[Student PR Staff] Interview with the student who won the grand prize at the One Minute Video Contest 2025

We, the student PR staff, disseminate information about JIU from a student perspective both inside and outside the university. We mainly interview students and cover events and disseminate information about them.

Student PR Staff: Hikaru Miyata (4th year, Faculty of Management and Information Sciences)

"Aitsune," a work created by Reo Kitagawa (pictured right), a third-year student Film and Performing Arts Course in the Faculty of Media Studies Department of Media And Communications Media Studies, in Production Exercise C (PVCM), won the Grand Prix at the One Minute Video Contest 2025. We spoke to Kitagawa about the planning and filming of the project, as well as the joy of winning the award.

About the production

The title of this work, "Aijo" (Love Always), expresses the central theme of the importance of the everyday things we take for granted. I created this work hoping to reaffirm whether we are actually paying attention to these things, even if everyone knows this. I chose the word "aijo" (love) as the theme, representing the everyday things we take for granted. I chose the title by changing the characters for "aijo" (love) to "ijo" (everyday life), to represent the content of the work. For this contest, I had to communicate my work in just one minute, and what I was conscious of trying to convey in this short time was a sense of impatience and crisis. The beginning of the video shows the warmth of everyday life, which usually passes peacefully, but the end suddenly turns dark to create a lasting impression. This work was inspired by a personal incident that made me realize that the everyday life of my family eating meals together is not something I take for granted. I thought I understood this, but seeing people from different backgrounds close to me made me realize that I needed to rethink my thinking, and that was what prompted me to create this work.

Kitagawa answering questions in an interview

About the shoot

When we filmed in a rented room, we had it set up to give a feeling of everyday life, and we filmed on a street that actually resembled a nearby elementary school to create an after-school atmosphere. As for the actors, we looked for people who were acquaintances of friends who fit the image perfectly, and we were creative in choosing the filming locations and actors.
Normally when I create something, I like to leave some space for the viewer to think, but with one minute there's no room for waste and I struggled with the process of arranging cuts in a way that was easy to understand.
The story begins with a scene of the protagonist growing flowers as a child, and ends with the flowers withering. This symbolizes the message that "even ordinary things wither." To make it easier to understand, we used cuts where the lighting gradually fades to black leading up to the final scene. We used a fixed camera for all the filming at home, and in the final fireworks scene, we wanted to show how love also fades when the sparklers fall, so we hope viewers will pay attention to the use of metaphors in the images.
When I saw this year's theme, "What is important to you?", the first things that came to mind were "obvious" and "love." I put my true feelings into my work, and receiving the Grand Prize means that I feel that this aspect was properly recognized. Many people saw my work through social media, and I realized that my feelings were reaching them.
When the Grand Prize winner was announced, I was watching the announcement online with a friend at home. I was about to give up after my name wasn't called after the first five entries were announced, but then my name was called at the end, and we celebrated together.
Actually, when I first submitted the script and other materials to my teacher, I didn't get a good evaluation, and received harsh comments like, "You should reconsider this character," and "What are you trying to convey?" After that, I received a solid evaluation, with people saying, "You've really brought it to this level," and I'm happy that I was able to shape the work. The judges said that the feelings I put into the work were conveyed, which was very encouraging.

 

Future Plans

During the class in which I created this work, I received feedback from my teacher every time, which was a great learning experience for me in my own videos. This time, I focused on the theme of love, which is about emotions and feelings, but in the future I would like to create videos with different themes, such as desire and social issues.
In the future, I want to become a video director, and I would like to create promotional videos, music videos, and commercials like this one. I hope that many people will watch it, and that the scope of the video will expand as each viewer interprets it differently. This time, I went all out in the production, and I felt that a half-hearted expression would not convey the message I wanted to convey. I think that by deliberately creating a dark atmosphere, my thoughts were conveyed to the viewers, and they appreciated it.

lastly

If I had to sum up my latest work, "Love and Eternity," in one word, it would be that it contains the idea that "even the things we take for granted will eventually fade away," and I have also adopted this phrase as the catchphrase for the work. Through making the video, my thoughts on communication have changed significantly. Previously, I thought it was fine if only those who understood it understood it, but now I think that "the more important something is, the more it must be communicated in an easy-to-understand way."
I would like to tell students aiming to enter future contests that it is very effective to incorporate various video techniques and hidden messages. Furthermore, this contest made me realize how important it is to "communicate and be understood," so I think the most important thing is to communicate what you want to convey in an easy-to-understand way and in an interesting way.