“Listen” was created in an attempt to raise awareness of the recent earthquake and tsunami that hit Japan on March 11, 2011.

The objective of this video was to draw in the attention of people outside of Japan and have them feel what it was like there. To achieve this, random people of New York City were selected to listen to sound bites that were taken from broadcasts and home videos of the tsunami. We recorded their reactions. The concept behind the usage of just sound was founded on two specific interests: 1) to explore how this tragedy is perceived by people outside of Japan, and 2) to make people imagine the tragedy rather than watch it. The idea was that showing people’s real and natural reactions would be the most straightforward and effective method to get a viewer engaged.

It was apparent that these sounds had an impact on the listener. There was a surprisingly wide range of emotions and reactions that were subtly but clearly shown. And we believe that it is this diversity that makes this video series truly appealing to a global audience. “Listen” is in 9 languages: English, Spanish, French, Italian, German, Portuguese, Dutch, Swedish, and Turkish.

 

We are happy to announce that this PSA is used as the official Japan earthquake/tsunami relief campaign video for Save the Children Spain.

Directors: Hazuki Aikawa and Andrey Alistratov
Production crew: Tom O’Neil, Manuela Senatore, Joseph Birch

German Version	Spanish Version	Swedish Version
French Version	English Version	Italian Version
Turkish Version	Portuguese Version	Dutch Version