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I wanna be an anime director... but I'm American.


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TheVok



Joined: 09 Mar 2007
Posts: 613
Location: North York, Ontario, Canada
PostPosted: Thu Jul 31, 2008 11:06 pm Reply with quote
komodomitsu wrote:

I have to disagree, anime is a style, even there are styles of anime art inside the style of anime itself. Also they act in a certain way and show emotion in a certain way, which would be a style.


There are styles, yes. A vast number. Not just one, which is what you suggest when you say "anime is a style."

Consider for a moment just the following examples:

    Hello Kitty

    FLCL

    Pokemon

    Astroboy

    Ergo Proxy

    Paranoia Agent

    Shin Chan

    Gankutsuou: The Count of Monte Cristo


Can you really say those shows all have the same style? They're all anime, none more so than any of the others.

The idea that anime is a style or represents a certain style is a gross generalization.
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komodomitsu



Joined: 29 Jul 2008
Posts: 7
PostPosted: Fri Aug 01, 2008 11:39 pm Reply with quote
Nah man, I said anime is a style, and anime has styles inside of itself. Loly maybe a better word would be "genre" inside of the style of anime.
If thats what you mean, then theres no real need to get picky about it. Smile
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TheVok



Joined: 09 Mar 2007
Posts: 613
Location: North York, Ontario, Canada
PostPosted: Sat Aug 02, 2008 11:31 am Reply with quote
komodomitsu wrote:
Nah man, I said anime is a style, and anime has styles inside of itself. Loly maybe a better word would be "genre" inside of the style of anime.
If thats what you mean, then theres no real need to get picky about it. Smile


No, that's not what I mean.

What I mean is that anime is not a style. There is nothing that stylistically connects all anime.

The only commonality among anime is its country of origin, Japan. That's all.
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komodomitsu



Joined: 29 Jul 2008
Posts: 7
PostPosted: Mon Aug 04, 2008 10:00 pm Reply with quote
TheVok wrote:
komodomitsu wrote:
Nah man, I said anime is a style, and anime has styles inside of itself. Loly maybe a better word would be "genre" inside of the style of anime.
If thats what you mean, then theres no real need to get picky about it. Smile


No, that's not what I mean.

What I mean is that anime is not a style. There is nothing that stylistically connects all anime.

The only commonality among anime is its country of origin, Japan. That's all.


Hmm, I guess thats your opinion, but I dont see how its not a style, I dont like it just because it comes from Japan.
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TheVok



Joined: 09 Mar 2007
Posts: 613
Location: North York, Ontario, Canada
PostPosted: Tue Aug 05, 2008 7:46 am Reply with quote
komodomitsu wrote:
I don't see how its not a style, I don't like it just because it comes from Japan.


Then let me turn this around and ask you, what exactly makes anime a style? What unites all anime, other than its country of origin?
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komodomitsu



Joined: 29 Jul 2008
Posts: 7
PostPosted: Tue Aug 05, 2008 2:09 pm Reply with quote
TheVok wrote:
komodomitsu wrote:
I don't see how its not a style, I don't like it just because it comes from Japan.


Then let me turn this around and ask you, what exactly makes anime a style? What unites all anime, other than its country of origin?



The facial feature art, the hair art style, the manifested expressions used such as tears drops down the side of their head, detailed backgrounds with lesser detailed moving objects such as the characters. Also the way emotions are expressed in their actions, they are exaggerated in most cases and just basically their whole swagger. The way sexuality is expressed, often exaggerated and never taken seriously. Also the style of its intro and outro, cool but slightly corny music, with words for you to sing along with.

Thats what I can think of, but its mainly the way they act.
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BrentNewhall



Joined: 18 Jul 2008
Posts: 31
PostPosted: Tue Aug 05, 2008 2:57 pm Reply with quote
Okay, let's see if we can break this down.

(What makes anime a style?)

komodomitsu wrote:
The facial feature art, the hair art style, the manifested expressions used such as tears drops down the side of their head


None of this is true of Studio Ghibli movies or Satoshi Kon's works. But they're anime, right?

Quote:
detailed backgrounds with lesser detailed moving objects such as the characters


But this is true of almost all American animation. Check out the backgrounds in a Batman or other Warner Brothers cartoon compared to the foreground characters.

Quote:
Also the way emotions are expressed in their actions, they are exaggerated in most cases and just basically their whole swagger.


How are emotions exaggerated in, say, Patlabor the Movie 2 or Grave of the Fireflies? Who swaggers in those movies? What do you mean by "swagger?" In what way are emotions expressed in anime characters' actions differently than in, say, Batman: The Animated Series?

Quote:
The way sexuality is expressed, often exaggerated and never taken seriously.


The sexuality in Perfect Blue and Boogiepop Phantom aren't taken seriously?
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TheVok



Joined: 09 Mar 2007
Posts: 613
Location: North York, Ontario, Canada
PostPosted: Tue Aug 05, 2008 3:30 pm Reply with quote
Exactly my point. For every generalization we can make about any 'style' of anime, there are so many exceptions that it becomes clear the generalization isn't fair to make.

Anime is probably best defined as an industry ... a really big one, at that, which has spawned over many decades just as much sheer variety in visuals and storytelling as the animated works of any other individual country ... and indeed possibly more than all other countries combined.
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BrentNewhall



Joined: 18 Jul 2008
Posts: 31
PostPosted: Tue Aug 05, 2008 4:18 pm Reply with quote
On the other hand, we've wandered far off-topic. Whether anime is a style, an industry, a genre, or a fried egg, it's something.

Is it worth emulating, for someone who wants to create animation? I think it rewards study, but I wouldn't worry too much about replicating anime exactly. Use anime as an inspiration, not as a plan or a set of rules.
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komodomitsu



Joined: 29 Jul 2008
Posts: 7
PostPosted: Tue Aug 05, 2008 5:22 pm Reply with quote
Alright I guess, just think about why you like anime better than american animation.

It has gone off topic, but still I dont know how it cant be a style, and still be an industry. But anyway!! I am going to release my own, and its gonna rock (all modesty) Wish me luck, and you too OP. Smile
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TheVok



Joined: 09 Mar 2007
Posts: 613
Location: North York, Ontario, Canada
PostPosted: Tue Aug 05, 2008 6:42 pm Reply with quote
komodomitsu wrote:
Alright I guess, just think about why you like anime better than american animation.


I don't. My favourite shows are from all over the world. They're not predominantly Japanese.

And Brent, no, this is not far off-topic at all. The original post was asking about how an American might become an anime director. So the reason I've been harping on the definition of anime is exactly that; to point out that for an American to truly become an anime director, you have to follow a path along the lines of Michael Arias' career.

There are plenty of examples of emulating or replicating the styles of certain anime series ... and if that's what you want to do, go for it, wherever you are ... but really you need look no further than Arias' cinematic adaptation of Tekkonkinkreet to see that one anime feature does not necessarily emulate any others.

And that is why, Komodomitsu, anime is not a style. (And no, the fact that it's an industry isn't what prevents it from being a style.) There is quite simply no single style that unites all anime.
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Animegal999



Joined: 19 Aug 2008
Posts: 14
PostPosted: Tue Aug 19, 2008 7:32 pm Reply with quote
komodomitsu wrote:
I am going to release my own, and its gonna rock (all modesty) Wish me luck, and you too OP. Smile


I'm hope to direct my own anime, too. I've got a really great story in mind. Good luck w/ yours!
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Cloe
Moderator


Joined: 18 Feb 2004
Posts: 2728
Location: Los Angeles, CA
PostPosted: Wed Aug 20, 2008 1:05 am Reply with quote
Zade wrote:
As for reviving the animation industry, I suppose I could try getting the attention of any ambitious American animators by putting ads in/on magazines/magazines/websites and going to conventions (boy wouldn't that be a fun bunch of people gathered in the same room lol).

There's already a convention like that; it's called Siggraph. It just wrapped up in LA last week. The amount of talent crammed into the LA convention center was pretty staggering. As for "managing" and paying animators (and pre-production staff, a post-production house, actors, creative staff, etc), I think you're underestimating the amount of responsibility in shouldering a feature film or running TV series. And there's no way talented, creative American artists are going to leave their union-protected, high-paying studio jobs to jump aboard an unknown project. So unless you're talking like, at least 20 years from now when you have a good amount of swag and connections with producers (which is where the money will come from), this isn't really a plausible plan. It's better to join an existing studio and work your way up.

Quote:
There IS an American director, (he lives in Tokyo and was the director of Tekkonkinkreet) Michael Arias, I should try and contact him.

He's registered over at the AniPages forums, so you might have a decent chance of contacting him there.
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narushimo



Joined: 27 Jun 2010
Posts: 1
PostPosted: Sun Jun 27, 2010 2:37 pm Reply with quote
I was born and lived in Japan for 19 years. I am born and raised Tokyo and was really into the Anime scene as my brother is a former illustrator that moved to the US for better paying opportunities. I have seen so many awsome artist waist their time trying to break into the market even being able to speak the language. I think it's one of those cultural things that the Japanese hold onto dearly. I am a Graduate ART student at Stanford in the US now and I see that it's not about talent because America has awsome iilustrators here in the states that speak fluent languages. As an Illustrator myself, I suggest that people with anime ambitions first seek oportunities here in America with some of the large companies and then look at starting your own novel. Also look at companies that use anime characters in training and organizational capacities and continue to work on your own projects in your spare time. What going to Japan will do, it will give you a chance to see more anime than you see in the U.S. because so much of it is never published on a international scale. Also, learning to translate and even write in Japanese can't hurt your career on advance it. So in short, don't give up on your dream to become a anime writer or illustrator just research it and don't be afraid to do your own thing.
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AshleyLuvsYu



Joined: 28 Jun 2010
Posts: 2
PostPosted: Mon Jun 28, 2010 5:55 pm Reply with quote
LEARN JAPPENESE!!! thats all i got to say. it's not wrong to chase your dreams. but if you want to achieve it, start from reality and continue.
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