There's That One Cool Studio... ◉5

         To finish off this series, I’m bringing up a studio that’s a bit off the typical route for animation studios.

         Point Pictures, based in Shinjuku, Toyko, was founded in 2003 and is represented by Hironori Yoshino. It started as a company focusing on productions of the advertising nature for various external companies. Its path still continues on this subject, in a way, currently ranging from illustration work — such as illustrations for magazine articles, CD album covers, DVD covers, posters, logos, etc. — to one of my favourite forms of animation: short sequences to illustrate a longer one, such as opening/ending themes for television series and such and also cut scenes for games.

          Rather than producing their own animated series or feature films, like most studios come to do once they are soundly established, in the story-telling format for animation, Point Pictures specialises in the short format of openings and cut scenes. This is what I like the most about this company. Openings represent, in a way, a sequence to advertise the actual story/production, and as such their making resorts to techniques within advertising, which is the company’s origins to begin with.

         Then there is the special link with music — most frequently song — you find in these sequences, which is in turn what I like most about the format of opening and/or ending sequences; it’s a tighter bond, which provides for not only further reach in terms of how much of the “plot” can be featured in the short timeline of the sequence, but also interpretations one doesn’t have as much freedom to include in the original series or film, etc. This possibly comes from their experience in animating for music videos.

           This studio works closely with external companies and produces these shorter animations for the client company’s product. Amongst the productions it has been associated with you can find series such as STEINS;GATE and Nisemonogatari, as well as Robotics;Notes and the Persona 3 game series for its openings and cut scenes.

         Granted, this studio is limited when it comes to leaving its own mark as far as character design goes, as it often works with the designs of the client companies, but it certainly has its own aura in other factors, such as editing. Their use of colour and shape is also an aspect they have explored and developed into a use characteristic of theirs.

          Point Pictures also produces in CG, although 2D is their most frequently use technique, as is the case with most animation studios in Japan. Not only that, they also deal with all sound work required for the productions they are requested to deliver, be it soundtrack, sound effects or voice-acting.

          Lastly, I’m including two links next to a couple of other openings Point Pictures has produced, this time for two arcs of the Nisemonogatari series, Karen Bee (http://nicotter.net/watch/sm16891505) and Tsukihi Phoenix (http://nicoviewer.net/sm17087284). These pages are in Japanese, but you only have to click the play button, but note that these videos have the openings looping for a while, and I suggest you disable the comments by clicking the speech balloon icon next to the volume icon, as videos from Nicodouga have the comments scrolling through the screen by default.