Music video for PinocchioP’s song “The World Hasn’t Even Begun Yet.” A theme park made of toys serves as the motif.

Theme set as “music as an asylum (sanctuary / free domain).” The staff notation in the lyrics (music) was interpreted as an asylum, a free domain. In the lyrics, music itself is called upon as something whose inherent joy one is made to notice, and it is sung that surrendering oneself to it is an ordinary, insignificant act. It also sounded like an antithesis to the recent situation (the COVID-19 pandemic), which can even create the illusion that there are restrictions on enjoying music. But in reality, there are no such restrictions on music itself. For both its creators and its listeners, it has always been free, inviolable, a sanctuary, and sometimes a refuge. Within that, the aim was to express through collage and an allegorical story the process of simply enjoying music with curiosity. “An asylum, or asylum (German: Asyl, French: asile, English: asylum), is a historical and social concept referring to a special area also called a ‘sanctuary,’ ‘free domain,’ ‘refuge,’ or ‘place without ties.’ Its etymology lies in the Greek word ‘ἄσυλον’ (meaning a place that cannot be violated, a sacred place). In concrete terms, it generally refers to an area beyond the reach of governing power.” - Wikipedia “A place where criminals, slaves, and others flee to escape severe harm or retaliation and receive protection. The term derives from the Greek asylos (unharmed, inviolable, sacred). In premodern times, before the state’s power to punish had been organized and systematized, it was a制度 seen in most societies. Originally, this system was based on a primitive religious belief that harming (taking revenge on) someone who had entered a sanctuary was a blasphemy against the gods. In ancient Greece, temples were regarded as places of protection for abused slaves, criminals, and debtors, and it was considered a religious offense to retrieve or punish those who had fled to a temple and come under divine protection.” - Kotobank What I focused on in this work was not only using live-action cuts, but also frequently cutting by motif in order to blur the boundaries of the domain.

The lyrics and the song itself had strong sci-fi elements, so I gave the music video my own sci-fi setting. I was glad that I could create a spaceship based on a feather motif, and, although it was shot during the day, achieve a sense of post-apocalyptic atmosphere that feels neither day nor night through color grading. Since Morse code is used in the music video, the motion graphics for the lyrics were also inspired by that.

This year marks the 20th anniversary of the Yarin Czech flag, and the 10th anniversary of the Yarin Japanese flag! This short movie expresses Yarin’s work, which explores a variety of styles, including hand-drawn animation, CG, motion graphics, and a little live action.