A short, fun piece about pounding Mochi with the fastest Mochi Maker in Japan
“Pounding Mochi With The Fastest Mochi Maker in Japan”
Produced by: Great Big Story
The producers took an interview approach to let Mitsuo Nakatani tell his story and explain the intricacies of Mochi making.
Techniques and tools that proved to be key:
Interview
I appreciate how the producers set up interview shot(s) with Nakatani. I personally like the standing shot introduction because it feels more artistic, interesting and natural in my opinion (this is, however, not true in every situation). I think it particularly works for Nakatani because the work requires him to be on his feet constantly. It’s physically demanding and requires constant moving around, standing for long periods of time, tossing Mochi and swinging a mallet repeatedly. Thus, the initial standing shot and standing interview makes sense.
Close-ups
When Nakatani is describing what Mochi is, he teaches us about sticky rice, or “mochigome”. While he is describing it, the filmmakers cut to a scene of a close-up shot of the mochigome itself, with a hand going across it to show the viewers how sticky it really is. We can see the rice stick to the hand because the shot is so close.
A good amount of slow-motion is used in the video, particularly with the tossing of the Mochi and then the subsequent pounding of it. It makes for an interesting shot for the viewer and shows how the process works. By using slow-motion, we can see how the Mochi is manipulated and changed by the mallets and how it works its way towards its final form.
There are some shots of this in real time, which is necessary for part of the narrative. This includes Nakatani telling us that their style of Mochi making is a high-speed process.
Matched-action. At :50 in the video, a man is tossing the mochi into the barrel, and then there’s a great over the shoulder view of the pounders immediately beginning the process by pounding away at it, and it cuts to a close up shot of the mallets and the mochi, matching the action from the shot before. They could have kept the initial scene in there, but by showing us a closer shot of the Mochi gives us a better/more interesting view of the process of Mochi pounding.
Again, at 1:24, there is more matched action with Nakatani putting on his chef hat. There’s a great wide portrait shot of his face. I appreciate this shot as a viewer because it’s an intimate shot. Centered, extremely close, and we can see how serious he is about his work. It makes the audience feel like we’re right there with the producers really getting to know Nakatani. This is proceeded by a side shot of his face, to a close up of the back side, then back to the front of his face, showing him finishing the perfect placement of his hat above his brow. I think this sequence is important because it’s showing how serious he takes his work, and the hat placement is just one element that he takes seriously.
There are some amazing close-up shots of hands as well. Hands grasping the handle of the mallets while Nakatani is explaining that Mochi making is all about timing and trusting the person next to you. The close-up of the hands firmly grasping the mallet brings us into the process and shows us that this is not an easy technique and requires strength and precision.
Action and reaction. The Mochi making process: the shots of the Mochi makers pounding, we can see the expression on their faces as they yell and pound away at the Mochi. At 1:50, Nakatani is describing how it is “like a battle”, and the filmmakers matched that quote with the shot of the faces, showing their determination and vigor, and how it causes them to react in a way that would be similar to swinging a sword or staff in a battle. It’s actually quite beautiful and poetic.
Again, at the 1:59 mark, the shot of the faces, we can see how it is a rigorous activity, and the subsequent reaction is the public showing their appreciation and excitement for it.
Which is a great transition into Nakatani talking about how people react differently to eating the Mochi. It goes from a wide shot of the crowd watching the the process, to close up shots of the Mochi, and faces, and reactions of the people taking bites. Nakatani tells us that he lives to see those faces. The filmmakers decided to couple this quote with close-up, slow-motion shots of the faces the people are making as they bite into the Mochi.
Pacing
“Quick Hands, High Stakes”: The pacing starts off quick in the beginning, to match the title of the video, showing the danger that goes into this sort of work. It makes us think “how do their hands not get smashed?”
The pace slows down with slow motion a few more times, particularly at the 1:45 mark, as mentioned before, when Nakatani is talking about how they use their shouting to coordinate and create a rhythm. The slow pace of the shot brings us into that process as if we’re there next to them experiencing the intensity of the process, but at the same time we can see the sheer determination and concentration that goes into it.
Detail
Again more close-up detail shots of Nakatani dawning his hat, showing his seriousness and that this is what he lives for, to see those happy faces of people eating Mochi. The detail, close up shots of the customers biting into the Mochi, using slow motion to show us the Mochi tearing apart, matching how we saw it it the barrel being pounded to form — to being torn apart by the customers which lead to those detailed shots of happy faces. Then again, more detailed, close up shots of the Mochi makers working together, pounding away with mallets and their hands, and giving us insight into how intense and difficult this work really is.
– Joe Ciolino