All language subtitles for [Fnscar-Raws][How.Mononoke.Hime.Was.Born][Disc.2][DVDrip_704480][AVC_yuv420p8_AC3]

Crawling the closest onto the ideal point
every moment...

the whole those procedures make what
one calls the works." Hayao Miyazaki

October 30, 1997

4 months after the completion of the work

Director Miyazaki was yet in turmoil trying
to understand what exactly he's described.

I haven't thoroughly digested the themes
of the film.

The film Princess of Mononoke is

a story of a cursed boy and a cursed girl
meet in a severe reality of the world

searching for their ways to survive

-Without the descriptions of the very
problems we are facing right now,

the filmmaking becomes meaningless.

I wonder how anyone could just ignore this
problematic chaotic side of the reality,

and how could just say we're going to
be alright!

Suppose if the motifs be already made up
beforehand,

and that would make the filmmaking an
easy work, I would say

or imagine a propaganda film encouraging
people to save green, for example,

and I would call it boring as well because
we already know it

I'd rather make a film not knowing what
becomes the end of it until I get there.

Well, what if mine turns out to be a bore
as well? I don't know...

filmmaking should be that much thrilling
series of work though. I believe...

a series of quests in other words...

The filmmaking is a series of quests
And so is making a documentary.

(Higashi-Koganei Station)
Director Toshio Uratani:

My being a pure amateur of
the animations,

I decided to make the most of my
ignorance as a weapon

when I got this chance to work
with Studio Ghibli.

My instinct told me to see the every day
life at the studio

for understanding the basics
of anime.

So I commuted to and from the studio
as much as possible

using this small camera not to disturb
the air at site

and I got the tapes to roll for 300 hours
overall in 2 years

This documentary is the record coming out
from the pure curiosity.

Kajino town, Koganei city in Tokyo

We are now at the Studio Ghibli,

a manufacturing factory of
the animations

Our crew got through this entrance hall
dozens of time

while Miyazaki-San kept telling us there's
nothing remarkable happening here

for nothing so visible is going on,
he says

Certainly there is this fact the staff crouching
down to desks day in day out

drawing and drawing in silence at the site of
the animations production

In rainy days and stormy days

that doesn't stop the animators
grip onto the pen.

White cornus in spring

Hydrangeas in rainy season

In steaming hot summer

Cosmos flowers in autumn

Ivy turned crimson in winter

They are yet glued to the chair aeons of time
and that seems to be about it.

Or wait, don't forget the exception of
the phenomenal events

that are upwelling each moment
every day!

We've witnessed those superb dramas
interwoven by Director Miyazaki.

Dramas of Planning and Implementations
as well...

The works of precision and delicacy,
specified as those of Studio Ghibli

Such authentic works have
stunned many.

And here come the 5 starred
voice actors,

whose talents sparking against
one another!

Magnificent moments at the site of
recording music...

Extraordinary challenges Producer Suzuki
and PR reps have undertaken

gradually led "Princess of Mononoke" to
a form of Social Phenomenon.

Now we gratefully look back the whole
2 years of this filmmaking

the procedures even the director himself
thinks unfathomable

Dramas On The Paper

Planning and Plotting
Far Away to Go

Director chatting with Producer
ignites the fuse at Studio Ghibli.

Producer
Toshio Suzuki

I hear Miyazaki is eager to make a classic
adventure film in old Japanese time

And I knew from the days we met
he wanted to do it sometime

Around the time were thinking of the next
project after "Whisper of the Heart"

while we were actually thinking about making
Princess of Mononoke then,

we had another plan called "Caterpillar Boro"
came up around the same time, too.

It was an adventure story of a Caterpillar
called Boro

who crawls down from one roadside tree and
makes it to the next tree,

a story roughly on the same line of
"My Neighbor Totoro".

When we came up to decide which choice
to take,

I showed him 3 conditions to count before
making a decision.

Firstly I said "Miya-San, you are
getting old.

I mean if he wants to make an action
movie, this is the last chance.

Secondly, it was about our Ghibli
trainees we had been hiring

who were reaching their 30's, developing
their skills in the process

and I thought now is the time to see
their blossoming technique

And thirdly, our Ghibli works luckily
made some success,

and I couldn't think of better time to
invest money on the new project.

He agreed nodding "I see now is the time
to spend money, alright..."

An illustrated book of Princess of
Mononoke made in 1980

using which as an original plan, the images
of a historical drama came out

hinting a bit of Kurosawa's films

A huge wildcat as Mononoke
(Doppelganger or Evil Spirit)

and the 3rd (San) princess of a manor
as the main characters

"San", name of Princess of Mononoke,
derives from here.

The idea of the two flying on a
spinning chevalet

had been already used in
"My Neighbor Totoro"

And soon the plot came to
a total deadlock.

It didn't go so well and there was only
one reason for that...

that 16 years had been already passed
back then

since Miyazaki came up with the
original plan

Many changes of our surroundings
in due course

And what created 16 years before
we found not fitting in.

One more problem: the stuck image of
feuds between Samurais and Peasants,

-a typical topknotted-haired Samurai
character swinging a sword

Just the thought of it discourages me.

For there is nothing new to move
our heart in there

Then what about a Peasant character
obedient to the Samurai,

it doesn't work either

because they are 180 degree different but
standing on the same ground.

In such a turmoil came an offer from
"Chage and Aska", well-known singers

Because we wanted to get away from
incomplete Princess of Mononoke,

we soon got completely absorbed in
this new project.

The consequence: Miyazaki made up his mind
to dump this half-baked Mononoke

and start to make a brand-new version

He then suggested to do it again
in Yakushima

Well, by saying "again" we have
this anecdote...

that once he had a chance to go to
Yakushima and see the ancient forest

which eventually took a form of the film
"Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind"

a setting in Fukai of Ishigakijima.
Okinawa

At those important moments he tends to
make it a joke

such as his kidding "Suzuki-San. Why don't
we do business wlth Yakushima again?"

Miyazaki must've had a reminiscence of
his own "Journey of Shuna" back then.

Shuna, a hero character, as a prince
of a small poor country,

who launches a journey to the west
with his loyal El Yukul

searching for a golden seed to
prosper his people.

He encounters a Jigo-Bo figure
a on the way

and advised to go to the end of the world
where an Epoch Land exists.

He comes across with an ill-fortunate
girl "Teah", sold as a slave,

and saves her from the slave traders.

Shuna eventually makes it
to the Epoch Land,

but gets so worn out that
loses his memory,

caused by the extraordinaire he
experiences in the Land.

Now it's Teah helping him back to
the recovery.

Excepting the hero's motivations
toward journey

the both versions have an amazing
resemblance in structure.

-How much of time do you usually
have as preparation?

This one took me very long
I didn't have a clue how

which I don't right now either, ha-ha.

I always have Neurotic Gastritis once
every single preparation period.

Honestly I've been quite
eager to do this for long

that many factors piled up
in my mind.

There must've been so many
elements piled up till now.

-Oh yes, I admit. Too many of them.

I mean 3 or 4 ideas entangled together.

None of which extracted what I exactly
desired, unfortunately.

Director: a walking machine of
mass-producing tons of image boards.

From what left we can recognize
the struggles of his battle.

Showing us the familiar main characters

but has completely a different
story progression.

For instance; the Forest Spirit licks
on Moro's wound,

and a bullet comes out and gives us
a happy ending.

We can also see a Synopsis jotted
down on a storyboard

hinting us the plot was getting solid
around then.

Introduction:
Assassination of the Forest Spirit

Development:
Dramas in Iron Tow

Turn:
Battles

Conclusion:
Resurrection of the Forest Spirit

The images then gradually took
more embodied forms...

Especially so for Ashitaka
a hero character

whose hood was originally intended
as protection against leeches

Many other specifics such as
his costumes, shoes, and equipment.

"San": a heroine character,
brought up by the Wolf God

as a fiery, proud girl.

Let's compare 2 different
images of San here.

A completely different image
of "Moro

A wild boar transformed into
the Demonic God,

whose hatred sparks out like snakes...

A Lookout Tower in Emishi village,

in a different shape from what we
see in the final version.

What makes us surprised most of all

is the image of "Kodama (Tree Spirits)"!!

Quite scary should this version the one
shown on the screen?

Iron Town: the main setting

with it's detailed geology
and historical background.

Unexpectedly, Jigo-Bo was the one
cast as a leader of Iron-making.

Assigning Lady "Eboshi" instead

seems to have brought this film
way down to a profound level.

Ishibiya (Guns with stone bullets) in
Muromachi era: also remarkable

Amazingly enough, a monk from
Ming of the Chinese Dynasty

was planned to appear
In this version

What Jigobo indicates as
The Masters Board" could be his group

Shishigami the Forest Spirit: with bush-like
antlers, a mysterious face a deer body,

the God of Life and Death

Part of whose image as
a legendary giant "Daidarabocchi"

Storyboards: Planning Schedules

With assembled ideas, Miyazaki directly
gets down to the storyboards,

without any scenario-writing.

The larger boards are specifically
ordered this time

liberating the animator to express
the longer scenery sequences.

Also not to stand too closely to
the main characters

but rather to have a
shaken-off view lens.

Using the smoother back page
as front

pressure his hand feels.

February 1996

The storyboards was only a halfway through
when our crew got there.

Inside the board book pops out
a bloody fierce battle scene.

Director's passions are
recognizable as your own.

An idea came up that these boards
themselves could be a film.

Let's just try it out.

"Something's coming!"

says Ashitaka running up to
the tower and Frame Out,

whose climbing a monkey-like smooth.

"What's that, Grampa?"
"Don't know, but not human..."

"Great-gramp's calling everyone out"

"That's coming now!"
Ashitaka, spotting his arrow

Edge of the woods;
mysteriously arched

Let's watch the final version
of this sequence then.

"Something's coming!"

"What's that, Grampa?"
"Don't know, but not human..."

"Great-gramp's calling everyone out"

"That's coming now!"
Ashitaka, spotting his arrow

Edge of the woods;
mysteriously arched

The metamorphosis: a proof of
the talent Studio Ghibli contains...

February 27, 1996

Our crew's officially
commenced recording

Miyazaki's adding more lines
to his storyboards.

No one has a clue what becomes
of the story at this point.

Supervisor of Animations
Masashi Ando

Just as if a novel on the paper.

He's consulting with Ando-San
once in a bit of drawing.

The 2nd floor:
Ghibli's animators' room

A total of 40, all of whom just bending
down to the desks

doesn't make a decent video,
says Miyazaki.

Truly, they are just concentrated
in drawing in silence.

Absorptions in each different
matter simultaneously,

while wearing headphones
listening to music.

Each owns and runs a separate nest

Compared to shooting
Motion Pictures

where the staff focus on one thing
under Director's supervision,

no recognizable ties between
the staff members here.

Not knowing what to spot,

we decided to record
the bulletin boards

the bulletins for Ghibli's 100 staff
to share a common perspective.

Then we noticed so many and many of
memos jotted down on the boards,

instructing so many details...

This one is about the girls
in Enishi Tribe,

whose clothing inspired by
that of the Bhutan,

and drawing that was an enjoyable
series of work, says Miyazaki.

This one explains about the arrows
Ashitaka owns.

Arrowhead: the Obsidian Stone
Arrow shaft: 3 Feathered

Let's check this out now.

Saw that?

Certainly it's 3 feathered.

A sword that Kaya holds

and the one Ashitaka grips on

with their unique straight shapes

derive from "Bracken-handled swords"
of the ancient Tohoku region,

the weapons the Emishi might've used.

Cautions for the positioning of
Obi-belts: also intriguing.

Trues/ Falses list of wearing Kimono
to amend the modern minds,

with a big exception for Ashitaka's Kimono,

adopting Actor Mifune's style
in Kurosawa films, it reads.

Well we'll check this out.

A scene introducing Ashitaka here

Truly. Obi-belt is positioned higher,

implying the immaturity of his age.

The difference more significant if compared
with people in Market Place.

The Obi of Jigobo's especially
set in the lower position.

A massive rows of colorful paint bottles
in corridor downstairs,

next to which locates the Refining Room.

A total of 10 staff add colors
on the cels in here.

Tuck in a carbon between a finalized
drawing and a cel sheet,

and slot the set into this
tracing machine

so that the drawing gets carbon
copied onto the cel

Then, paint each cel as instructed
with strict color specifications,

and that'll make a work
at this Refining Room.

A sequence of Ashitaka on Yukul going
through the woods of sunshine.

42 manually colored cels for this
3.5-blinking seconds' shot!

Refiner:
Minako Oshiro

What an artisanry series of procedures!

This particular cel appears in this...

...first scene right after the title
Remembered?

Their delicate, painstaking artisanry
finesse, to say the least.

Michiyo Yasuda: a decision
maker of all color specs on the cels.

Also a Comrade-in-Arms of Miyazaki's
from his Toei Film Productions days.

As many as 50 color-specs files
we've found just for this film...

This volume shows the default basic colors
used for each main character.

The Specs for Ashitaka: while restricted
by the film's historical timeline,

his clothing, equipment, arms, etc
are still of a variety of colors

with careful considerations of
what each part is made of

Color Designer:
Michiyo Yasuda

-While I have this notion of Muromachi Era
as the time of sapless, dull-toned colors,

Miya-San tends to prefer the brighter colors
that significantly contrast one another,

to give them more symbolical qualities.

So we DO have some adaptations of
altered color variations,

such as red getting more reddish
or indigo dyes becoming paler...

San, since brought up by the mountain
dogs, wears this white fur.

About the color of her hair...

-Oh. OK. Basically it's black,

though as the old Japanese expression
says "so black as emerald green"

we've decided to regard the greenish
colors included as black.

Actually we'd thought about
making it red, too

but decided not to. That'd have
been too modern.

Crimson colored Tattoos to express
her fierce temperament.

Also her earrings, necklace, ribbons etc,
make her quite fashionable.

She IS the heroine, alright

Since all what her eyes reflect
is so important,

even a tiny circle of her pupil shouldn't
be underestimated indeed.

As for Lady Eboshi, we made her
just cool, cool and cool.

I like what she symbolizes as a woman...

We wanted to make her gown
much darker at first.

By the way, her lipstick must've been so
rare that cost a fortune realistically,

but still, I preferred her wearing burning red
lipstick and dark gown flapping in the wind.

Though again we decided not to

but rather to synchronise her with
her surrounding background.

These are the paint samples of all
the colors used in this film,

extending as many as
580 gradations of colors.

We've luckily come across with a meeting
of Director and Color Designer.

-How about Lemon Yellow as the highlight?

-There's no highlight in that part.

They seem to be discussing the color
of Gold Ashitaka possesses

-Reddish Gold might work quite well...
-Oh, no. Gold must be glittering gold...

-How about this one?
-Or rather, that one might work.

-Isn't that looking too reddish?
-No, not at all I think...

-Why don't we just do it shamelessly?
-We've been quite shameless already.

He then agreed on the red, but for a reason
of a very Miyazaki-like king of Trivia.

Alright, I remember the gold leaf in Hiraizumı
of Tohoku region had a reddish color,

the color of placer gold they
found around there.

It's Gold mixed with some other
specific agent

and this kind of gold I heard people
specifically searched for to gild edge

Yasuda-San is re-checking
the color samples.

Selecting a certain color is the work
of selecting a pair:

one in spotting light and
the other in shade.

Looks like she's chosen a pair;
"S-5" for the lighting outline,

and the shade color...comparing with an
option, she's taken the original decision.

That is "Mo-ORK-9" she fills out.

The two are now discussing
a wooden measuring box.

-Thinking about a highlight on this side
-We don't need highlights here

Miyazaki's preference for the clearer. -
brighter colors is pushing her

-What about the contrasting inside color?
-Oh, this is a tough one...

There's a so-much-energy-taking process
on selecting just one color.

-Isn't this one OK?
-OK, that's colorful enough...

-That darker one and everything's OK.
-Alright. Better go on to the next, right?

Let's check out the final version.

It was about the gold and the measuring
box we now see, alright.

Hayao Miyazaki's
Working Styles

Director kept drawing storyboards.

We sneaked a look at something
Ando-San was checking,

and found a scene of Jigobo's group
escaping from Okkoto

Only, it's completely a different version.

I'd thought it funny Jigobo and
the other two bolt away in a row,

but maybe not...
I'd do it anyhow, though...

I want Jigobo jumping "Rat-Tat-Tat-Tat"
but had better not do it...

Well, he DID it all the same!
Now let's watch this.

But wait, this proves a huge quantity of
differing storyboards are dumped.

When not drawing Miyazaki checks and
corrects all drawings submitted to him;

a very line of work acutely distinguishes
Miyazaki from other Anime Directors

-The problem is, you see there's no
coherence of one file to another.

Absolutely, it's just hodge-podge of
this and that he receives.

It's not as if you'd retrieve the exact cuts
of a sequence instantaneously

but a kind of work you couldn't do without
a thorough comprehension of the details.

Now let's make it clear the overview
of anime-making processes:

Firstly, meetings to bring up layouts
of each cut from storyboards;

namely, it's a process of cameraworks
if compared to Motion Pictures

adjusting angles, frames, lenses
and movements if any.

We've witnessed a lot of photocopies of
the cuts from Miyazaki's storyboards

at 201 magnifying percentage.

Secondly, a layout gets divided into
backgrounds and moving objects,

the former placed to the Art Department
and the latter to the Animation Dept.

Likewise, the objects at Animation Dept,
get broken down into Genga and Doga.

Genga (the original): drawings of
broken-down movements

Douga (the animation): fill-in drawings
to smooth movements.

Timing for Genga gets
calculated on a time sheet:

This makes a structure of movements

while Douga sheets fill in between
a couple of Genga

and all of them get cleaned-up
and fair-copied in the end

This can be compared to
a producer's producing a stage

or an actor's acting in Motion Pictures.

Miyazaki's correcting all Genga
means he's producing his anime

in the exact way he wants it to be.

A completed Douga gets carbon-copied
onto a cel as we've seen

and gets painted
at the Refining Room

while the Art Dept. paints the original
background images based on layouts.

A combination of cels and backgrounds
makes one shooting cut.

Now Director doesn't seem satisfied
with an ox's movements.

-I don't get why this ox looks
so stopped here,

maybe to emphasise it's neck
shaking around...

-Or to emphasise it's foot stuck.
-Wouldn't be recognizable enough.

He immediately starts on a revision.

-We're still on a planning stage...
a stage of developing ideas...

Revisions make a difference of maybe
only 6 cuts out of a second

though those 6 cuts, or even 2
make a huge difference, really.

Now what?
Oh!-Oh! How should I do??

Rice bags should be gone

looking pretty collected, aren't I?
The truth is; on the edge of insanity

The hard chores of revising Genga might
be the core of Miyazaki's Anime,

to find the exact positioning of objects
other than Miyazaki couldn't find,

that we want to know how.

Thus, we make ourselves
glued to his table.

This scene shows Eboshi's party
bounced off the cliff by Moro.

On 12 March 1996, we witnessed
the basic of the basics of Anime

in a scene of Ashitaka carrying
the injured on his back.

-Arito-kun, give Ito-kun a back
ride, why don't you?

I remember I did this before...
about 8 years ago...

Regista's Assistant Director's Assistant
Koji Aritomi Hiroyuki Ito

-I've got it!

The basic of drawing seems to
be in a careful observation.

The "8-years-ago piggyback
ride" is this, by the way

in "My Neighbor Totoro"

What an animator does is etch
an observed image in the brain

and retrieve it on a paper.

An observed movement gets broken
down to a cut to another,

and a series of cuts regain
the power of movement.

He's timing the seconds required
for a shake-up on the back.

-A sheet of drawing gives us a inclination
as if it were a complete expression

but without carefully calculated timing
a sheet itself doesn't hold any power.

So, a sharp sense of timing is indeed
an important attribution of an animator.

If a try isn't enough, I'd do 5 times
or so and divide the sum.

Miyazaki must have an extraordinarily
developed shape-memory

in his optic nerves,
while a VCR rolls on in his brain.

For us the amateurs, there's a convenient
machine called "Quick Action Recorder".

Record Genga or Douga with this camera
and input the timing for each to appear

and you can create a simplified
version of film.

Flaws of lines or timing get
more visible this way.

Some residual images shown
here get turned down

On 21 March 96, we came to understand
the savors of anime-making

in a sword-fight scene of San and Ashitaka.

Miyazaki's trying to figure out something.

San's sword flashing
close by Ashitaka,

to insert this or not,
that seems the question.

Supervisor of Animation
Kitaro Kousaka

He starts to discuss it with
neighboring Kousaka-San

-I usually prefer this heavy version, but...

Just an image right before a swing
and another right after

without anything between makes
a plausible enough action, he says.

-Any between-cuts would make
a scene a bit too slow.

Director takes a chance on Ando-San.

He's betting on Ando's picking the heavier
cuts and the result is...

A leading question! "A matter of
preferences", he says

while pushing his own out front.
It's no longer a discussion, is it?

-This one's way too heavy,
don't you think?

-Umm, the faster version looks better...
-See? The faster the better, he says!

Now he looks satisfied, regardless
of his losing the bet,

chucking off the between-cut
without hesitation.

Wondrously enough, we DO see
the between actions all the same.

That's one fun illusioning
effect of Animations.

Miyazaki's lecture continues.

-I'm searching... searching for
the very nature the kinetic holds.

There must be the most comfortable
feeling lines somewhere.

Much easier to find them in a drawing,
but in continuing actions, it's different...

Make them too fast and you'd
lose the gravities or the dynamics.

Unless giving a moment pause,
I'd make it have no impressions.

Doesn't seem to be my day today...

Let's be honest, we DO have no good days

A description of San shifting
her grip is intriguing, too.

Let's break down this scene.

Here, the moment she revolves it.

Now let's watch it again as it is.

Ando. Animation Supervisor, has mostly
been up drawing till 4 in the morning.

(Fragment not translated)

(For a summary you can check nausicaa.net/
miyazaki/mh/MakingOfMH/Part1.html)

Miyazaki's Creation Circuit:
Decipher the Winds of the Time

Miyazaki always looks struggling
when drawing storyboards.

Shaking his leg is one sign of it.

Look at his leg and you'd tell whether
he's working on Storyboards or Genga.

In the former cases, the storyboards
don't go so easy to him.

A writer's agony's visible here

Not today, please...

-The sweetest moments of all.
-Come ON, it's not sweet at all.

-I hope the ending becomes the end
-What if it doesn't...?

Alright, there's nothing more
unpredictable than this.

It's NO unusual he's feeling stuck
in making this film.

For, too many heavy issues are
packed up for an entertainment film.

Firstly, about Emptiness or Voids that
many kids are holding in their heart.

Many of the youth feel about
themselves as cursed or hurt,

having been unreasonably
unfairly tormented somehow.

Consequently, they come to not bear any
hope in the present society or the future.

Secondly, the problem of Unavoidable
Diseases and Discriminations

Any sorts of discriminations are around us,
Disease. Race. Gender, to name a few...

Thirdly, about the Relationship
between the Human and the Nature.

We get a way to survive by ruining the nature
forgetting it's the nature let us survive.

The forth issue is the Negative
Human Instincts (Karma).

Our fighting instincts easily come up
on the surface by Hatred. Rage.

The fifth. Our Ambivalent Position,
the Heart in Awe vs. Pragmatism.

While we feel awed to the unearthly events
we yet tend to rationalise everything.

You're grabbing so many issues
and that concerns me a little

And all of them are Unsolvable issues.
You're right.

Well, we've been focusing on
the dissolving issues only so far

or rather, we've limited
ourselves to do so.

We know, however, that these conventional
methods wouldn't give a scratch

to the very problems we're facing
right now in the present society.

Thus, this film doesn't contain any solvable
issues: The unsolvable ones only.

And that's NOT good for my peptic
condition of course, ha ha...

I look at those who make the easy-going
films and kind of feel envious of them.

Maybe we've already made too many films.

I've spotted the bright elements only, but
there's no cheerful aspect this time

I made it clear to Producer Suzuki
that it would be OK for me

if this one'd turn out to be the last
Ghibli film. Still, they let me do it.

I also have many subsidiary
issues that I wish picking up

but ignoring far more serious problems
would make me a liar. I believe.

Alright. I could make a story of a girl
meets a boy, lived cheerily ever after

and I'd make it without lying, maybe by
suggesting it's up to you young guys.

I suspect those subsidiary elements would
have quite a bit of possibilities if spiced up

but that kind of thing should come
at the real end of my carrier.

In the films I've already made,
the chief characters have always

been the ones to rescue, or supported
by those who to rescue, basically

This time. I didn’t show it so crudely,
but the main characters are the ones

who've been clearly declared
as "Not-Wanted"

and whose brave actions
don't get compliments.

I mean they are told
"You're just not desired here"

by not doing anything wrong,
but by doing the justice.

I'm wondering what kind of audience
get attracted to this kind of entertainment.

Well, you'd never know.

There are those who've unfortunately
taken the Joker physically or mentally,

and what they'd gain
from this film, I wonder.

All the same, this theme holds true
for all the young generation.

This dead-locked feeling we sense
in our time must've been sensed

the way we do so repetitively in many
places at many historical times.

Miyazaki wishes to cleanse up the stereo
typical image of his well-reputed works.

I begin to hear of Ghibli as "Sweet" or
Healing", and I get an urge to destroy it

For, basically my job is to continuously
go against the audience's expectations

Should I just come to follow those
expected images, l'd be finished!

Now we're in the Productions
Staff Room upstairs.

We find Producer Suzuki
writing down some memo.

He's jotting down making a summary
out of Miyazaki's storyboards,

and amazingly: with his own drawings
(quite good ones) attached here and there,

Those keep me have a better memory

and the better memory of the important
cuts gets quite in handy

when I think of the ads or the other things.

I felt the words aren't enough, and started to
pick up some cuts to draw from the boards.

This way, I feel it more convenient in
making a billboard, an ad or so forth.

This Ashitaka character has nothing
in need of his protection

Doesn't he get uneasy of this
hero figure as a Producer?

Ashitaka is in search of what
he should protect,

and I know it's San that counts one,
but wonder what comes next, then.

That's the thing Miya-San himself
hasn't figured out yet

so naturally I haven't a way to know it now
but get the excitement of it with him.

The evening of 21 March 1996,
an unexpected visitor came over to Ghibli.

It's Tetsuya Kawamoto. Producer of NHK's
"The 20th Century in Moving Images."

You happened to be in the documentary
programs, "The Silk Road Journeys"?

I did the interviews.

-I must have been the best watcher
of "The Silk Road Journeys" in Japan.

Oh yeah? how many times?
Don't know but till the videos worn out.

Ghibli's held many sessions to watch
NHK's "The 20th Century in Moving Images"

and today's is the study meeting
with its Producer himself.

Mononoke" and "The 20th Century"
seem to have something in common

in terms of the hard tries in
understanding the human-being.

We picked up a plenty of records
to show the atmosphere of the time

so that the audience could experience
the historical events once more.

And hopefully learn some lessons,
but basically man repeats his doings.

We're not to judge if it's good or bad, but
to understand our Karma (Human Nature).

I felt quite cozy watching this
special documentary series,

and thought whoever'd made this
had full of malicious intentions

Or indications that after all man is
nothing but a whole bunch of Karmas,

and that was persuasive enough to me.

But our staffs positions got split up
with regard to this very point

The 20th Century's images were
tremendously intriguing to me

to the extent I got a kind of kicks out of
some blood shedding scenes.

-Yeah, I agree. -Yep. I certainly felt some
pleasure, especially at the beginning.

It was some kicks AND exhaustions as well

and that made me really think twice.

Many scenes went with a narration
"Not Open to Public before 19XX

except for restricted number of people."

That must have a strong tie with our today's
Mass Consumption Society by the way

but I couldn't help wondering of
what used to be strictly banned

from the general public could now
get so wide-openly broadcasted.

Honestly. I wished to see the whole each of
restricted films while watching the video.

While many critics accuse this series of
containing excessive dead body images

Miyazaki persists in a different position,

like a guy with full "Keloidosis"
came begging house to house

deliberately showing the inflammations.

Or from the pictures of piled up
corpses in the library books,

who died of the 1923 Earthquake
or the Air Raids on Tokyo during WW2.

Or some grown-ups babbling around
about their actual killings in China

I've been surrounded by plenty of those,

which led me to read and watch
furthermore throughout my puberty

I suspect it's the same story
for Mr. Kawamoto,

but the things the Japanese Army's
done in China, to begin with,

I've forced myself to be a fair witness,
and I expected the same for the young.

Then I noticed nothing had
been transmitted to the children.

Thus, my appreciation to your
great project this time.

Those heavy issues had been neglected
as "Not Cool" stuff to talk about

till very recently but we came to feel
rather comfortable dealing with them

and this shifting means a lot to us.

It's about time we'd better dump our
"Live a Life with Hope" kind of belief

For, this doesn't seem to help us grasp
our present conditions any longer

We'd rather want to see what happens
next when the hope ends.

Incessant World Affairs after
the collapse of the Berlin Wall

gave a great impact on Miyazaki with a
sensitivity of catching the tides of the time.'

Intense conflicts between the ethnics/
religions, as in Bosnia-Herzegovina

with Hatred and Vengeance
fueling the massacres,

show us the corrigible nature
of the human-beings

We also experienced a series of shocking
incidents here in Japan.

Kobe Earthquake and Tokyo Sarin
Gas Attack on Subway in'1995

The tides of the time made a clear shift then

and a writer might find a way to integrate
those changes into the unchangeable

April 4: 1996: We had one clue of how
Miyazaki's considering about the ending.

This simple scheme makes enough
sense in an ordinary film,

though this grudge fight is so banal as well.

I don't want any of those predictable
Fast-going Easy-ending kinds of fights.

We find Director's thoughts go on
following with his own diagrams

Here we see the Samurai’s powers
overwhelming the Forest and Iron Town

and this power crash seems to lead
a tragedy or a catastrophe at the end

The biggest smash is seen here,
not in the process of getting here

Many incidents in the real world actually
happen as this yellow arrow indicates

and in most cases their motives or
preliminaries are hardly worth bringing up

The Samurai'll appear in full arms
so that it must be easier to tell.

Are we going to hint the Samurai's
power at certain point?

Yes, we'll just hint it when Eboshi and
Jigobo get understood as acquaintances

As for Eboshi, she keeps a stern position

and without this green arrow, she might
get opposed to the yellow arrow here

Only, we don't want any of their
fighting scenes, though

The ending comes with an explosion
of Shishigami, the Forest God,

a huge power pointing at the human's world

These are some simple diagrams

or maybe not.

Are you letting Ashitaka come
back again to the Iron Town?

Precisely, he moves from Shishigami's
Forest to Iron town, back to the Forest,

and finally to the Town once more

For, the final explosion should take
place in the human's world.

Ashitaka's last trip goes all the way through
the 3 arrows and ends in the yellow here.

So the order of incidents goes reverse.

By the time he meets the wild boars,
the boars've been killed long before

he's already met Jigobo in the Forest
and is seeing the continuing scenes

Suddenly he turns into be at
the present time that moment.

That moment means..?

I mean the incidents get deployed
dramatically without any inductive clues

so that Ashitaka's Saga gets to be
sensed as if the audience's own.

Miyazaki says he's already seeing
the ending in a vague shape,

but could it be a convincing end?

His struggles yet continue.

Isn't this enough, really?
The same story again and again.

It's one bad day for me.
Or rather, another bad day.

Then he begins self-mocking by saying
he's good at staying in a slump

He picked up a notebook before I know it.

Looks like a creator's notebook,

in which he starts to try a configuration,
of Eboshi and Jigobo entering the Forest

He draws diagrams here again with
differing patterns to examine.

Unfortunately it doesn't seem
to work out for him this time

Here we see Yasuda-San again
with a couple of color options

Miyazaki prefers the brighter one,

but with the darker shade to achieve
a clearer color contrast.

This highlight gets too shiny here!
Could be even brighter...

Yasuda-San persists

This combination looks unthinkable to me.
We don't need to get everything so bright

In those cases Miyazaki tends to get
someone else involved to take his side.

Miyazaki's taking one step
farther to counter Yasuda-San.

Yasuda-San responds him
by suggesting a less pale color

Hmm, that's actually not bad, is it?
It isn't really, this subtle change works.

Let's see the final version then.

Here! Such an instantaneous one!
Let's watch this again

Spring is the season for
freshmen in Japan

Spring is the season for
freshmen in Japan.

April 6, 1996: A Welcome Party's held at
Studio Ghibli with liquors and munchies

-There'll be plenty to overcome in this
difficult time but we expect a lot from you

I'll do my part by growing beards
and feeling like a freshman.

-Kanpai (Cheers)!
-Kanpaaai!

9 new staff join in this year (for Douga.
Backgrounds, Refining, Direction.)

I'm feeling a bit shy somehow.
Mm what for?

In this section sit the Non-freshmen
mostly females and they ARE energetic!

The freshmen are trolling "Frog's Song"
upon a request of doing a performance.

Animation Supervisor
Yoshifumi Kondo

Training's begun: Mr. Kondo/ Ms. Otani
are the supervisors at the Animation Dept.

Genga
Atsuko Otani

You made the Kinetic Curve
a bit too lowering here

Each object seems to have its own
moving track called "Kinetic Curve".

Because of the gradual incline here.
I rather wanted you to draw lines as such

A new Assisting Director Ishizone-san's
given a nicname "Mr. Promising"

whose promise might not come true
without practices as we see.

Miyazaki's correcting Genga

A scene of working women treading
plates to fan the forge.

Here we'll see a good example of how
he quests for the kicks of Anime

Director doesn't seem to like this cut,

he dislikes simple descriptive
expression to be exact.

Genga
Hiroshi Shimizu

It's a simpleton's way to draw a painful
expression for a painful situation.

Look at a marathon runner's face
right before falling down

We see their pain because they ENDURE It.

If you had a clenching-your-teeth
sort of hard work,

you'd feel it painful of course,

but your face'd rather go blank
and deadpan before fainting.

You're overdoing it in a word!

Going like this, she'd come
down in a next moment.

Without a Counteractive Agent for
a painful side-effect of an action,

one would just become a feeble person.

But people tend to build up a character
as you did in most cases,

rough face for rough time and a
happy face for happy time.

Make it more COMPLEX: happy but
not showing it, or tragic but smiling etc

especially in a situation
when one's working

Or, when YOU are working, you know?

I see, a physical action generates its
side-effect and counteraction as well,

Without those inward power balances,
a character'd look superficial

Sometimes a Genga-man brings up
an unexpectedly original idea.

Here we see some villagers
intimidated by Gonza's roughness.

Don't they look like banging
head to head while conferring?

Shinsaku Sasaki is the
one who drew them,

Miyazaki's thinking to pick up
whose good points

This guy's petrified for one second
and then starts sheepishly

I mean he fidgets around very sheepishly

Shall we watch it through?

Except for some unnecessary cuts.
Sasaki's idea seems good enough.

To verify it, we'll now see his Genga
on Quick Action Recorder.

Let's watch this...

His turn's hilarious.

The 2 Animation Supervisors
seem to agree.

This guy's really turning
around anyhow.

Sasaki in fact DID the acting
of this part by himself

-Just imagine him practicing it.
-He actually acted? -He did it over there.

-I keep missing the other cuts.

The turning guy looks like you.

-See? -Yes, you mean this guy?
-Yep, watch this as if you were him.

The good parts of his stay untouched
while his others got corrected

For it is Gonza who comes atop
of the list in this sequence.

The one has to move most
is Gonza, you know?

Yes, I got it, sir.

Director made a tough comment, but
his expression showed the opposite

The final version is this

Don't you rather keep watching
the villagers now?

Miyazaki's Creation Circuit
Our Climate and Living

April 20, 1996: Miyazaki's busy correcting
a background Art Dept. submitted,

to clarify the blurred perspective.

Assistant Director
Hiroyuki Ito

This is beautiful but why doesn't it
have a shooting clarity as well?

The painter told me he'd already seen
this in his dream before painting

-Or, he must've been to some
other place. I suspect

He'd been fascinated with the scenery
before waking up with a total oblivion

Oh, that's exactly what I do. The work's
always just done in my dream

Please don't follow me, OK?

(Fragment not translated)

(For a summary you can check nausicaa.net/
miyazaki/mh/MakingOfMH/Part1.html)

Mononoke's deluxe backgrounds are
the collaboration of 5 Art Supervisors:

Nizo YAMAMOTO painted the Ancient
Forest where Kodama (tree spirits) live;

Naoya TANAKA expressed the scenes
of Ashitaka's starting his journey;

Satoshi KURODA worked on the Rubbly
Area and the Bald Mountain;

Yoji TAKESHIGE depicted the
Iron Town and Moro's Cave;

Finally, Kazuo OGA described Enishi
Village and Shishigami's Water Area

Oga'd also supervised "Totoro", "Only
Yesterday", "Raccoons", "Heisei Battle".

In May 1995 Ghibli's Chief Staff took a
step on the land of Yakushima in Kyushu,

to have a first-hand experience
in the main setting of Mononoke

by seeing, feeling, sensing its
Ancient Evergreen Broadleaf Forest.

This trip to Yakushima's not purposed
to pinpoint any specific scene

but rather to just feel the atmosphere there.

All the same, we can trace back
some specific outcomes as well.

The moss with gem-like waterdrops is
one of them proved on a storyboard.

"Uncountable waterdrops twinkling
(witnessed in Yakushima!)"

were adopted in a critical moment
when Ashitaka's coming back to life.

Yamamoto-San from Kyushu region
had a refreshing moment there, too

I had a joy of feeling the-never-felt
with my body

and seeing the-never-seen with my eyes

It's a difficult task however,to paint
the Evergreen Broadleaf Forest.

I imagine all Ancient Forests are the same,
but it has NO hiatus or opening.

Maybe it does at the lower levels, but
from the top it's like a giant umbrella.

I had a difficulty in describing
its depths because of it.

Tropical Rain Forest

It'd be easier to paint a Tropical Rain Forest
that contains many different sise of plants

but the one I painted looks
as if fully covered with Ivies

Another thing is an Ancient Forest doesn't
have any integrated color variations

Unlike a Beech Forest where the same sort
have integrated seasonal color changes.

The former's complex color variations are
mixed in each different and difficult way

Now let's enjoy the beauty
of Yamamoto's works

on Shishigami's Forest where
the Art speaks itself up.

Tanaka-Jan is another Art Staff
who also participated in the trip

As for the backgrounds where San and
Okkoto in blood ran away in the Forest

I asked Director about the scene, and
he told me to make it like "Shiratani":

Shiratani (White Valley) is the first spot
we've been to while in Yakushima

and it was truly beautiful with waterdrops
on the moss glittering in the sunshine.

So I told him I couldn't think of
but its beautiful images

and he advised me to use my
imagination if I were a professional,

and make it the darkest possible because
the scene's supposed to be grisly

I kept remembering its shiny images while
painting and tried hard to delete them

Director's thoughts are always at
the more profound level than mine.

For, whenever asked for advice,
he always suggests much more.

So I stick tight and try hard to get
down to his depth somehow.

Everything's from his wisdom of life
I suspect, or am I talking too much?

This is the scene where's modeled
after Shiratani of Yakushima.

Miyazaki's interest in the Evergreen Broad
leaf Forest Culture derives from a book

"The Origin of the Cultivatable Plants
and Agriculture" by Sasuke NAKAO, PhD

The author's theory on the Broadleaf
Forest Culture is quite audacious

insisting there's NO such thing
as the Rice Farming Culture.

Such a theory that people in
Kyoto'd be knocked over by that

I got totally freshened up by his theory

Basically he insists there be NO
Hierarchy in Papua New Guinea

where people live in a harmony by
planting Taro and Yams (Root Crops).

Although there's no literal reference
of such Non-Hierarchism in his book

you'd kind of get it between the lines,
and that was so impressive to me.

Dr. Nakao explains the Japanese Culture's
Not originated in the Rice Farming Culture

but in the Evergreen Broadleaf Forest
Culture of the much older time.

With a distaste for its damp climate,
Miyazaki's got so lightened up by that.

Moreover, the latter Forest Culture has
its wide range from Bhutan to Japan:

Sasaki and the other good
scholars followed Nakao

referring further as the Beech/Oak
Forests in Eastern Japan be the origin

where the living seems more comfortable.

And where Jomon Culture started
16,500 years ago that'd make more sense.

(Fragment not translated)

(For a summary you can check nausicaa.net/
miyazaki/mh/MakingOfMH/Part1.html)

-We should add some blue somewhere.
Reality and painting are different

I'm wondering if we should go
that much supernaturally.

Maybe we'd rather save those
looks until the last minute.

Partly I'd agree, though. There're godly
rays of light if it’s the same sunlight

the kinds that would make
you think it a special day

In this case rays of light shine in
not because they're supernatural

but because light sneaks in despite of
Shishigami's blocking the sun

Having understood Director's points
Oga-San painted the final version

Now let's check out how it's done.

If you're awake, thank Yakul
for guarding you the whole time.

We can recognise the camera
angle's been changed here.

And here, too, from another angle

How to Control Space and Time

Working on camera works is
one of an animator's jobs

Miyazaki is being a camera himself now

Here the camera tracks back while
Ashitaka's carrying San on his back

though mostly the camera works have
been digitally synthesised this time.

-We wouldn't need the digital
synthesis that much.

We'd rather do otherwise
with these kinetic momenta

OK, I'll do this over.

He finds a wide lens here doesn't
work out for this background

Do it decisively is the only way.

I'm doing a camerawork here

We're already used to watch
telescopic pictures in anywhere.

Interviewer: Jun SUZUKI (cameraman)

but until while ago we'd had NO clue
how a telescopic scenery'd look like.

Shooting a car from way up there and
lowering the camera in the same size

that kind of Anime'd have been regarded
as insane before the telescopic lens time.

Animation's cameraworks have more
commonsense than Motion Picture's.

For, you'd feel some discomfort if your
assumption's radically turned over

Since the background gets wider
as the camera's tracking back,

Director's specifically checking on
its positioning by using a Frame Cel

I make some parts a bit crooked,
or otherwise it'd look so crammed up.

For, it's our head that decides
what we are actually seeing.

I mean our brain cells synthesise parts
by parts and makes a straight line etc.

So, I intentionally settle 2 center points
or so forth without a hesitation.

That kind of drawing gets closer
to the human's perceptions.

A "Perspective View" is one illusion
the Europeans've come up with.

Perfect computer graphics
wouldn't be so interesting

or at least, not interesting to me at all.

Cranky lines are rather soothing to us,
and so is a cranky person

We'd better make ourselves
more crankish, I believe,

with the paths not that straight,
or the mountains being so muddy

No sooner had the background been
finished than another issue came up.

This time, a lighting problem

Ando. I've made a huge mistake here.
The light is streaming from both sides

Do you think this OK?
Yes, I think it all right.

Indeed, his face gets light from the left
while his body takes it from the right

Let's check out the final version then.

So darkened is the background, which
Miyazaki's that much particular about.

Let's watch it again.

Miyazaki now talks about
the Manga (Cartoon) Culture

-You said Manga tends to get
ignored but think it's wrong.

Manga occupies the center place
as an addresser of the culture.

Manga's especially prevailed around
Korea, Taiwan, and parts of China

where the economy's drastically growing

Their such prevailed
"Manga ways of thinking",

by which I don't mean
Kids' ways of thinking,

but their specific "Manga ways' thinking"
hadn't existed until 20-30 years ago.

And I'm concerned about
their altered sense of time etc.

I've found the words "Oh my Japanese
Anime" written on a storyboard.

-What's this "Oh my Japanese Anime"?
-Oh, that's one convenient thing

about our Expressionism of expanding
a moment as much as you will.

Only, we get quite Arrogant about
our space and time by doing it

The Motion Pictures have the
same problem on this, too.

No matter how much or least
you've related with Manga

Manga ways of grasping anything
anyhow get so much prevailed

Without getting over these, we'll NEVER
obtain decent International Sensibility

I really believe so.

Assisting Director Ito-san's layering
objects and so-called "Book" cels

onto a quite long base background

He seems to prepare for a shooting of
Ashitaka on Yakul dashing down a cliff

We'll take a look at this shooting

There are 2 shooting cameras
in the basement of Studio Ghibli

one of which Miyazaki calls "Musashi
kun" and the other "Yamato-kun"

The background is now put on
a computer-controlled conveyer

2 cels are inserted: one for Ashitaka on
Yakul, and the other as "their shadows"

Camera Supervisor
Atsushi Oku

Camera Assistant
Tamaki KOJO

Kojo-san's eliminating static electricity
so that cels don't get dusts

Then, Books (backgrounds on cels) get
added that move faster than the base.

The shooting'll finally begin then

This way of shooting's called
Multi Contact Filming Method"

The filmed cuts get checked out
on Saturday Mornings,

in a style so called "Rash Preview".

This is the one we've just seen

The way Yakul's jumping side to
side, that's a real tough one.

Director meant No and the staff
had a reshooting. Check this out

This one's also shot by the
Multi Contact Filming Method"

Guess how many sheets
of cels are layered on here.

The grass on the front
seems to go a bit too fast

That's a bit, just a little,
or rather way too fast

We'll then look at how
they redo the shooting

Camera Staff
Junji YABUTA

Yabuta-san's placing the base
background at the bottom.

A "book" of a scenery across
the path comes next.

Another book for the trees
grass along the path.

And one more for the grass on the front.

Each of these separately gets
fastened with a conveyer frame.

There's another more
for the front of the front!

We see the far front grass is doubled.

Now starts the shooting.

Ashitaka's and Jigobo's cels get tucked in

Those plus the Backgrounds
add up to as many as 7 sheets!

Each background (from front) moves
at 4.5; 4.0; 2.5; 1.0; 0.5mm per frame.

Now watch the final version.

-We don't want to be busted while
sleeping. Let's run, shall we?

We'll see another way of
filming with a rotating table.

In this case, backgrounds rotate.
Any idea which part it's from?

Here is the scene where
San attacks the Irontown.

Camera Supervisor
Atsushi OKUI

This specific camera's the
one I designed and completed.

While I was at another Film Studio.
I once had this opportunity

to work on Miyazaki's "Porco Rosso"
and he called me in that time.

An Animation Studio's including
Camera Dept. means that

Director can estimate the final images
in advance when he starts to draw.

Because Camera Professionals with
techniques and know-hows are inside.

Animators can build up their
materials based on those data

I mean we'd test and decide fully the
ways of filtering etc, before shooting.

Since the Cels are fragile and prone
to scratches if repetitively used,

it'd be an advantage if we could
avoid continuous reshootings.

Miyazaki and Kosaka are having a meeting

on the cut we've just seen where
San and wolves attack the Irontown

Animation Supervisor
Kitaro KOSAKA

Place them in the right
positions, you know

Kosaka-san's keenly looking at the
dogs on an Animal Encyclopedia

For, an object's bone structure is
what an animator wants most in drawing

-As long as you know its
basic bone structure,

the rest you'd do is either
contract of magnify it.

Kosaka-san's been struggling
with depicting the Wolves

Yet he's supposed to draw San, a girl
brought up by a Wolf God, as well

The outcome is: magnificent
wolfish structure and outline.

We see San's dashing away
on the roofs in here

The note reads "San runs like a Wolf

which sheerly became true!

Now let's watch the complete version
of San's attacking Irontown

San's agility is convincing us enough
of her being a child of Wolf God

Don't miss the coming frames!

Miyazaki's Creation Circuit.
His Childhood Experiences

One day I found Miyazaki's absorbed
in a mysterious handcrafting

making countless snicks in a piece of paper

-It's done!

Amazing! It's a Impromptu Comb.

He's preparing for a TV interview
at the Ghibli's roof terrace

where he emphasizes the
importance of one's childhood

-It's neither about our economy nor
multimedia that I'm most concerned,

but whether the kids are lively and in
good shape that I most worry about.

I mean as long as the people're doing fine,
it doesn't matter if a nation's in poverty.

What our generation's done to the kids
is the biggest mistake we've ever made.

The Childhood is NOT meant for the
Adulthood, but for the Childhood itself

to experience the most unlikely
events if not in Childhood

A kid's 5 min. experience gives much more
impacts than that of 1 year for an adult.

To think about some kind of Trauma
might generate around that time.

That much importance of Childhood.
How was Miyazaki's own like?

The one who knows him most may be
his 2-year-senior brother, Arata-san.

Brother
Arata MIYAZAKI

He used to draw wherever
there's a piece of paper.

He would already draw somewhat
differently from us, the other kids.

Doing well in drawing the tanks
and the mechanical stuff

Hayao MIYAZAKI: born in Tokyo
In 1941 (the 16th year of Showa Era)

in 1942
Hayao at 1; with Arata.

At the age 3; evacuated to Utsunomiya,
where he stayed till at the 3rd grade.

Having heard the Utsunomiya house
still exists, our crew flew to the site.

Where the future creator's
talents were nurtured...

-Alright, you can take a look at upstairs
-Oh, could we really? Thank you

Fortunately, we've obtained
a permission to go upstairs

It was the staircase that
struck our attention,

as we've definitely seen this before!

Come out, my blackly sooties!

It's in "My Neighbor Totoro" where
girls go see the blackish creatures.

"Hayao gave me a hard time by following
me anywhere, just as Mei does to Satsuki"

confessed Arata-San to us.

Arata felt amazed by how well
Hayao could do a sketch

when they drew the garden
from the upstairs balcony.

This classic Japanese housing shows
the fine effect of lights and shadows.

His Terror and Curiosity upon darkness
must've given him a writer's qualification.

To our question whether Hayao
was a boy with full of fantasies.

-He was good at disguising some live
broadcast whenever in the bathroom.

Such as "There's a fire, there's a fire!
I see a firetruck's coming right here."

and it'd continue forever for 30 mins.
at his crouching position.

So he seemed to have certain kind
of imagination we couldn't think of.

And he'd end it with his
shouting "Toilet Paper!"

Actually, Miyazaki has this one
acute anecdote at the age 4:

in July 1945, he got the American's air
raid that completely burned down the city

The Miyazaki's decided to temporarily
evacuate under a railroad bridge,

where his uncle came picked
them up in a small truck.

Mom/Baby next to the driver, and
Dad/Brother/Hayao on the rear deck

covering up in Futon Mattress
to avoid the fire sparks

when a woman with a baby ran up to them,
crying out "Take us with you, please!"

Without a reply, the vehicle drove away; to
Kanuma where Father's Plane Factory was.

The Miyazakis' house
in Kanuma city

A Traumatic Event of his not
capable of taking her side then

Later, his Anime Characters came up
to represent his wishful counterpart,

and his source of creations
must lie in this experience.

After the end of the war, the Miyazakis
moved back to Utsunomiya city,

where he and his brothers started
to attend Nishihara Elementary

instead of neighboring Nishi Elementary
that had burned down during the War.

Many things en route caught his eye
where he'd loiter a lot after school.

Especially he liked to drop
by at the blacksmiths.

-We'd always watch their treading blast
pedals, or beating iron on the way.

Hayao must have a clear memory
of those blacksmiths, too

Quite wondrous moments to see the
burning iron getting sharpened up.

I just loved to watch the black
smiths' work even in later time.

Well, the blacksmiths manifested a
fundamental image of manufacturing

that attracted me most to the extent
I longed to be one of them

because it looked the most wanted,
necessitated job in every village.

Initially, it was only the interest
with quite an amount of respect I felt

upon those who bleached and
manufactured the iron

But gradually I became to realise
the true meanings of making the iron

and this one motif has been changing
its meanings in my works as well:

His long-held interests upon iron-making

burst out in Princess of Mononoke.

Iron-making's boosted up our
industrial capacity so dramatically

people continued to magnify their desires.

Now let's see the relationship between
the Japanese and the iron.

Yasugi city, Shimane: its iron used to
get distributed everywhere.

Steel Museum of Japan in Yasugi
We can see a mass of rock-like iron

produced by an iron
manufacturer in the old time.

Only small part of which could be
qualified for the Japanese Swords.

Iron-making in Japan is said to have
started in the 6th century at the latest

Iron-making in Japan is said to have
started in the 6th century at the latest.

This shows the late 6th century's
iron-making procedures

Since the Iron sand melts down only
at as high as about 1500 Celsius

A use of bellow had an essential
role in the technological innovation.

Soon came the one with treadboards.

Though a huge furnace and a bellow in
the film was from Miyazaki's fantasy.

The balance bellows appeared
in the Edo period.

The board steppers ("Banko") made
a contribution to its work efficiency.

Banko stepped on these boards
all through for 3 days and nights

to produce the mass we've
seen in front of the museum,

whose expression we now
use as "kawari-banko"

Iron-making also generated a unique
architectural establishment

called Takadono (High Beamed) Style.

There is only 1 Takadono left in Japan
now in Sugaya, Yoshida Village

Sugaya Iron Place

It's roofed since humidity is
an enemy of Iron-making,

and the roofs set high to avoid tall fire
sparks from the furnace blowing it up

Takadono Style was the ideal
for manufacturing good iron.

Iron-making demands huge amount of
Charcoal and Sand Iron per operation

To produce 3 tons worth' iron,
10 tons of charcoal was required

to gain which about 100 square
meters of forest was cut down.

As for Iron Sand, 12-13 tons was
needed for each operation

It was to crack down the granite with
1-2% iron and let it stream in the water.

In essence iron-making was to utilize
as much natural resources as required

for the human's own advantages

This is the cut where the iron
making first appears on screen.

The details of burning charcoal and
streaming sand are precisely described.

Because of this streaming, the river
where Ashitaka meets San looks muddy

In this cut we see the sluiceways
on their background

A fort-like Iron place must imply
a partly self-governed society

Iron-makers worship
the Goddess of Iron Child,

Kanayako Shrine

whose figure's often been described
as a Goddess on a Fox with 2 tails.

Don't they remind us a little
of San and the Wolf God?

After all, Chugoku Region hasn't got
bald from all that deforestation

For, the nature in Japan's prevailed
with its water-holding capacity

Hayao Miyazaki's Creation Circuit.
His Powers of Memory and Obsession

What one's seen or felt when little,
those memories get revived

through Miyazaki's works

This one always reminds me
of the dog I used to live with.

What emotions to express when
a dog pants with its mouth open?

Is the tongue moving while a
dog's panting? anybody knows?

My dog I think might be
moving his tongue...

-OK, if you think he might. I'll do it.

He keeps pulling at the details
out of his memory while drawing.

Isn't moving!

Director comes to remember exactly
how his dog used to be like.

His pencil gradually gets
more convincing

It's not as if he's panting
because of the heat

but in a way to express
his emotion right?

OK, looks like it IS alright.

I truly regret I didn't grow
up with a real beloved dog

Now let's watch the final version of
a panting wolf and verify his emotions.

A Discussion Session for a new
Project was held on July 6, 1996

on a hypothesis of a comic book "Kill
Gonta" by Ayahara being the theme.

Remember it's NOT good enough
reason to choose a subject

out of your appreciation or
preference on a book,

but you should select the one
that gives you inspiration

strong enough inspiration that'd
lead you to make the most of it

What did you think about
the motif of "Death"?

As the Death being the chief character,
how to deal with it is the theme here.

-There's NO use of arguing whether
there's anything after death here,

Alright, let's say there's the Death's
River dividing the worlds here.

And this Maki-Chan girl dies and
her spirit comes across the River.

So, this example's showing Maki-Chan
might exist on the other side.

There're anecdotes of the dying stopped
by the dead Granma from the other side,

which imply us the existence of the dead

According to Philosopher Umehara,
the good ones come back within 75 days

while the bad ones are kept for a while
and take more time to be back.

This doesn't make sense
to me, however:

For, a good old Granma advising not to
come becomes the bad on then.

Our religion has this thinking of that
we're circulating in a wheel of life.

But "individuality" is the very issue
we want to pint out the most here.

Let's say our Tsuruppe dies/comes
back as a pretty girl as you are now.

Though the individual called Tsuruppe
dissolves the moment she dies

and maybe returns with a
name "Tsuruko" instead,

which means her life doesn't continue

We used to think it continuing
in the old time

and now we think it as
completely cut off here

to think about these differences.

And the idea of this disconnection
screwed up the whole thing.

The bottom line is we cannot get away
from our "Death" issue anyhow

and should sort it out before we
go on to work on this film,

would any word related to death
appear on the slogan? -No, none

Miyazaki keeps spreading out his
power of obsessions on any issue.

Outspread the wings of obsessions

Here's this banal looking
house with glittering neon

and it gets noisy at night since
there's "Valhalla" down here,

where the pagans' heavenly
places all gather around.

Valhalla is people's nightlife district
with liquor pond and pretty girls

Only, the Aging Problem exists in there,
too since the Viking Fleets're gone.

But still they play around loudly
while looking down the hells beneath,

the source of pollutions and infuriate
the girls living in the house up there.

OK, now you know this is'
the other side of the world

whose social structure's exactly like
our real world, as one has to got to work

while irritated by the noisy surroundings
and punches her timecard at work.

Her figure might be like this; crows were
once believed to be the death before.

Anyway, I was showing you an example.
The ideas might develop like this.

-Well what you showed us
wasn't bad at all but...

-OK, remember dealing seriously with
the issue of death doesn't mean

you'd get the core of it
Get it from the whole aspects:

Such as what if the death grows up.

By that, the meaning of "Growth"
would be questioned once again,

which'll lead us to think "if the
human grow up in a true sense?"

For some say the human's growth
might be a sheer illusion.

I hope some of you stand up and
carry out such unique ideas.

Truly, this is the main problem at our
studio here: I'd like you to have a try

but sadly nobody's gutsy
enough to be willing to.

What a unique system we do have.
Yeah, a quite unusual style I admit

June 20, 1996: A Director's
meeting with Yamamoto-San

on the important cut where the Forest
God appears for the first time

-Why don't we go with that?

-Well, I worry about this being a little...
-Not to worry, or we'll always worry!

-I mean this part looks too clear to me.
-Alright, let me explain with this camera.

The camera lens becomes Ashitaka's
eye and goes deeper of the forest,

when the Forest God turns up.

-This one's good, and let's keep this up.
-OK. I understand your points.

What Yamamoto-san's working
on surprised us quite a lot.

For, what we see is merely a small part
and many others're covering up on it

All of which we asked him
to show us here.

Here's the 2nd sheet;

and the 3rd one's this;

the 4th sheet;

the 5th sheet;

the 6th sheet;

the 7th sheet;

One more, the 8th sheet;

The digital composite's adopted in this
case with this number of the cels.

Let's watch the final version of this now.

Now watch closely Ashitaka's
eyes in surprise.

June 27, 1996: Recruiters Training
Session's coming close to the end

and today's the refining practice
they're undertaking

to understand how difficult the
coloring procedure could be.

We see Miyazaki's taking a glance at
their working objects once in a bit

and how he comments on this and that,
the accuracy of which's really surprising.

-Well, one thing I can say on this is it
looks Yucky. -That's lethal, isn't it?

If you were to criticise this picture,
how'd you make your comments?

-About this carrot, concentrate not only
on the colors but on the shape as well.

Carrots are difficult. Don't make
them have a blurred look

unless you specifically want
them to look that way

Now look at the color of that meat, really!

Ghibli always seems to take the low
keyed colors except for the food

-These are the delicious
looking colors up there.

Down here, all those look yucky,

those yucky colors are the ones we've
had quite a hard time to create.

As for food, vivid colors look more
attractive for us to put into mouth.

Another thing is the burn mark of the
steak: for this being part of the food,

blackish color is what we want the
least to eat; some tribes never eat it.

So even the burned part has to be
nice, delicious looking brown color.

It seems that the wooden tray has the
most delicious look of all in here

while it's the very thing supposed
to look completely dead

Now the man is utterly in shock

when another shocking material's
delivered to him:

An ad flyer of the Steak Restaurant's,
which is totally defeating him!

-OK, now I'm getting this

We cannot find Kosaka-San who's
always sitting next to Miyazaki

Here, he is: working on a little
cooking for everyone's late dinner.

Actually, the staff take their turns and
cook something for the late night work

-Mr./Ms. Work Forces in the
Studio, Spaghetti's ready

We also have some Potato
Salad. Please come join us.

Alright, let's have it. Bon Appetit!

-The rumor has it that his
cooking skill's far better

It's already 11:30 pm. and still
so many staff are working.

Genga Exam:

Douga Animators take this exam
if one wants to switch to do Genga

The assignment is the 1057th cut,

where all the basic actions as Running,
Jumping, swinging are packed up.

The Examinees couldn't have too
much preparation time for the test.

Miyazaki even give some advice for that

-He's swinging it like
this with such power,

whereas yours looks quite feeble.

One of Director's points is how this
Samurai swings his long-sword here.

-Why don't you just do it yourself?
-Yes, it'd be the fastest way, do it.

I wish he wore Samurai Armour.

-Do it like this
with your full voice

Do slow motion, and your
voice from abdomen!

Your legs are getting funny
Yes, watch out your legs

-He's just a modern boy
-Yeah, lacks a sense of gravity.

-Oh, this is it? finished?
-Why everyone's standing here?

-His feet got turned in at the last part.
-Yeah, his feet were kind of cute.

July 1, 1996: It's the exam day today.

Since it's holiday we only see the
examinees (and Director) at this hour.

-Don't worry so much about
the details of the Armour.

-Good morning.
-You've already finished?

Here are the examinees:
Ms. Makiko SUZUKI

Ms. Kuri SAWA

Ms. Kazuko SHIBATA

Ms. Misuzu KURATA

Mr. Kazuyoshi ONODA

Mr. Masaru MATSUSE

Mr. Kojiro TSURUOKA;
7 examinees in total

The exam time is 11:00-24:00.

Miyazaki has brought some
Soba Noodles and green onions

so that he could cook this
and serve it to everyone

-This green onion's from
my Home Garden,

Since his mother's sickly
condition in his childhood,

all 4 boys at the Miyazakis used
to take turns and cook meals.

So Director and his brothers
are all good at cooking.

-Ha-ha, this IS really amazing!

-Sprinkle sprinkle sprinkle sprinkle...

At 19:00: everyone flocks
together and enjoys the Soba.

Despite its being a holiday, we can
recognise all the chief staff here

Miyazaki's Soba and Tateno's
veggie-fries all look nice.

It's midnight and the time's up. Hopefully
their preparations reflect on the results.

They're now submitting the sheets
at the Production's Desk

-Did you put your name on the sheets?
-Ah, well no. I didn't...

July 2, 1996: The next day is
the day for evaluations.

The test examiners are:
Director MIYAZAKI,

Animation Supervisor
Yoshifumi KONDO,

Animation Supervisor
Masashi ANDO,

a total of 3 examiners

-No one seems to know how
to use this long sword.

And absolutely NO emotional
outburst is significant here

I can see they're just thinking
"What if I miss this test?"

Now let's watch 7 examinees Genga:
Observe how the long sword goes.

We can see a single storyboard could be
interpreted in many different ways here.

Still, none of which has any intense
power in a swinging action

Director makes kind, accurate
comments to each examinee.

Remember this part goes fast

Though, it'd look too weak if the
arms stayed at the same position

Don't just go like this

What we want most here is the gravity
of this sword, remember that.

Without its gravity shown on the screen
one cannot call it a swing really

To show this gravity, hold it
here as much as you could.

In Animation, exaggerate the fist half
as really slow and quickly go very fast.

-We actually DID the vacuum cleaner
thing in the room, though

-Yes, you all should really perform and
observe the others do it carefully

-Speculate upon the balance
between the Gravity and the Speed,

and everything starts with the such if
you want to make an Animation.

In the case of a great animator Yasuo
OTSUKA when he was at his 30s,

all of his animation had such Dymanics
with its each SO peculiar pose

The question is; if he could have
done the same thing 20 years later,

and the answer is; NO, one could
NEVER do the same, strangely.

So there IS such a thing as what
once could only do at certain age.

Dynamism of which's NOT from
Technique but from Innate Ability,

or rather, from certain Energy
welling up out of one's body

People at their 40s and 50s say this
and that from their experiences

but as for something truly energetic,
it'd be the younger generation.

Remember this Energy Release'd be
a good opportunity for an animator

to howl out a great deal of inner
Emotional Turbulence.

There's another issue about Yakul's
running positions before jumping

NO preparatory force toward a jump
is significant in anyone's Genga

-Isn't it difficult how to show the saved
energy force right before jumping?

It's difficult I admit but otherwise,
it wouldn't be a jump.

You have to make a necessity
for a jump before a jump

and think of how Yakul's movement'd
differ from a normal running case.

-No plunging or holding pressure
before a jump is recognisable here at all.

There must be a brief hold-on-to-the
ground moment somewhere

With the forelegs inside while
the hind legs spread out

None of the examinees
passed the test after all.

It turned out to be an authentic veteran
Kondo-San who drew the final cut.

How different an animation could
become depending on who draws it

as an example of which, let's
now watch his final cut here:

Because no one passed the test,
a question was posed to Director:

"Is that because they've got
the feeling but cannot draw it,

or they just don't get the feeling"

-Alright, those who don't get
the feeling are Inadequate,

and those who get the feeling but
cannot draw are... Inadequate as well.

-Ah, now I know this is the reality. I really
should think about closing 'down Ghibli

as everyone seems to be more
calculating than anything.

After all, in our modern system we watch
more and create less on our own.

-The older people rather go take much
more radical ways in these days

or more specifically, the middle-aged guys.

As for the younger generation, some may go
focus on specific area and try their best in it,

but usually no one wants to spread out their
hands to catch everything ambitiously

except for few exceptionally
obnoxious ones

Individuality is believed to be some
thing different from the others

but I think the ideas of "Individuality" or
"Uniqueness" are totally misunderstood

The correct definition of which should be in

how large a scale of things one could share
with the others as something in common.

Where there's large enough quantity to
share, there be certain individuality too.

so I have absolutely NO reason to look
for some Individuality for myself.

It's out of the question if one hasn't fully
worked out on enough things to share.

Ashitaka Tumbles:

July 6, 1996; We saw the whole picture
of Trial-and-Error in Animation.

-We might need a frame with
his crouching position

If I fall I know l'll go like this, but
from here I'm not so sure.

Director makes the most of his senses,
memories to pinpoint accuracy

-Once I climbed up a fence at a mountain
lodge and it was when I jumped

I noticed a downslope there
and rolled down so stupidly

I try to recall it clearly but it's difficult.

Whatever I draw must be related to
my childhood experiences somehow

whether I remember it or not.

After a while he's found
one critical mistake:

-I'm stuck with an idea to show his face
here, for his being a main character

but if I did it: he wouldn't
be falling in the right way

How could I not notice such basics.

Drawing such clunky positions is the
farthest from physiological comfort

and for that reason it's very
demanding for an Animator.

-OK. I got this... Look, he IS falling

Now, this part needs a little.
His hand tries to catch the ground

but there isn't any ground there.

Um, maybe I'm trying to be too logical.
For all those positions look too stable

He stretches out his arm but
it's too late, that's the idea.

A slight difference of his arm angle'd
give such a different impression

His butt loses balance here and
he tries to use his elbow I see.

But he's already outside of
the frame at this point.

Barycenter must be a
little more to the front.

Since he knows how to do the defense,
his body doesn't fall off to the side

And around here, he got out of the
frame with his legs spread like this

Ah, this should be more to
the right, shouldn't it?

What a painstaking procedure!...Well,
I'm kidding. It'll be finished soon.

No sooner had it been almost finished
than he noticed the ground needs a fix.

Some trouble where he's tumbling down.

Too much weight on the kinetics'd
make him look like a vulnerable person.

So there must be falling energy
and the conflicting one against it.

Here he's lifting his leg, by which I wish
the barycenter'd move more to the back

but it looks more like he's
falling to the side instead

Alright, my correcting this part's
produced another flaw here, ha-ha.

Certainly not like this. His body
should be more spread out

At this point he's already spent half a day.

-He's getting less and less energetic

This slower part requires
more sheets than usual.

I'm pretty sure there'd be more
problems while I do the clean-up

but anyway the Rough
Boards are done now!

-What a cursed profession this is
I see it very well now. -Ah, do you?

That was truly a Crawling-the-Closest
onto-the-Ideal-Point Procedure

In which there's NO such thing as that
you could see any Ending from the Start

You'd only begin to see it
by continuing to do it

Now don't miss this 1.5 second final shot.

PART B: -Kick your ass and draw!!
-Don't you laze around, NO lazing

The Storyboards are still at a slow pace.

The basic structure's done but needs
to be materialized in the promptest way.

One day Miyazaki began
to utter out of the blue

- I worked on the last Sunday. -Right

-And that screwed up everything.
-Um, you should rest on holidays.

-Well, I did it at home but couldn't
sleep later out of the excitement;

Excitement AND Angst I had that night.

Reminded me of bitter
sweet memory, though.

"Excitement and Angst: those must
be given as an honor to a creator

who would get NO idea about what
exactly he's doing while in the process."

says Miyazaki. "A film tries
to become a film by itself.

And I function merely as a Slave
or Footman of the film's."

To tell things one already knows is
NOT Expression But Transmission:

Expression be attainable only in severe
struggles to get a hold of the Unknown.

I looked at how Miya san'd been
doing with his storyboards

and felt a bit of concerns
about its ending.

One thing was about the appearance
of San, the Princess Mononoke

I mean if it takes 20 mins.
before a heroine appears

usually it'll make a 3-hour movie.

So I pushed him a little to shorten it,
for which he asked "Why?"

and my reply was "Well, looks like
a 3 hour film we're making

Because Miya-san'd always keep up
appearances in such cases, he went

"To make a 3-hour worth film a 2-hour-
sharp IS the true Professional's Skill."

Is what Miyazaki manifested
going to be truly true?

To verify which, look forward
to the coming 2nd Chapter...

To Be Continued