Team Bridgestone — Chase Your Dream
These stories explore their personal hurdles, emotion and inspiration of Bridgestone’s para-athletes while chasing their dream to compete at the 2021 (2020) Tokyo Paralympic Games.
I worked in collaboration with Spoon and Shutoku Mukai to create artworks which were then taken and transformed magically by the Tokyo based team at Spoon into these charismatic video animations.
The first story shares the character of wheelchair badminton duo, Rie Ogura & Kohei Kobayashi. Even though they both compete in the sport they both have their own unique playstyle. Rie Ogura moves like a falcon, quick, speedy and graceful. Kohei on the other hand is represented as a Hawk, strong, sharp and outstanding vision.
The second video tells the story of Paralympic athlete Mami Tani and her first experience of feeling wind (kaze) while running with her new prosthetic leg. We then follow her journey through two contrasting colour palettes representing her struggle and breakthrough which lead her to the 2021 (2020) Tokyo Paralympics.
Our third story with Team Bridgestone shares the journey of the young and passionate Thai wheelchair sprinter. The song and video showcases his passion and determination to be the best. The warm Thai homeland comes down on the metal of his wheelchair, reinforcing his nickname ' Beam', representing his strength and stability.
Our fourth story with Team Bridgestone shares the journey of the young and passionate wheelchair tennis player Manami Tanaka. The song and video highlights her passion for getting on the court after her injury and her frozen soul taking flame. Soul in my ball doesn’t only reference her love for the game of tennis but also shares her love for onigiri (rice balls), which she prepares and makes for herself before matches.
