波の記憶 [Memory Of Waves]

「運命は自ら切り開く」!

Hot on the heels of the AIFF, RunwayML held another event, “Gen48”, a 48 hour short film competition. Participants were obligated to choose from a few sets of elements - a scene, a character, an object - and tell a story using all three.

I chose “shipwreck”, “animal”, and “note”. Here’s what came out:

I started Memory of Waves toying with the traditional Japanese sumi-e ink wash style: a boy alone on the beach while the waves washed by. It evolved into an exploration of several mainstays of Japanese folklore: the fox, the spirit world, the lazy green oni. “Boy and canine have adventure” is probably a classic form in many places.

I also encountered the phrase “「運命は自ら切り開く」” (“Unmei wa mizukara kirihiraku” phonetically) untranslated for the first time; a classic Japanese saying which loosely translates to "One carves out their own destiny." Our hero encounters a spirit in the form of each flashing character, which fills him with resolve in the darkness.

We should all be so lucky. 「運命は自ら切り開く」 !