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Animation Studios in Japan

RotaryPower

後輩
2 Jul 2003
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I am a Computer Animation student at the Ringling School of Art in Sarasota, Florida USA...

I am coming to Japan soon and wanted to find some information on Animation Studios in Japan.

Could anyone give me some information or internet links?
 
They don't make only computer-assisted animation, but they used a lot of in their recent movies... And aslo, i think they are the more famous worldwide.

>> Studio Ghibli
 
Hello there!!

I'm graduating in character animation at Animation Mentor, i'd love to work in japan next year.

Rotary, did you manage to get to work on a animation studio?
 
Have to watch dates on old threads.......

that member has not been on JREF for 8 years? As you will see in other threads here, unless you read,write, and speak Japanese at a high level, it's difficult to get a job in Japan. Visa's are another problem also for living and working in Japan.

Uncle Frank
 
hi Uncle Frank, thanks for your response.

yeah this thread is pretty old i know, but i was hoping to hear from him anyway.

I'm sorry i just joined today, i haven't the chance to explore the other threads yet.
Yes i'm affraid that the language can be a problem, but as long as they like my animation skills, i believe the language problem can be surpassed since most people in animation studios must be able to speak english, no? What do you think?
 
I'm no expert, but I guess from what other members have said, jobs go to Japanese first, then if by some slight chance , there are still openings, a foreigner may have a chance. I guess the VISA to work in Japan is hardest to get through. I think for some jobs you need a company to sponser you before you can get a visa(not positive). I seems a good idea to go visit/short term stay in Japan before you decide you want to live & work there. I hear for most people , there is a bit of culture shock. Reading old posts here probably will give you better , more detailed answers.

Uncle Frank
 
The bulk of Japanese animation contains very little animation and can't possibly require much skill.

Why on earth would you assume English would be of any use in the workplace?

It's all about churning out massive amounts of product at the lowest possible price. That means lots of reused loops and lots of sequences of basically still pictures with nothing but the lips moving. It also means hiring the cell coloring and whatever else they can out to housewives to do at home on a paint-by-number system and paying them sweatshop wages for the work.

They don't need artists; they need artisans.

And every high school girl in the country can draw that highly stylized crap.
 
Hi Mike,
I understand what you mean, and you're partially right about the still images with lip sync. But, and this is a big but, when the characters are moving, picking objects or fighting, that requires an huge knowlegde about body mechanics. You have no idea man. Animating weight is one of the hardest things ever, because, believe me, animation is not about moving forms, it's all about moving forces.

In the other hand, acting in animation is quite difficult too, it is necessary to show that the character is thinking, that he has feelings (the internal force that leads him to react and move for a reason), and with that, estabilish an emphatic relationship with the audience. It's no easy task, believe me.

Despite of how well you can do drawings, animation will never be good if it's not sincere and natural about the illusion of life.

Anyway, i don't do traditional animation (i suck at hand drawing). I am a 3D artist, so i use the computer, that's why i believe that i can have a chance to get a job in a japanese studio. Otherwise i wouldn't even try, they have a lot of amazing 2D animators already.

If you are interested in what i wrote above, take a look at this simple flour sack animation. It's just a bunch of simple lines moving? No, it's a flour sack that THINKS and you understand how he feels, and yet he doesn't speak a single word or have any facial expression. It's brilliant. It's all about animating internal and external forces.

It was made by a Pixar animator, by the way. Enjoy!
VNOG Blog: Flour Sack Animation Test
 
I'm talking about what constitutes the bulk of Japanese animation, which is the utter crap turned out on low budgets for television. There's no particular concern in those for body mechanics, or much of anything else.
 
I can understand from an outsider's POV the appeal of working at a Japanese animation studio. I had once dreamed of working as a concept artist for Squaresoft (now SquareEnix) but alas, I have long since woken from that one. I still think it's possible now that I'm actually here and if I were more serious about it, I *could* get fluent in Japanese and work my drawing hand to the point of paralysis but... I guess it all just depends on how badly you want something.

I say do some research, find out which animation studios would be most accepting of foreigners.... become fluent in Japanese...build a kickass portfolio...and keep trying.
 
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If you are a 2D artist, EA and Playfish are probably still hiring because they just setup a new studio in Tokyo to develop social network games. Japanese is not a must but English is necessary.

I was from Academy of Art University major 3D modeling for games. But now I'm in Tokyo doing MBA to setup my own business in comics and character merchandize :p

---------- Post added at 21:42 ---------- Previous post was at 21:38 ----------

Sorry, forgot to say that they would prefer a candidate already residing in Japan.
 
If you are a 2D artist, EA and Playfish are probably still hiring because they just setup a new studio in Tokyo to develop social network games. Japanese is not a must but English is necessary.
I was from Academy of Art University major 3D modeling for games. But now I'm in Tokyo doing MBA to setup my own business in comics and character merchandize :p
---------- Post added at 21:42 ---------- Previous post was at 21:38 ----------
Sorry, forgot to say that they would prefer a candidate already residing in Japan.
Thanks for the info! I think that's a wonderful school (one I wanted to attend at some point) and I love your comics by the way! :)
 
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