Aquanaut

Hello,

By a series of well-timed events and luck, I was able to see Miyazaki in Berkeley and LA. For those of you who missed the appearances, I'm posting his interviews here. Please keep in mind that these entries are based on my notes I took during the interviews. I couldn't catch every question, word, or translation, so some answers may seem a little off or incomplete. I did my best though~ Enjoy!

UC Berkeley Interview with Roland Kelts, author of Japanamerica, on July 25, 2009:

How do you feel about the younger generations growing up in an increasingly digital world, with the internet, Facebook, etc.?

A: Well, the digital world has always been present, even in my day.

Why do many of your films have an apocalytpic element in them, such as in Nausicaa?

A: It would be fascinating to witness the end of the world, but since I don't think that will happen in my lifetime, I like to be imaginative about it and include that in my films.

Why is there such an imaginative leap in your characters? In American animation, there's Mickey Mouse who resembles a mouse, and Bugs Bunny a rabbit, but your characters, like Ponyo and Totoro, don't have equivalents and don't resemble anything in nature.

A: Nature is beyond our understanding. I like to focus on the eyes . For example with Totoro, you don't know where he is looking. I wanted his eyes to be such that you can't tell whether he's thinking about something deep and profound, or if he's just really stupid. I wanted it to the point that not even our staff could tell whether Totoro was really smart, or really stupid.

One of the most violent scenes across all your films is the one where Chihiro witnesses her parents transform into pigs in Spirited Away. Is this a comment on consumerism in today's society?

A: I didn't mean it as satire at all, but I wanted to show that there are more valuable moments that children can have.

What is the easiest way to show that a character is in a fantasy?

A: When making a fantasy, the easiest way is to show someone going through a tunnel, door, closet, etc. to signify that the character has entered a new realm. I find that to be too simple and uninteresting. A better way is to show the character searching for that place or journeying to get there. I originally intended Chihiro to enter the new world with such an alternative way, but when I boarded out the sequence I found that it would take too long in the film, so I ended up sticking to the tunnel option after all.

What does the new generation of recruits at Studio Ghibli look like?

A: We were considering 22 new animators but out of those, only 4 were men. And, after we had a round of eliminations, only 1 man was left. There are so many strong women now, I might just have to start making movies about men.

Are are the roles of boys and girls different in your films?

A: The roles are different in flims. But, I like to focus on the theme of fulfilling promises, because that's one of the most important things you can do in life, to fulfill the promises you make. The boy in Ponyo makes that commitment. There is a strong mother in Ponyo and I intended that to be an inspiration for mothers to be strong.

You have gone your own way by not basing your films on manga, even though so many animated films in Japan are based on manga. Why do you choose this way?

A: We can enjoy manga reading just as they are. I think it is better to avoid making anime out of a manga. Manga and anime have very different perceptions of time and space, making the conversion from a manga to an anime difficult. For animation, I want to show that time and space flow as they are drawn.

Is there an advantage to having a single, artistic voice dominate?

A: That's the way it has always been in Japan. It is a normal method for the director to draw the storyboards. It's a condition for a person to be able to draw (storyboards) in order to direct.

How do you know when you have the first illustration that can turn into a film?

A: That is difficult to say. Only when I have tried something and realized that I can't go on with it, do I find something. I must struggle hard to find that something is impossible, and then I will find something.

Do you believe in happy endings?

A: I want my characters to be happy but arrive there in a convincing way.

Does [film-making] get any easier?

A: After my second film, Nausicaa, I said to my wife, "I never want to go through this pain again." With every film, I feel like I just barely made it through, and hope that the audience doesn't notice all the flaws. I want to forget all about the film after it is done.

On finding and keeping new talent?

A: That is difficult to maintain and keep happy. But, I am determined to keep the method of drawing with pencil, even though sometimes it feels as if we are a rowing boat trying to race against a hoard of high-speed boats. I still want to assure a place [for these animators].

What is the virtue of rowing that lonely boat? Why keep doing it that way?

A: We tried drawing with the computer, but found that drawing by hand is easier and faster. You are freer when you draw by hand. It is difficult to get the same feeling with the computer.

Is there a danger in outsourcing animation? In training the competition, such as Korea and China?

A: No matter how seemingly equal, the side doing the giving has power. It's difficult to have an equal relationship.

(Questions from the audience):

What is the most important advice you can give to someone starting in animation?

A: You must sketch something through your own eyes and have a strict critic who won't coddle you.

What character from your films reminds you most of yourself?

A: I try not to show myself in films. If you're not a good drawer, your face comes out in several drawings in the film.

What do you do when you have a creative block?

A: The only thing you can do is to think. I think so hard that I can smell blood in my nose. When I think like this, something might come out of the blue, but only when I really hit a wall. In theory, there is a subconscious, but I believe there is an even deeper, darker place. You need to reach there sometimes, but it is the most difficult part of your mind to get to.

Does travel ever inspire you? Is there a specific location you go to?

A: These days I just walk around my house.

Do you think children 50 years from now will relate to your films?

A: I think that future grandmothers might tell their grandchildren about my films, but I'm not sure the mothers will be able to tell their children about my films.

You have the goal of giving children the chance to dream. Has that evolved in any way?

A: The direction hasn't changed for our films, but I think of my old colleagues when I think of "our films."

What is your concept of true love? Do you believe in it? How would you define it?

A: It is at the end of our difficulties that we find true love. Dealing with difficulties is what life is about.

Advice for filmmakers?

A: Those who want to make films should make films.

What is your hope for animated films in the future?

A: I don't want to theorize about the future; I want to focus on what can be done now.

Artists who have influenced you, who you consider to be your peers?

A: There are several, including John Lasseter, Nick Park, and (there was one other name i missed, but it may have been Yuri Norstein). I consider them to be my comrades in arms.

Do you have any interest in making live-action films?

A: No. We would have to revert back to the Japan of 50 years ago. The factories, railroads, clouds, and even people's faces have changed too much.

Favorite film/succes so far out of your films?

A: I regard all of them as my children; each one is precious.

What can be hoped for from you in the future?

A: I'm not sure.

....................................................................................

LA Interview with John Lasseter on July 28, 2009:

Let's talk about how you got into animation. You have a degree in economics and political science. How does your education contribute to your body of work?

A: I entered university hoping to gain time for drawing. I graduated with the bare minimum grades so that I could spend time drawing.

How did you get your first job in animation?

A: I entered the studio at 22. My first work was on a dog version of the 47 Ronin, called Wan Wan Chushingura. After 3 months of training, I started to do in-betweening.

How did you progress to being an animator?

A: An in-betweener is an animator. In those days I wanted to be a manga artist, so I told myself that when I got home after work, I'd work on a manga. But, I always feel asleep after getting home. I was part of a small labor union at the studio, and I became an officer so I worked hard for both.

How did you progress to doing storyboards?

A: My first project came about when I looked at storyboards that came by. I thought that they could be done better. So, I convinced the director that I could draw them better and I redid some.

There was a small office for our labor union. Members would gather there – directors, animators, painters, etc. – to discuss movies and what kind of movies we should be making. It turned into a kind of salon. That experience allowed me not to hesitate making suggestions to directors. Even before Lupin, for Gulliver's Travels Beyond the Moon, I was able to have it increased by 14 frames (or scenes?). This experience was important for me because I realized that the things I couldn't draw I was just unable to draw. Sometimes I would be stuck alone working all night, and I would be afraid to see my own work. I learned that I had to learn how to draw well. I didn't concern myself with music or dialogue. I cared more about drawing, which I found more interesting. I was clueless about other aspects of filmmaking; there were other people in charge for those things, such as music and dialogue.

On the Lupin film, The Castle of Cagliostro, how did you progress to directing that?

A: It's difficult to explain. An older colleague came by my home one night and asked to help a little on Lupin. But, somehow I ended up directing it. Thinking about it later, it must have been a trap.

How long did it take you to direct it?

A: 4.5 months

4.5 months??! How did you do that?!

A: We were really really busy. By the end of it, I forgot that I had to move my right foot over my left in order to walk.

Four-and-a-half MONTHS...

A: Well, we were all young and eager, fully of energy, so we were at our peak.

How was Ghibli formed?

A: We needed a studio after making Nausicaa, so we established a studio. We formed one just by renting a building. We would gather and scatter, and it worked out like that for a time.

What were your inspirations for Spirited Away?

A: I watched it, thinking I had made a frightening movie. There are various Japanese folk tales with similar moments as Spirited Away.

When I was working on the English version of Spirited Away, you mentioned girls who are apathetic to things and how you wanted to make a movie for them.

A: I know a girl like Chihiro, but now she has become a strong woman. This may not be because of the film, but she is strong now. I tend to model characters on people I know. The model for the dad, who turns into a pig, is present with us tonight in the audience. He has reverted into being a good human.

Every film of yours has fantastic sequences of people eating? What's up with that?

A: I like to eat so I put it in.

They're so well drawn; always makes me hungry after.

A: So you've been taken in by the way I present it.

In many of your films, you show a great concern for ecology and the human impact on the environment. Has it become a growing concern throughout your career?

A: It's not that it's become a growing concern, I just find the issue to be common sense. It's the kind of landscape we're living in. Sometimes we need to think about it in real life rather than in films.

I love the way you portray magic; it's so believable.

A: Sometimes I worry it's not so logical and natural.

Do you get inspiration from fairy tales?

A: I'll write a new story, but when I scrape it down, I see fragments from existing stories. This shows that I am in the flow of human culture/tradition.

Is Totoro based on some legend?

A: Rather than trying to depict magical creatures, I wanted to show an appreciation for nature. There were 2 fragments in my mind for 10 years. One was of a big creature standing next to a child at a bus stop and the other was of a child seeing a transparent creature. I decided that the child at the bus stop needed to be older and the other child younger. I finally came to make them sisters and the story evolved from there, but it took me a long time to figure out how to connect the two girls.

Can you talk about how the character Totoro came up?

A: So for those 10 years I walked around and searched for ideas in landscape. In terms of character, since Totoro doesn't really exist, I could draw him any way I wanted. I wanted Totoro to be so that you couldn't tell if he was really smart or stupid, or whether he was really there or not. I told the animators not to make him look at anything specific; it could be something far away or up close.

How did the cat bus come up?

A: As I was drawing it just seemed to come up. I first thought of a ghost cat, because in Japanese lore, when a cat grows old it becomes a ghost or a goblin that eats people.

Your characters are so appealing, even the villains. What goes on as you create a villain?

A: When I create a villain, I start with liking the villain to begin with. The fact that villains put so much into something, though evil, makes them lovable, and they work harder than the heroes. Making a creature with a hole in its heart is too sad to draw. I noticed that when animators draw a happy face, they're smiling too, but when they draw a bad character, they're grimacing. So, it's better to have more smiling faces.

Can you describe the storyboard process?

A: In Japan, the system is looser. Directors draw the storyboards and the division of labor isn't very exact. We should be more loose and flexible. That explains how I was able to get in those 14 frames/scenes into the Gulliver's Travels film.

Do you stick to your original storyboards? Your storyboards and films seem the same.

A: Yes, they are for the most part, but sometimes the storyboard changes or they need to be fixed. I try not to burden others; it's best for the person who knows how it should be to redo it.

Do you still work long hours?

A: Yes, when working on a movie, but nowadays I spend them on hobbies.

What's that?

A: Do I really have to say? Well, I draw manga for a [airplane?] model magazine.

Can you talk about your love of planes?

A: I should be able to draw them more easily.

(Questions from the audience)

Out of all the creatures in your films, which do you most wish was real?

A: I feel like they all might be around us.

Your favorite flying contraption that was animated?

A: I wanted more of the models in Nausicaa, but I had to limit the frames.

What were you interested in when you were 11?

A: I was in 5th grade then. I did lots of imagining and reading magazines, books and manga. I wanted to become a strong hero.

One piece of advice for artists/storytellers as they grow as artists?

A: Don't do something you've seen before, but if you forgot that you saw it it's okay.

What's your favorite part in the process of making a film, besides being finished?

A: I have the most fun when I imagine what kind of movie I'll make, when it's still up in the air. I like to tell people about my idea but I wait until it's more solid.

What were your influences/inspiration for Laputa?

A: I first started with the flying contraption. I wanted to have that fly, and have a boy fix it and fly it. In the film though, it turns out that pirates are the ones that fly it and the boy becomes a sub-pirate.

How did your background in children's literature back up your work as an animator?

A: It was most usable in Kiki's Delivery Service. I realized that i read a lot of stories like it.

Where do you see the future of 2-D animation going?

A: As long as people who do it are present, it will continue to exist. Both pencils and computers are tools to make stories. Even though the pencil is old, it is still a tool and can still be used to make animation.

At one point, Ghibli went toward using the computer, but you changed that. Why?

A: I had an illusion about computers: I thought they'd do all the tiresome, tedious work, but I realized that was a mistake. The computer made for more tiresome work. The computer draws with a certain exactitude. This leads to the thinking that people must also draw with that kind of exactitude. So, the people who couldn't draw well to begin with began to draw lousier and lousier. As a result I wanted to take the computer out of our brains. I disbanded the computer graphics department. I didn't want animators to limit themselves even if it meant drawing a lot and using up a lot of paper. But, of course we used the computer for camera work, and the people who were previously in the computer graphics department got to move to other sections.

The water in Ponyo is particularly fantastic. Can you talk about that?

A: For the ocean, I realized it is much better when drawn with zig zags and waves as long as it's moving. If it stops, it appears dead. I wanted to draw it as a child draws it except that it is moving. Continuous movement is important. We animated the ship in the distance as if it was riding over gravel. If you look carefully you can see the weaknesses, but as long as you keep it moving you can go over the flaws.

What keeps bringing you back to movie-making? There are always rumors of your retirement.

A: The first time I wanted to quit was after Nausicaa. But, no one believes me anymore when I say that I'll retire, so I will just keep quiet about retiring.