Wars Lego crazy since he was four years old. Lego sets start at 4 years old and up. Currently, my son is eight but he is now working on a Lego Star Wars set that was designed for sixteen-years-old and up.
Ah! Say "Star Wars" and what child between 4 and 40 doesn't light up with extreme interest immediately? Say "puzzle" or "3D puzzle" and you'll get yawns and a distinct lack of enthusiasm from the recipient, but say "Star Wars" or "Star Wars Lego" and you'll have your kid all over it and jumping up and down saying, "Daddy I want one!"
Buy these when they first come out and they are $200 ~ $300. Later they become collectors items like this... This is no longer a child's toy. I bought this one for my son new when it was $180 (about).
Find me one other educational toy that invokes such a strong desire and reaction out of the average child and you'll be showing be another genius invention. I can't think of any, can you?
Some people will say that Lego is "So expensive" but I don't think so. If you consider Lego just a toy, then maybe it is expensive. But Lego is not just a toy. Lego is a toy, a learning experience, a science tool, a babysitter, a world of imagination all it's own and much more. A Lego toy is played with for months if not years after it is first taken from the box and assembled!
Lego is not expensive at all when you consider all that you get for your money.
I especially enjoy the fact that my child can learn at his own speed. If he is five and is ready for the Lego designed for 7 years old boys, have at it. If he is 7 and can do the 12 years old and up, then take the challenge! Why not? He is learning as he is having fun!
Learning and having fun while doing so is the key to the perfect education.
For the more advanced Star Wars Lego sets, there's no way that a child (along with dad, who needs to spend more time with son, by the way... Ahem) can put one of these things together in one sitting. The current model my son and I are working on is a Lego Star Wars Imperial Shuttle. It is for 16 years old and up. It has 2503 pieces so, knowing that, you'd know that it will take quite a while to construct this toy.
It is taking all the resources the empire can muster to put this shuttle together in time to be ready for battle!
I always try to work together with my son when he is constructing his Lego sets. As I mentioned, it is a great time (and future memory) together. He does all the assembling and I help with pushing in difficult or extremely tight fitting pieces (and refrain from doing so unless absolutely necessary - I want him to have strong hands). He assembles and I sit and find pieces for him (mom helps when were stuck). We chat about various things while doing so. It's a great way to spend time together.
We've been working on this one for two weeks at about 30 minutes a day. Very cheap entertainment for father and son (especially when raining or dark outside). Quality and fun time together.
We usually block off 30 ~ 40 minutes at once to work on the kit. So far, we've been working on this one model on and off for nearly two weeks and we're not even half way done so you can see that this is a great way to spend time learning with your child and having fun while doing it.
Another amazing thing I have to point out to everyone about the value of Lego is the customer service is great. Over these last four and one half years, my son has constructed every single Lego Star Wars that was made. I think that must be easily 40 or 50 different models. Many of those models have had over 1,000 pieces. It doesn't happen often, but, there have been times when pieces were missing...
Now, usually when something like pieces missing happens, it's a major headache; find the receipt, take the toy back, wait in line, hassle with details,... Not with Lego! With Lego, you go online to their Lego customer service page for Replacement Parts and order the parts you need. They then send them to you in three weeks for FREE! Now that is killer customer service!
Out of well over 50 Lego sets that my son has assembled over these few years, we've discovered missing parts only three times. Three times I ordered the pieces and got them delivered to my home with no hassles and No Questions Asked! They didn't ask where I purchased the toy, where my receipt was, or any intrusive questions! They just shipped me what I needed! They even ship them to Japan, where many of the models are not sold, with free shipping too! (I buy the models overseas as many are not available in Japan and bring them back!)
Wasn't I saying something about, what Apple computers are for adult men over 25, Lego is to the 4-years-old to 16-years-old market for boys and young men.
Lego's service might even be better than Apple's and that is hard to do!
Like I said, I think Lego is a genius toy and probably one of, if not the, greatest boys toy ever invented.
(Disclaimer: No I do not own Lego company shares nor do I have any plan to. If there are any complaints about Lego, then may I say that I wish they'd license all the Star Wars Lego's for the territory of Japan also so that I may order them directly in Japan? I always have to order in the USA and then sent to my family then to be sent to me! I sure hate bothering the folks.... Or, how about this; "Hey Japanese toy manufacturer! License these products for Japan!")
Lego Star Wars Motorized Walking AT-AT
If you can still find this Lego Star Wars Imperial Walker buy it. This is, I think, the best one at the best price so far. I bought it at $170 new (now sells for $199) and had about 1100 pieces as well as a motorized engine that made it walk. It was wonderful for my son to see how and engine works and turns gears. He built it a year ago and still plays with it!
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UPDATE:
Just to show what a fine and quality company Lego is, they found this article written about them (smart companies are checking the Internet t see what people are saying about them!):
Dear Mike,
I really enjoyed your article and I must say your son's LEGO Star Wars collection is rather impressive! I'm glad you've been so content with our customer service and I must say I really liked this phrase:
"Lego's service might even be better than Apple's and that is hard to do!"- very nice compliment, thanks a lot!
I hope you will continue your LEGO Star Wars collection for years because no one is too old for LEGO sets!
You'd think that it's the most important thing in the world. Homecoming queen, student body president, the most Facebook friends, Oscar winner, how many people are waiting in line at the book signing...
Popular is almost never a measure of impact, or genius, or art. Popular rarely correlates with guts, hard work or a willingness to lead (and be willing to be wrong along the way).
I'll grant you that being popular (at least on one day in November) is a great way to get elected President. But in general, the search for popular is wildly overrated, because it corrupts our work, eats away at our art and makes it likely we'll compromise to please the anonymous masses.
Worth considering is the value of losing school elections and other popularity contests. Losing reminds you that the opinion of unaffiliated strangers is worthless. They don't know you, they're not interested in what you have to offer and you can discover that their rejection actually means nothing. It will empower you to even bigger things in the future...
When you focus on delighting an audience you care about, you strip the masses of their power.
I love this kind of thinking. It is very difficult, if not impossible, to do if you work as an employee in a company with any sort of political atmosphere (and, from what I gather, there is no such company that doesn't have such an atmosphere). But, if you have a dream and are still a kid at heart (like me) then this is critical to your success, especially if you want to run your own company, are an artist of any sort, or want to change the world or just make a splash.
If you want to do any of the above then you must focus on the audience that you care about and on the thing that you love. There will be little room for compromise. The truly successful ones will be able to mix art with business. But those are extremely rare (Michael Jackson comes to mind as the most recent well-known example).
Come to think of it, my two oldest daughters have done this sort of thing. They say, "Like father, like son." But, come to think of it, my daughters have both gone off to show business (without any help from daddy) and done some pretty cool stuff. Maybe they won't "make it" but at least they are living the life they want to live.
How many of us can say that they are still following their dream?
I'll write more on their stories (in a series tentatively entitled, "A Daddy Brags")... Seriously, you might find their stories incredulous. One found herself a recording contract with EMI with one of the most famous rock stars in Japan today. The other quit a high-paying Internet company job to take a low-paying job doing lighting for clubs... Now, she is being courted by one of the most famous dance units in the entire world to join their art and lighting team.
How did they do it? How did they do that completely without my help? That's what blows my mind.
I hope to write about them soon. I think their story can help young people and job searchers or just anyone with a dream.
