Junior Year Box Set

Tokyo Animation had started as a company that printed Japanese comic books called manga. From there, they evolved into doing animated TV shows and movies. They then got into the CGI business.

Today’s commercial was for Dynamism, a technology company that made 3-D printers and 3-D scanners. They also made what they called ultra-mobile PCs and other gadgets. I’d done some research on them, and they made a cool telepresence robot. It was a Segway for your iPad, meant to be used for teleconferencing. What made it so cool was it would follow you around. Sheldon, a character on the Big Bang Theory, had made himself something similar called ‘virtual Sheldon.’ My goal was to get one.

We were taken to a conference room where we were met by an older man, who turned out to be from Dynamism, and three young women.

“Welcome, David. We were excited when we found that you were available to advertise our products. I look forward to much success,” Mr. Goda, the executive from Dynamism, said.

“Let me show you what we plan to do,” one of the women said.

I watched a video that had me wondering why they needed me because it showed a CGI representation that was a dead ringer. It was better than what they’d done for Star Academy. The video next flashed a title: ‘David 2.0.’ It showed them using their 3-D scanner and then the 3-D printer to create a green-colored version of me. Then my ringer’s eyes suddenly opened, and it smiled. This was amazing.

They also had a voiceover for the ringer which turned out to include the lines I’d spent yesterday learning. Every single one of them was used by the ringer, as ‘he’ showed off their different scanners and printers.

“We’ll have you do it in both English and Japanese,” one of the girls told me.

Their plan was to make thirty-second, forty-five-second, one-minute, and three-minute versions for both the web and television.

“We’ll get you into the CGI studio to get your body mapped this morning. This afternoon you’ll do the voice work.”

They took me to a room that had a smaller, circular room inside it. I was put into a bodysuit that was covered in sensors. They explained that the circular room had cameras and sensors embedded in the walls so I could be seen from all angles, and they could record my movements. They ran me through different poses and then had me make specific movements like sitting, walking, and opening a door.

The next step was to strap my head into something that looked like a medieval torture device so my head wouldn’t move. I then had to go through a series of facial expressions and say my lines as they recorded my facial movements. I was told that natural and believable facial expressions were the key for the CGI to look as ‘real’ as possible.

Then they filmed me doing the commercial as reference points for their CGI work.

◊◊◊

We finally stopped for lunch, and I was able to get out of the bodysuit. Saul was all smiles, but Paul didn’t look happy. I figured out that I was about to do some PR work.

“They want to allow their employees to meet you,” Saul explained.

The only problem was, I hadn’t been fed, and my stomach was growling.

“I’m here to work, I’ve been going nonstop, and I’m starving,” I grumbled. “Can I at least get some food in me first?”

We walked into the cafeteria and saw they’d catered lunch. I almost sank to the floor in relief.

Kent had a box of my headshots and another of me as Stryker. I was happy when Hana stood up and told everyone that I needed to eat first, and then would take time to meet them all. She’d gone through the buffet for me and set up small plates of different foods like she’d done for the traditional meals she’d made me. Hana smiled when I picked the chopsticks instead of the fork she’d also brought. Japanese food looks pretty. They take the time to make everything look appealing.

Kent had a system in place. I would meet each employee, either Hana or they would tell me their name, and I would write it on the photo they picked and sign it. Then I would stand up, and they would come around the table where someone called the ‘camera boy’ would take their picture with me.

I found them all to be very polite, and once they’d met me, they would hurry off to talk excitedly with their workmates. With Kent’s system, we were able to accommodate everyone in a reasonable amount of time. Kent later told me that a few of the girls had slipped him their numbers to give to me.

◊◊◊

The afternoon was spent doing the voice work. I was glad that Hana had spent so much time working with me because there were only a few words I either mispronounced or used with the wrong inflection.

The English version of their final product was very formal in the way it sounded. I thought it likely sounded like the Japanese version would if I tried to translate English into Japanese. Google was my friend for translation, but it was like a friend who didn’t really speak the language.

“Would it be okay if I fixed this?” I asked.

“Is it not correct?”