Miyazaki: The Scenario

Cartoons (cartoon => animation => anime) are like Christmas trees. People put a lot of energy into decorating their trees because everyone enjoys the fancy part of the decoration - the baubles and sparkles. But to decorate a tree requires that it have branches and needles, and both of these require the tree to have a trunk and, ultimately, roots, even if we never see them. There are lots of examples in the world of animation where the finished product is a scrawny, impoverished creation because it never had a trunk or roots. And some works - with trunks supported by bamboo, or bits of iron and plastic soldered together - that may have been intended to be new and novel, end up being just weird, jerry-built exhibitions that are enjoyable to behold.

Hidden among the many illustrations drawn at the conceptual stage, among all the materials originally used in the discussing the chaotic and disparate ideas, lies the real story we want to create. What's important with scenarios is to steadily whittle away at them, to reveal a story with a solid trunk or core.

It's important to have a clear theme. When I say "theme", some people may imagine a big billboard sort of theme, something involving a critique of civilization or advocating world peace, but I am talking about something far more basic and simple - the theme is the very foundation of a work ... The bigger the billboard, the more likely it is to be acting as a cloak for what is really a silly and shallow work.

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I think this somehow echoes the idea of how a short has to be about the "big things of life, or else why should it be important" but at the same time distilled and condensed into a short, bite-sized kind of package that will intelligently lead its audience to the theme, rather than hard-selling the theme through explicit and obvious links.

I just saw an local student animation short film (3D, 4/5-man team), that obviously talks about the polluted Malaysian rivers. it's about as predictable as it gets.

biohazard guys dump biohazard stuff into river -> a boy stumbles into them -> they probably threw him into the river as well. guess what happens? boy turns into Incredible Hulk rip-off and comes after biohazard guys -> biohazard guys attempt to shoot him, switching weapons in order of destructive power. dark knight tunnel chase anyone? -> Hulk-boy of course kung-fued/swipes off missiles and takes care of biohazard guys -> end with a shot of a billboard reading "love our river".

I don't pretend to be able to think of any alternative / better ideas off the top my head. But it certainly reminds me again about how Chris does NOT want us to state the obvious.

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To give an extreme example, there's nothing wrong with having a scenario that presupposes that characters A (the protagonist) and B (the bad guy) will fight it out, with A ultimately winning. The important thing is to make sure that viewers know what sort of people A and B are, and why they have to struggle against each other so desperately. As long as this is done, the only other important thing is to be creative in developing the story up to the showdown, and resolve things in as fulfilling and entertaining a way as possible.

...fully fleshed out characters, characters who are life-affirming and have clear hopes and goals, and then to make sure that the story develops as efficiently and simply as possible. If a scenario fulfills these requirements, then the animator's job just consists of applying the decoration. He or she must accurately grasp the meaning or intent of particular scenes, and concieve of some drama and action that makes sense based on the way the characters in the story would think... ... ... And usually this is accomplished with movement, often with movement that actually has to be drawn to be sure if it works. Drawing this movement is the animator's job.

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Like...if my salesman were selling to Elvin's butcher, the dynamics would be different, each based on the character's motivation and personality, which is in turn influenced by the theme of the story. If the Salesman is selling "the meal" to the butcher, what's the butcher reaction? Based on his personality given from the film, he would probably take the meal in glee. And when the salesman asks for his payment, he would probably gulp down the salesman as well for appetizer. The vain and over-confident salesman would've met his end. But if the main theme is still about consumerism and adverts, the salesman would probably still outwit the butcher even from within his stomach, and grabbing more organs than needed along the way. What if my giant film is replaced by the butcher as the giant and the meal as the hero? Comparing the giant dynamics and Elvin's dino character dynamics. Both the hero and dino met their giants, the hero fights it (he intended to anyway) and the dino ran away from it. But both the resulting films communicates their different messages well (I think) exactly because of that dynamics between the characters.

I think what I'm possibly getting at is that characters are inadvertently one-dimensional*, because whatever personality they have is tailored to meet the needs of communicating the big theme. The decisions they have to make in order that the theme is communicated therefore reveal their characteristic / personality (from the audience's POV) - and in a short film, the amount of decisions that were made wouldn't be conflicting enough to show much convincing complexity... unless intended by the big theme.

* When I say one-dimensional it is not derogatory in any sense. It does not mean that the resulting characters are bland or uninteresting, behaving in a predictable fashion. What I probably mean to say is that.. the characters represent an aspect / image of the multi-faceted human condition that we know/feel/behaves/experiences that we ourselves do not even completely understand. (Seems like we are delving into persona and masks already here). They represent parts of us in a quest to complete what we desire to (in terms of fulfilling our desire in film (cultural resolution) and identifying with the characters), and therefore, cannot represent any other part of us that, in reality, gets into the way, messes things up, or makes the undesirable decisions.

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Heck, I felt like I was writing a seminar. But then again, it seems that although I have quoted and said much, it felt like...somewhere somehow, I already do know these...just that I'm not doing it; or... the thoughts were not yet materialized or concrete yet before reading Miyazaki.

Miyazaki's Philosophy

Miyazaki's idea of "world creation" is vastly different from the aesthetics/technical heavy ideas I read from other books, and is very refreshing and inspiring to me. The following is 3 pages from his book "Starting Point", of which I am about 30 pages in..

world creation =/= fancy landscapes, aesthetics, creatures

"Is the starting point of an animated film the time when the project is given the go-ahead and production begins? Is it at that point that you, as the animator, first go over your ideas for that story? No, that isn't the starting point. Everything begins much earlier, perhaps even before you even think of becoming an animator. The stories and original works - even initial project planning - are only triggers.

Inspired by that trigger, what rushes forth from inside you is the world you have already drawn inside yourself, the many landscapes you have stored up, the thoughts and feelings that seek expression.

When people speak of a beautiful sunset, do they hurriedly riffle through a book of photographs of sunsets or go in search of a sunset? No, you speak of the sunset by drawing on the many sunsets stored inside you - feelings deeply etched in the folds of your consciousness of the sunset you saw while carried on your mother's back so long ago that the memory is nearly a dream; or the sunset-washed landscape you saw when, for the first time in your life, you were enchanted by the scene around you; or the sunsets you witnessed that were wrapped in loneliness, anguish, or warmth.

You who want to become animators already have a lot of material for the stories you want to tell, the feelings you want to express, and the imaginary worlds you want to bring alive. At times these may be borrowed from a dream someone related, a fantasy, or an embarrassingly self-involved interior life. But everyone moves forward from this stage. In order for it not to remain merely egotistical, when you tell others about your dream you must turn it into a world unto itself. As you go through the process of sharpening your powers of imagination and technique, the material takes shape. If that shape is amorphous, you can start with a vague yearning. It all begins having something that you want to express.

Say a project has been decided on and you have been inspired by something. A certain sentiment, a slight sliver of emotion - whatever it is, it must be something you feel drawn to and that you want to depict. It cannot solely be something that others might find amusing, it must be something that you yourself would like to see. It is fine if, at times, the original starting point of a full-length feature film is the image of a girl tilting her head to the side.

From within the confusion of your mind, you start to capture the hazy figure of what you want to express. And then you start to draw. It doesn't matter if the story isn't yet complete. The story will follow. Later still the characters take shape. You draw a picture that establishes the underlying tone for a specific world. Of course, what you have drawn will not be your final product. At times, your work may be rejected entirely. When I mentioned earlier that you must have the will to go to any length, this is what I meant. When you draw that first picture, it isonly the beginning of an immense journey. This is the start of the preparation stage of the film.

What kind of world, serious or comedic; what degree of distortion; what setting; what climate; what content; what period; whether there is one sun or three; what kinds of characters will appear; what is the main theme...? The answers to all of these questions gradually become clearer as you continue to draw. Don't just follow a ready-made story. Rather, consider a possible development in the story, or whether a particular kind of character can be added. Make the tree trunk thicker, spread its branches further - or go to the tips of the small branches (this could be the starting point of the idea), and on the leaves beyond as the branches grow and grow.

Draw many pictures, as many as you can. Eventually a world is created. To create one world means to discard other inconsistent or clashing worlds. If something is very important to you, you can keep it carefully stored in your heart for use at another time. Those who have experienced an outpouring of an amazing number of pictures from inside themselves can feel it. They feel that the fragment of a picture they envisioned, the other trunk of a story that was thrown out while piecing together a narrative, the memory of pining for a girl, the knowledge about a subject gained as they delved deeply into a hobby - all of these play a role and become entwined into one thick strand. The scattered material within you has found its direction and started to flow.

Eventually, the basic form of your fictional world takes shape. It becomes a shared world for the entire project staff. It becomes a world that actually exists! This is the "image board" stage of the animation production process, the period when people become most excited in anticipation. If you are part of the main staff and can devote yourself to this work it would be fine, but if you are a staffer who is also busy on another film (and there is usually some other work in the process), can you take the time to turn an idea into a whole new world? It holds no guarantees in terms of pay or time. Even so, unless you do this, you will not find that opening*!

When the original story is from a manga, the work of creating a world has already been done by the author. No matter how faithfully you turn it into animation, how much you expand on it, the essential basics of creating a world have already been done, and you cannot avoid being secondary to it. Although it may be good training, I think it is worth bearing in mind that animating an original manga is unrewarding even if the result is popular with the general public."

I feel the possibilities in embracing the philosophy of world creation as he did, it's about creating the world where the entire animation is set in, the subtle, or major differences it holds as opposed to reality...etc. And the motivation for it. It reminds me of what Brad Bird talked about an idea that is so yearning to be birthed forth that it would keep him waking up every single morning to work on it for months and for years.

Of which I looked back to my giant-fighting film... disregarding all technical downfalls it had; it was very important for me to bring it out, because it was about something that I really feel, and really wanted to say - and it really really kept me motivated. To a certain extent that can be said for the movements of Pavvie, and the performance of my salesman; but nonetheless the central theme and the "world" of the giant film had kept me motivated throughout the project.






*regarding the "opening" that he mentioned in that passage, he wisely speaks of it as:

"You may have become an animator because you wanted to build your own fictional world. But such romantic dreams are quickly destroyed. .... .... [but] it's not as if all paths towards creative animation are closed off. The work, at its core, is forged by a group - a group that is not usually dominated by a single strong personality. Should you possess a vision of a world you want to share with the public, a will to go any length, and the skill to back it up, you can move bit by bit away from being a cog and closer toward being an animator in the original spirit of the word.

Even in your daily work you can add a spark of authenticity to an unoriginal story, or breathe a bit of expression into the blank face of a character. You can also improve an ugly drawing, making it slightly better. All the while, you continue to watch for an opening when your opponent - the system itself -lets down his guard. You can only find this opening when you stop making excuses and work hard every day. When you see your chance, take it and create the world you always wanted to create. If you offer, free of charge, something that no one is expecting, and if your suggestion is compelling - and as long as the project chief is not a rigid believer in supporting vested interests - your world can be accepted. After all, it doesn't cost them anything, and they don't need to put your name in the credits. So if your creation is accepted, it is a clear advantage for the main staff. At that point, you will feel for the first time the thrill of creating animation. Always watch for that opening and be prepared to run with your idea whenever you can - that attitude gives animation its hope."