Swinburne student wins competition with touching anti-gambling ad
In Summary
- Swinburne film and television student Takumi Kawakami has won the 2017 Hooked on Gambling: By Choice or By Design competition
A Swinburne Film and Television student has won a State-wide competition with a moving anti-gambling campaign video.
The 2017 Hooked on Gambling: By Choice or By Design competition was held on Tuesday October 11 at Federation Square. The competition is run out of Monash University, and requires students to write and produce an anti-gambling campaign video. Winners were then selected by an expert panel.
Swinburne Film and Television student Takumi Kawakami was named one of three winners on the day.
Mr Kawakami produced a 90 second video which shows a young girl being celebrated for scratching a winning instant lottery ticket.
“I am honoured to be chosen as one of the three winners of this competition,” he says.
“I was so excited to go to the 'Hooked on Gambling' event and see strangers watching something that I had created.”
(2017) Bad Habits - Anti-Gambling Competition WINNER from Takumi Kawakami on Vimeo.
Mr Kawakami says that the idea for his video came from the experiences of a friend.
“My inspiration for the video came from a friend who told me that when she was a child, her parents would often give her 'instant scratch-it' cards for her to scratch out for fun,” he explains.
“While this may not seem to be a big deal and probably happens in many households around the world, I saw it as an issue to associate the idea of gambling with fun or happy times.”
Lecturer in the Department of Film and Animation at Swinburne, Vincent Giarrusso, was extremely impressed with Mr Kawakami’s work.
“The strength of Takumi’s piece is its simplicity which masks a complex message of paternal responsibility,” Mr Giarrusso says.
“Takumi’s piece is subtle and realistic, he shot it while shooting his graduate film using actors from that project hence there is a rare natural nuance to the performances and film.”
Mr Giarrusso believes that Mr Kawakami’s film making style has the power to influence audiences and works well in the campaigning format.
“Film used in this way can be affecting and insightful,” he says.
“Viewers can relate to the films naturalism and absorb complex social and cultural ideas through simple and truthful performances and subtle storytelling.”
Mr Kawakami has ambitions of working in the video production industry. While currently working at a video production company, Mr Kawakami is also producing a short film in collaboration with Swinburne students he has met during his studies.
If you are interested in pursuing a career in Film and Television or Video Production, visit the Swinburne Study Options page to find out more.