See the BBC's Easter egg-packed Tokyo Olympics trailer

Film by Nexus Studios and Factory Fifteen is a feast of Japanese culture

Published On
Jun 30, 2021

Editor's Pick

As the delayed Tokyo 2020 Olympics prepares to kick off next month, the BBC has debuted a vibrant, Easter egg-packed Olympics trailer that celebrates both Japanese culture and the athletes about to take part.

Created by BBC Creative together with Nexus Studios and directorial collective Factory Fifteen, the minute-long film draws heavily on original artwork created by Japanese artist and designer Fantasista Utamaro, and is set to original music by anime composer Kenji Kawai ("Ghost in the Shell," "Avalon," "Hyakkin"). 

The film contains more than 50 hidden surprises. For example, it opens on a street in Tokyo, where a skateboarder (a reference to the Games' newest sport, skateboarding), passes a kiosk crammed with Olympics souvenirs. We then go inside a TV screen to a J-pop music video inspired by Simone Biles and USA gymnastics. Manga, karaoke and a Hokusai-inspired surfing wave feature in other scenes, while Olympic athletes from both Team GB and other nations are highlighted.

"We love bringing places to life with a heightened sense of reality and fantasy, often using the environment as a character," commented Factory Fifteen, the directorial collective made up of Kibwe Tavares, Jonathan Gales and Paul Nichols, in a statement. “It was amazing to re-interpret evocative Japanese scenes with the world's biggest sports and athletes woven into the city through authentic design and storytelling.”

The campaign, which sits across the BBC’s Olympics programming, was originally conceived in 2019 for the 2020 Games, but was finally put together this year after the Tokyo Olympics got the final go-ahead. It debuted last night during England's Euro 2020 soccer game against Germany.

Credits

Date
Jun 30, 2021
Client :
BBC Creative
ECD :
Helen Rhodes
Head of Planning :
Mike Lean
Head of Production :
James Wood
Creative Director :
James Cross
Creative Director :
Tim Jones
Creative :
Rachel Miles
Creative :
Michael Yik Xing Tsim
Producer :
Sarah Bradbury
Junior Production Manager :
Jess Fenton
Audio :
Kate Dinsdale
Pictures :
Sam Ratcliffe
Project Manager :
Matt Totterdell
Planner :
Sam Pavey
Head of Portfolio Marketing :
James Parry
Marketing Manager :
Liv Slack
Marketing Executive :
Kate Plowright
Media Planner :
Marc Jones
Media Planner :
Sam Hartford
Composer :
Kenji Kawai
Sound :
Factory
Sound :
Mark Hills
Production Company :
Nexus Studios
Director :
Kibwe Tavares
Director :
Jonathan Gales
Director :
Paul Nicholls
Director :
Factory Fifteen
Creative Director :
Fantasista Utamaro
Executive Producer :
Mike Bell
Executive Producer :
Judy Hill
Senior Producer :
Isobel Conroy
Shoot Producer :
Alan Traquair
Shoot PM :
Janine Carter
DP London :
Tony Miller
Production Designer London :
Sean Hogan
DP Tokyo :
Christopher Nicholls
Tokyo Line Producer :
Gaku Narita
Tokyo Line Producer :
Indochina Productions
Studio 2D Lead :
Dylan White
2D Animator :
Sylvain Magne
2D Animator :
Sim Marriott
2D Animator :
Chiara Sgatti
2D Clean Up Artist :
Duane Uba
3D Generalist :
Nico Domerego
Additional 2D :
Gareth Tredrea
Additional 2D :
Bethany Levy
Editor :
David Slade
VFX :
The Mill
Creative Director :
Mike Chapman
VFX Supervisor :
Fergal Hendrick
Executive Producer :
Gemma Humphries
Producer :
Elle Lockhart
Producer :
Kirsty Ratcliffe
Producer :
Tarun Misra
Producer :
Prithvi Poojari
Producer :
Sourabh Dharampurikar
Producer :
Vinay Puranik
Shoot Supervisor :
Fergal Hendrick
Shoot Supervisor :
Ben Blundell
2D Lead Artist :
Fergal Hendrick
3D Lead Artist :
Ben Blundell
2D Artist :
Declan Andrews
2D Artist :
Oscar Tornincasa
2D Artist :
Rafael Vormittag
2D Artist :
Laique Quraishi
2D Artist :
Mohit Garg
2D Artist :
Dilipan J
2D Artist :
Adam Maynard
2D Artist :
Richard Payne
2D Artist :
Prajeesh E
2D Artist :
Anuj Bhandari
2D Artist :
Nikhil K M
2D Artist :
AVV Suresh
3D Artist :
Wesley Roblett
3D Artist :
James Hansell
3D Artist :
Paul Autric
3D Artist :
Joao Pires
3D Artist :
Thomas Craig
3D Artist :
Vicky McIntyre
3D Artist :
Andreas Graichen
3D Artist :
Hannah Bahyan
3D Artist :
Kate Gabrielova
3D Artist :
Rachel Ward
3D Artist :
Katie Bates
3D Artist :
Amit Das
3D Artist :
Anil Sarki
3D Artist :
Samarendra Lenka
Finish Artist :
Holly McLean
Finish Artist :
Jeanette Eiternes
Matte Painting :
Tomáš Müller
Designer :
David Neale
Motion Graphics :
Freya Barnsley
Colorist :
Alex Gregory
Color Producer :
Elle Lockhart

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