NEOkeitaro

Hello ! Fancy seeing you here! 

I don't talk much about it here, but I've been studying cinema for three years now. Actually, some of my oldest followers may remember the "SOME ORDINARY PEOPLE" series I've done a few years back! My studies are now done, and after a good number of projects (including a feature length movie, starring Roger Moore, where I was camera operator and colorist!), I'm finally on the verge of directing a movie very dear to my heart. I present to you: Julie. 

We started a crowdfounding campaign, here: www.ulule.com/julie-film/



Even though we managed to gather various financing, we're still short of some money. Not that much actually: about 800€ today. Considering how costly a movie can be, that's not much. However, without this we can't really do the movie. 

As with every crowdfouding campaign, you will of course get some goodies if you participate: pictures of the set, the Movie with subtitles, the movie poster, the script... And even a signed fine art print of my latest picture:   that I will personally print from the original negative. It's pretty gorgeous! Every people who gives 10€ or more are illegible to win one print of it, and then, for the more generous of you, you can get one by donating at least 150€. 

This movie is really dear to my heart, and will really help a lot of people worldwide. If you've been following me for a while you know that I've been helping people on suicide watch for many years, and this is the chance to help people through art. Isn't it the whole point of this website, really? I know many members here who lived through difficult times and met great people thanks to this website, and now is our chance to give back to people who need it. 


Also, if you're wondering why the Mona Lisa: at some point in the movie, Julie dreams of famous paintings, where the characters are of the opposite gender. We'll do several paintings like this, including the Girl with a Pearl Earring. I'll actually be doing this one Here's a picture we've done to test the lighting: 

You can see I've been busy this year because it's the first time since I've started this yearly review that I'm doing it late... Almost one month late. 

I'm actually too busy being happy and working and happily working to take care of my online presence that much, even though deviantaART is actually still one of my homepages. 

This year I've been working on a romantic comedy featuring Roger Moore (yes, that Roger Moore), called Incompatible, and I'm now preparing my next movie, Julie, about the journey of a transgender girl. Stay tuned, it's gonna be awesome!

How have you all been? We all grow older each year (not shit Sherlock) and I'm sure many of you have taken interesting paths  

Anyway, here are the numbers that only I care about: 

2006:
NEOkeitaro has 7,641 pageviews total and his 147 deviations were viewed 15,646 times. He watches 114 people, while 72 people watch him.

2007:
NEOkeitaro has 15,531 pageviews total and their 222 deviations were viewed 59,951 times. Neokeitaro watches 154 people, while 114 people watch NEOkeitaro.

2008: 
NEOkeitaro has 30,671 pageviews total and their 283 deviations were viewed 139,124 times. Neokeitaro watches 234 people, while 223 people watch NEOkeitaro.

2009
NEOkeitaro has 50,857 pageviews total and their 318 deviations were viewed 374,326 times. Neokeitaro watches 300 people, while 366 people watch NEOkeitaro.

2010
NEOkeitaro has 69,852 pageviews total and their 323 deviations were viewed 506,701 times. Neokeitaro watches 321 people, while 445 people watch NEOkeitaro.

2011:
NEOkeitaro has 78,736 pageviews total and their 324 deviations were viewed 602,332 times. Neokeitaro watches 333 people, while 510 people watch NEOkeitaro.

2012:
NEOkeitaro has 87,738 pageviews total and their 358 deviations were viewed 738,609 times. Neokeitaro watches 335 people, while 611 people watch NEOkeitaro.

2013:

NEOkeitaro has 131,394 pageviews total and their 386 deviations were viewed 834,537 times. NEOkeitaro watches 343 people, while 664 people watch NEOkeitaro.

43,656 pageviews this year (9002 last year, 122 a day) Either deviantART has changed the way it calculates pageviews or something is driving a lot of traffic to my page! Quite happy about this, although the deviation views are just 100,000 more, as every year, more or less. Maybe I had more views thanks to my journals? 

28 deviation this year (34 last year) I'm actually taking TONS of pictures this year, but I only post the most finished ones on deviantART, as I always wanted to only showcase my best works of the time here. You can see a broader selection here: www.facebook.com/AdrienLeFalhe…

95,928 views this year (7994 a month) (136,277 in 2012, 95,631 in 2011, 132,375 in 2010, 235,202 in 2009). Less than last year, but then again I didn't get a daily deviation to boost up my numbers this year. This, such an impressive number...

I watched 8 people this year (2 in 2012, 12 in 2011, 21 in 2010, 66 the year before that), and 53 watched me back (101 in 2012, 65 in 2011, 79 in 2010, 143 the year before). I wasn't socially active on the website (much more, more than ever, in real life, but that doesn't count here for some reason ). Still, hello to all my new followers, talk to me about yourself!

2006:
Overall, his deviations received 2,230 comments and were added to deviants' favourites 340 times, while he commented 4,822 times.

2007:
Overall, their deviations received 3,433 comments and were added to deviants' favourites 1,163 times, while NEOkeitaro commented 6,740 times.

2008:
Overall, their deviations received 4,778 comments and were added to deviants' favourites 3,115 times, while NEOkeitaro commented 9,287 times, making about 6.39 comments per day since NEOkeitaro joined DA.

2009
Overall, their deviations received 5,476 comments and were added to deviants' favourites 4,710 times, while NEOkeitaro commented 10,698 times, making about 6.18 comments per day since NEOkeitaro joined DA.

2010
Overall, their deviations received 5,737 comments and were added to deviants' favourites 5,768 times, while NEOkeitaro commented 11,246 times, making about 5.13 comments per day since joining deviantART.

2011
Overall, their deviations received 5,867 comments and were added to deviants' favourites 6,612 times, while NEOkeitaro commented 11,440 times, making about 4.47 comments per day since joining deviantART. 

2012
Overall, their deviations received 6,230 comments and were added to deviants' favourites 9,480 times, while NEOkeitaro commented 11,586 times, making about 3.96 comments per day since joining deviantART.

2013

Overall, their deviations received 6,378 comments and were added to deviants' favourites 10,383 times, while NEOkeitaro commented 11,673 times, making about 3.52 comments per day since joining deviantART.

148 comments received this year (363 in 2012, 130 in 2011, 261 in 2010, 698 in 2009). Maaaaainly stock notices, it seems no one really comments on deviantART anymore... Or not my kind of watchers? Or only to people who are more active?

903 favorite received this year (2868 in 2012, 844 in 2011, 1058 in 2010) (75 a month, 2.5 a day) Yet again, no daily deviation to boost up the numbers. 

87 comments given this year. (146 in 2012, 196 in 2011, 548 in 2010) And all of them answers! 

At last:

In 2011:
The deviation with the most comments is The French with 277 comments, while the most favourited one is 3R Stock Steampunk Instruments, with 1,105 favourites. The most viewed deviation is Wallpaper - Pink Winter with 65,219 views.

In 2012:
The deviation with the most comments is The French with 282 comments, while the most favourited one is Sunset Skyline Wallpaper, with 1,936 favourites. The most viewed deviation is Wallpaper - Pink Winter with 69,337 views.

in 2013: 

The deviation with the most comments is The French with 288 comments, while the most favourited one is Sunset Skyline Wallpaper, with 2,096 favourites. The most viewed deviation is Wallpaper - Pink Winter with 71,809 views.

Haaaa, the time I was a polemist... On the interweb! Still quite so in real life. And I swear, Sunset Skyline is still about 30,000 views behind Pink Winter, this is terrible. 

This year's screenshot: neokeitaro.deviantart.com/art/…

Ok, these may not be latest releases but hey, they just stand the test of time.

First, listen to HTRK, Work (work, work), so you'll know it by heart when I'll write a movie about them featuring their whole discography as the soundtrack. Listen to it at least three times, it takes a while to sink in. 

Then, if you're into oriental sounds, don't miss Bei Bei & Shawn Lee's Into the Wind, because it's genuinely awesome. When you want something else, switch to Bonobo's Black Sands, which is equally awesome. 

When you're with your lover, spin Beach House, any of their songs seem to magically fit the weather you're in. 

Want some beats? Listen to Shigeto, Com Truise, Tycho, Washed Out (and watch Portlandia, if you're into that kind of humor).

Slowdive and My Bloody Valentine are, as always, prime joices for heavy atmospheric music, don't forget to check the long awaited new CD from My Bloody Valentine. 

And last of all, if you want to feel happy, listen to Toro y Moi, Kings of Convenience, or the sound of your lover's voice. Also, get up and give them an unexpected hug. Just because. 

Have all a wonderful year (Happy new year!), and as always, tell me what's happening! (You never do, like terrible, terrible children I haven't raised. And good thing I didn't, you thankless bastards!)

Let me tell you about something that happened this week...

A few days ago, I receive a message, telling me that the Exposure Award had used my picture to promote their contest, here: www.exposureaward.com/. At first, without seeing the picture, I thought it could just be a picture that looked a bit like mine... And then I saw it.



Looks familiar? Maybe because it's a cropped version of this:



I took the picture about a year ago, and it instantly became a favorite among my friends and family, some of which has used it (to my great delight), as a wallpaper since. I decided then to share it as a wallpaper on deviantART, and won my first Daily Deviation (for an art piece) with it. There are other pictures that I like among my pictures, but this one definitely is special to me: it was the first that felt earned me some recognition.

I contacted the website immediately, of course. For honesty's sake, here is the exchange:

You used one of my image for your own promotion without my permission

Adrien Le Falher
Apr 11 11:41
Hello,
My name is Adrien Le Falher, and I am a young aspiring photographer. I live in Paris, and one of my most popular picture is a picture of the Eiffel Tower, that you can find here: neokeitaro.deviantart.com/art/…
While looking at your website, I realized that my image was used for the promotion of your contest (as a background picture in your slideshow). This image was not distributed as a stock picture, nor did I ever give the right to use it anywhere. I was not asked if you could use the picture, nor of course was a retribution for my work ever discussed.
This kind of art theft happens very often. As someone who likes to share my work in rather high resolution, I find every other week a new website, a new company, using my work without my permission. This is frustrating enough, but I'm even more so disappointed that it now happens in the context of a photography contest, with a highly respectable jury.
I'm just disappointed. Your contest is actually a great one and it's an amazing chance for photographers all over the world, but I simply can't accept that my rights as a photographer are not respected as it is now. Using my picture, without my permission, for your own commercial gain, is literally theft.
So there are several things that you could do:
-Remove the picture, but you would still owe me for the time it was used as a promotional material on your website.
-Keep the picture on the slideshow, and therefore ask for licensing rights for this picture.
I hope we could quickly find a solution to this matter,
Thank you,
Adrien Le Falher
------------------
Submitted from: support.exposureaward.com/home

Tiernan M.
Exposure Award
Hi Adrien,

Apologies for the delay in getting back to you. I have now investigated this issue with senior colleagues.
We have now removed the image in question from the slideshow and have replaced it with another purchased stock photo.

Our standard practice is to purchase stock photos. As a site made for artists, we do not use photography without permission. Our webpages either use stock photos or images by our site's members.

Apologies for any inconvenience caused.

Kind Regards,

April 11, 2013 15:17
Adrien Le Falher
Hello again,

I appreciate that you removed the infringing photo, however it doesn't solve the problem: as you said, you removed my photo, that you used for some time on your website, to replace it with a paid photo. However, you used my picture, without my permission (nor noticing or crediting me), all of this, free of charge. There are therefore two problems:
- You still used my image without my permission
- You still used my image for a commercial purpose without paying for it, and you are now paying for its replacement.

The matter, therefore, is still not solved: how do you intend to repair the two prejudices aforementioned?

Thank you,

Adrien Le Falher

April 11, 2013 17:04
Adrien Le Falher
Also, may I ask you where did you find my picture in the first place? I want to be sure it is not offered as stock somewhere...

April 11, 2013 17:11
Tiernan M.
Exposure Award
Hi Adrien,

The designer who selected that photo was instructed to only use paid images from our accounts on iStockPhoto.com and Veer.com. That designer has since been let go by this company.

Sincerely,

April 12, 2013 10:00
Adrien Le Falher
Hello,

Thank you for the info.

Again, this doesn't resolve the issue at hand, as the image was still used without my permission. Here is an offer: for 100$, you get to license the picture for the year of 2013. I will send you a high quality jpg for the price. I believe my offer is reasonable and on par with the price I usually ask, irregardless to the fact my picture was used without my consent.

I hope you will find my offer reaonsable,

Sincerely,

Adrien Le Falher

April 12, 2013 16:08
Tiernan M.
Exposure Award
Hi Adrien,

We have no way of confirming whether the image was yours or not.

In any case, we removed the image from our site following your message and conclude that this was a suitable response.

Sincerely,

I have sold licenses of my picture this year and this price was absolutely on par with what I was paid for for other pictures. I found the offer absolutely reasonable, and was answered with one of the most hypocritical answer I've ever seen.

I've been helping people as I could for several years now getting their stolen art removed and artists being compensated for their work through various means, including the Anti-Theft-Milice (which, sadly, I don't have enough time to maintain for now...), not to be a pain, but because, as someone who started by studying law before deciding to become a professional artist, I want the world to recognize art is something worthy of payment. It is not ok to steal art, no more than stealing anything else. But what really saddens me here, even more so than the hypocritical response, is the company at fault. The Exposure Award is actually an awesome contest, one of which I would love to participate in would I be good enough to, and the judges are all amazing people:

Julia Paoli from the Power Plant Contemporary Art Gallery
Lise Beaudry from the Centre for Contemporary Photography
François Letourneux from the Muxeum of Contemporary Art Montreal
Poppy Shibamoto from Monocle Magazine
Clare Grafik from the Photographer's Gallery
Jane Ace from Phaidon

These are all great names in the world of art: basically all the money I don't spend on photo gear I spend it on books edited by Phaidon, or importing Monocle... I find it amazing to see that such people, editors, magazines, museums (!) are linked to a case of art theft.

Now, granted, this case isn't extremely dramatic and there are worse examples of art thieving, but from a legal point of view it doesn't matter to me: theft is theft, and it should be unacceptable. It is a matter of principle, it is a matter of being an example. If you can't trust these people to value the work of artists, who can you trust?

I am extremely disappointed right now...

Please spread the word about this. I could happen to any of us, and would not be acceptable for any of us.

Thank you.