The Art of the Game

[kitsunebi]

I meant to post this a while ago, but while flying to America this holiday season, one of the films available in the in-flight entertainment selection was "The Art of the Game," a documentary about the designer and the craftsman behind the Ukiyoe Heroes woodblock prints featuring video game characters rendered in traditional Japanese ukiyoe style.  I was aware of the artwork before, having seen it floating around on the internet for years, but hadn't realized that there was a film about the guys who made it.

I wouldn't call it riveting viewing or anything, but it was interesting enough to watch on a plane.  Especially impressive is the fact that the guy who carves the woodblocks is a self-taught foreigner living in Japan.  Anyone familiar with the insular nature of Japanese society and how hard it is to be accepted as a foreigner working in most professional fields, and especially one populated exclusively by meticulously trained and apprenticed Japanese artisans (he was refused being allowed to train under a Japanese woodblock carving master and had to learn on his own) will appreciate just how significant an accomplishment it is that he has been able to set up a successful business of his own in Tokyo creating something as purely "Japanese" as woodblock prints.

Anyway, just thought I'd mention it in case anyone wanted to queue it on Netflix (disclaimer: I have no idea if it's available on Netflix.)  There may not be any movies based on games that don't completely suck, but at least there are a few interesting documentaries out there.

For anyone who hasn't seen the artwork before, here's an old article with pictures of several of them:

https://en.rocketnews24.com/2016/10/18/ukiyo-e-heroes-amazing-nintendo-woodblock-prints-created-via-traditional-handmade-methods【pics】/

[Data]

Why does this art form remind me so much of the style used by indigenous people in Canada?  Of course that's a rhetorical question.  I watched that 3 hour video of David Bull you had linked.  It gave a good idea of what it takes to create one of these.  These would be popular at crafts shows around here and you can use you're imagination and create anything you want.