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!

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.