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Comments

1. saintneko,

   Mon Mar 2, 2009 at 7:48 pm

   Holy crap that is so not America. How can you tell? 2 ways – A) the camera wasn’t stolen and B) the kitchen looked like a freakin hospital OR. That floor looked clean enough to lick without fear. In fact I’m pretty sure even stateside hospitals aren’t that clean.
2. saintneko,

   Mon Mar 2, 2009 at 7:48 pm

   Oh yeah and this thing totally needs a music video.
3. ratchetcat,

   Tue Mar 3, 2009 at 10:50 pm

   Yes. The things that really stood out for me were 1) the good humor of the people watching the camera pass and 2) the perfect aspect ratio. I mean, nothing is out of frame until the camera is picked up in the kitchen. Ridiculously fortuitous, that…
4. Fortson,

   Wed Mar 4, 2009 at 9:01 am

   Brilliant!

   What I want to know is why the people in the background behind the railing in the beginning are all sitting in chairs? When the camera rounds the corner, you see blinking lights in a storefront in the background, which makes you think it was filmed in a restuarant in some sort of shopping center. If that’s true, why do the people at the beginning look like they’re waiting outside of a doctor’s office?

   Also, did you notice that more than one person did not smile even after they realized that they were on camera? I wonder if that’s a cultural difference – Americans are very smiley.

   My favorite reaction was the woman in the orange/pink outfit in the kitchen and her two co-workers, who seemed genuinely perplexed and maybe even somewhat indignant about the camera being on the conveyor. Compared the attractive young guy in the kitchen whose face lit up when he saw it.
5. Fortson,

   Wed Mar 4, 2009 at 9:05 am

   Oh – saintneko….maybe the music would be Peter Murphy’s “I’ve got a Miniature Secret Camera”?
6. ratchetcat,

   Wed Mar 4, 2009 at 9:34 am

   @Fortson – The lack of smiles may or may not be cultural. It’s difficult to tell. As I understand it, the Japanese are generally pretty reserved in public. In America, though, I bet you’d see approximately the same reactions (if you ever got your camera back) — a lot of people don’t appreciate being photographed without being asked.

   The reaction of the lady in the kitchen was pretty funny. Here’s a transcript of the exchange between her and the sushi chef (taken from a post by April Winchell which was linked in the MetaFilter thread):

   Translation of the kitchen scene @ 5:15:

   Kitchen staffer with glasses: “What’s this? There’s a camera going around.”

   Other lady off camera: “What’s wrong?”

   3rd lady: (LAUGHING) “Hey–it’s okay, it’s on a blue plate!”

   Lady off camera: “The customer’s inside? Whose is this?”

   Lady holding plate: “There’s a camera here someone may have forgotten!”

   Lady in glasses: “Yeah, that’s it, they’ve forgotten it.”

   Older lady in background: “Put it back–it’s a mistake!”

   Lady: (WALKING WITH PLATE) “We’re in trouble.”

   She rings the bell, and the sushi chefs come to the window.

   Lady: “This was going around and taking video…”

   Chef: “Ah, this, it’s probably a customer’s. Umm, it’s a foreigner.”

   Lady: “They put it on here?”

   Chef: “Yeah, they tried putting it out, to take a video. Of the, er, of the scenery.”

   Plate goes round, back to girls.

   Sushi Chef: (TO GIRLS) “Oh, it came back, didn’t it?”

   Not sure about the people behind the railing. Maybe they’re waiting to be seated? Or waiting for other people to meet them? Difficult to say. Good eye!