“Darwin ga kita!” “Sawayaka Shizen Hyakkei” and “Hokkaido Isan Monogatari” are all TV shows in Japan that most have heard of. The company involved with the production of these programs happens to have an extensive visual library, and it’s located right here in Sapporo. The said company is New Peak Film.
New Peak Film consists of a group of professionals that noticed the potential and decided to specialize in high definition very early on.
The Unique “Masters” of New Peak
New Peak Film LLC, formed in 2003, joined ICC in 2005 to start anew as a corporation. The three visual masters who say they “love shooting more than eating three meals a day,” are at the core of the company.
President Toshihiko Niiyama is a prominent nature shooter. He took on many major programs on NHK including “Ikimono Chikyuu Kikou” and “Chikyuu Fushigi Daishizen,” spending over half of the year shooting overseas.
Takayuki Hashimoto specializes in artistic imagery. He took charge of a major portion of “Hokkaido Isan Monogatari” on HTB and has participated in the production of NHK programs. He is a true master of his trade who says he wishes to create a video library of his own.
Seiji Fujiwara is an expert in the field of sound. He specializes in editing video with audio, program production, and corporate videos.
These three unique masters combine to create the brain of New Peak Film, producing countless high quality images.
From left - Takayuki Hashimoto with his favorite light meter, part time helper Kyohei Inada, president Toshihiko Niiyama, and Seiji Fujiwara.
Changes Toward A High Definition Future - Joining ICC
The strongest asset New Peak Film has is their experience. They decided to shoot HD very early on, which has given them an edge over other production companies. “As the industry moved toward ground wave digital broadcasting, we knew resolution would increase. There were many risks at the time. The equipment was expensive but we decided it would be in our best interest to make the leap and start shooting high quality footage before the shift happened.”
This is how New Peak decided to invest a large sum of money to become the first specialized HD production company in Hokkaido.
It was around that time that New Peak discovered ICC and decided to move in to their facilities. There were many benefits of joining ICC. Rent was cheap, editing could be done efficiently in their editing bay, and it would become possible to collaborate with other artists in residency there. The largest benefit, though, was that New Peak would gain more exposure to companies interested in HD video production services.
“ICC was getting a lot of attention at the time. People from corporations in Sapporo would often come through on tours of the facility, which gave New Peak a bigger name as it gained more exposure. Thanks to ICC, we started receiving much more work.” At the time, there were several companies capable of HD program production, but New Peak held a prominent presence.
In this way, New Peak gained many major production jobs from news stations including NHK
Using Advanced Technology To Create A Visual Library
Through the pursuit of HD images, New Peak also pushed their own ideas forward. Gaining permission from clients, they have gathered a massive amount of footage, mostly nature, and catalogued it all for easy access.
They travel overseas at least once a year, focusing in on nature in and outside of Japan. Last year it was Australia; the year before, the glaciers of Argentina. Using their budget wisely, they amass more footage for their library of images. As if this weren’t enough, they capture surround sound audio for their audio library as well.
“The library footage can be used for anything. Any program could utilize this footage for their show.,” they say. The library serves an important role in their business.
In the future, their library will no doubt amass more original footage and sounds to make it an even more valuable asset.
The Higher Definition: 4K
Shooting 4K to increase business opportunities.
A recent challenge for New Peak is to take on the new 4K resolution cameras. These cameras are capable of shooting four times the resolution of HD.
As they once did for HD, New Peak purchased the best equipment available. Using the RED ONE camera designed for use in filmmaking, they plan to shoot stock footage and participate in film shoots.
“The technological know-how and experience from working with HD will no doubt help us in working with 4K. Not only do we understand techniques of composition including what to shoot from what angle, we have the experience that allows us to understand the needs of different types of equipment and possess the ability to adapt to any situation on a job. We look forward to applying our past knowledge and accumulating more experience that will help us capture beautiful 4K images,” says Fujiwara.
New Peak has begun actively pursuing this goal. In October of last year, they held a seminar at the 4th Sapporo International Short Film Festival in which they paired with a 4K projector manufacturer to show members of the public and the industry some of their 4K footage.
New Peak never stops looking to the future. Along with 4K, they are also looking into 3D. These new challenges will always give them an edge in the industry.
Delivering Images To People That Want Them
“ICC’s creative environment is excellent. Especially the editing bays,” says Fujiwara.
New Peak became one of ICC’s supporting companies in 2008, monitoring the editing bays and assisting people who use them.
“The editing bays use a network that gives editors the capability to edit HD. There are three terminals. You can edit from any of these three using the same environment. The bay is also capable of editing surround sound. There’s no reason professionals and students alike shouldn’t take advantage of this environment. The price is very reasonable,” says Fujiwara, expressing his admiration for ICC.
“We have recently hired some part time workers to start bringing in the next generation. Having more young people with in depth technical knowledge will make the industry very fun to work in.” Since ICC played a vital role in a time of change for New Peak, they hope it will play a similar role in helping young creators find a place to grow.
“Film, video, stills, and recently, the emergence of digital signage, which display high resolution images, all mark the current point in history as a time of cross-media. Adjusting to modern movements, we hope to provide the images people want to see. We want to create more opportunities for people to see what we are capable of.” We hope to see the members of New Peak Film continue to share their beautiful images for many years to come.
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New Peak Film, Inc
http://www.newpeak.jp/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TXnRwpmaxTw
Written by Eiichi Sato
Translated by David Neptune
