Since my childhood, I loved watching Anime & reading Manga. I used to read & hear names of famous Anime producers and Manga publishers, but no one has got my full attention and admiration as Makoto Shinkai.I've been a big fan of Mokoto Shinkai who can't get enough off his master pieces since I saw his first work.
Makoto Shinkai is a famous young japanese Anime director, animator, picture book artist and principal voice actor. His name got popular in 1998 after he won many awards for his first personal animated short film that he made in his personal computer at home.
The passion came after graduating from Chuo University in Tokyo (1992) and majored in Japanese literature; Indepently, he developed his skills in painting and joined in a literature club to draw picture books for junior & senior high students.
In 1996 he got a job in a computer game company (Falcom) as a graphic
designer and he practiced CG for 5 years by making video clips for
games and graphic design in addition to web contents.
Even with his gained experience & the huge amount of produced work, he felt ungratified with his own desire to make longer clips with his own stories.
Even with his gained experience & the huge amount of produced work, he felt ungratified with his own desire to make longer clips with his own stories.
He wanted that to express his creativity and thoughts with his own
work. The lack of technology & equipments he owned at home didn’t
turn him down to start creating his short film at night.
This is the point of struggle that any one could face at the beginning. In my view, all the greatest people started their dreams positively with enthusiasm & few resources, but this didn’t bring them down as they were determined with continuation towards their success.
He didn’t stop or throw away his aspiration. After three years of hard work he finished his first5 minutes short movie & got many rewards. Anime studios and companies looked up to offer a place for him but he refused to complete what he began.
I was really touched by his insistence to what he really wanted for three years to complete his first work that led him to be a master.
In 2000 he resigned from his job to concentrate with his new job as a
free-lance anime creator with a small team that he personally selected
to work with him in his studio at home.
There aren't too many creators like Makoto Shinkai. He is a true revolutionist in the world of anime. His hands are master s of creating emotional landscapes with a visual treat of light, shadow, and color. He writes storyboards and directs his own projects. Shinkai’s successfulness comes from his ability to communicate in his
visuals directly to his audience and that’s what keeps the audience
interested. Also Shinkai’s love for computer graphics is the thing that made him enjoying his time working in his computer.
“While I was using 3D modeling software, I could build a 3D world in
front of my eyes as though I'm playing some kind of game. Thus I
enjoyed the task itself.” (* see below for reference)The way he impressed me most was by enjoying what he’s doing; which is the main aspect to accomplish his dreams.
First Work released in 1999 (She and Her Cat):
Samples of Work ( Click on the work title to watch the trailer):
5 Centimeters Per SecondThe Place Promised in Our Early Days
Voices of a Distant Star
Bibliography:
- Shinkai's Quite, Patrick Drazen, 26 Mar 2008, Do-It-Yourself Animator, URL
- An interview with Makoto Shinkai, 2008 June 22nd Sunday, Joe, Otako News, the URL link
- Another interview with Makoto Shinkai, 20-22 June 2008, London, Alex Fitch, Electric Sheep website, URL
- Makoto Shinkai's Anime, June 2006, Jenny Rae, intergalactic medicine show website, URL
- Shinkai’s Biography, Anime Site, Lesley Aeschliman, BellaOnline's Anime Editor, 2009, URL
