Miyazaki report [7/25]
Internet was down the whole day yesterday. BAH.
Anyways... Hayao Miyazaki was so amazing and down-to-earth at the symposium! ♥ I wasn't happy with the host though cuz he didn't transition questions/answers well and he got caught on with his own questions during the audience Q&A last half >_> But Miyazaki himself was SO AWESOME. Whenever we clapped for him, he would join us in the clapping. Here are some highlights of the stuff he said (incomplete notes though orz):
Bold = topic/question presented.
My sister and I snuck backdoor at the end when we saw a small group of people there, and he did come out briefly to thank everyone for waiting there but said he had to go rest XD; Yay, saw him 10 ft away lol!
For some reason, I felt like there was a bit mistranslation here and there or something. Some of the host's questions were very...scholarly. Actually, he presented a lot of them as statements rather than questions, and he had these reactions as if he expected certain answers but thrown off by unexpected ones.
Anyways, so happy Miyazaki came to Berkeley!
Anyways... Hayao Miyazaki was so amazing and down-to-earth at the symposium! ♥ I wasn't happy with the host though cuz he didn't transition questions/answers well and he got caught on with his own questions during the audience Q&A last half >_> But Miyazaki himself was SO AWESOME. Whenever we clapped for him, he would join us in the clapping. Here are some highlights of the stuff he said (incomplete notes though orz):
Bold = topic/question presented.
- An animator's role: "to soothe the sharp edges of reality".
- Civilization/end of the world theme in his film: It's essential to have problems to progress civilization, and now we seem to have come to the "end of the world" era.... It would be nice to see the end of civilization in my lifetime *laughs*, but I think it is not likely, so I use my imagination to depict it.
- Nature theme in his film: We think we are separate from nature, but I don't believe that. The tsunami [in Ponyo] is like an act of cleansing. Disasters are not necessary evil because plants seem healthier afterwards, so they can also bring goodness to the world. It's something we live together with.
- For Ponyo, he encouraged his background artist to have his child side to come out more when he drew "nice pictures."
- Totoro: The animators didn't know where the eyes [of the creatures] are looking at, so I talked to my staffs that we needed to make Totoro's eyes known whether he's thinking, is smart, or is stupid. (everyone laughed XD)
- The strong female protagonists: Right now we're hiring more animators, and for the hiring process, of the 22 remaining there's only 1 men. There are so many strong women now I might have to make films of men *laughs*
- Manga vs. Anime: Manga can be appreciated as they are; I think it's better not to have manga made into anime because manga and film have very dfferent sense of time and space, unless you know them well enough.
- Storyboard artists in Japan?: Usually the director is expected to be able to the storyboard in Japan, or otherwise he's not necessary to the crew. *pause* That's just one way to think!
- When do you know "inspiration: hits?: Hmmm, that's a hard question... you have to really struggle hard and make something useless until you find something that's not.
- Finding young talent / technology: It's been difficult to find enough animators, even though things have sped up by having some of the work done in China and Korea. We've tried speeding up doing the animations digitally, but truthfully we're able to draw a lot faster by hand. We're intending to keep pencil animation to assure job positions and do our best to assure people's wages in Japan. It's a lot easier and more free by hand, and I believe you have to be more casual about drawing when it comes to animation.
- Tackling creative block: Hmmm.... *grumbles*... I only think. Think really hard enough to smell blood deep in my nose. (everyone laughs) That deep, dark conscience, it's the most difficult to get to. I have to really hit a wall and be troubled...
My sister and I snuck backdoor at the end when we saw a small group of people there, and he did come out briefly to thank everyone for waiting there but said he had to go rest XD; Yay, saw him 10 ft away lol!
For some reason, I felt like there was a bit mistranslation here and there or something. Some of the host's questions were very...scholarly. Actually, he presented a lot of them as statements rather than questions, and he had these reactions as if he expected certain answers but thrown off by unexpected ones.
Anyways, so happy Miyazaki came to Berkeley!