“Juliana’s Tokyo Live!”: Storyboard for TV program opening animation sequence

Background

In the early 1990s, Juliana’s Tokyo, a popular Japanese nightclub, was preparing to produce a live, weekly television show, “Juliana’s Tokyo Live!,” in conjunction with its parent company, EMCI-Wembley Japan.  The show was to be modeled after “American Bandstand,” and broadcast throughout Southeast Asia (more here).

The program was hosted by various internationally-known music superstars, including Michael Jackson, Stevie Wonder, Earth, Wind & Fire, Vanilla Ice, M.C. Hammer and many others.

Via its advertising agency, LYNX, Juliana’s expressed its desire to have an animated opening sequence developed for the show that:

  • Would feature the letters of its name “dancing” on a stage, atop a pulsing beat
  • Would leave the background black, for keying in source or live-action footage of guest hosts, dancers, etc.
  • Would conclude with the letters forming the Juliana’s logo

Having successfully worked with LYNX on a prior project (JRA Opening Sequence), Rainbow Japan, an affiliate office of Rainbow Multimedia Group, won the contract to design this animation.


The storyboard I designed

As Creative Director of Rainbow Multimedia Group, I created the storyboard below, that met all of Juliana’s criteria.  The sequence concludes with the “Live” portion of the logo being step-written, after which it pulses with a red glow:

Julianas Tokyo Live by jonsutz


The finished animation

The production of the following animation was directed by a third party, and clearly deviates from, but was based upon my storyboard:


Result

  • This animation was very favorably received by Juliana’s Tokyo, EMCI and LYNX
  • Rainbow won additional contracts with LYNX
  • The animation won second place in international computer graphics competition, sponsored by AT&T Graphic Software Labs (GSL)

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