AniPages Discussion Forum

GATSU · Joined: 24 Apr 2006 Posts: 442

You're profiled on the same site as Satoshi Kon and Mamoru Oshii. [You're in season 3.]

Michael Arias · Joined: 25 Oct 2007 Posts: 35

Hi Gatsu,

The series you're talking about is NHK's ANIKURI. A couple other TEKKON alumni directed episodes (TEKKON art director Shinji Kimura and animation supervisor Shojiro Nishimi). A few other episodes were executed at 4c (Mahiro Maeda did his here). Each director approached was given a minute to do what ever they want (with the proviso that the finished film be showable during family viewing hours). For some reason all of us at 4c were instructed to think of a story involving extra-terrestrial beings. This, it turns out, was Eiko's wanting to impose some kind of theme on the films emerging from 4c. We weren't informed that this wasn't actually an NHK requirement until much later.

I did my film with TEKKON assistant animation supervisor Takayuki Hamada as well as TEKKON's CG supervisor Takuma Sakamoto and colorist Miyuki Ito. Plaid and Mitch Osias once again contributed music and sound design.

I believe mine episode, OKKAKEKKO, will be broadcast late December. Sometime next year NHK will be puting all the episodes on the ANIKURI web site. A few of them were viewable on Youtube at one point. Don't know if they're up any more.

Hope this helps.

m

Huw M · Joined: 06 Aug 2007 Posts: 170

Thanks for the info Michael. It's absolutely great to have an 'inside man' (or two) in the Japanese animation industry, sharing all these cool anecdotes on the board. I'm looking forward to seeing your short when it comes out.

Manuloz · Joined: 21 Jan 2006 Posts: 67 Location: France

Season 3 starts broadcasting on december 10th. By the way wasn't the short directed by Maeda pposed to be produced at Gonzo ? At least that's what they say on anikuri HP.

You can find the shorts from season 1& 2 online via youtube or stage6 :
http://www.manganimation.net/news/?p=263

Michael Arias · Joined: 25 Oct 2007 Posts: 35

It's certainly possible that Maeda did his ANIKURI short at Gonzo. But it seems unlikely - he's at 4c pretty much every day. Perhaps he just gave Gonzo his boards and let them execute it. Not sure. He's working on his GENIUS PARTY piece at 4c now.

H Park · Joined: 14 Mar 2007 Posts: 390 Location: San Francisco, USA

Mike, I just watched the your Ani Kuri 15 film from Youtube. How do I put it... It feels like you have more story behind it.

Benjamin De Schrijver · Joined: 13 Sep 2007 Posts: 38

Yes, I agree. It was beautiful, and had a level of truthfulness and depth to it that I didn't find in many of the other ones. There seemed to be a history behind the robot and characters. It certainly would make an interesting concept for a longer project.

Congrats!

Michael Arias · Joined: 25 Oct 2007 Posts: 35

Wow. Thanks. I'm very flattered.

There is a larger story behind it, albeit a story with many holes that still need filling. It's a fragment of a feature film that i started quite a while ago and never quite finished.

Benjamin De Schrijver · Joined: 13 Sep 2007 Posts: 38

That's great! I hope someday we'll see more of it.

Watching it again, it also struck me how your background in 3D integration seems to give you a certain advantage directorially. The way the 3D scenes blend into the 2D ones is perfect. Even with the (great) shot where we see the robot's shadow, it never struck me as "3D" (until giving it a closer look just now, of course). It didn't stick out, as it often does when the backgrounds are CG, or there is actual handdrawn background animation. Now that I think of it, that also only happened twice in Tekkon Kinkreet (the opening flight sequence, and the long take taking the elevator, entering the office). Do you feel that background helps you in deciding when to use those types of shots, and do you feel it expands your "cinematic vocabulary"?

Michael Arias · Joined: 25 Oct 2007 Posts: 35

I guess, more than anything, having spent many years doing visual effects and CG work, gives me a bit of extra confidence when proposing shots like that. There were many shots that I asked for with a very clear idea of how to accomplish them.

4c fosters very free communication between digital and other departments. That is an essential element of producing hybrid animation (hand-drawn + digital) shots.

And being allowed to get my hands dirty on the effects shots was quite nice.

GATSU · Joined: 24 Apr 2006 Posts: 442

So ANN noted the third season is finally up, and I was wondering if anyone who worked on "Plaid" was an Iron Giant fan.