It has been over half a year now since Suzume was released in US cinemas, but the film is getting attention again thanks to its Golden Globe nomination. Now, more interesting details about the movie have surfaced, including Makoto Shinkai’s decision to use CGI over hand-drawn animation for one Suzume character.
Shinkai revealed this in a recent panel discussion at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures. There, he talked about his latest film, including how and why CGI was used in Suzume.
Suzume Is Mostly Hand-Drawn, Save for One Character
CG animation gets a bad rap among anime fans, with many complaining that most CG anime look stiff and unnatural in motion.
Of course, that’s not to say that all CG anime is bad. For instance, studio Orange’s works such as Beastars have been praised for their animation. There’s also The First Slam Dunk, which got rave reviews.
Makoto Shinkai’s films aren’t typically brought up in CG discussions. After all, his films are mainly made using hand-drawn animation.
As with most anime projects today though, CG is used in parts of his works. These parts just don’t get much attention as they’re well integrated into his films’ signature look.
For instance, one of Suzume's main characters, Souta, gets turned into a chair at one point in the story. When viewed on its own, the chair obviously looks CG-animated, but it doesn’t look out of place in the film.
If you ask fans, chances are that they’ll think CG animation was used for Souta because of its ease, but that’s surprisingly not the case, as Shinkai explained.
RELATED: Makoto Shinkai's Best Movies, Ranked
Makoto Shinkai Explains How CGI Is Better for Souta
During his recent Academy Museum discussion, Makoto Shinkai was asked why the chair was animated in CGI. Shinkai explained that it was a creative decision, not one made due to its ease.
Initially, Shinkai said that the animators tried to animate the chair using hand-drawn techniques. The results were good, albeit too good, as the chair felt “too alive.”
Shinkai said that the hand-drawn style made it feel like the chair was straight out of Beauty and the Beast. This wasn’t a fit for the film though, as Shinkai wanted to give the chair unnatural and awkward movement.
He said that he specifically wanted to achieve an effect similar to Pixar’s Luxo Jr. lamp. This made sense considering that the chair is supposed to still feel like an inanimate object.
Despite the controversial nature of CG in anime, there have been little to no complaints about Suzume’s use of it. This goes to show how much care Shinkai and his staff put into the film.
For anime fans who have yet to watch Suzume, the film is available to stream now on Crunchyroll in the US and other select regions.
Get the latest anime news and info by following us on Twitter @epicstreamanime.
READ NEXT: What Are Makoto Shinkai’s Main Themes? Anime Director’s Films Analysed
Source: Anime News Network
Explore new topics and discover content that's right for you!