Pikapika is a photographic technique of making a long-exposure still photograph in a dark space. A person with a small flashlight uses the exposure time to draw a picture in the air. Do this a number of times with animation in mind, and you get a short video of a neon-like cartoon floating in air. The apt subtitle of the pikapika site is “lightning doodle project”.

I found this via the Strobist’s post about a Sprint commercial using the technique. Comparing the scribbly quality of the original pikapika animations with the tight control of the Sprint commercial, I’d guess that the Sprint folks faked the animation in post-production.

This is one of those innovative techniques that fires the imagination. The boys and I may be making some mini-pikapika soon...