Before and after 2000, before submitting his resume to the animation industry, Shinichiro Ikeda, who was nearing university graduation, actually got the default of other industry companies. However, Bai Tian, who has long been convinced that “even if he is dead, he must participate in the work of leaving his own mark of survival in the world”, he decided to enter J.C.STAFF resolutely
柏田真一郎. After graduation, he first entered J.C.STAFF, then transferred to Aniplex in 2010, and became the executive director and president of A-1 Pictures in 18 years. The animation works mainly planned by him include “The Ways of Developing Passers-by Women”, “Erogan A Teacher” and “The College Fleet” Theatrical Edition
The Japanese animation industry at the turn of the century is in the transition period from the analog era to the digital age. At the beginning of the trip, Bai Tian happened to catch up with the last bus of the simulation era. According to him, in the past, even the work of “line photography”, the preparation of materials related to production alone was much more complicated than it is now. The staff must first cut out the various parts of the printed character body and then attach it to the celluloid piece a little. After all the “line photographs” were taken, the materials that had been painstakingly patched before became a pile of useless industrial waste, and they had to be managed. In addition, the “coloring” process was outsourced to overseas companies. After the shipment, it usually took several days to see the finished product. In contrast, today, no matter what, “animation” “painting”, the two processes add up, basically can guarantee to work within 12 hours. However, the time cost saved by the above process basically used the “segmentation” and “painting” links. In the end, it did not make enough production cycles for “background art” and “photography”
After the above operational procedures were established, Berita worked quietly for about 10 years at J.C.STAFF. In 2009, when he was the producer, he completed his last work in J.C., and after the first season of Science Super Electromagnetic Gun, he turned to Aniplex. In 2018, after a lapse of nine years, Botian officially took over the post of President A-1 Pictures
In the industry, I have been playing for nearly 20 years, and finally I have been the president of the highest decision-maker position. Nowadays, I have seen a series of difficult problems such as “quality instability” and “not catching delivery”. Problem. Therefore, his primary goal is to create a strong on-site team that will not easily fall into chaos because of daily small problems
Although this goal is immediately difficult to achieve, President Botian expects that in the next five years, A-1 will be able to have the ability to be independent and powerful without the help of the parent company Aniplex
And behind this “powerful”, can not be separated from the “people” support. If you want to hand over a good work, you must be based on good staffing. Especially when encountering a team with creative enthusiasm, it is even more difficult. Moreover, after listening to the voices of various departments in the community about “buy money only, A-1 can’t really cultivate talents”, Baitian is determined to build the company into a platform suitable for talent growth. To this end, at the beginning of his term of office, he had a round of interviews with all members
Through interviews, President Bai Tian discovered that among the younger generation, smart and sensible children occupy the vast majority. Originally, he considered that the young people who worked on animation in Japan had been so homeless for various reasons. I think that some of them may be dissatisfied with the president because of the imbalance between giving and harvesting. But in fact, Bai Tian did not hear a few words of discouragement. Therefore, the result of the conversation was actually the president himself. Encouraged, the mindset became more positive and optimistic. On the other hand, Bai Tian also found that today’s young members lack the ones they used to do. Everything loves self-confidence and scrambling, and the younger generation is reluctant to take the initiative to express their true ideas. However, in the end, when Botian sincerely asked them, “Is there anything I want to say?” When I saw that the president really wanted to hear, most people still simply told their true thoughts. It can be said that the situation of “toothpaste” is much more like a squeeze, and President Botian can’t help but secretly vomit in his heart. “I have an idea, please come and see the mountain!” At the same time, he also realized once again the importance of maintaining the enthusiasm of employees
Although, the specific measures taken to maintain the enthusiasm of employees, it is not easy to disclose, but the company does do all aspects of consideration. If you want to give an example, the “bottleneck” that animation companies are most likely to encounter is the problem that the promotion channel is not smooth. For example, even if someone has risen from “production” to “production desk”, as long as the producers are still enough, they will not be able to work. In order to solve this kind of embarrassment, A-1 decided to pay the employees’ efforts in the future, give various forms of corresponding returns, and establish a complete set of rank evaluation system
On the other hand, due to the continued sluggish sales of BD, disc publishers are on the road to change, and the relationship between producers and publishers has also changed. Standing in the position of the animation production company, the current market is generally in a state of short supply. Therefore, the production costs are rising in the rising season. Originally, this phenomenon is very popular among the production agencies. However, President Botian also pointed out that the production company should not make a film with the mentality of “everything is finished,” but should take “effective recovery of production costs” as a real goal. In the above, President Boita mentioned that he should try to “survive independently without the help of the parent company Aniplex”. In fact, once the investment company and staff are reduced, the entire production site will immediately fall into paralysis. Therefore, we must explore a path that will enable both parties to coexist and prosper
In the opinion of Baitian, although Aniplex is the parent company of A-1 Pictures, the goal during his tenure is to do it. Even if Aniplex can’t maintain the current good performance, it still needs to ensure that A-1 The item is working properly and can continue to produce animations. Only in this way can we maintain the image production in a stable and orderly manner. For this reason, A-1 should also open the skylight with other disc manufacturers to make a statement. Based on the above reasons, Bai Tian believes that it is easier for him to find a compromise between the investor’s psychology and the “man in the middle” of the production situation, and it is easier to find a compromise that is acceptable to both parties
When it comes to the labor system reforms that are often talked about in the industry, Bertian feels that change itself is imperative. In order to reduce the burden on the production site, tasks such as recycling of original paintings have been entrusted to the courier company. Moreover, changing the mentality of practitioners is also a top priority. In view of the nature of the work in the animation industry, people are often busy with four-legged delivery during the delivery period, but because of this, they should not neglect to make full use of the leisure space to make rest adjustments. The shift operation of TV animation will show a wave of peaks and waves that are busy for a while. At this time, it is necessary to create an atmosphere where the “leisure people” can go home early without any scruples. Because in Japan, usually as long as the boss has not yet got off work, even if he is not working, the staff is embarrassed to take the lead. Therefore, President Botian banned the bosses at all levels from saying to their subordinates, “Would you like to withdraw?” Even if it was a joke, because if you heard this, the employees would not dare to go home
For the outside world to give A-1 Pictures a “follow the pulse of the times, cut the pain of the audience”, Botian is only conservative, because the president thinks that A-1 or Aniplex is unlikely to launch too much. “Avant-garde planning.” Like the recent “Saga Idol is Legend” (MAPPA, avex pictures), and “SSSS.GRIDMAN” (TRIGGER, Pony Canyon), at least the current A-1, Aniplex will not risk to be the first. Although Botian also understands that it is a batter’s mentality that is afraid of being beaten out of the game and not dare to make a big swing, but also self-deprecating, has long abandoned the home run, only to ask the infield to fight long live, not qualified for the right This commentary is full of arguments. Therefore, in the future, we must work towards the direction of “breaking the existing style of painting”
In addition, in today’s “easy to get comics, animation and visual sense” real-life dramas, how to conceive a project that can highlight the “individual unique charm” has become a serious problem that the animation industry’s creative staff must face
Of course, A-1 is not without bold action. In the last season, “Miss Hui Yee wants me to confess – the geniuses’ love and mind wars”, the third ED, the smooth dance of Fujiwara Chiba’s classmates After a hot discussion. As a producer, the audience received positive feedback on the work. The discussion on the Internet was soaring, and the number of video plays exceeded 5 million times. All of this must be attributed to the successful operation of the live producer, Kenji Yamada, so that President Boda, who was “robbed of the limelight,” was unwilling
The reason why I feel unwilling is that, so far, these things are supposed to be the cause of planning producers and live producers. In today’s “the scene where people are stretched, how to effectively use the energy value of the production team” Producer’s personal abilities and wrists. It is not easy for Yamada to produce a hot event with such a sensational effect. It is worthy of praise. After the animation was broadcast, a series of actions such as the line announcement in the official announcement were also made from the pre-arranged array. The video taken by the line is like saying to the curious audience, “Someone must think that it is CG, but it is not.”
President Botian is very appreciative of Yamada P’s practice, and he can’t wait to produce a few spiritual producers at his own production site. After all, the same is the fermentation hotspot, and the off-topic hype that has little relevance to the work is useless for the propaganda of the work. From this point of view, the precision-guided clarification operation of one arrow and two sculptures makes Baitian full of joy, envy and hate
Talking about the impact of China’s online video program review becoming stricter, which may have an impact on the Japanese animation industry, Bai Tian said that the variables in the Chinese market are still quite shocking to the industry and even a sense of despair. Of course, the president’s mind also thought that the bubble period of the Chinese video website’s massive purchase of Japanese animation rights would soon come to an end. It can only be said that such a moment has come to the forefront. However, the president still sees from desperation. In the past 10 years, through the world’s large and small exhibitions, fans from many countries have learned that Japanese animation has evolved beyond the 30 years of development. The entertainment service of the children’s audience has grown into a kind of high-end consumer variety of pan-luxury type, which is universally recognized. If the audience grow up today and become parents, they should pass on their love for animation works to their next generation. In this case, the future is by no means without light. Therefore, there is reason to believe that desperation is gestating hope, only for this line of life, A-1 is also reasoned to continue to move forward with enthusiasm
References:
19th April issue “NewType”