AnimaTion pt.2

The process of animation can be a long and challenging one, taking over an entire year to develop, and an additional few weeks to draw, animate and create the episode. On top of that, it is very lucrative process and laborious task to deal with animation.

So where does it start? To create an animation, there needs to be a story line or a plot. In Japan's case, usually the manga artists provides the plot and character outlines needed in order to create the anime. In combination to this, the manga has to be popular enough, in order that production companies and producers are willing to fund and create the anime. Directors and animators are then chosen to create the anime and the manga artist is there to supervise and put forth info in order to display the story in a way that represents the manga artist's vision, as well as an entertainment that attracts and appeals to an audience. Writers are chosen to create the episode-by-episode scripts, which are then review by the entire animation team. Revisions often occur during this stage and in order to ensure both the author's and the director's vision of the anime, the storyboard is created.

A storyboard creates a frame-by-frame work of the anime. Along with this, it details the actions and the dialogues of the characters and describes the setting or the scenery. With a limited budget creates constrain on everyone, so it limits the amount frames to display. Each frame is chosen carefully and many cuts and revisions are made to present the core action of the manga (for this reason, many people prefer manga to anime). Developing layouts marks the transition into the art production phase. The background is set, the actions of the characters are defined, and the frames are shaped to the same size. Colors are chosen to represent the frames in this process. Other decisions that are made include the angle of the shot and the position of the character.

All of the animation in anime is hand-drawn, but nowadays, animators draw directly onto a computer. This helps by checking the frame-by-frame work for any mistakes during the process. Here is a video detailing this. This process first starts the characters off as "stick figures," then it gradually develops the details of the character (such as the character's expressions). The animators then detail the setting. In-between animators then come in and make the movements of the characters more fluid, rather than a frame-by-frame montage.

The frames are then colored and processed and special effects and added on. The last stage of this process is adding on the voice dubs and composing the music, but other than that, the animation process is completed!

AnimeTion Pt.1

Believe it or not, the main reason why I chose to have an "Animation" blog is to talk about my passion, anime; however, anime is interesting for a select audience, so i broadened the topic to "animation" in general. Because animation is my passion, the next unspecified following weeks will be dedicated to anime.

This week make the end of one of the most well known and well recognized manga in history, Naruto. Written by Masashi Kishimoto, this is the story of a young boy named Naruto, an outcast of society, whose goal in life is to become Hokage, the strongest  person as well as the leader of the village. This manga is one of the best-selling manga series in history and has a legacy spanning fifteen years. It will continue to expand so as it has made its mark in Japanese history. 

So what exactly is manga? A simple way to put it, it is the comic book of the East, Japan in particular. South Korea publishes similar comics known as manhwa and the countries of China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong publish manhua. Where American society views comic books as trashy (but nowadays it's getting the respect it deserves), the Japanese society embraces manga and embedded this as their culture. In Japan, "manga" is referred to every type of cartoons, animation and comics, while in America, "manga" is strictly the comics published from Japan, and the animation produced is known as "anime".

Manga first started out on scrolls. These scrolls told stories that were accompanied by a series of images. With the creation of paper, these images were then transferred onto them. Unlike the English alphabet, Japanese characters are read from right to left, as opposed to left to right, because it (right to left) is the natural direction the eyes move. Unlike American comics, manga actually has endings. It doesn't continue on forever. Sure, the characters might not age for long periods of time in manga, but let's face it, Spiderman has been a college student since the beginning of time. Another thing to note:(and this is my personal pet peeve...) What is up with the parallel universes? Can't the authors just stick to one story? There are so many stories to one character, that I don't even know where to begin, or what to talk about when regarding that specific character. This can get overwhelming and unbearable at times, but the good thing about this "problem" is that it can create endless stories for filmmaker to work on when creating phenomenal movies. 

Well that's my time for this week. Check out the last chapter of Naruto by clicking on the link. Also in other news.....

Until next time