Alfie Goodrich explores the legal and above-board side of following a Japanese high-school girl around for two days.

“What have you been shooting recently?”, asked a friend recently. My first stab at a response got a thoroughly deserved snigger:

“Following a schoolgirl around for two days……”

But that’s exactly what I had been doing and a unique opportunity it turned out to be. Full access to a Japanese school to film, document and record the daily life of one of their students was not something I’d had before and something which, generally, doesn’t come around that often. The project, for Pearson Publishing [Longman in the UK] was to soak-up the life of a final-year student at a Japanese school, to form the Japanese section of a series of features in their publications which detail the lives of similar kids from more than 23 different countries: what’s their home-life like, what’s school like, what are their aspirations?  The end-result, Pearson’s “myWorld Geography project” enable kids from all over the world to view their own lives and experiences through the lives of other young people similar to them, from a wide variety of countries and cultures.

Day One was spent at Asuka’s school and at her home. On the Saturday we followed her out into Yokohama with her friends.

As well as the stills I was shooting for the book, a film-crew would be shooting footage for a companion DVD. The crew, led by Director/Producer/Cameraman, Heath Cozens, with freelance soundman Steve Shiro Yasui.

Here, Heath speaks a little about his experiences on the shoot:

“Alternately crushed in the between-down and bedraggled commuter throng, or charging through the downpour backwards while sharing an umbrella between Steve, myself, and the prodigious quantities of gear we’re lugging – all the time trying to get the shot without getting Alfie, who happens to be donning cheeky flourescent safety vest… who’d a thought b-roll could be so challenging?

Not of much a challenge as Steve faced halfway thorough his second order of curry and rice at the school cafeteria, I suppose. Alfie and I count ourselves lucky for that.

It was really a cool shoot. Weather was no fun, but the we were made to feel really welcome. It’s obviously a great school.

Kurisu-sensei wrote: “It was a wonderful experience for me and our school! Many students envied Asuka as she was like a movie star on Friday”.

Thanks Ausuka, thanks Kurisu-sensei & Akira-sensei.”

To echo Heath, it was great fun. I worked with a great crew. Wonderfully co-operative and friendly people at the school and the star of the show – Asuka – was really good fun too and I think, if she wanted to go that route with her life, a born TV presenter!

Two Days in the Life of a Japanese Schoolgirl…..more photos to follow once the book has been published.

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Alternately crushed in the between-down and bedraggled commuter
    throng, or charging through the downpour backwards while sharing an
    umbrella between Steve, myself, and the prodigious quantities of
    gear we're lugging - all the time trying to get the shot without
    getting Alfie, who happens to be donning cheeky flourescent safety
    vest... who'd a thought b-roll could be so challenging?

    Not of much a challenge as Steve faced halfway thorough his second
    order of curry and rice at the school cafeteria, I suppose. Alfie
    and I count ourselves lucky for that.

    It was really a cool shoot. Weather was no fun, but the we were made
    to feel really welcome. It's obviously a great school.

    Kurisu-sensei wrote: "It was a wonderful experience for me and our
    school!
    Many students envied Asuka as she was like a movie star on Friday".

    Thanks Ausuka, thanks Kurisu-sensei & Akira-sensei.