JAPANESE TV SHOOT PREPARATIONS: MAKEUP, REPORTER INTERVIEWS, PHOENIX WRIGHT COSPLAY & HELLO KITTY STUFFED TOY.
A 20 minute documentary about cute character bentos requires 20 hours of filming… and 200 hours of preparation!
The NHK makeup artist, Tamami, is ultra talented and a doll to work with. She has a phenomenal line of makeup brushes — the lip brush is flat and made of high-quality hairs, and I really want one!
The New York Wave reporter, Hana, got her army green dress from a boutique in Shibuya 109. My silky dress is handmade — it’s part of the cosplay outfit that I later put on. I own three skull scarves; this one is from a random mall vendor.
I was scheduled to teach sixteen rambunctious 9-year-old students how to make kawaii bentos. We set up the tables with Tupperware boxes, cookie cutters, straws, toothpicks, plastic knives and other tools for making sandwiches with cute faces.
On camera, I interviewed Principal Cesar of the Talented and Gifted School for Young Scholars. Her school is one of five housed in a large complex at East 109th and Lexington. It’s crazy: in the course of a few blocks, the neighborhood goes from fancy Chanel to Harlem housing projects.
Tamami helped me clip on my onigiri hat. This and the furry cardigan complete my handmade Phoenix Wright costume; I’m the bento lady Angel Starr. (You may recall I wore this to my LA book signings; more photos here and here.)
To hold the childrens’ attention, I drew cute animals, wrote on the whiteboard and dangled my stuffed Hello Kitty.
Time to hide in the back… the uniformed schoolchildren are about to enter the library! (All photos by Shichi. You can see a slideshow of the Harlem photos in this video-post.)
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Song of the Day #294: Patti Smith – Horses (Halfway through her new book and still mesmerized.)
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LA CARMINA
46 Comments
awww!!! I would be too terrified to teach the art of bento (or ANYTHING, really) to a classroom of kids… children scare the sh*t out of me.
Hahah I infamously am not a fan of babies and toddlers… keep them away from me… but I had fun interacting with this eager young audience! They had some great, intuitive ideas for making sandwich bentos.
It looks like so much fun!
It was an adrenaline-filled day for sure, and one that I’ll remember!
Love the pix. I miss NYC.
Lookin’ really good! Your job looks like a lot of fun :)
awww!!! I would be too terrified to teach the art of bento (or ANYTHING, really) to a classroom of kids… children scare the sh*t out of me.
It looks like so much fun!
Love the pix. I miss NYC.
Lookin' really good! Your job looks like a lot of fun :)
Hahah I infamously am not a fan of babies and toddlers… keep them away from me… but I had fun interacting with this eager young audience! They had some great, intuitive ideas for making sandwich bentos.
I luv that random skull scarf…
How did the kids react at first to ur Bento lady, Pheonix Wright costume? did anyone recognize it?
Great question. I asked them if they knew the outfit, and they didn’t — but one little boy knew of the video game Phoenix Wright. Then I said I brought a special friend with me, and pulled Hello Kitty out of a bag… and they all went ahhh we know her! Hello Kitty!
The top-right photo came out pretty awesome
I lovvvvvvvve the look of film! I need to get into that again…
This film was Kodak Portra 400. It’s a pricier film.
The Portra line is fantastic if you like that grainy look.
Here’s an outside shot I took with it:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v219/killerclaw/film%20scans/pier01.jpg
I tend to shoot more with Kodak Ektar 100
Seen here in some of my photos from Yellowstone
http://www.aristocratphotography.com/albums/yellow/FH000017.jpg
http://www.aristocratphotography.com/albums/yellow/FH000012.jpg
I used to shoot a lot of black and white with Kodak TX400
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v219/killerclaw/art%20pics/scan0001-1.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v219/killerclaw/film%20scans/poles-2.jpg
I don’t have any of my BW properly digitized, just a few quick scans of prints
Oh wow, so much to learn and explore… :)
Hhhhm, clever idea, using locally available ingredients. I still haven’t seen any smiley faced bentos at the kombini… would certainly help the salarymen get over their zangyou depression!
Definitely!! Although I’ve seen lots of cute-faced pastries in Japanese bakeries.
The Anpanman museum is impressive, I must admit!
Cool I wish u could come to my school :( oh well YOU ROCK
peace
flawless babe!!
I love the way they did those angular curls on you – with a straightener, I guess (I don’t have the knack) You must wear some weird lime crime lipstick one day and scare the kiddies and the camera crew!!
Hahah, actually I did the curling myself, with a Japanese iron (which heats up higher than N American ones). The part that “grabs” the hair before curling it is very strong, which accounts for the angles…
Oooh, I wore black Lime Crime for this portion of the shoot:
http://lacarmina.com/2010/01/nhk-kawaii-bentos-tv-show-interview-with-la-carmina-blogger-cute-yummy-time-author-peace-now-japan-vivienne-tam/
I luv that random skull scarf…
How did the kids react at first to ur Bento lady, Pheonix Wright costume? did anyone recognize it?
It was an adrenaline-filled day for sure, and one that I'll remember!
Great question. I asked them if they knew the outfit, and they didn't — but one little boy knew of the video game Phoenix Wright. Then I said I brought a special friend with me, and pulled Hello Kitty out of a bag… and they all went ahhh we know her! Hello Kitty!
The top-right photo came out pretty awesome
Hhhhm, clever idea, using locally available ingredients. I still haven't seen any smiley faced bentos at the kombini… would certainly help the salarymen get over their zangyou depression!
Cool I wish u could come to my school :( oh well YOU ROCK
peace
flawless babe!!
I lovvvvvvvve the look of film! I need to get into that again…
Definitely!! Although I've seen lots of cute-faced pastries in Japanese bakeries.
I love the way they did those angular curls on you – with a straightener, I guess (I don't have the knack) You must wear some weird lime crime lipstick one day and scare the kiddies and the camera crew!!
This film was Kodak Portra 400. It's a pricier film.
The Portra line is fantastic if you like that grainy look.
Here's an outside shot I took with it:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v219/killercl…
I tend to shoot more with Kodak Ektar 100
Seen here in some of my photos from Yellowstone
http://www.aristocratphotography.com/albums/yel…
http://www.aristocratphotography.com/albums/yel…
I used to shoot a lot of black and white with Kodak TX400
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v219/killercl…
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v219/killercl…
I don't have any of my BW properly digitized, just a few quick scans of prints
Hahah, actually I did the curling myself, with a Japanese iron (which heats up higher than N American ones). The part that “grabs” the hair before curling it is very strong, which accounts for the angles…
Oooh, I wore black Lime Crime for this portion of the shoot:
http://lacarmina.com/2010/01/nhk-kawai…
Oh wow, so much to learn and explore… :)
Those children looked adorable, and you looked like you really enjoyed yourself! I want your book now ^_^
Thank you so much! The cute cookbook and my new T-shirt collaboration are available on my site.
YAY!
You are so creative. Not to mention brave enough to face all those children. I love how they will learn to love their food; and healthy food at that. We have too much weight problems and body image issues in our generation. It should change for the next.
Those children looked adorable, and you looked like you really enjoyed yourself! I want your book now ^_^
The Anpanman museum is impressive, I must admit!
YAY!
Thank you so much! The cute cookbook and my new T-shirt collaboration are available on my site.
You are so creative. Not to mention brave enough to face all those children. I love how they will learn to love their food; and healthy food at that. We have too much weight problems and body image issues in our generation. It should change for the next.