Noboru
Ishiguro, the founder of the Artland animation studio, was scheduled to
appear at Katsucon in February of 2001, but his studio caught fire one
week before the convention. Five months after the blaze, Ishiguro traveled
to Anime Expo to talk about the experience. "The studio has been rebuilt
since then and it's in very good shape," he said. The aftermath of the
fire was something that renewed Ishiguro's faith in his fellow animators.
"In the fire all of the animation desks were burnt, but during the night
the staff asked other studios for help. They were able to borrow all of
the desks that were needed, more than 20." While animation studios compete
for business, they cooperate when friends are in trouble, Ishiguro said,
and he was deeply grateful for the help.
Those
studios might cooperate because it's rough to make a living in the anime
industry with the declining budgets. Ishiguro noted that a show produced
for a half-hour time slot gets enough money to create only around 3,500
cels. That sort of limited animation, compared to the smoother look of
American animation, has been a part of the look of anime for years - but
Ishiguro doesn't approve of the way that some modern animators handle that
part of the job. "Animators have started trying to stop movement in TV
shows because of the limited number of cels they can use," he said. "As
a result, animation is more like a story book than an animated program.
The number of lines used in a cel has increased, and that has made it more
difficult to move the characters. If you don't change this, then Japanese
animation will change into a series of still pictures, like a story book."
Another
change for anime's future is digital production and the move toward three-dimensional
characters. Ishiguro said "I want to utilize this (digital) experience
for the next stories i'll be making. I understand that the 3-D computer
graphics aren't that useful in animation. The reason is because in every
cut and every scene there have to be changes in Photoshop - and 3-D takes
more time." Ishiguro understand the value of working quickly as a studio
owner. He had to rush to finish two episodes of an OVA series this year
when the original director dropped out, and had to complete the episodes
in two months. The digital techniques of making animation cels helped finish
the job on time, he said. And that rush work made Ishiguro one day late
in arriving at Anime Expo.
Noboru
Ishiguro, the founder of the Artland animation studio, was scheduled to
appear at Katsucon in February of 2001, but his studio caught fire one
week before the convention. Five months after the blaze, Ishiguro traveled
to Anime Expo to talk about the experience. "The studio has been rebuilt
since then and it's in very good shape," he said. The aftermath of the
fire was something that renewed Ishiguro's faith in his fellow animators.
"In the fire all of the animation desks were burnt, but during the night
the staff asked other studios for help. They were able to borrow all of
the desks that were needed, more than 20." While animation studios compete
for business, they cooperate when friends are in trouble, Ishiguro said,
and he was deeply grateful for the help.
Those
studios might cooperate because it's rough to make a living in the anime
industry with the declining budgets. Ishiguro noted that a show produced
for a half-hour time slot gets enough money to create only around 3,500
cels. That sort of limited animation, compared to the smoother look of
American animation, has been a part of the look of anime for years - but
Ishiguro doesn't approve of the way that some modern animators handle that
part of the job. "Animators have started trying to stop movement in TV
shows because of the limited number of cels they can use," he said. "As
a result, animation is more like a story book than an animated program.
The number of lines used in a cel has increased, and that has made it more
difficult to move the characters. If you don't change this, then Japanese
animation will change into a series of still pictures, like a story book."
Another
change for anime's future is digital production and the move toward three-dimensional
characters. Ishiguro said "I want to utilize this (digital) experience
for the next stories i'll be making. I understand that the 3-D computer
graphics aren't that useful in animation. The reason is because in every
cut and every scene there have to be changes in Photoshop - and 3-D takes
more time." Ishiguro understand the value of working quickly as a studio
owner. He had to rush to finish two episodes of an OVA series this year
when the original director dropped out, and had to complete the episodes
in two months. The digital techniques of making animation cels helped finish
the job on time, he said. And that rush work made Ishiguro one day late
in arriving at Anime Expo.
