Miyazaki's vision for children of Japan

Animator Miyazaki embarrased by prime minister, AS

TOKYO (AP) _ Academy Award-winning animation filmmaker Hayao Miyazaki said Thursday that he is merely embarrassed by Japan's comic-loving prime minister. But he was far more upbeat about investing in the nation's children.

Miyazaki's latest film "Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea," now playing in Japan, is a story of a goldfish who forms a friendship with a little boy and longs to become a girl in the human world. It was shown at the Venice Film Festival in August, and is expected to open in the U.S. next year.

Miyazaki, 67, scoffs at the idea that is being pushed by Prime Minister Taro Aso that Japanese animation, comic books and other creative content can be its strength, rather than the usual historical exports of autos, electronics and other more tangible products. Aso, who became prime minister in September, is a connoisseur of Japanese "manga" comic books, and he has tried to boost his popularity by wooing comic-lovers.

But some of that tactic appears to be backfiring as his support ratings plunge and some local magazines have started criticizing him as shallow and overly pop. "It's so embarrassing," Miyazaki said at the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan, in answer to a question about Aso's publicly asserting his love for manga.

"That should be more private." He also joked that perhaps Japan has spent too much time producing animation as well as cars.

"That's why our food self-sufficiency is so low, and our underwear is almost all made in China," the white-haired bespectacled animator said. Miyazaki, who won the Oscar in 2003 for his "Spirited Away," acknowledged he was worried about the world's children getting too obsessed with video games, TV, e-mail and comic books.

But he said he was sure children were Japan's best investment if it hoped to turn its economy around from a slowdown. "Rather than looking at how to stimulate domestic demand by building bridges or roads, we should have a proper environment and place for our future generation," Miyazaki said.

Movie Review - Kung Fu Panda

One word - "Refreshing".

Credit should really go to the film makers for the subject they have chosen..
Eastern mysticism has been successfully captured through wonderful colors and ofcourse the background score.. Hans Zimmer (my all time favorite composer), [along with John Powell] has created yet another 'mystical' score and this score seems to linger in our minds for a long time along with the colors..
Action packed flick with thrilling action sequences, with Tai Lung performing superb 'edge of the seat' kung fu action !
Getting the 'kung fu' right, must have been a great challenge and surely, justice has been done to the art form that has thousands of years of history.
Though they were successful in above aspects, they are unsuccessful in capturing the chinese culture (which is an integral part that influences the martial art). Surprisingly Panda takes on shades of 'north american' characteristics through phrases like 'awesome', 'suck at it', 'thingy' and so on, however there is no apparent reason why the character is americanised where on the contrary its supposed to be chinese.
As for the plot, the movie offers fairly enjoyable, but limited story, with only a nearly satisfactory build up.
Character designs (excluding panda) could have been relatable to the general audience in terms of how they appear. I spent a lot of time to guess what animals those characters are, which turned out to be a distraction from enjoying the movie. Jackie chan's very limited words (10 to 25 words for the whole movie) may add to the dissatisfaction.
To conclude, its a fairly enjoyable, action packed animated flick


Overall I would rate 3.5 on 5


rgds,
nary

Animation Demo Reel

This is my demo reel.. can call it WIP.. as u see animation is a continuous improvement process.. :) comments are welcome..

Animation Demo Reel

WIP update : Dialogue - 'Save the world'

This is an updated version of the WIP dialogue 'save the world'

enjoy watching it..

WIP update: Dialogue - 'Save the world'

WIPs :)

Here are the WIPs of animation.. Enjoy watching them..
Nary

WIP : Gear Change

WIP: Dialogue 1

WIP: Dialogue 2

WIP: Weight Lift

WIP: Jump

Interview with Kung Fu Panda Co-Director John Stevenson (by comingsoon.net)

Interview with Kung Fu Panda Co-Director John Stevenson (by comingsoon.net)..
Very useful to understand the affairs in making animated films from a dreamworks director..

http://www.comingsoon.net/news/movienews.php?id=45494

Creativity in Animation

Animation is an art form that i was always wanted to learn and make it a part of my life.
My inspirations came from the disney cartoons I used to watch in black and white television at home on sundays when i was a kid. This dream of mine, i had put it off in a corner of my mind untill now because of lack of opportunity to learn and practice.
Now since i have started learning the art form, it has intrigued me to find out what creativity is like in animation.
Now, this is an attempt to understand creativity in animation. Hope to arrive at 'understanding' soon..

References:

"Imagination is more important than knowledge." Robin King said during a speech on animation art at the International Animation Design Masters Forum on Friday afternoon, November 9th, 2007
"Don't try to copy Japanese or U.S. styles of animation. Find a way to bring a unique Chinese voice for Chinese stories and for Chinese content rather than replicate or duplicate what other people do. Use the tools and techniques to support your own culture and to find your own voice. And I truly believe in China that when you find that voice, it will be a big voice, a powerful voice and a wise voice. And that is a task, not to mimic the Japanese, not to mimic Hollywood, but to learn from the experts how to use the tools to create stories your need to create."

Chris Webster, Head of Animation Provision at the University of the West of England, Bristol, who spoke on ‘Movement without Meaning is Pointless.‘
In this talk and screening, he aimed to explore how the underpinning nature of individual creativity is central to animation as a medium. Animation is a unique visual art form that entertains, informs and educates, though without meaning - it is reduced to a form of dynamic wallpaper. Using examples of work drawn from students studying on the program at the University of the West of England, he aimed to explore the creative nature of animation and look at creativity as a transferable skill that we can all learn and develop.

More to come.. :)