Thursday, November 9, 2006

Hayao Miyazaki Art Project
This is the write up for my Hayao Miyazaki poster that I just put up in my Portfolio. You can't really read it on the picture (since I had to shrink it) so I decided to put it here for anyone who's interested.

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Hayao Miyazaki is not only an amazing artist, but one of Japan’s greatest animation directors. He has obtained recognition world-wide for his beautifully animated movies.

Hayao Miyazaki was born in Tokyo, Japan on January 5, 1941. With animation being such a huge industry in Japan, Miyazaki had plenty of inspiration growing up, and plenty of opportunity to develop and excel in his craft.

Miyazaki started his career in 1963 as an animator at the Toei Douga studio, and he had his first taste of directing in 1978 when he worked on a Japanese TV series called “Conan, The Boy of the Future”. Miyazaki directed his first movie, “Lupin III: Castle of Cagliostro”, one year later, in 1979. In 1984, Miyazaki wrote and directed the movie “Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind”, which was so successful that he was able to open his own company, Studio Ghibli.

Studio Ghibli has produced many hit movies since it opened, 8 of which were directed by Hayao Miyazaki. Two movies that are worthy of mention are “Princess Mononoke” (1997), which won the Japanese equivalent of an Academy Award for Best Film, and “Spirited Away” (2001), which won an Academy Award for Best Animated Picture in 2003.

Miyazaki is very involved in the making of his movies. He writes the stories and designs the characters, and, for every movie he makes, he draws painstakingly detailed storyboards for the entire film. He also overlooks his animators’ work very carefully to make sure that all the frames are exactly as he wants them. If he comes across something he thinks should be changed, such as a cell that he thinks should be painted a different colour, he’ll do it himself!

Not only does Miyazaki write and direct movies, he also writes and illustrates Manga (Japanese comic books). “Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind” was done by Miyazaki as a Manga series before he made it into a movie.

Hayao Miyazaki has proved through his movies and Manga that he is an amazing artist, and a hugely imaginative writer. Although Miyazaki has announced that he wants to retire, one hopes that he will, once again, grace us with more of his beautiful artwork.
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