29th JSC Award
"The Story of Mochi Grandma" Takato Abe
A documentary by Misao Kuwata, a confectioner who has been making 50,000 bamboo rice cakes a year in Goshogawara, Aomori Prefecture for over 30 years.
Mentaly. Despite being 93 years old, he is a professional who quickly rides a bicycle, divides into the mountains and collects bamboo leaves, and makes exquisite bamboo rice cakes by hand from the azuki beans that are the ingredients. Along with the original scenery of Tohoku, the daily life of the so-called "mochi grandma", who lives humblely and affluently, is simply spelled out.
The consistent shooting viewpoint based on the use of a single focus lens and a tripod has succeeded in effectively capturing the movement of the main character's place and expressing his feelings. Bamboo leaves and red beans are filled with bean paste, hot rice cakes, and texture. The vivid yet simple and comfortable color projection creates something special. The hero's skin is impressively beautiful and does not make you feel age. The "brilliance" that is emitted only after life is photographed.
It was praised for contributing to the theme of the program and the aim of the work, as well as excellent shooting technology.
NHK Professional Work Style
"The story of Mochi Grandma"
Broadcast on June 2, 2020/45 minutes
Production / NHK Director / Mai Ito
Takato Abe
(Abe Takato)
Main career
Joined NHK in 2003 Assigned to Tokyo News Center
Aim for the path of photography
2009 Morioka station transfer
Location / relay program shooting business
2013 Tomorrow "Memory of Hometown ~ Sekiishi City ~" NHK Comprehensive
2015 Document 72 Hours "Container Karaoke in the Seaside Town" NHK General
2016 ETV special feature "To you in the sky ~ Rikuzentakata" Drifting post "~" NHK synthesis
2017 New Japanese Fudoki "Stone" NHK Comprehensive
2018 Aomori station transfer
2019 Nebuta Festival 8K Broadcast Shooting Chief
2020 Ski Jumping Women's World Cup Zao Tournament International Signal Shooting Chief
2020 Refreshing nature 100 views "Aomori Iwaki River downstream area (4K)" BS4K
Report on the 29th JSC Award Examination Results
Eight members of the association conducted a screening at the Omnibus Japan preview room "Sophia", which cooperates every year. Since it is difficult to collect works due to this corona, there was a pressure as a committee even in the result of "No applicable work" in the previous year, but 5 works were submitted and the award was selected as usual. It became possible to carry out. First of all, I would like to thank everyone involved in the submitted work. I will briefly introduce the judging results of the four works other than the award.
"Woman with Perspective" Photo: Tomohiko Tsuji Director: Nobuyuki Ohura <Documentary film 98 minutes> Controversial work such as domestic distribution and refusal to show at theaters. A documentary that mixes fiction with the way of life of stage actress Abe Ayumi. I feel motivated to take on challenges such as peeping scenes that consist only of hidden cameras, but there are pros and cons to the choice of not matching the tone of the camera and the style of the previous era.
"Apples with" Wake "" Photo: Yoshikuni Nikko Director: Yohei Umeuchi <NHK ETV Special Documentary Program 27 minutes> A story of a family built up by others who have their own circumstances, such as abuse and discrimination prejudice. The camera goes into the family and captures the characters attractively with a reasonable sense of distance. However, there were many negative opinions about the effect and necessity of the interviews with only high backs, the difficulty of understanding human relationships, and especially the image scene of apples.
"Japanese Forgotten Things" Photo: Makoto Hayashi Director: Hiroyasu Obara <Documentary film 98 minutes> After the Pacific War, there are still Japanese who remain stateless and seek relief. A work that highlights this issue through the efforts of the citizens to save them. Although its value as a documentary was highly evaluated, it did not reach an evaluation for its technical achievements in photography.
"Isn't there a beautiful village somewhere?" Photo: Hiroshi Nose Director: Hiroshi Nose <Documentary film 59 minutes>
A work depicting the world of glass painting by the late Fusako Kodama and the poetry of Noriko Ibaragi as a homage to those who live in collaboration with nature in the beautiful scenery of Tono. The pictures were kind to the scenes with a rich seasonal atmosphere and the starry sky. Although it was a wonderful subject, a beautiful scene, and an interesting subject of coverage, it was evaluated as another step in relation to the fact that the photographer is also the director in terms of whether the shooting contributes to the intention of the work.
JSC Award Committee Chairman Yoshinari Treasure
Japanese Society of Cinematographers JSC Award Committee December 2020 Yoshiday
Awards are given to photographers who have demonstrated excellent shooting skills in video works (other than theatrical films).