That's a Wrap!
Thank you to everyone who supported us either by contributing or by word of mouth, we are moving forward with great potential to create something amazing! Please follow us on
facebook,
twitter, and
tumblr for the most recent updates and stay tuned as we revamp
www.100yenfilm.com We will be announcing the winners of our prizes later this month with a video so stay tuned for that, anyone who contributed should have received an email from
100yenarcade@gmail.com, if you have not received anything, please email us or check your spam folder!
January 13th, 2011. With three weeks left in our campaign we'll be releasing a few more teaser trailers to cap off this amazing journey.
First off we have From New York to Tokyo a short interview with the prolific gaming legend, Justin Wong.
We also released a short retrospective video from the 2010 Canada Cup, it has some great action from that event!
The Last Coin, our newest trailer is up! Check it out.
Our Website is now ONLINE.
Still a work in progress, but check it out! www.100yenfilm.com
NEW PRIZE Announcement!
THREE copies of
Brian Ashcraft's book "Arcade Mania!" will be added to the draw!
WE'VE MADE
OUR $9000 GOAL! In fact, we're now over $12,000!
We can now
return to Japan and continue production of our documentary! However as is the
case with any film, there are still many costs to cover including renting
equipment, Calgary travel costs, as well as the post-production phases.
Any
additional funding we receive will go towards these expenses and others.
Every contribution
is now eligible for the above and beyond prizes. Depending on the size of the contribution,
more credits will be awarded. The more credits you have, the better chance you
have of winning a prize!
$5-14 1
credit
$14-29 2 credits
$30-49 3 credits
$50-99 4 credits
$100-299 6 credits
$300-999 8 credits
$1000-1999 10 credits
$2000 and up 15 credits
*ALL original contributors are still eligible for all the NEW prizes and their contributions will
be credited accordingly.
We also have
some new incentives at different funding benchmarks. These will be announced
upon our return from Calgary!
STAY TUNED!
100 Yen: The Japanese Arcade Experience is an hour long documentary focusing on the thriving, exciting, vibrant world of the arcades in Japan.
IMAGINE a world where video games reign supreme. Five stories of arcade cabinets, new and old, dominate the streets of downtown Tokyo. Welcome to Japan. A place where the arcades of the 80s and 90s not only still exist, but thrive and have evolved into elaborate environments of pleasure for any gamer.
Our 8-bit childhood has come a long way. A complete sensory overload is brought on by the multitudes of arcade games, they call out to you as you wander the vast expanses of these game havens. What was once a table top amusement has become an escape from your mundane existence. If you have a couple hundred Yen in your pocket, be prepared for The Ultimate Arcade Experience
Following gamers such as
DAIGO UMEHARA (arguably the world's best STREET FIGHTER player) and speaking with gaming aficionado
BRIAN ASHCRAFT (author of the book
Arcade Mania!) we will explore the world of Japanese Arcades from a North-American perspective and compare/contrast the current trends of East and West gaming cultures.
Other experts include: Satoshi Numata, a professor of video games at the Osaka Electronic University;
Ryan "Gootecks" Guitierrez another professional gamer from the Street Fighter scene; Bear Trickey, a game designer for
Q-Games based out of Japan; and of course, we will be speaking to as many Japanese people as possible!
The overall arc of the story is as follows:
The History of Japanese Arcades: 1978 saw a shortage of 100 Yen coins caused by the game
Space Invaders. It is from this tidbit that we derived the name of this documentary.
Who is the arcade: The people who make up the clientele of the arcades in Japan; Daigo Umehara's rise to fame and other stories that emerge along the way.
The Future: How are arcades evolving and changing to keep up with the new technology and how are they able to compete with home consoles. What is the corporate perspective on arcades in Japan?
UPDATES:
We are very proud to be a FEATURED project here on IndieGoGo! Thank you for your continued support
We can now be seen on Kotaku.com!Article about the project and new contributor announcement at Shoryuken.comArticle about the film over at GeekWeek.com
THE IMPACT:
This project began in Summer 2010, I (Brad Crawford) flew out to Japan and spent the entire month of July chasing leads and filming all over the country. I went from Tokyo to Osaka, all the way to Fukuoka on my own dime. However, I was unable to complete all the necessary interviews and capture the entire story. This trip allowed me to make certain contacts and discover the overall arc that this film will follow.
What I want to do is go back with a small crew and proper equipment to round-out the documentary with interviews from key subjects such as
Daigo Umehara, Satoshi Numata and communicate with the Japanese public about gaming and arcades in general.
EVO 2011, the worlds biggest fighting game tournament, is taking place for the first time in Japan in the spring of 2011. Our goal is to attend and film this event as part of the documentary.
We are also looking forward to interviewing more corporate figures including spokes-people from major game companies such as Capcom, Konami and Taito etc...
This coming November 13th, 2010 we will be attending the
Canada Cup, Canada's Newest and most exciting fighting game tournament. Attendees include Justin Wong, Mike Ross, Ryan "Gootecks" Guitierrez and Daigo Umehara making his fist Canadian appearance. Covering this event will create a great compare/contrast point on gaming and its culture differs from one country to the next. We hope to see some additional Japanese players attend this event to get their perspective on the gaming scene in North America.
This trip to Calgary will be self-funded. We have set a February 2nd deadline for this funding project as we plan to travel early spring 2011. This gives us
100 Days to raise funds for
100 Yen: The Japanese Arcade Experience.**Whatever money we raise will be used to pay for travel/accommodation expenses, if we do not reach our goal we will explore other means of fund-raising/use our own funds, to return to Japan.**
Other Ways You Can Help
I am an avid Redditor as well as other social network user/fan.
If you like the idea and would like to see this film become a reality, pass it along.
Feel free to leave some comments on what you'd like us to investigate. While the fighting genre is of great interest to us, we will be examining all aspects of the Japanese arcades and hope to uncover some great stories about the many genre's that exist within these spaces.
If you have any insight into these or other relevant topics, please drop us a line. 100Yenarcade@gmail.com
Thanks for reading, and keep gaming!
My Team:
Brad Crawford
I am the director/writer of this film. I have worked in the film industry for the last two and half years full-time. Prior to that, I spent three years living and working in Japan from 2005 - 2008. While in Japan I made my first feature film as well as several short films. One of my shorts, entitled City Lights went on to screen in London, Barcelona and Moscow as part of the Quick Flicks short film festival. I am capable of communicating effectively in Japanese as well as English and used this skill extensively while creating the trailer for this documentary.
Most recently I have worked on numerous feature length and short films in various professional capacities. I continue to write and direct short films in my spare time, often in Japanese.
This documentary represents my biggest project to date and I have dedicated a large part of the past five months to the preparation and planning of this film. I am very excited to see it come to life.
Bryan Verot
Bryan is an accomplished filmmaker. Together in 2008 we formed the company Strata Studios based out of Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. Bryan has a degree in Film Production from the University of Winnipeg and now works as a Camera Operator and Lighting Technician. Bryan directed his first film, Haven, in 2008 and hasn't stopped since. Bryan wears many hats, specializing in the production side, he has a penchant for all things visual but has a strong technical side to back up his creative vision.
Bryan can be seen working as a stunt man in the upcoming film "The Divide" as well as the current SPACE series "Todd and the book of pure evil".
Haruca Ueno
Haruca is a Japanese born Canadian citizen who will act as our guide and translator while in Japan. Though the director (Brad) speaks Japanese, having an attractive female bilingual production assistant will only help to smooth out the kinks that are sure to arise when filming in a foreign country. Haruca has worked as a production assistant on several independent features and is looking to gain more experience in the film industry.
Haruca currently lives and works in Canada but is always eager to return to Japan.
