Here's a 2-hour version
Me outside, but someone else inside
In March 2016, I held a workshop for making your own face out of paper craft in Osaka.
Make a development view based on data of the face shot from 6 directions, print it out, and assemble it. It takes roughly 2 hours from shooting to assembly.
Maybe because I went through an ordeal then, I don't remember much about the event itself. While I had 10 staffers ready, it rained on this outdoor event. On top of it, all the printers stopped working.
The workshop was developed and run in collaboration with “Techno-Shugei Club”
While we made progress with improvement ideas such as making the shape of the face simpler and omitting the back of the head, we kept exploring ways to make the process simpler in a drastic way.
Come to think of it, Iwasawa-san, who worked on the software for the Big Face Mask in spring, sent us this photo.
Optical big face
That may work, after all. The lens is called Fresnel lens.
It comes with thin grooves on a flat surface and functions like a convex lens. It's used to adjust the light of a lighthouse and a magnifying glass.
The photo above was taken at Ebisuzaki Computational Astrophysics Laboratory, RIKEN (The Institute of Physical and Chemical Research). We heard that this trick of making your face big is a staple when the laboratory is open to the public. (As you can imagine from the name of the lab, the lens was originally made for space observation)
Looking for the right lens
We contacted several manufacturers of Fresnel lenses.
"We are looking for a lens that makes your face big, so we want to try your products."
After we sent an incomprehensible email that doesn't even seem like a spam, we heard back from 1 company. How generous they are.
So we tried their lens right away.
Even with the same lens, the face looks different depending on the focal length.
Hmmm...
So-so...
Omg!
Oh, this is it!
Incidentally, I went there alone, so I had someone from the lens manufacturer take photos.
Not just taking photos of me, he had to answer me as I asked, "How about this? Interesting?" I don't know how the correct term for this kind of harassment is called.
Place it inside a box and light it up
Even if we place the lens on one side of the cardboard box, it's probably dark inside the box as other sides are closed.
So we decided to place lights inside.
Alright! LED is my middle name! He didn't say that, of course, Yoshida-san from Techno-Shugei Club went to work briskly.
Just as last time, this Big Face Mask is borne out of collaboration between Daily Portal Z and Techno-Shugei Club.
After assembly, I tried it on.
Pretending to be a rapper, but...
The pale complexion can't be ignored, even if we act cheerfully.
I don't know exactly what it is, but this looks like a specimen.
Maybe we should use bulb-colored LEDs.
I was surprised by my own passion as I contacted the lens manufacturer out of the blue and discussed the color of LEDs until midnight. Even so, I'm clearly misguided as all I want to do is to make the face big.
In times like this, Fujiwara, a part-timer from Editorial, is always asked to help with shooting
Incidentally, before this shoot, Fujiwara-kun was overwhelmed with the deadline, but he seemed to cheer up as soon as he put on the box.
When your face becomes big, seriousness goes out the window.
After trial and error, we decided on the size of the box and the center position of the lens.
The lens was cut by hand
As it's acrylic, it would be faster to cut with a laser beam machine, but we gave up on the idea as it's too big to fit the machine. As the plate itself is a lens, the laser may spread by accident, causing a Godzilla Resurgence situation.
And finished
We changed the color of the LEDs to the bulb-color. This took place in the morning of the day of Maker Faire.
Alright! The face becomes big in natural complexion
As we have 4 units ready, couples and families can experience at the same time.
I wondered if a family ever needs to blow up their faces together, but to my surprise, many families came.
Various families visited us to make their faces big and had photos taken before going home.
As I didn't take photos of other families, here's a photo of people I know. Both of them look like entertainers all of a sudden (Otome Dengei Club)
A child seemed to love her big-faced mother so much he kept asking her to do it again and again.
Kids tend to whine in an unreasonable manner, but this time the reason itself was perfectly unreasonable.
Even though surrounded by women, but it doesn't feel you're popular with women
As the inside is filled with LED lights, the face looks bright. It reminds me of a mirror in the backstage of entertainers. Not just it makes the face big, but beautiful (Or so I think).
Looks like 3D when looked from one side
It looks funny from front, but looking from one side adds a 3D feeling in a strange way. No, the head is 3D to begin with, but it looks as if a 3D model keeps turning inside the monitor.
3D when looked from this angle
Looks like a battle game (Taniguchi, Director from LINE)
If the Big Face of paper craft is the first-generation Virtua Fighter, this is a Virtua Fighter of a much later version.
Dreaming with Big Faces (Yahoo! myThings team)
Those faces look fine from this angle (Maker Factory team)
I also discovered that everyone tends to leaves their daily life behind, move in a comical way and make funny faces once their face becomes big. Perhaps the Big Face frees your new potentials.
It feels as if the stopper were removed, somehow.
With the Big Face, even your clothes look more attractive
I had to ask them to allow me to take their photos! Both of them look fantastic as their costumes perfectly match their big faces.
Why is it that I feel as if I had met him somewhere else?
With the Big Face, she even looks cuter (@MikittySweeter)
Maybe I should have put on a suit and had a photo of my big face taken. That's our next task.
Sticking your tongue out with this box on, your tongue increases its presence overwhelming anyone.
Let's make your face big in Austria
We plan to improve the Big Face box by adding a lens and take it to an event to be held in September.
The event is called Ars Electronica, to be held in Linz, Austria.
Time: September 8-12, 2016 (Big Face will be displayed during 12:00-20:00, September 9-11)
Venue: Ars Electronica Center, Linz, Austria
What do they want us for?
It's a media art event. Even though I don't know why we're invited, we intend to bring a lot of them with us. We'll also bring the Big Face of paper craft.
I don't know exactly where Austria is located, but I would like invite all Daily Portal Z readers in Europe to join us there. Otherwise, I would feel so lonely!
