Apropos of my godson Leo’s video debut, check out this crazy stuff! Some folks from Japan have been making animations using sequences of long-exposure nighttime shots using flashlights to draw each frame. Some of the cycles are really impressive, especially considering that they have no way to compare one frame to another– they just have to draw each frame in space, freehand, and hope for the best. I mean, holy cow, a walking quadruped! They also did a short film (with a great percussion soundtrack) that was entered into the Ottawa Animation Festival. Rock on! There’s lots more info on their main site: PIKA PIKA. One particular quote from the blog makes me just want to hug these people:

We got all sorts of friends in different fields together to work on this project. During the process,they got to know each other and discover new things. This is also about “communication”. People can meet new friends as they create a piece art very easy which brings every one happiness. We spend a very enjoyable evening at the workshop and the party through this animation.

This is just such a joy to see. The collective live animation aspect reminds me of some of Lorelei’s stop-motion parties: there’s something really fun about seeing a dozen different people animating simultaneously, even if the results are total chaos. Also related: the amazing bullet-time light-graffiti spinarounds by PiPS:lab, and the lightpainting alphabet made by Juan Buhler and me.