Project Update: Ignis et Aer Final Comments

To be honest, I think the reason Aer isn't as upset over being trapped underwater as you'd expect is because damn would you look at that. that lake looks magical under the surface.

       That aside, what can I say. It's been a rough few months with things hardly going according to plan, but we still try to keep going. Overall the development of this project ended up being fairly similar to last year's, though I managed to take it further on a few notes. I got to animate more than one character for my film (progress!!) and explore different colouring techniques to fit each character, experiment more with colour, work further to reach a number of finalised backgrounds and the lighting and effects these may entail (and even animation applied to background elements, whoa!), and the like. These are things I didn't really get to delve into with last year's film, so I'm happy for that. 

       Going along with project length, the number of finished shots I managed to achieve is also higher, and each this year's are also more complex, so I'm going to go ahead and take this as a double win.

       There were a few hiccups towards the end of the road that, unfortunately, I didn't manage to solve. With this I'm referring to problems of a more software-based nature. Things that work differently between different software, even though the company is the same and the tools are the same, but go figure.

       I'm sure I would've found a way around it, but alas that would require some looking up and exploring for which I didn't have the time. Don't you know, the fourth dimension is my eternal rival. Either way, it's unfortunate that something like this would affect the final look.

       But overall I do believe there's been progress, and is that not the main goal? For what it's worth,

Project Update: Ignis et Aer Post Production Visuals

Aaaaayy, Nature.

Project Update: Ignis et Aer Shot Animation Progress

It does take a fair few stages.

       Here's a look at a few of the stages I've had to clear to reach the final look for this film. Or, well, for one of the shots of said animation at least. Ignis is a bully who won't allow me the pleasure of having one drawing last a fair number of frames, damn the constant flickering of his flames.

       For the record, these wolf-like creatures don't bite. They're a friendly bunch. Probably vegetarian too (what are those teeth for then, it is a mystery).

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.

Super Dangan Ronpa 2, bringing the despair onto a new level.

         I can get carried away drawing fanart for my everyday shenanigans; case in point, drawing a cute SDR2 wallpaper for my phone.

Dangan Ronpa is great if you like the idea of losing yourself in despair.

No really, that's it, that's the game.

         I quite like the ending theme song for the animated adaptation, so I played with one line from the lyrics for this one. It means 'It seems my world has found an error'. Error as in bug, computer error. Which is why I wrote it with the wrong characters - one of the basis for Japanese humour/puns, in fact - using ones that bring up a negative idea or represent something important to the character instead. Emphasis on the idea of virtual bugs, aye.

         Really, when the idea of killing your own classmates becomes a real life rule, it's no wonder your brain goes all 404 on you.

There's That One Cool Studio... ◉4

        With many popular titles under their belt since its foundation in 1972, such as HUNTER x HUNTER, Cardcaptor Sakura, Death Note and Toki wo Kakeru Shoujo (English title, The Girl Who Leapt Through Time), Madhouse stands out amidst other studios from this time thanks to the fact that it specialised, from the start, in television series.

           Madhouse has reached out to far corners of the world, in the way that it has been associated with various international productions, such as the adaptation for television of Disney’s Stitch. Even within Japanese borders, this studio has had its hand in a number of Studio Ghibli’s productions — Howl’s Moving Castle, My Neighbour Totoro and Spirited Away.

         It was this studio that set Mamoru Hosoda, who happens to be my favourite Japanese animation director, on his career. While a member of Madhouse, Hosoda directed the earlier mentioned Toki wo Kakeru Shoujo, in 2006, one of my favourite movies still. More recently, Hosoda left to establish his own studio, Chizu, and directed another great piece, Ookami Kodomo no Ame to Yuki (English title, Wolf Children Ame and Yuki, 2012), although Madhouse still took its part in this production.

            Below is a trailer for Toki wo Kakeru Shoujo for your convenience.

         In 2011, Madhouse picked up the popular manga series HUNTER x HUNTER for a reboot, the original run of which aired back in 1999 under Nippon Animation.

          The progress Japanese animation studios, Madhouse included, have made in recent years shows clearly in the more recent and darker arcs of this series, more so in episodes where the staff invests even more due to its stronger emotion and/or action. Such is the case with a recent episode, namely the scenes depicted in the videos below, in two parts. After a slow build up of heart wrenching events, many fans (admittedly, me included) who have accompanied this show from the start have shown strong reactions when this episode, the 116^th in the run, culminated in the following scenes.

         Also worth a note is Madhouse’s participation in Anime Mirai 2013. Anime Mirai is a project launched in 2010 with the intent of training young animators. Each year since then (apart from 2011) a group of animation studios in Japan put forth playlist of animations, one short film submitted by each of them.

           In 2013, Madhouse presented Death Billiards, an absolutely stunning short film created, written and directed by Yuzuru Tachikawa. This piece, rich in both gorgeous animation and background art, had the audience wracking their brains with the mysterious ending (much to Tachikawa’s satisfaction, considering this was, in fact, his plan all along). The full short is available on Youtube, and here’s a quick preview of the atmosphere:

         With young animators like that, it’s no wonder Madhouse has grown to be one of the top studios in Japan.

There's That One Cool Studio... ◉3

         Still in Asia, which is where we’ll remain until the end of this series, but a bit further down, this time we’re looking at animation produced in South Korea.

         Born in October 2010, Studio Mir takes its name from the Russian space station MIR (meaning ‘peace’) and, with it, its lesson of “advance through collaboration”. And, interestingly enough, that seems to be precisely what this company has yearned to achieve throughout its history. As a matter of fact, a big part of Studio Mir’s work is a result of international collaborations. While this studio has been part of a fair number of productions such as The Boondocks (for the fourth season), the staff is known especially for their work in the pre and main production of the American series The Legend of Korra — sequel to Avatar: The Last Airbender.

         Having started working on the first season of The Legend of Korra in February 2011 — worth to note how shortly that is after the studio’s foundation — the company was asked to carry on and animate the following season soon enough, by the end of the same year. The popularity the show received has Nickelodeon extending its contract with Studio Mir to give continuation with the animation for their captivating story in April 2013.

         Rich in action scenes, the high standard in animation technique Studio Mir’s work on Korra’s tale reflects also seems to let show the fun the staff must have had in the entire process, and it’s always a good feeling to see signs of the satisfaction a production brings its creators.

        There’s more to this studio than The Legend of Korra, though. Studio Mir’s skills didn’t go unnoticed, to the point where they have reached out to productions even in the fields of game and live-action film. To illustrate such an instance, there’s the title Asura Online, a MMORPG by Tencent Games based on the Chinese novel Journey to The West.

         I think the way Studio Mir’s 2D animation slipped in with the CG format of the original game quite successfully, and even with unexpected — in a positive way — results. It also makes clearer the studio’s artistic style, which is subtle enough to go unnoticed to those who have only viewed one of its productions.

         This style of theirs takes an amusing turn with their promotion film — Road to The Cup — for the World Championship Finals of League of Legends, Riot Games’ popular online video game. Studio Mir’s own popularity went up through the roof with this project developed for the length of 6 weeks (pre and main production), especially remarkably outside Korea.

         Finally, I believe I should leave a shout-out for Studio Mir’s other projects, namely Fucking School (I’m not joking, though the working title is F School), where the studio’s artistic decisions on how to portray political satire is, in my opinion, outstanding —

Dat Obama.

— and Floresta, looking promising with its detailed fantasy theme.

Project Update: Ignis et Aer Initial Test

Okay but how do you fire.

       First go at animating Ignis' fiery head. Looking back I have to wonder; is this really what I got myself into.

(´°̥̥̥̥̥̥̥̥ω°̥̥̥̥̥̥̥̥｀)

All I can say is that I was experimenting with digital painting.

There's That One Cool Studio... ◉2

       Working for a worldwide audience in animation for television, film and game since 1987 under Mitsuhisa Ishikawa’s supervision, Production I.G has grown to be a studio with some of the most widely known productions.

         One of I.G’s most renowned pieces is Ghost In The Shell, popular even with those not so familiar with Japanese animation for its well-liked cyber punk theme. Including this one, animation productions directed by Mamoru Oshii have brought a lot of attention to this studio.

         If I am honest, though, there is one thing in particular in this studio that tends to catch my eye. Simply put, it’s the way they make use of this one factor in their animations; the sports genre. I’ve watched a fair number of Japanese animation series that belong in this genre, and while years ago I wouldn’t have thought I would, I kept getting drawn to new sports series when they were announced. And I like those produced by I.G in particular. Sports as a genre in Japan media is a great one for animation because it gives you all the tools to work up some gorgeous animation sequences thanks to all the physics and dynamics sports rely on.

       There is certainly some cultural background involved as well for sports animation to be so popular. In Japan, school activity clubs are a concept much more strongly implemented in a one’s school life than they are in a lot of other countries, and, not surprisingly, sports clubs in particular get much attention. This makes series working closely with the theme of sports one of the best choices to lure the audience since it is very likely to have it relate to the story and urge the characters’ growth (though it can also have negative results, as were the threats the author of Kuroko no Basuke received for his take on high school basketball competition). In turn, the studio behind it will invest a lot more in this type of productions to achieve just that. And I.G’s results are just great.

        Below are the opening sequences for two of the most recent sports series to get an animated adaptation. Both grew very popular in little time, and are two of the best examples of I.G’s amazing work in portraying physics in a visually artistic way (apologies for the lyrics on the side of the first one, I couldn’t find a version good enough without them).

         On the note of physics and dynamics, this studio made full use of those on another recent show that, unlike the previously mentioned ones, is not really related to sports. Shingeki no Kyojin (more commonly known as Attack on Titan in the West) has come to be one of the most famous stories worldwide in the worlds of comics, and I.G has, again, gained much praise for being the one to bring this very dynamic tale to life. It is also worth to mention how well the studio implemented CG landscapes and tools for some of the scenes throughout this series (and the fact they had my favourite Japanese composer provide them with a soundtrack only earned them more points). Find the two openings for the first season of Shingeki no Kyojin below, but with a light warning for blood and shock factor.

         None of this is to say Production I.G overlooks the charm of more slow paced scenarios, though. Their animated adaptation for the high school romance comic series Kimi ni Todoke is an endearing one that earned enough popularity to invest on a live action movie as well.

        Finally, props to Production I.G for having its own restaurant café in their own studio building. Imagine getting lucky and coming face to face with an animator you admire while waiting for your coffee!