There is no doubt that Studio Ghibli is the only name that comes to mind when one thinks of animated films, and the credit for that goes to none other than Hayao Miyazaki, the legendary director and co-founder of Studio Ghibli responsible for many blockbuster animated films such as Spirited Away, Howl’s Moving Castle, and many more.
However, what might come as a surprise to many is how Miyazaki actually likes to make films, and it is a pretty interesting revelation that came out to the public only after an interview done back in 2002 VIA Midnighteye.
Also Read: “I’m cutting for the sh-t to work”: Harvey Weinstein Defended His Infamous ‘Scissorhands’ Nickname Despite Getting Threatened By Hayao Miyazaki With A Sword
Legendary Director Hayao Miyazaki Shares An Insight To His Filmmaking Process
Hayao Miyazaki has been the man behind many masterpieces of a film such as Spirited Away, Howl’s Moving Castle, Castle In The Sky, and nearly every other Studio Ghibli production ever.
Revealing about the scriptwriting process, the director said,
“That’s true. I don’t have the story finished and ready when we start work on a film. I usually don’t have the time. So the story develops when I start drawing storyboards. The production starts very soon thereafter, while the storyboards are still developing. We never know where the story will go but we just keeping working on the film as it develops. It’s a dangerous way to make an animation film and I would like it to be different, but unfortunately, that’s the way I work and everyone else is kind of forced to subject themselves to it.“
What the director essentially meant is how the production of a film starts even before the story has been fully developed, and how most of it is done through storyboards instead, which moves forward with the production itself parallelly.
The above also actually sets the director apart from the other producers in the industry, as hardly anybody else follows the same process as Miyazaki does, allowing him to create a legacy for himself.
Also Read: “Studio Ghibli has long been struggling”: Unable to Find a Successor to Legendary Hayao Miyazaki, Studio Ghibli to be Sold Off to Nippon TV
Hayao Miyazaki Talks About Repetition Of Characters In The Films
When asked about how once a character is created they are never dropped till the final film, Miyazaki Said
“The characters are born from repetition, from repeatedly thinking about them. I have their outline in my head. I become the character and as the character I visit the locations of the story many, many times. Only after that I start drawing the character, but again I do it many, many times, over and over. And I only finish just before the deadline.“
The director explained in the above context how repetition of characters allows him to bring them to life, essentially having a basic structure of how he wants to proceed with a particular character from the starting, and imagines himself in that role, allowing him to bring them to life till the very end.
Hayao Miyazaki is considered as a literal legend, as discussed before, he is single-handedly responsible for the major success of Studio Ghibli with masterpieces of animated films that no one else has ever been able to reach the level of.
Also Read: The Boy and the Heron TIFF Review: Miyazaki’s Weakest Film Is Nonetheless a Visual Delight
Source: Midnighteye
