ATARASHII GAKKO! – TTTTOKYO By Mackenzie Sheppard

Director's Works

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ATARASHII GAKKO! return to the city that made them in the new music video for “TTTTOKYO,” directed by Mackenzie Sheppard and produced by Odd Rocks Productions and ProdCo. While exploring Tokyo, the four members discover a magical gacha-gacha machine. When they open the lid, they are suddenly shrunk to pocket-sized proportions and they set loose across the city. Small enough to disappear into the city’s overlooked spaces, they do anything but blend in.

Drawing on the playful scale shifts of Honey, I Shrunk the Kids, the video turns familiar streets and everyday objects into an oversized playground. The group race through the city, break into tightly choreographed dances and interact with their surroundings as though Tokyo itself were their stage, prop and slightly bewildered scene partner. The contrast between their tiny physical presence and unmistakably outsized energy gives the film its central joke, while also reflecting the group’s own trajectory: four performers who began in Tokyo before growing into a global phenomenon.

Mackenzie, alongside cinematographer Oliver Miller, used carefully matched camera positions, perspective and lighting to place the choreography naturally within each location, while shifts in lensing and depth exaggerate the city’s proportions. The craft remains deliberately visible in spirit rather than effect: tactile, mischievous and rooted in handmade magic.

“I had this concept floating around in my mind for a few years, but had no song to fit it,” says Mackenzie. “When the AG members asked me for an idea, it immediately came to life. It was a lot more technically challenging than I thought! There is no use of AI or CGI. It’s all classic compositing with live-action plates of the girls, shot using a scale formula to make them fit perfectly within our fun exploration of Tokyo in miniature. I enjoyed every moment of making this with our fantastic team.”