Riko+Sbw+Extended+essay+proposal



- some feedback (see below for more)

Art As my extended essay proposal I would like to talk about a particular side of Japanese pop art. I will mainly discuss about how Miyazaki Hayao’s works portray traditional and modern Japanese culture. He is a famous Japanese manga artist and film director and animator, famous animations include ‘My neighbor Totoro’ and ‘Spirited away’ as well as ‘Heidi’. I would like talk about Studio Ghibli’s work whose main animator is Miyazaki Hayao. His work is mainly influenced by Japanese history and mythology always has an eerie atmosphere. I anticipate looking at four things; Firstly, how Japanese history and mythology is unique. Secondly, Miyazaki Hayao combines traditional, such as Hokusai and modern, such as Takashi Murakami style, and I will research how he is different from other animators. For example his works are hand drawn when most animators use computer aided design. Thirdly, I will mainly analyse the movie ‘Spirited Away’.

Thanks Riko

That is a good starting point. You need to focus on a research question like 'In what ways does the Cinematic work of Miyazaki Hayao reflect the influences of 2 dimensional Japanese Visual Art of the last 200 years?'

[]

However, you may also decide that other literary or cultural influences are actually more significant. Do lot sof reading now and see what the various opoinions on his work/influences are before working towards your own conclusion

Mr M

Hello sir. I have been researching around and i found this book, which looks very useful. []

Do you think it is worth buying it? Also, for my specific question I wanted to focus on cultural influences, however i read some of Miyazaki Hayao's interviews and he actually said that most of his work are not culturally inspired. Instead he said that most of his works' themes are nostalgia So I am still not sure on what to focus on... I will do some other research..

Hi Riko

Yes - do get that book. I'll lend you my 'Ponyo' book too!

Our chat yesterday was really useful. I think that you could consider a wide range of reasons why Miyazaki remains committed to traditional, hand painted cel animation when so many other animators use CGI (computer generated imagery). Some reasons may be artistic, others cultural or a mix of both.

Mr M

OK Riko. in my dedication as your EE supervisor I watched Arietty on my flight back to Rome! I noticed one or two instances that seemed computer generated (some 3D sequences and some lighting effects for example) This made me look a little further into Miyazaki's experimentation with CGI. For eexample the castle legs in Howl's moving castle.

I found a few more articles that you need to look at;

http://books.google.it/books?id=N3e00UlzHjgC&pg=PA165&lpg=PA165&dq=miyazaki+use+of+cgi&source=bl&ots=P3ZWGm-6fH&sig=W3zgY-YOXap9dN7h5hafyIC9o6U&hl=en&sa=X&ei=ter5T4b8O-eo4gSAhfjSBg&ved=0CFEQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=miyazaki%20use%20of%20cgi&f=false

good quote:

According to American anime expert and author, Charles Solomon, “Miyazaki’s attitude was summed up in a sign he had over the background department on Spirited Away: “Do everything by hand, even when using the computer.”

taken from:

http://www.majiroxnews.com/2010/12/14/the-anime-wars-miyzaki-is-god/

http://www.nausicaa.net/miyazaki/mh/cg.html

There will be lots more stuff out there - and it is important that you seek it out and read it

search for terms like 'Miyazaki use of CGI'

MR M 08/07/12

Thank you sir!! This is very interesting! The other day I went to a public library and i found a lot of information about Miyazi Hayao. I found an article where he discusses how he dislikes ipad. So, I am guessing he personally does not like technology, and he does not know how to use it and he doesn't want to learn it either.** I think that this is a very wrong assumption - Miyazi works with technology in various forms all the time - I think that it is a conscious decision to do with the look, feel, effect (or 'texture' as you describe it) ** And in the article you sent it's written that an enormous time was taken to make it look like cel-animation. I guess in the end Miyazaki Hayao likes the texture of cel-animation.

I also thought some questions to send to studio Ghibli and to the CGI artist. Can you check if they are alright? Do they have to be more specific?

1. Do you know Miyazaki Hayao and his works? 2. Do you have any favorite film of Miyazaki Hayao work? And why do you like them? 3. What do you think are the appeal of CGI works? 4.What do you think are the appeal of Miyazaki Hayao’s work? 5.Miyazaki Hayao is famous for his hand drawn animated film; Do you think that in the animation world is important to maintain the traditional method such as hand drawn, or keep on developing with new technology?


 * These are basically good questions - split question 2 into two parts. **


 * If Ghibli won't answer then aim a little lower and try to get answers from other independent animators who also work in either CGI or hand drawn (ask them why they choose each) . Ask them about //their own// work not Miyazaki - ask your friends about CGI & Miyazaki and compare their answers to your own thoughts and the other evidence and information that you have been finding **


 * have a look here to find some animators who may interest you ( I searched for 'independent animator showreel' on Google) **


 * http://stephencaie.com/ **


 * http://www.moonoo.co.uk/ **


 * http://www.spiteyourface.com/ **


 * http://vimeo.com/channels/92933 **


 * You could make your overall question about why some animators choose cel over CGI with a particular focus on Miyazaki Hayao & Ghibli **


 * I'll ask my friend who is trained as a painter, but who works in CGI, if he will answer your questions about his use of CGI for his film work. **

i also read an interesting article where he says that the animation film decides everything by itself and that he is just a slave of it. So it could be that the Princess Mononoke decided itself that this animation needed CGI.

..I am a bit confused..

Rikosbw

Hello sir, i sent the email to studio ghibli, but on the website it says that they will not answer back to emails... What should i do in that case?

riko sbw


 * Mr M 28/07/12 **

Hello sir, Sorry for the late reply. I am currently gathering some answers of the questionnaire. I posted on a Japanese blog. So all the people who answered are Japanese, and this is good because they know Disney movie and Ghibli work well..but i have the sensation it is a bit biased For now I got only 5 answers (still waiting for the others) and most of them give me only good things about ghibli work.... On the other hand many people wrote that Disney movies are enjoyable during childhood but not once we become older. There was even who said that Disney's work have simple story lines, and that Disney movies are loved for its brand name 'disney'. However I discovered that many people like Disney movies' beautiful imagery, and people like ghibli's work for its story line. This could mean that visually, many people like the CGI work. But I think that it is more like an amazement to the technology that it is used. There was also an interesting answer stating that many cartoons are now done with CGI, so many kids are used to it more.So that they may feel that Ghibli's work are old fashioned. I do not really agree with this statement but i found it very interesting. Also even Miyazaki Hayao said that ' he doesn't think that kids are bored of watching hand drawn animation movies' this is probably for the reason that kids do not watch movies by the look of it, but they judge by the story. I think CGI's quality are fastly developing, and this is an amazing thing but I also think that people gets bored really easily. And maybe that is why animators try to constantly develop a new look. (more real and more 3D)

Riko Sbw


 * OK thanks Riko - there are some good, but very general (non Art specific) points up there. **


 * Now go back and begin to carefully describe compare 3 of the most important Miyazaki Hayao films from over 1 15 year time span with the most important/successful CGI based movies of the same exact years - make visual and artistic descriptions and comparisons (rather than looking too much at story) - this is a Visual Arts essay **


 * Mr M 20/08/12 **

After many researches I decided that my question will be based on Disney movies and Miyazaki Hayao’s works, for the reason that I watched both American and Japanese animation films since I was small. My question will be “Why some animators cho0se cel animation over CGI?” During this summer I watched 2 disney movies and 2 Miyazaki Hayao’s work to compare them. Firstly, I compared Up (2009) and Howle’s moving castle(2004). I decided to compare them as they are very similar; having both an old man and woman as their main characters. Also both of them have a “house” or “castle” which moves. Secondly I compared Monsters .inc (2001) and Spirited away (2001) as they are both released on the same year; and surprisingly they had a similar theme of monsters. As a result of analysing these movies, I found some very interesting points.
 * Hello sir,**
 * Disney movies**
 * __**Realistic**__
 * Texture (glass, cloth, hair)
 * Characters (smoothness, softness, elasticity of skin and emotion)
 * __**Movement**__
 * Fast and Dynamic (audience get the sensation they are sucked into the screen.)
 * __**Create an imaginary world in a realistic way.**__
 * (audience can experience things that cannot be experienced in life. E.g A bug’s life or Finding Nemo)
 * __**Background**__
 * has little information
 * Background and characters do not blend in.
 * Characters stand out (3D effect)


 * Miyazaki Hayao’s works**
 * __**Characters**__
 * Not “pretty” (e.g granny, pigs, arrogant and strong girls). Tend to be average looking
 * They tend to look all the same but have small details which makes every character unique (depending on clothes, facial expressions)
 * __**Exaggerations**__
 * expressions (excitement and anger often expressed with big eyes and hair standing as though electricity is running through the character’s body)
 * sweat and tears (big)

The background is something that we do not really notice but if there is a discomfort to it we cannot concentrate to the characters. No sense of discomfort to the background so our eyes are automatically concentrated on the characters. Also, this gives a sensation of the background and the characters blending into one, which is more realistic in our daily life. We hardly ever see a figure standing out from the background; instead we tend to see the background surrounding the figure. By having these small but very important details, even though the drawing is not realistic as the Disney movie, MH’s work become more realistic and near to our daily life.
 * __**Background**__
 * Not very realistic, however little details are VERY realistic (e.g movement of grass when the wind blows.
 * Easier to imagine MH’s world if there is reality hidden in the background.

MH’s works does not have the realistic look however by having small detailed background; he tries to make a connection between reality and the world of imagination that he creates. Disney movies give us a realistic touch and feeling which offers us a chance of experiencing, visiting or get to know places which are not easy to experience in one’s life. Technology is developing with an incredible speed every day. The new technology that amazed us today could easily become an old technology by tomorrow. And I think animators who use CGI like to surprise the audience with the new technology, and we have to admit that we are curios and we also like to be surprised. Than why do some animators choose cel animation than CGI? Before asking this question, I could question myself; why so many people use CGI? Is it really necessary to make animations realistic? I think animations become amazing animations when they give space to the audience to extend the imaginary world drawn in the film. These imaginary worlds that we draw in our heads tend to be unrealistic. So, why do some animators chose cel animations than CGI? For my opinion, these small amounts of animators who choose cel animation want to offer a fantasy and imaginational world to the audience without sticking too much to our daily life. In fact, Miyazkai HAyao states, “ I believe that fantasy in the meaning of imagination is very important. We shouldn’t stick too close to reality but give room to the reality of the heart, of the mind and of the imagination”

This is what I am thinking for now. I am not sure about the third film to compare. I was thinking of bug's life(1998) but Miyazaki Hayao did not release any film on that year, so I am still undecided.

Riko Sbw

Hello sir. I was rethinking about another Ghibli movie to compare to Toy Story,and I found out that Ghibli has released a film in 1995 too. Which is called "whisper to your heart". However the story of this film is more "normal" and daily life based compared to other Miyazaki Hayao movies, also it is not as famous as the other works. Should I use this one as it was released on the same year as Toy Story, or is it better to use a more known work such as Totoro? However if I use Totoro there is a gap of 7 years as it was released in 1988.

Riko Sbw 11/10/12