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!

Project Update: Ignis et Aer Background Development

         Here are some background experiments on getting the look I visualised for this film, showing the three main locations: the clearing, underwater, and the forest. Heavy on the blues, it's one Winter night all the way through, after all.

[Cardiff Castle / Black pen, ink and watercolour]

Meticulous? No, not at all.

Playing with ink is good fun.

Project Update: Ignis et Aer Shenanigans

This little guy was supposed to be a mum but then there was that moustache there so he became.

Papa Owl.

That's it, that's his name. Poor single owl dad taking care of three.

[Cardiff Bay / Black pen and ink]

I like flat colours.

There's That One Cool Studio... ◉1

         Alright, maybe it’s about time I talk about something apart from stuff I do. Which means I talk about what others do. Sounds straightforward enough. So with that:

        Aye. I remember a time when I would see these really weird characters here and there, people talking about it like it was this really cool thing but all I could see was the weirdness.

No, Finn, you’re just weird, I thought in my ignorance.

       But that’s the thing. Later on two of my buddies, with much wisdom, advised me to give Adventure Time a go. The weirdness is the cool factor of Adventure Time, or well, the immediate cool thing you come to acknowledge in it. There’s a whole lot more to it, granted. But if you have it in you, you see you can appreciate the weirdness. It is a good weirdness.

         That’s how I got to know about Frederator Studios’ work. Founded in 1998 by Fred Seibert, this studio is widely known for titles such as the aforementioned Adventure Time, My Life As a Teenage Robot and The Fairly Odd Parents.

         But let’s go back to Adventure Time for a closer approach to this studio’s ways. The first thing, really, would be that this studio seems to have this specific type of freedom that I haven’t so far seen elsewhere, and it is especially clear in Adventure Time through all its odd worlds, characters and odder events. Unexpectedly, this story does have its deep and even heartbreaking or touching moments here and there – not to mention a couple of such that have stirred some controversy in discussion within the audience.

        The animation follows the lead of the peculiar story, which is another treat. Simple, with the right touch of weird. On that note, I find the backgrounds themselves such a delight, look at these!

         Strangely enough, this is one of the things that, admittedly, threw me off before I actually had a proper look at Adventure Time, but grew to like so much. It all comes down to the same main point: the colours, the animation style, the odd characters and, obviously, the story itself— they all cause such impact, and the results are great.

         I’m going to take the liberty to leave a clip from one of my favourite episodes, but it’ll take more than that to make you see these things I’ve mentioned reflected on the show itself.

         Frederator has recently released a new show to its Cartoon Hangover youtube channel that retains a bit of the Adventure Time eccentric spirit, fused with extra futuristic stuff. This one is called Bravest Warriors, its debut coming from in November 2012.

         For a taste, have the 11th episode from the first season, featuring the cutest thing Bravest Warriors has to offer: Catbug.

        A lot of Adventure Time’s charm comes from a particular artist, Natasha Allegri (go go go!!), and currently she still works with the crew as a storyboard revisionist (she also draws the cutest little comics for it amongst others).

         That’s that for good ol’ Frederator.

Project Update: Ignis et Aer Character Design Development

Have some of my characters doing shenanigans.

Ignis is a precious little guy.

Ah, yes, Ascona, the next door of my origins.

They said there'd be loads of animals

But then they were all dead??