| Title | WE ARE EXPLORERS |
| Brand | BITTORRENT |
| Product / Service | FILE SHARING |
| Category | D01. Online Video |
| Entrant | PARTY Tokyo, JAPAN |
| Entrant Company | PARTY Tokyo, JAPAN |
| Advertising Agency | PARTY Tokyo, JAPAN |
| Name | Company | Position |
|---|---|---|
| Masashi Kawamura | PARTY | Director/Concept |
| Qanta Shimizu | PARTY | Director/Concept |
| Aramique | ODD DIVISION | Director/Concept |
| Tom Galle | PARTY | Concept |
| Mau Morgo | ODD DIVISION | Designer |
| Sesse Lind | ODD DIVISION | Director Of Photography |
| Yahaira Cardoza | ODD DIVISION | Production Assistant |
| Chris Thompson | Nextfab Studio | 3d Printing Technical Support |
| Brandon Boulden | Nextfab Studio | 3d Printing Technical Support |
| N/A | Nextfab Studio | 3d Printing |
| N/A | Morpheus Prototypes | 3d Printing |
| Michael Wadsworth | Finalcut New York | Editor |
| Mike Howel | Color Collective | Colorist |
| Viet/An Nguyen | Finalcut New York | Post/Production Supervisor |
| Neil Harris | Punkdafunk | Artist Management |
We designed over 200 custom figurines in Cinema4D and printed the figurines with UV reactive filament. The figurines were shot frame by frame as stop-motion under black lights and the film was released through BitTorrent along with every 3D file. We handed over the files, storyboards, 3D-printing instructions and music to the fans. The story spread through the media and creative communities with millions downloading the files. The design approached defined a new way to create animation as CG and export frames into a 3D-printing format, allowing stop-motion to be created and shared through an entirely new approach.
The day the project was released Time Magazine tweeted in between coverage of the Ukraine protests and UN resolutions for the world to “Watch Cut Copy’s 3D-printed music video “We Are Explorers.” Over the course of one month major press from Mexico to Australia covered the project as the first entirely 3D-printed film and music video. Fast Company, The Guardian, Wired Gizmodo, the story went around the world. After 1 month over 2.6 million people had downloaded the 3D files from BitTorrent. Through BitTorrent alone impressions were over 8 million. The little 3D figurines got to explore the world.
Loma Vista Recordings asked for a new kind of music video that broke the mold, inviting audience participation in a novel way. The objective was fan and press engagement. The audience was one part dedicated fan and one party jaded press. We proposed 3D printing an entire music video frame by frame then shooting stop-motion in the streets of Los Angeles. By 3D printing each frame we created over 200 collectible figurines that would live beyond the music video and instead of just releasing the music video we released all of the 3D files open-source through a collaboration with BitTorrent. Suddenly it wasn’t even a music video project anymore. It was a participatory 3D printed narrative and the fans now had the keys. They were able to download the storyboard, every 3D printing file from the film and step by step instructions on how to reimagine the film.