2019 MS-A Division
First Place
"Tsukuroiya no Musume, Kaya"
『繕い屋の娘カヤ』
Tsukuba International School
Ami Onda (Gr. 8)
In this year's book trailer, I put efforts to raise the quality by using my last year's experience. I primarily focused on expressing "divineness" with the sound sources. Since "god" has appeared in this story, I chose the sounds that can create the mysterious atmosphere. Also, I tried to get viewer‘s attention by using the mysterious mixture of colors for the book trailer like the color used for a shrine.
Sophisticated use of technology and good tempo attracts audience. Music and sound effects are also good. The work not only conveys the content of the story, but also the picture, the color, and their transitions from frame to frame are extremely original and outstandingly completed. The image is also beautiful. It would have been even better if narration was combined.
Second Place
"Kagami no Kojou"
『かがみの孤城』
Tokyo International School
Lee Hyowon (Gr. 8)
This is the second time that I created a book trailer for this contest. It was really fun making the trailer and I was proud of myself or creating a better trailer than last year. Last year I put a voice over of myself speaking but this year I challenged myself and put in a piece of music that I thought it was fitting. It took way more time than I expected but I think this was a good opportunity for me to learn new things.
"Hyakugo-do"
『一〇五度』
Hiroshima International School
Yuta Fukushima (Gr. 8)
This book contains an important keyword which is “一〇五度”. In this keyword, there are multiple important meanings behind it. While creating the book trailer, I manage to focus on the friendship between 真 and 梨々. However, I had some difficulties with how I can express it. One the opinion that was creative, was the stop-motion and the ending scene. In my opinion, I improved and developed my skills compared to last year’s book trailer.
This is a very creative trailer that integrates text and music. Hand-drawn illustrations are also effective, and express the contents of the story well. Adding some narration would make the work much better.
The transition was smooth and easy to watch. The music matches the picture and the story well, as a result, the work is completed to a well-balanced trailer. If some narration was combined, the quality should have been even better.
"Machikado niwa Monogatari ga..."
『街角には物語が...』
Tsukuba International School
Rika Ikehara (Gr. 8)
This was my third time making a book trailer. Compared to the previous book trailers, I feel like I have improved on the quality, such as the graphics, music, and description of the book. I put a lot of effort in the drawings; since this book is a collection of short stories, I thought the audience would better understand the flow of the story with the help of images.
If this trailer is reviewed after reading the book, the viewer will be able to touch the deeper parts of the story. The work creatively combines a colorful but somewhat tender background and the characters’ silhouette. In addition to the visual beauty, the silhouette of the characters stimulates the viewer's curiosity. The work naturally induces a viewer to pick up the book, wondering what the story will be and what kind of people the characters are.
Third Place
"Obayashi kun heno Tegami"
『大林くんへの手紙』
Hiroshima International School
Sora Inokuchi (Gr. 6)
It was the first time to participate this contest.I was confused to think the image of the overall atmosphere. I used the editing software with less function, so it was difficult to thinked how to make the video be creative. The point of my video was, I went to the actual school to photographing also, I actual appeared by myself in the video. Because that viewer can inflates the image of the book.
"Tsukuroiya no Musume, Kaya"
『繕い屋の娘カヤ』
Hokkaido International School
Koyuki Cooke (Gr. 7)
Rico Yamakawa (Gr. 6)
Making a book trailer was so much easier than last year. Firstly because this was the second year doing this. Last year, I needed to learn many stuff all at once. For example, how to use an iMovie. We had to adjust many times in order to make a good video. I was able to use my knowledge from last year and use it on this project. I feel I learned new ideas and I hope I can use these new ideas next year.
The change of the main character’s feelings towards Obayashi is naturally conveyed. Although it is good to use a variety of materials such as hand-drawn illustrations, photographs, videos, etc., it is slightly regretful that the work somehow has lacked sense of unity. Also, more careful consideration of text fonts and colors would have made the work even better quality.
What happened? What will happen to the end? --- The work invites a viewer into the story from the impressive beginning. The narration is good, but it is slightly regretful that the combination with the voice is not well balanced. Other sound effects are effective.
"Kimi wa Tsukiyo ni Hikari Kagayaku"
『君は月夜に光輝く』
Hokkaido International School
Ena Kanai (Gr. 8)
I really enjoyed making my Sakura Medal video this year, because this was my first time reading a romance book. I loved the storyline, and I also enjoyed reading the book too. I’ve done this a several times, so I didn’t have any difficulties, so I focused on making the video fun to watch and I tried to make it so that people would want to read the book.
"Junko no Teppen"
『淳子のてっぺん』
Tsukuba International School
Kensui Higurashi (Gr. 8)
I think that this book trailer has evolved much more than the previous book trailer. Because this time I spent an hour for every 5 seconds of scenes and picked out all the back ground music that fit the music and thought about time allocation that would be perfect for it. So, this book trailer is quite confident.
The work expresses effectively the development of the story that goes gently and slowly. The picture and the narration are also outstanding. It was slightly regretful that the narration was exactly the same as the text on the screen. That makes a viewer have impression that the trailer just reads aloud the text.
Difficult words are effectively used, making use of the implication. But, more careful consideration of the text color should have been made. It would have been better to add narration as well.