Week 2_Research_Julianna Tillman

The animator I chose is Makoto Shinkai, a Japanese director, animator, and manga artist. Some of his more famous works include Your Name (2016) and Weathering with You (2019). Shinkai was inspired by the works of famous Japanese director, Hiyako Miyazaki, and is often considered to be the “next” Miyazaki by critics. Shinkai’s animation process is very similar to the industry standard both in Japan and abroad. He creates a screenplay for his story and storyboards the entirety of the project himself. After pre-production, Shinkai uses a combination of Toon Boom for character animation and Photoshop for backgrounds. Shinkai typically takes photographs as references for his works, giving his animated films immensely detailed backgrounds. The realism of his imagery is derived from scenes of Tokyo and the surrounding Japanese countryside; the setting allows citizens and travelers abroad to feel as though his stories take place in the real world. Shinkai’s animations also use light as a means to tell a story or symbolize emotions. Before the final publishing of his films, Shinkai will scan through the images to determine whether they accurately use enough light on the characters and backgrounds. He tries to showcase the beauty in modern surroundings through his cityscapes and natural scenes.