For my essay I thought about looking into the cultural contexts of Hayao Miyazaki's animations. I think it's a popular idea but it's also one I'm really interested in. I currently have Japanese Visual Culture: Explorations in the world of manga and anime to reference and I've also ordered 3 books in on the subject:
'Starting point 1979-1996' - "A hefty compilation of essays (both pictorial and prose), notes, concept sketches and interviews by (and with) Hayao Miyazaki. Arguably the most respected animation director in the world, Miyazaki is the genius behind Howl's Moving Castle, Princess Mononoke and the Academy Award-winning film, Spirited Away."
'Hayao Miyazaki : master of Japanese animation : films, themes, artistry' - "Offers an inside look at the works of Hayao Miyazaki, featuring preliminary sketches and scenes from his films"
'Studio Ghibli : the films of Hayao Miyazaki & Isao Takahata' - "Although their films are distinctly Japanese their themes are universal—humanity, community, and a love for the environment. No other film studio, animation or otherwise, comes close to matching Ghibli for pure cinematic experience. All their major works are examined here, as well the early output of Hayao Miyazaki and Isao Takahata, exploring the cultural and thematic threads that bind these films together."
They haven't arrived yet so I can't say exactly what I'll be using from each but I was thinking I'd focus either on important themes and which films they appear in or just focus on certain films such. I was thinking of Princess Mononoke, Nausicaa and...I'm not really sure what else, maybe Porco Rosso as it's set in Spain in the post-war depression but any suggestions would be great. If this isn't a strong enough idea then obviously let me know, it was just something I thought would be interesting to research into.
Interim Online Review 22/03/2011
ReplyDeleteHey Molly,
Okay - firstly - am loving the timeline you've got going on; it benefits from your characteristic emphasis on reading and reference. Great. In terms of your essay idea, the point is to choose an animation that exemplifies the preoccupations of Miyazaki; by all means, reference other examples to further underline an argument, but it would make for a tighter structure if you were to argue something like; 'This assignment investigates the work of Hayao Miyazaki, with specific reference to Spirited Away, in which Miyazaki's preoccupation with community and environment are clearly communicated' (or similar).
I think your big challenge in terms of planning your animation is to match it closely to the soundtrack. This may indeed be your intention, it's just your animatic doesn't really communicate this. On Friday, Meg will be working closely with students on their respective animations, so I suggest you make timing and synch-up to the soundtrack your main priority. The other big technical challenge of your object is the the secondary motion of the liquid contents; when you have a glass of water, and you shake it, obviously the water inside continues to react even once the glass is still again. Other nuancing that doesn't come from your animatic is a sense of the weight distribution and squash and stretch; for example, if we imagine that your decanter is somehow more flexible than it would be in 'life', then as it landed, the glass would deform - rather as a bubble does or indeed, a balloon* - I think you need to think of your decanter as more flexible to give it the requisite life in terms of animation, otherwise the whole thing might appear rather stiff. At one point, you have the decanter spinning as it moves across the table, and I like that, because it stops your decanter from simply sliding around - tricky to do though, but worth it I think!
*http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=90VyvOhPmA0
(obviously, I'm not suggesting anything as extreme as this, but you get the point!)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eV6Wh-KX3bY&feature=related
Wow! Those videos are amazing and also, I think, should be really helpful when it comes to actually seeing how things distort and move so thank you! :D
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