About me

Name: Lucas...
is a hyper-advanced cyborg- his body consists of all of his active drives; his memory of all of his active sources. These are all variable, but on a periodic basis his bio components crave energy and sleep and remind him of his basic identity-layer (yes, I crave sleeping)...

Email: lucas2501@gmail.com
Location: Malaysia
Mechanical Engineer

Holiday Notice: 18th to 22nd Aug 05
See you guys when I get back! ^_^

The works featured are copyrights to Masamune Shirow and the respective companies. All copyrights infringements on my pages are un-intentional and these pages are NOT in any way for commercial purposes.
Please inform me of any inconsistencies, mistake or copyrights breach on my part and it will be ammended/corrected.
Also, Views & Opinions on the MSHP are my own (Lucas) and not that of Shirow or the respective companies.

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Masamune Shirow's Message [Appleseed 3D Live Anime]

Most of you have come across this, a message from Shirow Sensei for the Appleseed Official Site regarding the Appleseed 3D Live Anime. Pay no attention to this, as I am posting more for my own future reference.

a message from Masamune Shirow

The history of using illustrated pictures to express life, albeit more primitive, goes back further than that of using film to record it. But now, the former is catching up to the latter, as the cumulative effect of advances in computer graphics technology are finally shedding the shackles that have hindered the art of telling stories with illustrated moving pictures (standard cell animation is fraught with limitations). Yet computer graphics is a double-edged sword: by allowing the creator to express with a brush what more closely imitates his or her imagination, the viewer is increasingly deprived of the joy of using his or her own imagination to fill in the gaps.
Pixar has made great strides to address this problem, but the same method will not necessarily be embraced by Japanese creators. Offering one possible solution, Mr. Sori and Mr. Aramaki have chosen “live 3D animation” to take the utmost advantage of the Japanese milieu of composition: the techniques of symbolic representation found in cell animation and puppet theater, and the cultural grounding in meticulous composition found even in stage drama using human actors (such as Kabuki). You say computer graphics lack soul? Not anymore. Now it’s about what’s inside your imagination, and how you choose to express it.
Once, when I was working on an animation project, I spoke up about the tremendous advantages that I felt 3D computer graphic backgrounds might have to offer. At the time, my comments were unusual. For my part, it was just the influence of my playing Doom. On more recent animation projects, I made the argument for the need for 3D characters and mecha—again, comments that stuck out like a sore thumb. The reason was to make it possible to freely move characters and mecha within space. For so long, we’ve been on the sidelines, distant onlookers witnessing the great strides that film media have achieved. But now, animated images are finally heading in a direction that matches my own ideals. And it’s coming out of a field that I have had no previous contact with. In fact, I believe there are other authors whose works are more appropriate to this visual style, so I’m humbly thrilled (beyond my attachments as an author, that is) that my work has been used on this project. We must work to bring our efforts on par with the French or Koreans: our goals could include recreation of the archives of “key frame” techniques that we have animators to thank for, such as the shots of beads of sweat on foreheads, the “anemic face” expressing shock using vertical lines on the character’s face, and the selective use of super-deformed bodies. We could devise techniques that incorporate the subtleties of Kabuki and Rakugo. Fortunately, the information capital for this endeavor exists in great quantity in Japan. Whether or not it will be applied or left to waste will be determined by that dynamic relationship of creators and consumers. For my part, despite my shortcomings, I intend to do my best to contribute to this goal, so please do your part, whether it is to create, or consume.

12/19/2003 11:00 AM
Masamune Shiro

posted by: Lucas at 02/21/05 20:19 | link | comments | Category: appleseed

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