It's NATSUKI'S BIRTHDAY. And YOU'RE INVITED. | Abroad in Japan Channel FINALLY Going 4K After 8 Long Years (Patreon)

So this week the Abroad in Japan channel's in-house rock legend turns a year older and to celebrate, Natsuki and I are hanging out for a few days, including this weekend when we're doing a live show to celebrate.

You're all invited to join us for the mayhem!

The Live Show will be held on Saturday evening (22nd) at 22:00 Japan time on the Abroad Perspective channel and naturally being the "good" friend I am, I'll be bringing "presents" for Natsuki to unwrap along the way.

Some ominous quotation marks right there.

We'll start promoting the event soon on social media and I'll post a link to it here on Film Friday!

OWNING A SUSHI RESTAURANT IN JAPAN

Meanwhile I've just wrapped editing on a long awaited mini documentary featuring my good friend Satoshi, who owns a sushi restaurant.

I say restaurant - Satoshi has an empire of 30 restaurants - but we focused on his top flagship restaurant for this episode. I've been wanting to film a video together for years, as he's a great guy and really down to earth.

With the exception of getting up at 5am to film a fish market, it was a blast to produce the video and you can expect to watch it next week!

JAPANESE LANGUAGE NIGHTMARES

BEFORE that however, I've also been filming another video on why Japanese is so difficult to translate, which should be fun for beginners of the language or people curious about how the language operates.

I've even stuck Ryotaro in it, sitting in a stylish traditional room like some sort of Japanese Lord.

Let's face it, there was no way I was going to let him in my apartment for the video.
Not given his well documented lust for swords.


4K VIDEOS? HOW ABOUT 6K!

On a final note for those of you into cameras and tech, I've finally upgraded my camera equipment after 3 long years - to a Panasonic S1H. A 6k full frame cinematic monster which happens to be Netflix Approved. (Natsuki: The Movie 2 on Netflix? Definitely.)

And in order to be able to edit such monstrous footage (ProRes 6k 12 bit colour), I realised the time had come to also upgrade my editing equipment as well.

I attempted to edit some 6k test footage on my beloved Macbook Pro but it almost caught fire. I could have cooked an omelette on the damn keyboard before it crashed violently.

Finally for the first time since 2012 I'm the proud owner of a desktop computer - an iMac 2020 edition.  Blistering performance aside, it's the 27inch screen I'm most excited about.

Having squinted at a laptop screen for the 200 Abroad in Japan videos, I feel like crying now that I can actually see what I'm editing. It's an utter revelation. (The Macbook Pro was 15inch to give a comparison).

This means that after years of joking and relentlessly mocking 4k resolution (mostly out of bitterness because I couldn't edit it), we finally have the means to have 4k videos on the Abroad in Japan channel.

Hell, we could even have 6k! A resolution so magnificent and spectacular, that most viewers won't even be able to watch it on their respective screens.

One of the key catalysts for this long awaited upgrade was watching back the recent driving video and seeing the pleasant countryside montage and wishing it was in 4k. It lacked the detail and crisp resolution I craved. I wanted viewers to be able to reach out and almost touch the scenery.

(Note: Don't literally reach out and touch your screen. Finger prints are messy).

But now we can do it. And it's going to be glorious.
What better way to celebrate the 8 year anniversary of the Abroad in Japan channel!

A huge thanks to all of you for believing in the channel and for watching along, whether you're new to the videos or have been following the journey for years now. Without you, there wouldn't be 200 videos! And without you, there wouldn't be Ryotaro's smile in 4k.

(Yeah on second thought, I'm incinerating the new equipment).

So a busy week up ahead and lots to look forward - I can only hope wherever you are, your summer isn't quite as oven-like as Japan right now.

Stay hydrated and we'll chat more on Friday!
Chris