Write a short summary of what happens in the film.

Shibuya, the epicenter of japan’s youth culture. The man dashing through its streets in a pair of inline skates is WW man, the poster boy of WW. While skating jauntily, he notices a no skating sign and is forced to change direction. A security guard stops him. Onlookers take pictures and post them online without permission. He gets away from such a reality that plagues skaters and skates on the walls and rooftops of buildings unchallenged. A drone chases him, but he takes a big leap to dodge it. (drones are banned in tokyo.) He runs up 109, shibuya’s landmark, and leaps off. He lands in front of a police box, but is too fast to make a clean landing. It impresses upon the tagline of the new watch brand WW, unlocking the potential of those who are expressing themselves on the streets in ways that are unique to them.

Cultural / Context information for the jury

Shibuya is undergoing redevelopment in the run-up to the tokyo olympics. It is seeing more high-rise buildings and the disappearance of small shops, parks, and alleyways that attracted youths. Tighter limits are enforced, and no skating signs are posted all over town. The skateboard is now an official olympic sport, but skaters are not allowed to skate on the streets, where the sport comes from. Last year, a skater in shibuya was arrested in an incident. It’s an issue peculiar to japan but is also a problem that is occurring in major cities worldwide. As such, the brands that promote street sports in ads and campaigns must not use skaters for their coolness but show how they would support their wish to skate on the streets (in ways that do not support illegal activities) and how they could raise the issue so that they can live in harmony with others.

Tell the jury about the animation used and summarise any relevant challenges or techniques.

The visual effects of this film and the main challenge was to make a digital double of the main actor. At the beginning of the spot the real actor performs but at some point he has to start to do some exceptional things and a CG actor was the only solution. We also had to 3D track all the backgrounds and the Drone ones have lots of tricks. Last but not least we had to 3D scan all the backgrounds to make the reflection and light match the original to make the cg actor look real, and at the end we had to build an entire tokyo corner to mimic the google earth one.