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  At The Conflux

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At the  CONFLUX
a time-lapse film by Justin Tierney exploring the rhythm of urban Japan and its people​
 "a breakneck front seat to the gorgeous streets of the planet’s biggest urban centre"
- BBC
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At the CONFLUX - Trailer from Justin Tierney on Vimeo.


press
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This time-lapse of Tokyo shows the beauty of modern mobility
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This Train Ride Through Tokyo Is Totally Hitting the Hyperdrive  
Seeing Tokyo at Night from Above Makes It Look Like a City for the Machines
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How to Shoot Through Glass Without Unwanted Reflections
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Aerial Arterial: A Magnificent View of Tokyo from Above
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2 minutes dans un Tokyo frénétiquement sublimé  (French)
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Une jolie vidéo à travers un Tokyo électrique (French)
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​ELOGE DE L'OMBRE, LA VIDÉO ENVOÛTANTE QUI VOUS "TRANSPORTE" AU JAPON
PASSEZ LA NUIT À TOKYO AVEC CES DEUX SUPERBES VIDÉOS   (French)
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Tokyo di notte: strade e grattacieli diventano spettacolo (Italian)
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Time-lapse above at Tokyo night (Japanese)
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Beautiful Time-Lapse of Tokyo at Night (Japanese)
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Time-lapse Overlooking the City Lights of Tokyo (Japanese)
Shining Neon Street of Tokyo (Japanese)

Part one
 Aerial Arterial—Tokyo From Above 

Aerial Arterial—Tokyo From Above (At The CONFLUX Part One) from Justin Tierney on Vimeo.

​Aerial Arterial presents Tokyo from above. Its sprawling nocturnal cityscapes crisscrossed by thruways. It begins with shots atop the world's tallest tower—the Tokyo Skytree—with the expanses of the urban grid illuminated by headlights below. We end closer to the concrete with dizzying loops traced by traffic. In between, the massive fiery-hued highways pulse through the wards of Minato and Shinjuku, like veins circulating blood. The towering skyscrapers watch over all, unmoved—soaring sentinels of steel and glass. Not a soul is seen. Only machines. 
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​The music is minimal. The images need space to breathe. Tender Japanese flavored chords are accompanied by street beeps, night noises and satellite hums. After all, in the metropolis, the crickets are replaced by singing machinery. 

​This is an ode to edifices of the great eastern capital. To its atmosphere and infrastructure. A static lullaby for a city on stilts.

Part Two  
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Tokyo Aglow

Tokyo Aglow (At The CONFLUX Part Two) from Justin Tierney on Vimeo.

​Tokyo Aglow tours the Japanese capital by road and rail. Whereas Aerial Arterial (the first installment) explores the edifices of the city from elevated perches, Tokyo Aglow captures the city from the blacktop.
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The automated Yurikamome flows through Odaiba and arrives downtown. A taxi whips to converging clusters of crowds in Shibuya. Scores surge, stream and swarm, tangle and scramble. Patterns of people, probabilities and periodicities, play. Weaving and knotting, the masses rhythmically engage with the machinery of modern life.

​Koto inspired chords underpin the music of the piano. Trombone, trumpet and violin map to the patterns recurrent and emergent. Crosswalk chimes, chirps and cuckoos echo into the night.


Part Three
 
In Praise of Shadows

In Praise of Shadows (At The CONFLUX Part Three) from Justin Tierney on Vimeo.

​"In Praise of Shadows" tours Japan's transportation systems in time-lapse. This runs the gamut from the massive monorails of Kobe and Chiba, the automated transit in Tokyo, and the trains of Osaka, as well as more modest transport methods–escalators, taxis, crosswalks, rickshaws, and sushi conveyor belts.
While the first two installments of At The CONFLUX are exclusively nocturnal, “In Praise of Shadows” begins at dawn. Twilight gradually approaches, shadows sweep the city, and night falls, concluding high above the city where Aerial Arterial began.
It takes its title from a 1933 essay by the Japanese author and novelist Jun'ichirō Tanizaki. Tanizaki uses shadows (both real and metaphoric) to contrast the subtlety of traditional Japanese aesthetics with the gleaming light of the modern era.

The music is brighter than the previous installments. Clarinet, upright bass, and violin chords and lines punctuate simple koto-inspired melodies of the piano. Field recordings of train announcements, monorail accelerations, crosswalk jingles, elevator chimes, conversing crowds, and summer cicadas decorate the texture.
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film stills


justin tierney

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JUSTIN TIERNEY is a time-lapse filmmaker and classically trained composer of concert music.

His music was declared “superb, robust, and grand" by the Boston Globe, who described how his
“dark-hued music had polished, ominous richness… and sound-worlds that were cogent and immediate.”
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His most recent project, At the Conflux, combines time-lapse images and original music in a film that explores the rhythm of Japanese cityscapes. Tierney holds graduate degrees from Yale, and Tufts, and a Ph.D. at Duke University.


personnel

Director, Composer, Cinematographer, Editor
Justin Tierney

​Location Scout, Stills Photographer, Post-production Assistant
Michiko Nomoto Tierney
Recording Engineers
Artem Smirnov of SoundPure Studios (solo piano recording)
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Rick Nelson of Duke University Music Department (Deviant Septet recording)
Advisors
John Supko
Philip Rupprecht
Steve Jaffe
​Bill Seaman
Paolo Bortolameolli
Special Thanks
Godfrey Reggio
Susan Greenberg
Casey Kiernan
Peter Bill
Gunter Wegner
Duke University Music Department
Aero Theater 
American Cinematheque
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Recording Musicians
Justin Tierney—piano, violin, koto


The Deviant Septet
Karen Kim—violin
Doug Balliett—bass
Bill Kalinkos—clarinet
Brad Balliett—bassoon
Mike Gurfield—trumpet
Matthew Melore—trombone
Jared Soldiviero—percussion




filming locations 

TOKYO
​Chiyoda-ku
Grand Pacific La Daiba
Ikebukuro
Ochanomizu Station
Odaiba
Minato-ku
Park Hyatt Tokyo
Roppongi Hills
Shibuya Station
Shinjuku Station
Sumida-ku
Tokyo Skytree
Tokyo Station
Tokyo Tower
Yurakucho
Yurikamome
OSAKA
Osaka Castle
Osaka Station
Umeda Sky Building

MATSUYAMA
Dogo
Gintengai
Kitakume
Okaido

KOBE
Harborland
Kobe Portliner Monorail

KYOTO
Fushimi Inari shrine
Gion district
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HIROSHIMA
Miyajima 





behind the scenses

​At the CONFLUX was shot during two trips to Japan. In May and June of both 2014 and 2015. Editing began in earnest in November of 2015 along with the composition of the music.

​The time-lapses were shot in raw (with a 5D Mark III and a Sony A7s) developed in Lightroom, and edited in Adobe Premiere Pro CC. I composed the music at the piano with paper and pencil, input it into Finale 2014, recorded the music into Pro Tools in two separate recording sessions, processed the field recording in Ableton and Max MSP, and executed the final edits in Adobe Audition and Premiere.
​I recorded the solo piano part in early April at Sound Pure studios in Durham, NC, with the help of recording engineer, Artem Smirnov. I recorded the koto melodies in my home studio. Members of The Deviant Septet, Karen Kim—violin, Bill Kalinkos—clarinet, Brad Balliett—bassoon, Doug Balliett—bass, Mike Gurfield—trumpet, Matthew, Melore—trombone, Jared Soldiviero—percussion recorded the instrumentals with recording engineer Rick Nelson.

tools

Cameras
Canon 5D Mark III
Sony A7s
GoPro Hero4 Black

Lenses 
Canon L 16-35mm 2.8
Canon 40mm 2.8
Canon 85mm 1.8
Canon L 50mm 1.2
Canon L 100mm 2.8 Macro
Canon 400mm 5.6
Rokinon 14mm
Metabones EF Adaptor for Sony
Sony 24-240mm
Sony 16mm 2.8

Motion Control
Dynamic Perception Stage One motorized slider
Edelkrone SliderPLUS (large) with Action motion control module
Cinetics Axis360 pan and tilt motion control
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Stabilization
Nebula 4000 brushless gimbal
Feiyu brushless gimbal 
Really Right Stuff carbon fiber tripod
Mefoto carbon fiber tripod
Fat Gecko suction cup tripods

Field Recording
Zoom H1
Roland R-1

​Software
Adobe Lightroom
Adobe Premiere Pro
Adobe After Effects
Adobe Bridge
Adobe Audition
LrTimelapse
Ableton Live
Max MSP
Finale 
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For the latest time-lapse clips follow on:
Contact Justin Tierney at JTimelapse@gmail.com
Time-lapse clips are available for licensing at Pond5.com/artist/mjtierney
All image, music and sounds © COPYRIGHT Justin Tierney 2016. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
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