2024年 12月 08日
Humans and Animation 12 （2011）
Many of the directing techniques and dramatic elements that are common to modern commercial animation (※1), such as comedy, tragedy, caricature, curiosity, hedonistic elements, eroticism, cruelty, and excitement, also appeared before the Common Era. Before it took the form of animated videos and movies, it spread among the common people through the medium of theater.
Also before the Common Era, characters and styles similar to Japanese comics and commercial animation in the 1970s were created one after another. After the year 1, manga-like expressions and deformations of form were further refined, and the content of the scenes and the choice of depictions became more elegant, refined, and exciting. (※2)
The mural of a ball game with a severed head at stake in the Chichen Itza Arena in ancient Mexico marked the early appearance of full-scale gekiga. It is also equivalent to the graphics of today's sports news. Although it is flat and lacks perspective, the sheer amount of minute detail and the painstaking attention to detail in the mob scenes (crowd depictions) are reminiscent of the major animations of the 1960s to 1980s.
Mayan stone monuments, painted around 700, depict people and animals with graceful curves. In this era, there is even a sense of ease in the depictions.
As the time-based expression known as "emaki" spread around the world, around 1000, Japanese artists also produced emaki scrolls using the "Iji-dozuho" method and manga-like expressions such as "Choju-giga" appeared. (※3)
I believe that the Latin "anima," which is also the origin of the word animation, changed to the French "anima" (soul/breath) and then to the English "animal" (animals) around 1066. "Animation" may have spread around the world a little later than animism, animalism, and animato.
Originally, the verb form of animation, "animate," meant "to give life, to give life, to encourage," "animating" meant "lively, lively, alive, to cheer up," "animated" meant "to move like a living thing, like a living thing," and "animator" meant "one who gives life, someone who cheers up." Historically, "animation" never meant "death" or "despair," but rather suggested "humans surviving," and was a "hymn" and "support" filled with the "dynamism of life."
Also before the Common Era, characters and styles similar to Japanese comics and commercial animation in the 1970s were created one after another. After the year 1, manga-like expressions and deformations of form were further refined, and the content of the scenes and the choice of depictions became more elegant, refined, and exciting. (※2)
The mural of a ball game with a severed head at stake in the Chichen Itza Arena in ancient Mexico marked the early appearance of full-scale gekiga. It is also equivalent to the graphics of today's sports news. Although it is flat and lacks perspective, the sheer amount of minute detail and the painstaking attention to detail in the mob scenes (crowd depictions) are reminiscent of the major animations of the 1960s to 1980s.
Mayan stone monuments, painted around 700, depict people and animals with graceful curves. In this era, there is even a sense of ease in the depictions.
As the time-based expression known as "emaki" spread around the world, around 1000, Japanese artists also produced emaki scrolls using the "Iji-dozuho" method and manga-like expressions such as "Choju-giga" appeared. (※3)
I believe that the Latin "anima," which is also the origin of the word animation, changed to the French "anima" (soul/breath) and then to the English "animal" (animals) around 1066. "Animation" may have spread around the world a little later than animism, animalism, and animato.
Originally, the verb form of animation, "animate," meant "to give life, to give life, to encourage," "animating" meant "lively, lively, alive, to cheer up," "animated" meant "to move like a living thing, like a living thing," and "animator" meant "one who gives life, someone who cheers up." Historically, "animation" never meant "death" or "despair," but rather suggested "humans surviving," and was a "hymn" and "support" filled with the "dynamism of life."
It is a modern event that these animation-related words began to be added to dictionaries as video terms referring to animated images. In Japan, the term "animate" began to be used in 1941, "animation" in 1957, the Japanese abbreviation "anime" in 1965, and "anime" became popular after 1974. (※4)
(※1) In recent years, with the digitalization of animation, works that were previously called non-commercial or off-theater have become commercial. Since 2001, there was a period when it was not possible to strictly distinguish between commercial and non-commercial, but recently there has been some separation again.
Since 2001~, the term "industrial animation" has been re-raised mainly overseas, but Harada distinguishes between "commercial animation" and "industrial animation" for historical reasons.
At the time, when a professor and animation researcher from a European university visited Japan and met Harada, he used the term "industrial animation," but Harada clearly denied it, saying, "That does not apply to Japan." Since the 1980s, Harada, together with several civic groups, labor unions, and Communist Party members, has been urging the national and local governments to "recognize animation as an industry," but was clearly denied at the time.
In 2001~, when the far-right Liberal Democratic Party government legally approved anime, they did not call it an "industry," but defined it as "content" for national policy.
(※2) Pictures carved into stones discovered mainly in the Andes in 1920 BCE closely resemble characters in modern commercial animation and manga. Even after that, unique pictures and shapes from that time continue to be discovered.
(※3) This is described in detail in "Animation in the 12th Century" by Isao Takahata.
(※4) Internationally, researchers point out that Andre Martin proposed this concept in 1950.
Since 2001~, the term "industrial animation" has been re-raised mainly overseas, but Harada distinguishes between "commercial animation" and "industrial animation" for historical reasons.
At the time, when a professor and animation researcher from a European university visited Japan and met Harada, he used the term "industrial animation," but Harada clearly denied it, saying, "That does not apply to Japan." Since the 1980s, Harada, together with several civic groups, labor unions, and Communist Party members, has been urging the national and local governments to "recognize animation as an industry," but was clearly denied at the time.
In 2001~, when the far-right Liberal Democratic Party government legally approved anime, they did not call it an "industry," but defined it as "content" for national policy.
(※2) Pictures carved into stones discovered mainly in the Andes in 1920 BCE closely resemble characters in modern commercial animation and manga. Even after that, unique pictures and shapes from that time continue to be discovered.
(※3) This is described in detail in "Animation in the 12th Century" by Isao Takahata.
(※4) Internationally, researchers point out that Andre Martin proposed this concept in 1950.
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by kiyubaru2020
| 2024-12-08 16:54
| 記事,文章 Article,Essay
2024年 12月 08日
Humans and Animation Photos and illustrations（2010-2011）
This essay, published in 2010-2011, was accompanied by photographs and illustrations by Harada. This time, at Harada's request, it was posted on a separate page for this blog. He wanted people to imagine infinite possibilities with just words.
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by kiyubaru2020
| 2024-12-08 16:30
| 記事,文章 Article,Essay
2024年 12月 08日
Humans and Animation 11 （2011）
There is a difference between modern paintings and ancient paintings (or sculptures) made by people today, whether they use modern art materials or ancient natural objects, but in fact there is no big difference in skill.
The Chauvet cave paintings and Olmec sculptures clearly show this.
Ancient paintings and statues of people range from realistic to exaggerated, and even forms similar to modern manga and design drawings can be seen.
The forms of the sun, celestial bodies, and natural phenomena in ancient paintings are dramatized as divine or magical, and the perspective is infinitely flat.
The "poses (reproductions) in soft postures" seen in ancient paintings and sculptures are still difficult to draw today. It is one of the techniques that requires careful training, especially for aspiring animation artists. However, before Christ, there were already many smooth curves that made it seem as if they were drawn (made) effortlessly. If anything, the pictures drawn by modern people are losing their natural and tolerant softness.
Metamorphosis is the most animation-like technique.
Pictograms, numbers, and pictorial documents from ancient civilizations show numerous traces of metamorphosis (including eventual approximations). If they were filmed frame-by-frame, they would make fascinating animations.
Whether we like it or not, ancient letters, symbols, and pictures are destined to have directionality (up, down, left, right, and sometimes the potential influence of east, west, north, south, etc.).
The birth of ruled lines has further spurred the development of directionality. The same is true for video, where directional issues (screen direction, imaginary lines, etc.) are constantly attached to the finished work as potential meanings. (※1)
I believe that the origins of these began with the witnessing of the movement of celestial bodies in ancient times. Ancient people continued to record the changing constellations and sun, and the flow of light and shadow. Recording created flow.
The recording itself also has the aspect of being able to be made into an animated film by taking stop-motion or continuous shots again.
Animation is like a turntable of life that is constantly rotating through history.
The technique of depicting the stars in the sky as "+ * ☆" began around 3500 BC during the Sumerian civilization. It may be the oldest way of expressing "light." It is similar to the effects called "shock" and "pinhole light transmission" that are often used in manga and animation today.
Even before the invention of film and cameras, the human eye functioned as a lens, focus, and polarizing device.
(※1) There is a theory that the reading of ancient Japanese characters and the location and direction of ancient theaters are influenced by the potential of east-west, north-south. Even today, we Japanese are subconsciously influenced by the direction and left-right of the Japanese map. For example, many filmmakers unconsciously depict trains heading from Kyushu to Tokyo as facing right.
(※2) Cross filters can be easily made by lightly creating unevenness on transparent acetate film (the so-called cel in animation) with a commercially available cutter.
The Chauvet cave paintings and Olmec sculptures clearly show this.
Ancient paintings and statues of people range from realistic to exaggerated, and even forms similar to modern manga and design drawings can be seen.
The forms of the sun, celestial bodies, and natural phenomena in ancient paintings are dramatized as divine or magical, and the perspective is infinitely flat.
The "poses (reproductions) in soft postures" seen in ancient paintings and sculptures are still difficult to draw today. It is one of the techniques that requires careful training, especially for aspiring animation artists. However, before Christ, there were already many smooth curves that made it seem as if they were drawn (made) effortlessly. If anything, the pictures drawn by modern people are losing their natural and tolerant softness.
Metamorphosis is the most animation-like technique.
Pictograms, numbers, and pictorial documents from ancient civilizations show numerous traces of metamorphosis (including eventual approximations). If they were filmed frame-by-frame, they would make fascinating animations.
Whether we like it or not, ancient letters, symbols, and pictures are destined to have directionality (up, down, left, right, and sometimes the potential influence of east, west, north, south, etc.).
The birth of ruled lines has further spurred the development of directionality. The same is true for video, where directional issues (screen direction, imaginary lines, etc.) are constantly attached to the finished work as potential meanings. (※1)
I believe that the origins of these began with the witnessing of the movement of celestial bodies in ancient times. Ancient people continued to record the changing constellations and sun, and the flow of light and shadow. Recording created flow.
The recording itself also has the aspect of being able to be made into an animated film by taking stop-motion or continuous shots again.
Animation is like a turntable of life that is constantly rotating through history.
The technique of depicting the stars in the sky as "+ * ☆" began around 3500 BC during the Sumerian civilization. It may be the oldest way of expressing "light." It is similar to the effects called "shock" and "pinhole light transmission" that are often used in manga and animation today.
Even before the invention of film and cameras, the human eye functioned as a lens, focus, and polarizing device.
In particular, our "eyelashes" are also filters that change light into various shapes. When you look at the stars through your eyelashes, the ・-shaped stars change into "+ * ☆". The aperture can be adjusted by the opening angle of the eyelids. "Eyelashes" are basically the same principle as modern cross filters. (※2) If raindrops adhere to the eyelash filter, you can witness even more splendid and multi-layered light-drawing images. (※3)
(※1) There is a theory that the reading of ancient Japanese characters and the location and direction of ancient theaters are influenced by the potential of east-west, north-south. Even today, we Japanese are subconsciously influenced by the direction and left-right of the Japanese map. For example, many filmmakers unconsciously depict trains heading from Kyushu to Tokyo as facing right.
(※2) Cross filters can be easily made by lightly creating unevenness on transparent acetate film (the so-called cel in animation) with a commercially available cutter.
(※3) In the 1990 Japanese-Soviet co-production film "Message to the Future," a very bold light-drawing shot is performed using water droplets that adhere to the lens.
Added:
Ancient Airbrush
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by kiyubaru2020
| 2024-12-08 12:55
| 記事,文章 Article,Essay
(※Automatic translation is used)
3: Postwar Japanese animation and labor movement
1946 (Showa 21): The film industry union "Japan Film and Theater Workers' Union (Nieien)" is formed. 18,000 members. It later joined the "All Japan Industrial Trade Union Conference (Sangyo-bun)". Toho dispute.
(Incidentally, in 1947, the "White Paper", which takes its name from the British "Official Diplomatic Report: White Paper", appeared in Japan).
1948: The United Nations adopts the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. 1950: 50,000 Kamishibai artists nationwide. 1950: Shoriki Matsutaro applies to GHQ for permission to operate a television business. April 28, 1952: San Francisco Peace Treaty, Japan-US Security Treaty come into effect. GHQ is abolished, and the occupation seemingly ends.
1952: "Film and Theater Workers' Union Confederation (Eien Soren)" is formed. Company-specific labor unions of Shochiku, Daiei (now Kadokawa Films), Toei, Shintoho (now Kokusai Hoso), and other companies come together.
1953: Japan Broadcasting Corporation (NHK) begins television broadcasting.
1956: Toei acquires Nichido Films and starts Toei Animation.
1960: International Association of Film Animators (ASIFA) is founded. 1960 - Sogetsu Hall "The Association of Three Animations".
1961: Toei Animation Labor Union is formed. 1961: Mushi Productions is founded.
In 1963, the first full-scale television animation series, Astro Boy, began broadcasting in Japan (not the "first television animation").
Commercial animation for television, animation by artists, and animation for commercials developed separately with virtually no interaction between each other, until the implementation of the National IT Strategy in the 2000s, when their currents temporarily crossed paths.
1965: Japan Motion Picture and Television Industry Labor Union (Eisanro) is formed.
1967: Anidou is formed.
1970s: Anime boom.
1979: The Association of Japanese Animations (JAA) is founded.
1981: The Japan Animation Association, the Japan Actors Association, and the Japan Audio and Visual Association sign the "Agreement on Performances and Audio Production in Animated Programs for Television Broadcast" (Animation Agreement).
1995: Nikkeiren reports "Japanese Management in a New Era," proposing a shift from full-time employees to non-regular employees.
1997: The Pokemon incident.
1998: The Japan Society for Animation Studies is founded.
The digitization of animation by large companies and the exploration and maneuvering by a group of ruling party lawmakers to make animation national policy, which began in the 1980s, reached their peak in 2000 under the Koizumi administration.
3: Postwar Japanese animation and labor movement
1946 (Showa 21): The film industry union "Japan Film and Theater Workers' Union (Nieien)" is formed. 18,000 members. It later joined the "All Japan Industrial Trade Union Conference (Sangyo-bun)". Toho dispute.
(Incidentally, in 1947, the "White Paper", which takes its name from the British "Official Diplomatic Report: White Paper", appeared in Japan).
1948: The United Nations adopts the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. 1950: 50,000 Kamishibai artists nationwide. 1950: Shoriki Matsutaro applies to GHQ for permission to operate a television business. April 28, 1952: San Francisco Peace Treaty, Japan-US Security Treaty come into effect. GHQ is abolished, and the occupation seemingly ends.
1952: "Film and Theater Workers' Union Confederation (Eien Soren)" is formed. Company-specific labor unions of Shochiku, Daiei (now Kadokawa Films), Toei, Shintoho (now Kokusai Hoso), and other companies come together.
1953: Japan Broadcasting Corporation (NHK) begins television broadcasting.
1956: Toei acquires Nichido Films and starts Toei Animation.
1960: International Association of Film Animators (ASIFA) is founded. 1960 - Sogetsu Hall "The Association of Three Animations".
1961: Toei Animation Labor Union is formed. 1961: Mushi Productions is founded.
In 1963, the first full-scale television animation series, Astro Boy, began broadcasting in Japan (not the "first television animation").
Commercial animation for television, animation by artists, and animation for commercials developed separately with virtually no interaction between each other, until the implementation of the National IT Strategy in the 2000s, when their currents temporarily crossed paths.
1965: Japan Motion Picture and Television Industry Labor Union (Eisanro) is formed.
1967: Anidou is formed.
1970s: Anime boom.
1979: The Association of Japanese Animations (JAA) is founded.
1981: The Japan Animation Association, the Japan Actors Association, and the Japan Audio and Visual Association sign the "Agreement on Performances and Audio Production in Animated Programs for Television Broadcast" (Animation Agreement).
1995: Nikkeiren reports "Japanese Management in a New Era," proposing a shift from full-time employees to non-regular employees.
1997: The Pokemon incident.
1998: The Japan Society for Animation Studies is founded.
The digitization of animation by large companies and the exploration and maneuvering by a group of ruling party lawmakers to make animation national policy, which began in the 1980s, reached their peak in 2000 under the Koizumi administration.
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by kiyubaru2020
| 2024-12-08 12:43
| 記事,文章 Article,Essay
2024年 12月 07日
Things like lost films and internet censorship.
"MIDORI" was once confiscated and destroyed by Narita Airport customs.(in 1999)
In fact, the film was lost in a transportation accident even before that.
When a local screening organization sent out the MIDORI film, they wrote the wrong address (Kiryukan's old address) and the correct phone number on the shipping request form. The shipping company delivered it to Kiryukan's old address, and the person living there ended up disposing of the MIDORI film that they had mistakenly received as trash.
The matter was settled with the transport company in 1994.
It was fortunate that there was a negative film, but if it was a work with only one film, the problem of loss would be serious.
In fact, the film was lost in a transportation accident even before that.
When a local screening organization sent out the MIDORI film, they wrote the wrong address (Kiryukan's old address) and the correct phone number on the shipping request form. The shipping company delivered it to Kiryukan's old address, and the person living there ended up disposing of the MIDORI film that they had mistakenly received as trash.
The matter was settled with the transport company in 1994.
It was fortunate that there was a negative film, but if it was a work with only one film, the problem of loss would be serious.
The disappointment of a creator is great when a work that has taken years or decades to create is lost or destroyed.
In 2020, Harada's senior in the commercial animation industry asked him to lend him the disc of "Horizon Blue" because he wanted to screen it at his workplace, so Harada lent the disc to him.
However, at the time, Harada's chronic illness (a rare and intractable disease) was worsening, so Harada was unable to attend the screening.
However, Harada's senior, thinking it was a favor for Harada, lent the disc to a reporter from one of the three major newspapers.
One of the journalists from the Kyoto Shimbun returned it with a proper comment, but the major newspaper that lent it to did not return it, and it was lost.
Originally, Harada had not intended to release it to the Japanese mass media.
Even though it has changed from film to a thin disc, people still treat the work too lightly.
In recent years, film festival curators in Japan and abroad have simply requested Harada to upload his work to YouTube.
However, Harada defines that viewing his work on the Internet does not mean that you have truly seen it.
Blu-ray companies in various countries have also requested that Harada release his work on disc, but they all keep repeating the same thing: "4K" and "high quality." They seem to think that it is okay for the author to further modify the work he created.
Harada has declined all of these offers.
In addition, the law has changed in Japan in recent years, and the system has changed so that if you earn even a little more, you have to pay for Harada's large medical expenses for his incurable disease.
What Harada wants most now is not money, and he does not want companies to commercialize his work.
As Harada publishes his production diary every day, what he needs most is free time, and his biggest wish is to continue creating new works.
However, there are probably many people living overseas who want to see Harada's work.
There are capacity limits on sites that allow video posting other than YouTube.
In July 2021, Kiyubaru's YouTube account was unfairly suspended and we were prohibited from creating a new account.
We protested to YouTube many times, but we only received the same email in return.
In March 2022, images and videos of MIDORI posted on Twitter were deleted. Twitter sent us an unclear reply saying, "We are tolerant of expression."
In September 2024, an announcement post for "Zahikiro" was unfairly deleted on Facebook.
We have protested to Facebook many times, but we have still not received any reply.
In 2023, after deleting the video for "MIDORI," which contains no nudity or violence, "F2 Video" warned us, "The next time you upload a video for 'Shoujo Tsubaki' or post the word 'Shoujo Tsubaki,' we will freeze your account." "Shoujo Tsubaki" had already been programmed as a banned word.
In fact, when we posted a trailer for "Horizon Blue" in 2019, Vimeo also contacted us asking, "Is this video really your official one?" Vimeo did not delete it, but first sent us a confirmation email.
We explained the situation to Vimeo. Vimeo then told us, "We understand."
Vimeo's response was very good. However, there is a capacity limit for free use.
What should we do in this situation?
It is at times like these that we should remember dialectics.
Just as Eisenstein once sought a new framework for film, we would like to seek ways to disseminate new works that have never existed before.
This may be similar to the idea of "passing on works from friend to friend," as Doji Morita once said, rather than being centered on companies, the economy, or money.
However, at the time, Harada's chronic illness (a rare and intractable disease) was worsening, so Harada was unable to attend the screening.
However, Harada's senior, thinking it was a favor for Harada, lent the disc to a reporter from one of the three major newspapers.
One of the journalists from the Kyoto Shimbun returned it with a proper comment, but the major newspaper that lent it to did not return it, and it was lost.
Originally, Harada had not intended to release it to the Japanese mass media.
Even though it has changed from film to a thin disc, people still treat the work too lightly.
In recent years, film festival curators in Japan and abroad have simply requested Harada to upload his work to YouTube.
However, Harada defines that viewing his work on the Internet does not mean that you have truly seen it.
Blu-ray companies in various countries have also requested that Harada release his work on disc, but they all keep repeating the same thing: "4K" and "high quality." They seem to think that it is okay for the author to further modify the work he created.
Harada has declined all of these offers.
In addition, the law has changed in Japan in recent years, and the system has changed so that if you earn even a little more, you have to pay for Harada's large medical expenses for his incurable disease.
What Harada wants most now is not money, and he does not want companies to commercialize his work.
As Harada publishes his production diary every day, what he needs most is free time, and his biggest wish is to continue creating new works.
However, there are probably many people living overseas who want to see Harada's work.
There are capacity limits on sites that allow video posting other than YouTube.
In July 2021, Kiyubaru's YouTube account was unfairly suspended and we were prohibited from creating a new account.
We protested to YouTube many times, but we only received the same email in return.
In March 2022, images and videos of MIDORI posted on Twitter were deleted. Twitter sent us an unclear reply saying, "We are tolerant of expression."
In September 2024, an announcement post for "Zahikiro" was unfairly deleted on Facebook.
We have protested to Facebook many times, but we have still not received any reply.
In 2023, after deleting the video for "MIDORI," which contains no nudity or violence, "F2 Video" warned us, "The next time you upload a video for 'Shoujo Tsubaki' or post the word 'Shoujo Tsubaki,' we will freeze your account." "Shoujo Tsubaki" had already been programmed as a banned word.
In fact, when we posted a trailer for "Horizon Blue" in 2019, Vimeo also contacted us asking, "Is this video really your official one?" Vimeo did not delete it, but first sent us a confirmation email.
We explained the situation to Vimeo. Vimeo then told us, "We understand."
Vimeo's response was very good. However, there is a capacity limit for free use.
What should we do in this situation?
It is at times like these that we should remember dialectics.
Just as Eisenstein once sought a new framework for film, we would like to seek ways to disseminate new works that have never existed before.
This may be similar to the idea of "passing on works from friend to friend," as Doji Morita once said, rather than being centered on companies, the economy, or money.
#
by kiyubaru2020
| 2024-12-07 12:56
| お知らせ Notice
