This year’s the 9th “1minute Projection Mapping Competition,” has attracted a great deal of attention as it was held in Tokyo after a year-long postponement due to COVID-19.
This competition, which started with entries from 5 countries, has now grown to 246 entries from 54 countries and regions. I am very happy to see the high level of motivation among the participants, but I also feel a great sense of responsibility. This competition is a place where creators can output their own expression, and I have realized once again the importance of creating such a place. Creators’ viewpoints, ideas, and what they want to express represents what people essentially want to say and the times, and through these opportunities, they can directly communicate with people and arouse their emotions. The value of such expressions brought by creators and the time spent experiencing them are becoming more and more valuable and indispensable. The world is currently divided by the spread of the coronavirus. Originally, the judges and finalists from overseas were supposed to gather in the same place to share the time together. Although it was not possible to do so at this time, we were able to hold the competition while being connected online. I felt that it was a very valuable opportunity for me to feel the heat and temperature of the world and the creators. Through the 1minute Projection Mapping Competition and TOKYO LIGHTS, we hope to continue to provide opportunities for people to connect in this way.
This year’s competition, held at the Japanese capital of Tokyo in conjunction with the Festival of Lights, attracted a record number of entries and very high-quality works. Both as a competition and as a projection mapping show, the contents were more substantial than ever before. With the theme of “HOPE”, creators from all over the world thought about the word “hope”, expressed it, and used it as a platform to communicate it. It was a very difficult task to narrow down the finalists in the selection process. If I could have, I would have screened more works, but I think the juries selected the works that showed stronger feelings and energy for this “hope”.
The Meiji Memorial Picture Gallery, which served as the screen, is a beautiful building with a long history and is also a valuable cultural asset of Japan. To make the most of this architecture and space is a task that requires a lot of experience and imagination. However, this experience can sometimes become a barrier to the imagination. In this competition, experienced creators are expected to break out of their shells, while young creators are challenged to come up with bold ideas that do not rely on experience. Creators are aiming to go beyond the walls of “what it should be like,” and the works that touched the heartstrings of the juries in this direction won the Grand Prix and other awards.
Grand Prize/ Audience Prize：「THROUGH THE NIGHT」THE FOX, THE FOLKS(Indonesia)
The work of “THE FOX, THE FOLKS,” which won the Grand Prix and the Audience Award this year, evoked a sense of creativity and freshness. In a time when 3DCG and generative video expression is the norm, this work used an analog, tactile “picture” method. The layout, cutting, transitions, and other elements that make use of the shape of the architecture were also very neat, and each scene was a picture in its own right.
Video：https://youtu.be/fe_VTGNhbS8
Second Prize（TOKYO LIGHTS Award）：「Alegria」Romera Diseño e infografia SL （Los Romeras)(Spain)
The runner-up work, “Los Romeras,” was a simple yet powerful work with Spanish folk music as its main theme. Narrowing down the colors to red and white, all the scenes were carefully created to match the rhythm and intonation and were very comfortable and exhilarating as if running through to the finale. The work conveyed the passion that “hope is the energy of people’s joy and enjoyment” and attracted many people to the venue.
Video：https://youtu.be/Bs7fLAtrDnQ
Jury Prize：「Arco Iris」 Felix Frank(Germany)
The work by Felix Frank from Germany, which won the Jury Prize, was a simple and beautiful world that was carefully constructed and evoked a great deal of quiet emotion. After a simple introduction with a piano melody, the spatiality of the stringed instruments gradually expanded into a swelling sound that entered the viewer’s mind. It was a mysterious and beautiful work that made the viewer feel as if he or she were dissolving into the starry sky and assimilating into the universe, and when the faint dots that glowed minutely in the dark moved, one felt a delicate yet cosmic scale.
Video：https://youtu.be/1NU5PF276Ug
Tokyo Tokyo Prize：「ジダイノテ Hands of New Age」01iMAGE / Noguchi Kazunobu(Japan)
The work by 01iMAGE/ Noguchi Kazunobu, which won the Tokyo Tokyo award, was fun and calculated with a nice rhythm and change with the music. While the projection mapping element was a bit lacking, the motion graphic design made up for it with pleasant movements, vivid colors, and straightforward presentation, which attracted the audience and gained popularity.
Video：https://youtu.be/5O7RWy-2GMY
It was very distressing to have to narrow them down to only five awards, as the non-award-winning works were all truly wonderful. Some of the judges wanted to give awards to other works as well. It is a credit to the finalists that they are recognized as great works in their own right. In the end, it was the creators’ attitude to challenge, more than the technical aspects, that resulted in the adoption of the award. This will be a guideline for future competitions as well, and I believe it will be the key to the direction most sought after by creators in these competitions.
In conclusion, I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to the many people involved in organizing this competition, to the people who attended the event and the local community, and most of all to the creators who participated.
1minute Projection Mapping Competition
Producer: Michiyuki Ishita