From Asia★ AdFest 2014 Report③: The Fabulous Four - A Competition of Young Video Creators

The 17th Asia Pacific Advertising Festival (AdFest 2014) featured 16 seminars and events over its three-day run. Leading the festivities in spectacular fashion was "Fabulous Four," a short film competition session showcasing young video creators.

Launched in 2008 to discover future stars, this session requires applicants to submit scripts in advance. Only the "outstanding four" selected by judges from the Film Craft and New Director categories are permitted to produce a five-minute short film for screening at AdFest.

This year's theme was "Co-Create the Future." After an incident where one participant was disqualified for creating a work vastly different from their script, three were selected: Adam Graveley from Australia, freelance film director Tomokazu Setsuda from Japan, and Keisuke Kuroyanagi from Dentsu Creative X. Setsuda's "A Man" was chosen as the best work.

---

"A Man" by Tomokazu Setsuda

Tomokazu Setsuda

 

Best Film "A Man"

 

 

Concept

Responding to this year's theme, "Co-Create the Future," I came to believe that "creating the future" is the same as "creating the present." When we create the "present," it becomes the "future" and then the "past." Whether looking ahead or looking back, we are always living in the "present."
This led me into the looping story for this piece.

 

 

Story

An elderly man plowing a field notices a middle school boy at the bus stop.
A bus arrives between them.
The middle school boy falls in love with a girl in his class.
Time moves forward for the two of them.
High school, college, marriage, pregnancy, a new family...
Now a man of middle age, he tills the field and notices a middle schooler.
There at the bus stop stands his younger self, the middle schooler.
And a bus arrives between them.

 

 

Points of Innovation

This time, for AdFest, I aimed to eliminate verbal handicaps by removing dialogue and condensing it into the final line. The line "Let's make more memories" carries two meanings: "memories" as words from the past and "let's make memories" as words pointing toward the future.

 

 

Shooting Episode

We were absolutely at the mercy of the weather. Heavy snowfall like we hadn't seen in decades, and fierce winds that blew away our prop umbrellas. I think the results show the effort we all put in shoveling snow late into the night. I don't think we could ever win against the wind...
＊＊＊Favorite Scenes＊＊＊
I was especially careful filming the scenes where my present, past, and future selves intersect. The rule was that I knew what my past self looked like. In that sense, I particularly like the scene inside the bus.

 

 

Past Production Activities

While working as a freelance assistant director, I personally write and produce independent films.
YouTube Channel "Tomoichiro Setsuda"

 

 

Future Plans

I'm eager to take on more planning and directing projects as opportunities arise.

---

"DEADS" by Keisuke Kuroyanagi

Keisuke Kuroyanagi

"DEADS"

 

 

Concept Intent

For this theme, "Co-Create the Future," as a movie enthusiast, I wanted to create a strange yet heartwarming story I'd been nurturing for a long time: one where living corpses (LIVING DEAD) and people lacking the will to live (DEAD LIVING) influence each other.

 

 

Story

A story about a former hairdresser who beautifies zombies. Enjoy the rest through the visuals.

 

 

Points of Ingenuity

Being film-oriented myself, I really wanted to explore zombies as entertainment as a movie lover. Since this is a script-based award, I focused on making it engaging to read and ensuring the concept and key scenes came across clearly through text alone. I wrote the script in Japanese and took great care with the English translation.

 

 

Filming Anecdotes

Shooting took place from mid-January to mid-February, Japan's coldest period. To make matters worse, we got the heaviest snowfall in 46 years just two days before filming. While grumbling, "I wonder if the Thai people can even understand this hardship...", the entire crew pulled through together.

Even after completion, the most challenging aspect—the one where I still think we could have done more—remains: "Does the story truly depict humanity through the zombies?" Zombies are undeniably a catchy motif, so we had to craft a narrative that wouldn't end with people just saying, "The zombies were fun." Since it's not horror, cheapening the zombies wasn't entirely out of the question...

From almost the very beginning, I decided to go for realistic zombies. I believed that only with zombies that would "resonate" internationally could we properly convey the absurdity of the humans facing them.

From that perspective, my favorite scene is the one later on where the protagonist, attacked by zombies on the balcony, flees into the house. It's a moment where the actor's personality shines through beyond just the acting, and I think it best captures the "human helplessness."

 

 

Production Activities to Date

After making my first film in middle school, I spent my high school years as a film enthusiast creating numerous videos, then entered the Film Department at Musashino Art University. Even then, I vaguely held the aspiration: "Starting with commercial work, I want to make at least one feature film someday."

I joined Dentsu Inc. Tech (now Dentsu Creative X) in 2008. After working as an assistant director, handling video storyboards, and making-of footage, I've been entrusted with planning and directing web movies primarily over the last two years or so. I still do relatively few 15- or 30-second commercials.

In 2013, I received the top JAC Remarkable Director of the Year award for a 60-second anti-bullying commercial titled "Words from Graduates." This immediately demonstrated both internally and externally that "direction stems from strong planning." Being selected for the Fabulous Four right after this award makes me truly grateful for this opportunity.

2013 JAC Remarkable Director of the Year "Words from Graduates"

 

 

Looking Ahead

While my experience as a "commercial director" is still relatively limited, as mentioned earlier, I would be happy to create robust, impactful visual content that truly resonates—not just commercials—as a director who can thoroughly develop compelling stories.