animation portfolio - hayao miyazaki
TRANSCRIPT
Animation Portfolio
Hayao Miyazaki
Figure 1: Hayao Miyazaki
Hayao Miyazaki aged 71 born in 1941 Tokyo, Japan. Hayao is one of the most influential
animators to date that has inspired so much internationally, he has directed and animated
many movies with his founded company ‘Studio Ghibli’ him and his team have created film
after film of amazing originality and story to shock and amaze the world with his creativity.
In his youth Hayao had a tendency of drawing tanks, planes and battleships while in
secondary school, he had trouble drawing people and facial expressions so this kind of set
him back for what he wanted to become, Feldman states; “In his third year, he sees the first-
ever Japanese feature-length colour anime, HAKUJA , and becomes interested in animation.
Hayao decides he wants to become a comic artist but--having previously drawn only planes
and battleships--finds he can't draw people”. (Feldman, 1994). One of many influences that
got Miyazaki to pursue animation was the film ‘Tale of the White Serpent’ by Taiji Yabushita
which left a strong impression of what he wanted to become and how much hard work and
determination it would take to get there.
Soon after graduating Gakushuin University with a degree in political science and economics
in 1963 he was offered a place at Toei Animation (in the same year) one of the leading
animation companies in Japan to this date creating such animations like Dragon ball Z and
One Piece. He worked there for 8 years building his way up to chief editor of concept art
and scene designer for a feature length animated film ‘Hols: Prince of the Sun’.
Figure 2 - Studio Ghibli Logo
After working at Toei for 8 years and moving in and out of other companies for a while
Miyazaki then had a golden opportunity to change the world of animation as we know it, by
setting up his business ‘Studio Ghibli” with Tokuma Shoten in 1985, but then got the rights to it
all in 2005.
Studio Ghibli has been a massively influential animation company to so many young people
across the world. Its art attracts all types of audience with its various storylines and ever
growing enhancements of animation technology with such inspirational feature length films
like Spirited Away, Princess Mononoke, Laputa Castle in the Sky etc. He’s expertise in
directing such heartwarming and jaw dropping animations has lead him to exceed further
then such films like Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s stone and even Titanic making a total
earning of 30.4 billion Yen, were as the Titanic only made 26.2 billion Yen. Matsutani states:
“With ticket sales of ¥30.4 billion, "Spirited Away" is not only Miyazaki's biggest hit, but the
biggest movie ever in Japan, according to the Federation of Japanese Films Industry Inc.
Coming in second and third are "Titanic" at ¥26.2 billion and "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's
Stone" at ¥20.2 billion”. (Matsutani, 2008).
Figure 3 - Ashitaka fighting Nago
With Miyazaki’s animations still hitting high expectations, the company then moved onto
computer technology adding hand drawn animation to be redefined and adjusted on
computers. As you can see in the picture above it is a film still from ‘Princess Mononoke’ the
part that has been computer generated is the black worms on Ashitaka’s arm and the rest is
hand drawn. Nigel states: “it's very important for me to retain the right ratio between
working by hand and computer. I have learnt that balance now, how to use both and still be
able to call my films 2D”. (Nigel, 2005). With the traditional and computer generated
animation with Studio Ghibli Miyazaki can take his ideas further, faster and much more
efficiently to bring more wondrous films to inspire more and more people everyday.
Bibliography
Sources:
Feldman, S. (1994) Hayao Miyazaki Biography.
http://www.nausicaa.net/miyazaki/miyazaki/miyazaki_biography.txt (Accessed on:
16/03/2012).
Matsutani, M. (2008) Japan’s Greatest Film Directors.
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/text/nn20080930i1.html (Accessed on: 16/03/2012).
Nigel, A. (2005) Japan's visionary of innocence and apocalypse.
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/698539fe-2974-11da-8a5e-
00000e2511c8.html#axzz1pbCw9MlM (Accessed on: 16/03/2012).
List of Illustrations:
Fig 1: Miyazaki, H. (2009) Self Portrait of Hayao Miyazaki [photograph] At: listal
http://www.listal.com/viewimage/609990 (Accessed on: 16/03/2012)
Fig 2: Studio Ghibli Logo. (1985) From: Nausicaä Of The Valley Of The Wind. On
studioghiblidvd http://www.studioghiblidvd.co.uk/ (Accessed on: 16/03/2012)
Fig 3: Ashitaka fighting Nago. (1997) From: Princess Mononoke. On wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Mononoke_hime_cgi.png (Accessed on:
16/03/2012)