In January of this year, “A place farther away from the universe”, relying on the shape of a large figure and a solid setting, vividly tells a new story of “high school girls going to the South Pole”. .
After the journey of the protagonist and his party, “Febri” magazine produced a full 36-page “Farther than the Universe” topic in July 2018. Through interviews with the founders, we will review this for us. Works that bring me many unforgettable memories. .
But before that, we need to push the time back four months. At the time of the animated broadcast, “Febri” March interviewed the supervising Shi Yandunzi (いしづかあつこ), please direct the original animation, she told me how to make this theme that looks far away from the sky The sense of reality in front of you. .
“The place farther away from the universe” must originate from Shi Yan’s supervision of self-speaking “girls who want to describe their efforts!”. Since it is a girl’s story, it is a youth film, and the protagonists must be high school girls. In this way, the skeleton of the plan was established at an early stage. .
But then, decide to let these high school girls work hard, but let them go a long way. They made a variety of opinions. In the hesitancy, one day, Ishigaki Supervisor said: “It would be interesting to set the destination to the South Pole?” The series formed the flower field Tenhui immediately agreed, saying: “I have long wanted to write a trip. The film!” This is the core concept of the work, the heart of the work, so settled down. .
Before the production of “Farther than the Universe”, Ishigaki Supervisor had no interest in the Antarctic. She intends to let the protagonists aim at things that the production team does not understand. In the case that the club activities have been done all kinds of works, she searched for any fresh themes to do, and she saw the information about the Antarctic, and found that she knew almost nothing about the South Pole. .
About the Antarctic, there are various topics circulating in the streets and lanes, both about science and supernatural. Therefore, different people will have a more specific impression on the Antarctic; when it comes to the South Pole, it will still feel that it is an unknown land. Shijie supervision felt that the Antarctic is a stage where the space is very large. .
Therefore, at the beginning of the project, the members of the main team knew nothing about the Antarctic. .
Before they start investigating information about Antarctica, they have to decide what kind of story to make. It is necessary to first determine the framework of the hero’s story in order to know which side of the Antarctic is to be described. .
They decided to make the basis of the story more concrete and to write their own memories of high school. In this way, in order for the protagonist to go to the South Pole, they must understand the image of the realistic Antarctic. Then, what is the image of this so-called “realistic image of the South Pole”? After pushing down this way, they decided to use the Antarctic expedition team as the theme, starting from here and starting to collect information. .
From the past movies to the recent TV series, there have been many works describing the Antarctic expedition team. The creative team first looks at these past works and looks for points that they didn’t know. Among them, the 2009 film “Antarctic Cuisine” gave them a new perspective. They originally thought that the Antarctic was a cruel adventure and an unexplored land. However, the film completely overturned their perception – it turns out that the Antarctic expedition team is not adventurous. .
After having a general impression of the Antarctic expedition team, they started reading again, looking for more specific knowledge and understanding what the life of the Antarctic expedition team looks like. Moreover, they are also curious and want to know more details: what the expedition team will do in Japan before going to the South Pole, how the luggage is brought in the past, how to solve the problem of food in the Antarctic…
If you want to know these details, they can only ask the experts. In this way, the production team consulted the National Polar Research Institute of Japan and asked the latter to introduce the people who had participated in the Antarctic expedition team. These former teammates told them a lot of stories about life, let them know that the expedition team is not only doing research in the Antarctic, but also some people in the Antarctic, forming a small society in the closed world. This made the production team feel very fresh and interesting. They further explored and made what we saw today, “where farther away from the universe.”
During the investigation, the production team encountered many difficulties. What most people can’t understand is the sense of area” of the Antarctic. Although they got the photo material, the photos could not see the panorama. Since they can’t grasp the specific sense of area, they don’t know the sense of distance of anybody’s dialogue. Moreover, they do not know what kind of clothing is worn by people in the Antarctic. Different costumes, different spaces, the atmosphere of the scene will be completely different. However, they do not know what the specific situation of the Antarctic is. No matter how the experienced person uses the language to explain, he still feels awkward. .
This situation lasted for a long time. The production team also worked hard to investigate the information, and repeatedly communicated with the experts, and finally the flash of light. That feeling is like smelling the smell of the field, or seeing the look behind the door that was not photographed in the photo. After several such moments, they finally understood the impression on the ground. .
Ishigaki said that this is a very emotional thing and it is difficult to express it in words. Drawing a mirror is not to draw the expression of the character reflected in the lines on the script, but to design the space in which the character is located, and what is in that space. She must imagine where the character is standing, at this moment, what she is looking at and put it on the picture. Therefore, it is inevitable that there will be some things, and the text information on the script and the book is absolutely unacceptable. It is very difficult to master these things. This is especially true in the work “Farther than the Universe.” .
For example, Shijie supervision first designed the 360° panorama of the room where the character is located, then walked out of the room, walked along the corridor, and encountered a thick door. To go outside, you must pass through the small door on the inside of the door. Going outside, the temperature plummeted… She had to imagine all these processes as if she had experienced it before she could give birth to a character. Otherwise, it will become as if the character is “playing for the words”, which is what Shi Yan supervision wants to avoid. .
It’s not easy to make yourself a character, as if you were painting your own real experience. In order to do this, Shiji supervision actually boarded the Antarctic scientific research ship. .
The production team was invited to participate in the internal activities of the scientific research team and the self-defense team. The family members of the members of the expedition team took the scientific research boat and carried out a short sailing experience in the sea. In this activity, Ishigaki supervised personally experienced the shaking of the actual scientific research ship, how it feels to walk in the scientific research ship sailing, how narrow the space is, how high the ceiling is, and the pressure inside the ship. What is it, wait and so on. .
The most impressive impression left by Shijie Supervisor is that the scientific research ship has the smell of food. From the departure of Australia’s Freeman Port to the Antarctic continent, all members of the expedition team have to live on the ship for several weeks. This is already a new knowledge for the production team. And then seeing the self-defense players cooking on the boat, they are more excited: the air exudes the tempting atmosphere of the soup, the people of the expedition team, really live here. .
Ishigaki Supervisor also pushed the room doors of the expedition team members and saw the towels drying in the same room as usual. The natural feeling also made her very moved. .
These experiences have also had an impact on the mirrors of Shijie’s supervision. She said that if she was not there, she could not paint it. When drawing a scene, she also imagines what other characters are doing at this time. This style of creation that she has been implementing in her original works has complemented this work. .
In addition, Shijie supervision also said that the lines written by Huatian Shihui, although not explained in detail, will leave the atmosphere of the scene, letting people imagine the parts that are not written between the lines. What happened. The thoughts and thoughts of the characters before they spoke out of the sentence were all stuffed into the line. It was very easy to form an impression when reading, and the process of imagining in the mind became fun. .
For example, Episode 4 of the animation, the four protagonists in the training are chatting in the tent, and the entangled moon is trying to say “You are annoying” and want to say “Please be quiet” As a result, the two sentences are mixed together, and it is said to be “please be bored.”
This scene fully embodies the skill of Huatian to make sentences. In order to reflect the character’s character and the relationship between the characters, he asked them to make such a meaningless dialogue. This kind of dialogue is very sensible to the “human flavor” of the character. He did not explain the character’s feelings, only arranged the line “please be annoying”, but it suddenly deepened the character’s character. And then look at the small reaction to their reaction to this line, can reflect the sense of distance between them and the small heart. The writing of this dialogue reflects the skill of Huatian. .
Ishigaki’s work often has a unique color design. “A place farther than the universe” is no exception. Headed by the streets of Gunma and the second episode of Kabukicho, the color scheme strongly controls the impression of the screen. .
Ishigaki said that the animation is very focused on the sense of life and humidity in Japan, and the narrow world of the four protagonists. Most of the buildings in Japan are small and the ceiling is not high. The same is true of their school. When the production team went to the real scene, she felt “Is the light in the school so dark?” .
To emphasize this gloomy, boring atmosphere, the background and color design adds yellow. In addition, in general, the animated color will give the sun a blue light in order to express a refreshing feeling, while the “farther than the universe” is more green. This is to feel that the protagonist’s unique Japanese-style gray-faced narrow space, even the sun has a feeling of tidal. .
And once the protagonists leave Japan, the color of light will change immediately. Shi Yan supervision said that people who have experienced overseas travel should understand that the color of foreign countries is different from that of Japan, and the humidity of the air is completely different, so the colors seen will be different. She wants to show this in this work. .
In fact, the animation creates two sets of color designs for each character. The same is true in copyright painting. The color of the skin and eyes will vary when the characters wear Japanese school uniforms and wear uniforms in the South Pole. .
Ishigaki Supervisor heard that the closer it is to the pole, the clearer the air is, without any dust and the like, so people’s breath will not be so white. The Antarctic is not only clean, but also has no moisture, no sound or smell. She listened and thought that in the animation, the air must be so clear. She thinks about how to change the color to reflect the change in air transparency, and there is color in the animation. .
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- “Febri” March 2018