Build your own wood-fired oven and bake bread in the heart of Tokyo. Promotional video for "Bakery Shiomi"

Hello, this is Kawarazaki from Monosus.
This time, we produced a promotional video for "Pakeya Shiomi", which opened on Sunday, November 22, 2020, so we would like to introduce it to you and talk about what went on behind the scenes in the production.

This is the promotional movie we produced.

What is "Bakery Shiomi"?

This shop was opened in Yoyogi by baker Satoshi Shiomi, and its biggest feature is the bread baked in a wood-fired oven. A wood-fired oven bread specialty store is rare in Tokyo, and is probably the first of its kind in the 23 wards.
Shiomi's bread making began at a bakery in Okinawa called "Munakatado." After experiencing bread making in a wood-fired oven there, he decided that he wanted to use a wood-fired oven when he opened his own bakery someday.
After that, he worked as production manager at Levain, a natural yeast bakery in Tomigaya, Tokyo, and then was involved in the launch and menu development of Kamapan, a bakery in Kamiyama, Tokushima, which is part of a food hub project involving Monosus.
After the Food Hub Project was completed, Manabe, a designer at Monosus, approached them about opening a bakery in a corner of Monosus' Yoyogi office, and that's how the bakery came to be.

I have written in detail about Shiomi in previous articles, so please take a look.
→It seems that a bakery will be opening at the company.

A carefully selected lineup

One of the store's specialties is its lineup, with only two types of bread: campagne and white bread. Shiomi thought long and hard about "what kind of bread he really wanted to make," and with the goal of continuing for a long time in mind, he decided to limit the lineup to a small number of items. (In addition to bread, they also offer biscuits made with whole wheat flour and drinks for eat-in.)
I actually tried it myself, and it was crispy on the outside and moist on the inside, and incredibly delicious. (This can be guaranteed by Monosus employees, including myself.)

Until the store opens

Building a wood-fired bakery in Tokyo was completely unprecedented, including the licensing requirements, so nothing went smoothly and it was a rocky road ahead.
However, as he was actually setting up the shop, people who sympathized with and were inspired by Shiomi's commitment, including bakers he knew, came to help out every day, and although it was a difficult task, the oven was gradually built.
In fact, Shiomi only asked contractors to do the bare minimum of construction, and built the kiln almost entirely with his own hands and the help of these people.
I feel that it was Shiomi's personality and passion that drew his fellow bakers to him when it came to opening his shop.

With the help of a baker he knows, he brought in the bricks needed to build the oven.

Inside the completed oven. This is where bread is baked.

Shiomi's bread making

Shiomi starts making bread at 6am, and I was able to photograph the bread-making studio early in the morning. I could see that there are many steps involved in completing the bread, from making the dough to heating the oven and baking the bread.
Since regular bakeries don't have the process of heating the oven, this apparently takes more effort, but as we filmed, we could sense Shiomi's passion for bread making, and we were able to capture those feelings and the process on camera.

Key points in the video

opening

I wanted the characteristics of the shop to be conveyed within the first few seconds, so I used the straightforward words "In the middle of Tokyo. A bakery that bakes in a wood-fired oven" along with a symmetrical composition of a wood fire and bread to make them symbolic. Also, the sound of wood burning is very pleasant, like a bonfire, so I incorporated it as the introductory sound.

Classic feel

Because the production is done in the heart of Tokyo using the traditional wood-fired kiln method, I wanted to incorporate a classic feel into the footage, so I used a 4:3 aspect ratio, like the ones used on old televisions.
Currently the mainstream aspect ratio is 16:9, but by choosing 4:3, it will feel fresh to eyes accustomed to the mainstream angle of view, and will become the hook for the video.
Furthermore, when uploading to Instagram, 4:3 is closer to a square and takes up a larger area than usual, so the aim is to create a more immersive feeling.
I also used an old lens called Helios44 at key points. This lens does not produce a sharp image like today, but rather a soft atmosphere, and I used it as an accent.

Color Looks

Colour is very important when creating video and greatly influences the impression.
Since this is a video about food, my first priority was to create colors that look delicious.
We made the orange saturation slightly higher overall to create a sizzling effect that would make you want to actually eat the bread.

The craftsmen's thoughts are captured on film.

I never imagined that a bakery (and especially bread baked in a wood-fired oven) would open in a company. As I listened to Shiomi's story through the video production, I began to understand the significance of making wood-fired bread in Tokyo and his straightforward attitude of taking on the challenge of something unprecedented, and I began to feel a desire to help in any way I could.
In this video, we focused on packing in as much of Shiomi's "passion" as possible. We wanted people to get to know the store by conveying Shiomi's passion and passion for bread making (why wood-fired bread, why there are so few in the lineup) in the video.
I would be happy if people became interested in our store and gained more fans, and I believe that the role of a promotional video is to create that.

Thank you to Shiomi-san for allowing me to take the photos.
If you have watched this video and read this article, we encourage you to visit the store and try Shiomi's carefully crafted bread.

Baker by Satoshi Shiomi

Photograph by Jun Katsumata

Videograph by Taira Kawarazaki

Lighting assistant by Kenichi Takeda