Donate for Japan

Posted by Justin Cone

WE CAN DANCE: Donate for Japan

About the author

Justin Cone

/ justincone.com
Together with Carlos El Asmar, Justin co-founded Motionographer, F5 and The Motion Awards. He currently lives in Austin, Texas with is wife, son and fluffball of a dog. Before taking on Motionographer full-time, Justin worked in various capacities at Psyop, NBC-Universal, Apple, Adobe and SCAD.
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13 Comments

salvame

Boooo!! I would have to say. Way to direct and insensitive. We don’t need to be seeing a japan fall apart we need to be seeing a nation building and becoming whole.

WE CAN DANCE Animation Studio

We are very sorry that you feel that way. I can assure you that it hasn’t been our intention to be insensitive or crude. We just wanted to contribute something to motivate people to donate and help Japan. If it motivates just a single person to donate, this has been a success.

We think however that we not only show Japan fall apart and get hit by a tsunami, which of course is just the obvious. We also show that there is always hope. Hope that can’t be destroyed by an earthquake or a tsunami and is resistant to whatever there may come. A red cross that symbolizes not only Japan, but the whole world.

salvame

Most people think it’s just another subject matter to use to get inspired.

billboard_bob

Pretty obvious and the fx are average. Not a great deal of emotion in it, considering it’s supposed to make you donate!

BlakeLandry

I totally agree with you salvame. Pretty darn insensitive.

mike4884

i agree too, it shouldn’t be on here.. rather average little animation / could be bashed out in a day by anyone with average c4d/rf skills

WE CAN DANCE Animation Studio

It is ok to question the ethical correctness of this spot as it was something we expected dealing with such a sensitive subject, but we strongly feel that it is not ok to discuss its technical aspects as this would totally miss the point. It was never meant to be a showcase of creative or technical skills and therefore shouldn’t be discussed as though it was.

JonathanWinbush

I liked it and thought it was cool simple and to the point. Not everything has to be high gloss and fancy to be good. I use real flow and can tell you not just any average user could easily make those splashes it would take sometime.
As for being insensitive i saw no one complaining about this piece that sold out in 1 day to help Japan relief

http://greyscalegorilla.com/blog/2011/03/help-japan/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+GSG+%28Greyscalegorilla%29

Bran Dougherty-Johnson

Actually, a whole LOT of people questioned the motives behind creating that poster as well.
http://www.fastcodesign.com/1663419/does-this-beautiful-poster-help-the-tragedy-in-japan-fetishize-it-or-both

http://www.creativereview.co.uk/cr-blog/2011/march/japan-creative-response

I like the Creative Review critique a bit better, because honestly no one really needs to be made AWARE of the Japanese Earthquake / Tsunami / Nuclear Leak. What is the function of a beautiful poster or a sublime short film? Can’t we figure out a better response that works on the ground?

psdr

agree with salvame as we chat while watching the piece.
i’m from japan and my family is living not too far away from the most damaged area. (they are all fine though) so i really do appreciate that many people show their love and support. as a creative professional though, i’m not sure if showing the symbol of the national flag destroyed or cracked or polluted is the best way to motivate people for donation or supporting acts. while watching the news and following all my friends tweets from japan, i still don’t know what’s the best way.

WE CAN DANCE Animation Studio

We see your point in rather showing a positive motivation to help rebuilding the devastated parts of Japan than reminding people of what they won’t get out of their heads anyway.

But please consider a creative process up to the point when it comes to a public release being a reflection of the state of mind of the authors at that time.
We did the first layout of this animation a few days after the catastrophic events, it just took 10 days to reach you. Now, with a few nights “to sleep over it” and a – in certain parts, e.g. Creative Review – sensible discussion we would possibly come up with a different approach but please don’t blame us for trying to react quickly.

We added a link to shelterbox.org, which we just learned of, on our vimeo page.

Ziul

I love the feeling of people that use their skills for a great cause.
I’ve been seeing a bunch of studios doing the same thing. That is awesome.
The fact is people are used to see destruction, children dying and a lot of sensationalism that always comes from the press. That makes more “dramatic”, right?
I’d rather to see an iconic spot asking for help instead. A word to the wise is sufficient.

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