News Release

We (Keyframe US) wrote a news release about the Suzhou project and it was picked up on the Animation World Network site.

Nice job Keyframe Shanghai!

Suzhou Skyscreen Grand Opening

On January 16th, the skyscreen in Suzhou opened. It's not a Daktronics display, but Keyframe did a bunch of content for it. Here is our favorite piece.

The Suzhou Skyscreen

In Suzhou, a company is building a skyscreen similar to Freemont Street in Las Vegas. It is NOT a Daktronics screen (we choose not to even bid this project.) It was supposed to open in a couple days but is way behind schedule. Keyframe does have a contract for two 5-minute animations and about 25 30-second clips. We went onsite to try and see how our content would look from the ground.

Another photomerge... I love that feature!

The skyscreen doesn't seem so big when you are there. Above us, workers were welding in some places. (Don't worry mom, I was VERY careful.)

It's OK to smoke while handling tanks, right? I was hoping whatever was in them or had been in them was not flammable.

This guy was being very safe. Instead of letting all of the sparks fly everywhere he used a board to block most of them.

I always think it is very interesting to visit construction sites (more so where Daktronics displays are being put in) but in China I am always a bit relieved to have made it safely off site. I have tried to find statstics on death on construction site, but either it is covered up or no one actually cares enough to keep track of the migrant workers. You always hear "Only 11 people died builiding the Golden Gate bridge." I checked and about 100 died building the Hoover Dam - I am positive the number would be in the thousands for building the Three Gorges Dam.

to the Bookworm...

After getting wet feet and starting to get cold, we decided to go to a bookstore/cafe that is becoming famous among expats. The location apparently is not famous though, because the taxi dropped us off at the totally opposite end of the street where it was located at.

This pedi-cab driver wanted to take us there, and after calling them and have them give him the directions, we agreed to let him take us. We actually had to call them again when we got close! But, it was well worth the 10 RMB to get dropped off at the door - we were very cold, wet, hungry and cranky at that point.


Snacking on olives while waiting for our food, which was delicious!

After eating we walked around looking at the shops for a while. This sign was on the walking street.

No spitting, no littering, no digging through the trash to collect bottles, no dogs, no passing out fliers, no bikes, no using long sticks to carrying your bags across your shoulders, no sleeping, no picking flowers, and no smoking.

(Esther took all of these photos.)

Suzhou

One of the things that we still can't quite get used to is that traditionally the babies don't wear diapers, even when they are a few months old. They have pants with a split in the crotch, and when they have to go they just go anywhere. Perhaps a curb or drain, or the metal grate around a tree on the sidewalk. (or in Tiananmen Square, see this post.) Now, it is MUCH better for the environment that 1.3 billion people did not or do not wear disposable diapers - that is wonderful. But, having human excrement anywhere is not so wonderful. I also can't quite get used to private parts not being private. This little guy was just playing around but when he squatted down there was nothing private anymore....

It poured rain most of the day. We went to Tiger Hill, which the guidebook says is usually packed. The great thing about the rain was that there was almost no one there.

Suzhou

A couple weeks ago Yvonne, Perk, Ryan and I went to Suzhou to meet with a potential Keyframe client. Suzhou is about an hour away by train from Shanghai. After the meeting, we went to lunch and had a Shanghai special - hairy crab. They say people come from all over the world to eat hairy crab, and the season just started.

It's really a pain to get all of the meat out.

First, you rip all of the legs off, and the stomach shell off.

Next, the back shell and the sides. Then you suck out the yellow stuff and take out things like the lungs. After getting all of the meat from the body, you crack all of the legs open and suck out that meat too. It's really a long, messy process.

As we were going to the bus station, we walked down the main shopping street and by the temple. Yvonne explained that someone had died and they were burning things to send to them in the afterlife. They believe that if you burn it, it will cross over (or something like that.) In the above photo they are burning money (not real money, which makes me wonder why they can use fake money in the afterlife?) Yvonne said they will burn furniture, clothes, food, etc.

Yvonne trying to throw coins for good luck.


These signs on the temple are totally Chinglish. I thought maybe they were verses with a deep meaning - but Yvonne translated and they aren't. The risk of fire is more dangerous than an actual fire, prevent fire instead of having to put it out, etc.