Introduction: A Rising Stream of Celebrity Concept Artists

The creation of animation is not just the work of the overseer. In the seventies and eighties of the last century, animation lovers have begun to be strongly aware of the influence of "painting" on animation works. However, due to the limitations of the storage media and the animation itself, more people pay attention to the quality of the painting and less about the dynamics. With the advancement of the digital age, animations can be easily copied and edited as digital jù saved on the hard disk. Some lovers who have been paying attention to painting for a long time have compiled the painting clips of their favorite original artists into a "collection", which is the birth of "Painting MAD/AMV". These videos can not only help people grasp the painting style of the original artist, but also allow people to intuitively understand the characteristics of a concept artist in terms of dynamics.

(BAHIJD's paintings, bizarre special effects and wild lines, this Austrian-born newcomer always likes to do all kinds of strange experiments)

As a result, one by one, the original artists with excellent talents in motion were unearthed by enthusiasts, Kiyogo Yamashita who danced on the timeline of the animation using rotoscoping techniques, Ryosuke Nishii, who played with the movement of the center of gravity of the human body, and BahiJD, who liked to experiment with all kinds of crazy dynamics. The obscure original artist of the old era has attracted the attention of enthusiasts the moment he stepped into the industry of the new era. With the understanding and recognition of the work of original artists by amateurs, the era of real star original paintings has also arrived.

What is an Concept Artist? - Unraveling the mystery

When it comes to original artists, many people may not know about them. When I usually watch an anime, I think a certain anime feels good, and I often remember the director of the anime, as well as the voice actor who dubbed the anime characters. The story and the picture are attributed to the director, and the acting skills are matched with the corresponding character voice actors.

However, it's not just such simple elements that affect the quality of an animation. The story is important, but if an animation work does not fully convey the core of the story to the audience, it will not give a passing grade. On the other hand, some well-known animations, although the story structure is simple, have gained a large audience from the market. How to convey the text to the audience in the form of visual images depends on the performer's skill, and the specific job is to convey his performance intention through guò "storyboard". However, with the exception of performers such as Hayao Miyazaki, Katsuhiro Otomo, and Satoshi Kon, who specify a lot of detail in the storyboard, the storyboards of other performers tend to be a synopsis of the picture configuration. For example, in a shot, the general relationship between the background and the person, and how the camera should move. As for the refinement of the rough performance intention, it is the job of the original artist.

☆ The position of the concept artist in the animation process

Actors in movies can make a voice while showing their acting skills. However, it is often necessary to re-dub it in the later stages of production. Therefore, the performance in the movie is mostly done by actors and voice actors. There is also dubbing in the anime, but there is no deposit of actors. And it is the original artist and animator who make the characters in the animation show their emotions and perform like actors.

Animation is a huge project. A small number of people who want to make good animations often take a lot of time. If you can't guarantee the speed of updating your work, it means death in the world of business. Aside from the pre-planning stage, the actual production period of commercial animation is very short. Therefore, the establishment of an assembly line centered on painting supervision became an important milestone in the development of commercial animation in Japan. With such an assembly line, it is possible to complete the animation production in a short period of time with quality and quantity. Assembly line work is the general practice of modern TV animation.

The original artist, in the entire assembly line, occupies a crucial position to connect the previous and the next.

When the scriptwriter hands over the script to the performer, the performer will draw on the storyboard the arrangement of the shot, the elements needed in the current shot, the content of the dialogue, the sound effects, and the time required for a shot. After the storyboard, the director and performer will gather the concept artist for a drawing meeting, where the corresponding shots will be assigned to the concept artist. This was where the concept work began.

THE ORIGINAL ARTIST WILL FIRST DRAW THE LAYOUT OF THE SHOT AND SEND IT TO THE DIRECTOR OF THE CURRENT EPISODE (I.E., THE PERFORMANCE) FOR REVIEW. After checking the pass, the original artist will clear and draw the lines of the original sketch in the LAYOUT. When the production schedule is tight and the original artist is unable to complete the line work alone, the original artist's original sketch will be given to another original artist to complete it on his behalf, which is called the second original painting. After the lines are cleaned, they are handed over to the painting supervisor for correction, and the modeling errors are corrected to unify the style of painting. Finally, the original art is sent to the animation department or an outsourcing company, and the animator fills in the animation (middle frame) according to the instructions given by the original artist. In addition, the background designed by the original artist during the layout stage and the legal form filled in are important indicative materials for the art (background) department and the photography (post-production) department, respectively.

Continuing to carry out the director's intentions and influencing the work of the animation department, the art department, and the photography department, it is not difficult for us to find the core role of the original artist in the animation production line.

☆ If you don't draw well, you can make the original painting

When I first started watching the animation, I thought that the animation was drawn by the original artist, frame by frame. There are two misconceptions here, first, that the animation does not change every frame, and second, the most important job of the original artist is not to draw "paintings". So what exactly is the job of an original artist?

FIRST OF ALL, LET'S TALK ABOUT THE FIRST JOB OF THE CONCEPT ARTIST AFTER GETTING THE STORYBOARD - LAYOUT DESIGN.

LAYOUT IS REFERRED TO AS L/O, AND ENTHUSIASTS GENERALLY CALL IT DESIGN DRAFT. In the past, most of the animation design drafts were designed to clarify the space in which the subject was located in the shot, as well as the relationship between the foreground, background and characters. For example, if you can't grasp the state of the character in the space when the character walks in the direction of depth, there will be wonderful visual phenomena such as "Ling Bo Weibu" (the character and the background are not combined) and "Lilliputian" (the perspective of the character space is incorrect). In the previous animation system, the design draft was generally carried out by the old original painting with extremely rich experience.

Some people may say that if you look at the relationship between perspective, as long as you have a solid basic skill in painting, you can easily draw it. But the design draft is not as simple as "just get the perspective right". All visual design is magic, and how to serve the "human eye" is the most important topic in the design of the original painting. The wide-angle lens that expands the small indoor space, the telescopic lens that makes the urban building more layered, and the distorted space that renders the environment more psychedelic color. These specific designs will eventually test the talent of the original artist. HOWEVER, THIS IS NOT THE CASE WHERE 3DLAYOUT IS USED NOW.

For example, in Mamoru Oshii's "Mobile Police Movie II", some people feel that "although I can't understand it, I don't know why it looks so comfortable", and that's because Mamoru Oshii's design system includes characters like Keiyuki Okiura, Kazuya Kuse, and others who have a very deep understanding of space.

Nowadays, the content of the design has also changed due to the greater focus on efficiency in animation production. In addition to the design of the space itself, it is necessary to complete a draft of the original drawing showing the movement of the characters and a legal sheet with photographic (post) instructions.

Now that we're talking about dynamics, let's talk about another important role of the concept artist – motion design.

The design of the action may seem very simple when you think about it occasionally. "Take a video and draw it again, and it's over." This is indeed a very practical method, which we call "rotoscoping". However, there are three problems with "rotoscoping": first, what can be drawn by rotoscoping is only "real", and "surreal" things or dynamics cannot be rotoscoped; Second, because the lines do not exist objectively, the movement of the "real lines" seen by the human eye is extremely complex, and "drawing" without understanding will only cause the unprovoked jumps of the lines and the instability of the contours, making "blind" animations; Third, rotoscoping requires a lot of real-world materials, and it is difficult to find or shoot matching materials with some special lenses.

Some people will say, isn't there a part of motion design in animation textbooks? If you follow the drawing, it's not over. Indeed, many of the actions in the animation have a fixed dynamic mode to refer to. But not to mention the problem of action design of complex fight scenes, the animation itself made with a set of fixed action patterns is quite boring.

So in fact, the design of movements is a big science.

The movement of objects in animation is, in the final analysis, the movement of weight and volume. How to convey this sense of weight and volume is the most basic idea of action design. Weight is the grasp of the center of gravity, strength and inertia, and volume is the grasp of shape and three-dimensionality. As a concept artist, it is not necessary to draw the characters in each original painting without flaws, but to consider the direction of force, the movement of the center of gravity, and the need to add any changes to the details of the shape from the previous painting to the next painting.

In the anime, we sometimes see the limbs of the characters turn into blocks of color with contours like waves. People with good deeds often intercept this kind of scene and call it painting collapse. Actually, this is completely different from the "collapse" of still images. When we watch the movie, we know that if something moves too fast, its "shape" in the eyes of the human eye will become unstable, it is difficult to capture the volume, and it is impossible to confirm the approximate weight with the naked eye, so we can only feel that it flies in front of us with a "whoosh". In animation, this is expressed by "deformation". For example, when running at high speed, the legs will appear afterimage, at this time, the original artist will slightly lengthen the legs, and then add wavy or burr-like lines to the contour line behind the legs. And do not draw hatches to cancel the sense of volume of the limb itself. Then put such a painting into a series of movements, and it conveys a feeling of "Scud" to the viewer. Of course, there's not just one way to design for high-speed movement. It is precisely because of the colorful action design of the original artist that the animation becomes interesting.

However, just because you can add a design to the action doesn't mean that the concept artist can use deformations indiscriminately. The correct grasp of the shape is the foundation, which requires the original artist to have strong enough human sketching skills; In terms of drawing subjects for special scenes, adding design, and improving work efficiency, the dynamic sketching skills of the original artist are also required. So, it's not that the original artist doesn't need to draw power, it's just that he can't be an original artist just because he has the ability to paint, no matter how high the painting power is.

IN ADDITION TO THE DESIGN OF THE LAYOUT AND MOVEMENTS, THE CONCEPT ARTIST ALSO HAS AN EXTREMELY IMPORTANT JOB, WHICH IS TO CONTROL THE TIME ALLOCATION AND POSITIONING OF THE PAINTING. Strictly speaking, this is part of the "dynamic" design.

Some people may not understand what exactly is meant by the time allocation of paintings. The movement of the subject in the animation, except for the movement of the coordinate position in the later stage, all other movements need to be completed by painting. Japanese animation uses a 24 frames per second, and not every frame needs to be filled with a different picture. In addition to still images, even images that appear to be moving all the time may be filled with two frames with the same image. In animation, this is called one-shot two. Filling 3 frames is called a beat three, filling 4 frames is called a beat 4, and so on.

Seeing this, some people will say that filling several frames with the same picture is not lazy? Sometimes, due to financial constraints or tight schedules, it is true that the number of paintings is reduced. More often than not, though, this "fill in a few frames" adjustment is intended to create a change in speed and dynamics in a series of movements.

Positioning may be better understood than time. For example, if the ball falls with the same spacing between each drawing, the ball will move at a uniform speed without adjusting the time allocation. Such a weightless fall will look "fake".

When we read a novel, we usually think that rhythmic changes will be more beautiful, and the same is true for animation. Combined with the motion design, the combination of time and position adjustments for the painting, the original artist was able to display a variety of dynamic effects on the screen. This is a professional talent that can only be learned by concept artists. Nowadays, when 3D animation is gradually becoming mainstream, there are still many companies that ask concept artists to draw 2D dynamic drafts as a reference for 3D animation. There are even some original artists who can't fully simulate the dynamics in 3D. This also fully shows that the design power in terms of dynamics is the foundation of the original artist's survival.

☆ Painting supervision is greater than the original painting? It's easy to fall into the trap

Some of the more core animation enthusiasts may ask, painting supervision is not only about face-repairing, but also about repairing the human body, isn't it a bit biased to attribute all the credit for dynamic design to the original artist?

The answer is yes. There are even some supervisors with a strong personal style, or special supervisors in TV animation (such as action supervisors, special effects supervisors), who will not only make significant corrections in the painting style and human body dynamic design, but also refill in the time stepping points in the rhythm table according to their own habits.

But, after all, that's an extreme case. Most of the prison corrections to the human body are over. Sometimes the supervisor repairs the human body too "hard", which will affect the dynamics. In other words, the supervisor is not necessarily better than ordinary original paintings in terms of grasping dynamics.

However, it is true that drawing supervisors play a very important role in animation, especially in television animation. Due to the tight schedule of TV animation production, it is inevitable that the original artist will sometimes lose shape under high-intensity work, and the relationship between the subject and the camera will deviate (such as the deviation of the face orientation), or the phenomenon of mixing in the personal painting style, at this time, the painting supervision will become a lifesaver. There is no doubt about the painting superintendent's drawing ability, and even in the very short period of the revision period, the "Honkai" momentum can be saved to a certain extent.

Why is the painting supervisor often more famous than the original painting? The first is that the personality of the artist can be observed more intuitively from the painting, the second is that the painting supervisor generally has more opportunities to draw copyright paintings in various magazines, and the third is that many people in the industry are "from the original painting to the painting supervision", giving people the illusion that the painting supervisor is more powerful than the original painting.

In fact, the relationship between the painting supervisor and the original painting is that the painting supervisor has a talent for painting, and has a very high copying ability or a strong personal style. With the advent of action supervisors and special effects supervisors, original paintings that are good at action and special effects have also been given the opportunity to be "promoted". But no matter what kind of supervisor it is, it belongs to the original painting that has a specialty in a certain aspect, but the work in the work is different.

The generation that stands at the top of the line, Japan's top original paintings

AnimeCentral, the event for American animation fans, will feature stories about concept artists. Surprisingly, they are not talking about the great predecessors of Disney or the great artists of France. They sat at the podium and told the audience about the best of "shoddy" Japanese animation. "If you can give them more budget, they can make amazing things." In the Japanese animation system, where the number of pictures and the production schedule are strictly limited, Japanese animators have found a breakthrough to "make cheap works gorgeous". Astonishing speed and density of painting, bold action design, good time control, and precise positioning. Even in the state of "frame drops", the sense of strength and speed of painting can still be maintained, which is also pleasing to veteran animation fans in the United States. Today, I would like to introduce you to three of Japan's top original artists.

☆ Action genius Yutaka Nakamura (works: "Cowboy Bebop", "Soul Eater", "STARDRIVER Shiny Tacot", etc.)

"Cowboy Bebop", a masterpiece of the last century, must be familiar to many enthusiasts. But in addition to the ups and downs of the scripts of Keiko Nobumoto, Dai Sato and others, and Yoko Kanno's handsome and uninhibited jazz, I don't know how many people can remember the gripping fight scenes in this work. From this work, a genius for action painting called Yutaka Nakamura emerged, and later became considered the strongest action concept painting in Japan. What is the charm of his paintings?

The person who has the deepest understanding of "body movement in the human eye".

Before Yutaka Nakamura became the "strongest action original painting", he drew a lot of mechanical paintings. A series of shots of EVA Shinji Nakaikari and Asuka flying in the air at the same time are from the hand of Yutaka Nakamura. When he paints machinery, he understands the structure of machinery more thoroughly than other original artists. On the basis of not affecting the overall texture and volume of the machine, the machine is disassembled into many movable parts. Let the hard mechanical elements have more room to move. In this way, the machine is endowed with "elasticity", so that the machine can make the characters move flexibly in general. In the world of mechanical painting with complex lines (making machines move), few people have such skills (at least in Japan, there may only be Yutaka Nakamura). On the other hand, in order to gauge the weight changes of the mechanical components, Nakamura sometimes asks the components to draw one or more unscientific-looking trajectories. It may sound like it has entered the realm of metaphysics, but it can often make people shine.

So, what about when Yutaka Nakamura actually drew people?

Let's take an example of a hook move. We know that when a boxer actually throws a hook, in order to leave a smaller flaw, the preparation for the swing backwards does not move much, and it is often completed quickly. The punch is fastest in the middle and slower at both ends. If the animation is drawn according to the actual boxing, the design sense of "kung fu movie" will be lost. In addition to adjusting the rhythm from slow to fast in the preparation to the punching stage, the general original artist will also make the preparation action exaggerated a little, and then "push" the outline of the "punch" to the enemy according to the acceleration of the punch. In the part where the punch speed is fastest, speed lines or deformations will be added to render the sense of speed.

And what will Yutaka Nakamura do? If Yutaka Nakamura were to draw a hook boxing move, he would first find a way to transfer the power of his body to the punch. For example, if it is a left hook, the character's body will deviate to the left and turn sideways. Raise the fist backwards, and for the time being, do not show the trend of "fists moving forward". Then the moment of punching ushered in the "explosion" stage, and the body to the left side was thrown back to the original position or even the right position. Because the body, especially the chest, is a large and stable firmware, it is difficult to reflect the feeling of throwing, so at this time, it is necessary to use the shaking of the head to create a "sense of power to throw out". At the same time, the speed of the fist has also been increased, so add a speed line to the back of the fist.

The use of performative POSE and exaggerated physical treatment to express a sense of force is an important part of Nakamura's movement design.

What follows is the interesting part. While other concept artists were still speeding up their fists with a large displacement, Yutaka Nakamura would often use his fists to draw a trajectory on the screen. This trajectory is either a line of velocity or a very large deformation. And the actions of the characters themselves are already "closing" or have a tendency to stop. While eliminating the sense of volume to reflect the speed, the slowdown part is reflected, and the amount of information that other original artists can express in at least two paintings is summarized in one painting.

In the sword fight scene between Luo Wolf and Nameless in "No Emperor Blade Tan", the moment the sword crosses the screen is handled in this way. Of course, it takes into account the ability of the human eye to capture objects moving at high speed, but after the author's actual finding, this trajectory is not something that can be drawn casually. And you also have to take into account the connection between the front and back, otherwise the picture will easily become ugly. Sure enough, in the faster-than-light world where geniuses are, it is difficult for us to keep up.

"Nakamura Tension" - the highest interpretation of the sense of rhythm

In addition to the design of the movement, the careful handling of the articulation part of the force is also one of the characteristics of Yutaka Nakamura. Before the next punch, Nakamura will often spend more drawings than punches to express the small displacement of the punch before the punch. Just like the slow motion in kung fu movies that adjusts the rhythm after exerting force, keep a low profile and usher in the next big explosion. This small displacement, which combines the three stages of retraction, preparation, and explosion, is not only reflected in his action paintings, but also in his mechanical, special effects and other paintings. Enthusiasts affectionately call it "Nakamura Tension".

Here is an explanation of the word "tension", which is the part that concentrates the strength during the preparation stage of the movement and before the exertion of force. In layman's terms, it is equivalent to the "maximum accumulation stage". Tension is the key to creating variation in the movements, and it is a skill that traditional concept artists must master.

Ordinary original artists usually take apart the three parts and paint them when they are at a tense stage. Closing is the stage of unloading the force, and it will generally be processed relatively quickly. The preparation stage is the stage where the re-energizing begins to be renewed, and this stage is handled by some people in a very detailed manner, while others are handled relatively roughly. And the tense, concentrated part, a good concept artist tends to pay attention to this part. For example, Kameda Shoro, one of the main original paintings of "Steel Forge FA", often increases the number of sheets in the nervous parts, and although it seems that the accumulation of strength has slowed down, it makes the explosion of action more sufficient.

Yutaka Nakamura's paintings, although strictly speaking, also include these three stages. However, the seemingly small, slow, and average displacement after the end of the action does not give the impression of "receiving" and "ready" at all. In the continuous exchange of peaks and troughs, it gives people a sense of drastic ups and downs, thus creating an excellent visual impact.

Yutaka Nakamura's nervousness is not like other original artists who are nervous about one action, but often because of a series of actions. We can often see a fancy and dazzling process after the Nakamura nervousness. This tension, which can be used before each force bursts out, has become an important means for Nakamura to show explosiveness and adjust the rhythm.

Extraordinary lens design power

Most people who are interested in anime painting have heard the legend that Yutaka Nakamura, who was an original artist, sometimes painted without the storyboard of the performer. This is confirmed by a message from Yoshiyuki Ito (character designer and original artist of BONES) in Toyode Nakamura's doujinshi "INCOMPLETENESS".

The original art alters the performer's storyboard arrangement without authorization, which is not allowed in the industry. Even if the original artist has a better performance skill, the original artist will not change the storyboard due to the flow of the work arrangement, his own responsibilities in a work, and the respect he has for the performer.

Yutaka Nakamura is different. Once he found that the storyboard did not achieve the design effect he wanted, he would sometimes make changes according to his own requirements without reading the air, as if he had become a privileged class in the industry. But the strange thing is that Nakamura Yuyo is a privilege, but more and more loved. While becoming a "company cancer", it makes the animation itself interesting.

Yutaka Nakamura's choreography and design of the fighting movements are indeed far beyond the average performer. While refining the shots and speeding up the camera switching, the logic of the play choreography was fully considered. The rapid change of scenes, excellent camera composition, and superb action design and pacing make it naturally spectacular. In the past, close-ups of faces would be inserted in the fight scenes, but now the combination of scenes is mainly medium, full, and far, and there are occasional close-ups of footsteps. The camera angles and camera positions vary greatly, and if you look at it from a cinematic point of view, most of Nakamura's action scenes need to be shot with multiple cameras at the same time to complete.

In the case of the theatrical version of "STARDRIVER Shiny Tacot", there are several shots of the street battle at the beginning, and the camera is completely set up in different environments. The curb of the street in the distance, the curb in the very close distance, the interior of the first floor of a nearby building, the roof of a building in the distance. Finally, the lenses of different focal lengths that are "shot" in different positions are reasonably combined.

In addition, in recent years, there is a detailed change in Nakamura's lens design, which is also reflected in this series of shots. When composing panoramas or long shots, Nakamura sometimes takes into account the position of the photographer and the height of the camera. He set up the right reference in the foreground to make it clear that the height of the camera is about the height of a person. Then, according to the influence of the environment, we can create some handheld shooting effects. So as to give the audience an immersive sense of reality.

Whether it is the design of the action, the control of the rhythm, or the combination of the shots, Yutaka Nakamura seems to be almost perfect, as if it was born for action scenes. That's why we don't call them masters, but geniuses.

The generation that stands at the top of the line, Japan's top original paintings

☆ Time Magician Kensheng Matsumoto (Works: "Rogue Kenshin", "Hunter", "Naruto")

Keno Matsumoto is probably the most unlikable person in the entire animation industry. Even when looking at his paintings, ordinary viewers can't understand what is so powerful, but may have a series of feelings such as "dropped frames" and "simple lines lacking details". However, it is such an original painting, and he has been fighting on the front line for a long time as the main force of works such as "Rogue Kenshin" and "Naruto". It's like having a magical charm.,It's admired by a large number of juniors.。

What is his charm?

Timeline - "unconventional" painting in the old era

Before the advent of the digital age, all concept artists painted on paper. The only way to check the shooting time of each picture is with a line camera. Except for the important shots, the original artist has no time to take his drawings to the line camera to confirm, and can only rely on hand flipping to confirm the flow of the action and whether the connection is smooth. Therefore, from the very beginning, the original artist completed the work by calculating the retraction and release of the movements and the connection of the paintings. Finally, let's allocate the time to shoot each picture. This is the most traditional way of working. Kiyogo Yamashita, a well-known digital concept artist, refers to this type of concept artist as a "calculus" concept artist.

However, there are also people among the original artists who do not play according to the routine. Instead of starting with the cohesion of the drawing, the timeline is assigned from the beginning, giving priority to the state of the moving object at each point in time. Kiyogo Yamashita refers to this type of original artist as a "timeline" original artist. The strongest representative of the original artist of the "Timeline System" is Kensheng Matsumoto.

Before the digital age, there were very few original artists of the timeline system. Now you can use software to test the reasonableness of "stepping on the point" at any time, but in the past, in addition to the line camera, only the sense of human time was relied on. And the talent of time feeling, even the world's top original artists, may not be lit up.

The original artist was able to draw from the direction of time in mind, thanks to the discovery of the genius Utsunomiyari. He opened up the painting mode of all-original painting, which set off a revolution in painting technology. The original artist achieved complete control over time, and thus began to rethink the expression of "realism" in animation. However, Utsunomiya has temporarily embarked on a compromise path after that. He slows down the speed of movement to make the paintings seem to be "evenly" connected. thus created the famous slow-motion fight scene in "Phantom Society".

Kensheng Matsumoto is the only one who relies on his own sense of time to run to the extremes of the timeline system without hesitation in the system of paper painting.

Speed and power in one shot and three paintings

Those who have studied animation should know that the one-shot three-shot method can be used to handle some slower, less displacement movements. If it is a high-speed movement of the human body, it is suitable to use the method of one-to-two or one-to-one. However, TV anime often has a limit on the number of shots. Sometimes, even if the human body is moving at a high speed, you have to use one shot and three times to draw. In this case, the movement of the human body drawn in the routine of traditional animation often looks very strange.

Accurately conveying the impression of "high-speed movement" to the viewer's mind with one beat three was almost impossible in those days.

And the man who turned the impossible into a possibility is Keno Matsumoto.

In "Rogue Kenshin Remembrance", there is a shot of Soji Okita jumping from the roof into the hallway. Although it is only a short section, it realizes the sense of speed in a one-shot three-way smoothly. With only five drawings, Matsumoto had Soji Okita move half a screen in the panorama – with an action in the middle to jump over the corridor fence.

This is the horror of Keno Matsumoto. In the midst of the strict constraints, the precise positioning of the paintings and the accurate grasp of the state of movement at the point in time objectively connect each painting that should be disjointed, and make the lens that should seem to have a "sense of stillness" move.

(In Naruto 133, Kensheng Matsumoto was responsible for most of the fighting scenes, and the "sense of detachment" of the state of movement can be clearly felt in this shot.) ）

When the original artist of the timeline system is painting, he does not think about the preparation-tension-explosion of the force like the traditional original painting. Therefore, when designing some special actions (especially those that are not affected by external forces for a long time, such as aerial actions), the characters will have a "sense of detachment". This sense of detachment is especially noticeable when using one-beat three. We sometimes find Kakashi or Sasuke spinning in the air like pieces of paper, but this seemingly shoddy way of movement is the real state of movement "on the timeline".

In the process of action, it is not necessary to emphasize the transmission of power at every moment. If you put too much emphasis on the strength at each point in time, it will probably become a situation like the fight scene in the first episode of Keiyuki Okiura's "Ghost in the Shell Arise".

As long as the character is subjected to an external force, it will naturally change in the displacement and motion state at the next time point. When kicking with a leg in the air towards an inelastic object, the displacement of the character at the next point in time will be shortened due to the less elastic force. Therefore, as long as we take into account the "correct state" of the figure's movement and find the correct position of the painting, the force and inertia will be conveyed in place. It may sound simple and simple, but it's incredibly difficult to do.

Honor students with all-round abilities

The skill of "stepping on the spot" is enough to make Matsumoto enter the palace of top concept artists, but his versatility as a concept artist is also intimidating.

Not only does he have an almost absolute sense of time in one beat three, but he can also mix different beats for different movements.

He has a great talent for playing. The high-speed grappling that caters to the audience's tastes, the "traditional" fighting scenes that advance on the rhythm, the back-to-back two-person battles in which the spatial relationships of the characters change, and the multiplayer battles that constantly "press" the characters into a plane. He can make the camera move in an interesting way, but he seems to prefer to frame the characters with the lens and conquer the viewer with the charm of the action itself.

The acting skills of his characters are not so much delicate and delicate as down-to-earth. He is able to change the dynamic properties with a small number of shots, and at the same time can use a lot of shots to complete a seemingly "simple" action. On the basis of considering the distribution of the number of sheets, the emotional state of the characters in the environment is fully taken into account. In last year's "Night Cherry Quartet Flower Song", he and Tomoaki Takase returned to the original painting of Nanami Cang and Yanye, and the acting skills of Nanami Cang and Yan Ye are the "magnified expression" of Matsumoto's feelings for the characters that we can occasionally see. This methodology was also brought into the play by him. The scene of the "three generations of Hokage being beaten in the face" in which he is beaten and the facial muscles of the elderly are in a state of absence, is a masterpiece of Matsumoto's paintings.

(An extremely beautiful shot drawn by Kensei Matsumoto in "NOEIN.") ）

He likes to reduce the constraints of lines on movement, simplify the lines of the characters' faces when acting, or let the characters engage in a beautiful fight with few folds and shadows. But in his early days, he would also draw intricate details, giving the characters a sense of three-dimensionality and presence.

He specializes in all kinds of special effects paintings. In general, there is more emphasis on "shape" and "movement" than on details or layers, so it is difficult to see complex details and shadows in Matsumoto's various special effects.

Even though he has a great ability to paint, he is very low-key. In Takahata's new work "Kaguyahime", Matsumoto Kensheng was responsible for a large number of paintings as one of the main original paintings, but in the end, his name was not listed in the list of makers because "Ghibli's works are too conspicuous".

Super strength and low-key personality, I think this is also the reason why many people admire Matsumoto. Of course, strength must be the main reason.

Matsumoto's paintings not only show the design, dynamics, and interaction of the subjects, but also convey the "realistic" flow of time to the audience. Sometimes the fruit of this talent can seem plain, because people don't see how bad the same design can be when it is lost. For this reason, Matsumoto deserves a higher evaluation.

☆Holographic projector Toshiyuki Inoue (works: "AKIRA", "Millennium Actress", "Youdingtian Family")

"This person's painting always looks like something that doesn't look like a painting!" This is the first time I have seen "Run! Melos' first impression after Toshiyuki Inoue painted. Regardless of the accuracy of the movements, the natural feelings of the characters in the actions are so real that there is a sense of precise calculation in them, which makes people feel that "this person's painting is really incredible".

LAYOUT ZERO ERROR LEGEND

Toshiyuki Inoue is considered an absolute symbol by many painting enthusiasts. No matter what kind of scene it is, he can always convey to the audience an extraordinary sense of reality through guò's meticulous calculations.

It is somewhat abstract to say that "through guò calculation to express the real sense", we can roughly imagine that Toshiyuki Inoue is constantly modeling in his head, and then letting the modeling move to generate images. Finally, he paints based on the generated images.

In recent years, Toshiyuki Inoue's most famous work is "The Topping Sky Family". In this work, Toshiyuki Inoue was responsible for a lot of the painting of episodes 3 and 12. During the production of zuò, some people had nothing to do, and used CG to simulate a certain scene of Toshiyuki Inoue. As a result, his jaw soon fell to the ground - Toshiyuki Inoue's LAYOUT is almost the slightest deviation from CG!

Being able to restore the "real" to such a course in the animation with the help of calculations in the brain shows that Toshiyuki Inoue has a high degree of accuracy in grasping space and the relationship between characters and space.

The truth embodied in the "false".

In daily life, people often have some subconscious actions that they are not aware of. Concept artists who are good at real acting generally deliberately pay attention to this aspect of the details. For example, original artists like Osamu Tanabe, through his long-term observation of real life, have learned how to draw this "impurity action" in the animation - they will make the trajectory of the movement not so smooth, and the unsightly lines of the body will move, so that the animation will look like the real thing. These movements may be inertial additional actions after the weight is moved, or they may be habitual movements when people are inadvertent, or they may even be the movements of a certain muscle that people cannot clearly perceive. Starting from the "unconscious" of the character itself, these unconscious actions are expressed.

Like Osamu Tanabe, Toshiyuki Inoue is also very concerned about the appearance of unconscious movements. But the methodology of his painting is completely different.

Taking the table of inertia as an example, the more realistic original paintings tend to consider "what the real inertia is", while Inoue Toshiyuki seems to prioritize "how to make things look like they have inertia" and then calculate an optimal path of motion. The "inertial movement distance" in reality is cropped, and the jitter motion trajectory is "corrected" to be smooth. It is not to seek the completeness of the expression, but to refine a "good perception".

Therefore, looking at Toshiyuki Inoue's paintings, it is rare to have the feeling of "excessive movement". In reality, the action can sometimes seem muddy. It is difficult for people to realize the existence of superfluous movements, let alone accurately imagine the changes in the movement of their muscles or limbs in the process of doing superfluous movements. It is this kind of deception that Toshiyuki Inoue uses to achieve the reality of perception. On the basis of the delicate acting skills that have been used to the point, it has reached the point of "unconscious movements are stored in zài", and it gives people a feeling of "too beautiful".

In the 3rd episode of "The Topten Family", Toshiyuki Inoue also showed us the subconscious "slapping his face with a fan" acting skills of Lord Benten. Although I can't say how amazing it is in painting, from the perspective of performance, this rather colorful action adds a lot to the image of Benten's character.

It is not easy to be able to use precise calculations to naturally surface the acting skills of the character in the unconscious state, just like an actor can perform the unconscious habitual movements beautifully.

Toshiyuki Inoue's way of "refining dynamics and optimizing paths" is not only reflected in unconscious acting. Through guò's calculations, he can effectively reduce the number of drawings and achieve just the right effect. Whether it's textured clothes fluttering, or waves with a sense of volume. However, while controlling zhì's painting, he also considers the rationality and variety of movements, and does not compromise on the point of "making the scene interesting". Therefore, we can see the shift of Benten's center of gravity when he stretches his upper limbs in "The Topping Family", and the acting skills of passers-by who are paralyzed in various positions.

Toshiyuki Inoue's calculations are based on Guò's observation and understanding of reality, combined with the consideration of the actual situation of animation. Without observing reality, relying only on calculations in the air cannot deceive the eyes of the audience.

Perfect craftsman

In Japan, some talented original drawings tend to be the backbone of art supervisors and animators because the design of the original drawings has a strong personal style.

As a top industry in the industry, Toshiyuki Inoue has the consciousness of being a craftsman. He never procrastinates, and always places himself within the whole painting system. Not only does it try to be as faithful as possible to the style of the animator design, but it also takes into account the difficulty of the animator's work. When encountering the overlapping parts of the subjects, they will draw in layers to let the animator figure out the direction of the lines; When encountering a large deformed object, the middle cut reference will be drawn in detail. On the basis of sticking to the dynamic table, Tong Guò put a little more thought into the details, so that the animators could get the job done smoothly.

In the handling of the storyboard, Toshiyuki Inoue sometimes makes minor adjustments, but it is not to tamper with the original intention of the performer. For example, in the limited composition and time, add some dynamic details of the characters; Or take into account the dynamic table xiàn effect, and adjust the camera position slightly while keeping the performance intent unchanged. This not only improves the quality of the animation, but also does not affect the work of other people on the assembly line.

This kind of all-round professional character is probably the foundation of Toshiyuki Inoue becoming a role model in the industry.

(One of Inoue's most famous paintings is from "Millennium Actress.") ）

☆ Talented people

The three introduced above are all original artists who have made outstanding achievements in the animation industry and have been recognized by people. Although they are still fighting in the front line of animation production with their good drawing skills, it will not be long before these national treasures will gradually disappear from our sight. What we will usher in is the era when the young (middle) talents behind them will show their strength on the stage. Takashi Mukaida, Hiroyuki Yamashita, Tetsuya Takeuchi, and Kenichi Fujisawa who are extremely talented in playing, Yuma Ehata, Yusuke Matsuo, and Ryosuke Nishii who can draw delicate acting skills, Shoro Kameda, who is gradually moving towards the Kaneda department, and Masayuki Nonaka and Ryo Araki, who pursue exaggerated expressions in performance. In addition, there are many powerful young people waiting for the opportunity to shine. The era when young people's talents bloom gorgeously is the real era of star original paintings.

Chinese people are talentless? Powerful Chinese original paintings!

"The Hope of Chinese Animation!" I don't know how many years this kind of useless cry has been going on. However, while the aesthetics of those who shout hope are still standing still, those who are diligent have begun to truly master the art of "painting". The expansion of the overseas camp and the rise of online animation, although it is impossible to talk about the rise or not, at least it has gotten rid of the shackles of "art films" on people. During this period of time, the level of domestic original artists has indeed risen to a considerable level. Here are a few domestic original paintings with great potential.

☆ The sense of design nurtured in the transformation - wolf smoke man wolf (works: "Kung Fu Chef Niang" and "God of War Trailer")

When it comes to wolf smoke, many people's first reaction is a wonderful fight. Indeed, whether it is "Kung Fu Chef" or "Little Big War", the fight scene occupies a considerable weight. And in "Kung Fu Chef Niang", the wolf smoke man wolf who runs through the whole story with a bold deformation that breaks out of the line outline has attracted the attention of enthusiasts.

Although too many deformations and distinctive straight lines make the picture of "Kung Fu Chef Niang" look a little fancy, the human wolf has put a lot of effort into shaping the "shape" of the characters in the action process. Whether it is the POSE of the Chinese Niang playing the stick sideways, the power action of kicking the stick in the air, or the elongation of the tip of the limb when the Western ** "pommel horse", it all exudes the temperament of excellent action original painting.

The action scenes of "Kung Fu Chef Niang" have a tribute to early Hong Kong action movies compared to the fast-paced fighting scenes that are popular now. In the rough painting, the rhythm of each move can be clearly captured, and there will be a part of "waiting for the move" in the design of the action flow, which may also be intentionally in line with the rhythm of the music. THE PACE OF THE CAMERA CHANGES IS RELATIVELY SLOW, AND THE DELICACY OF THE LAYOUT IS NOT TOO HIGH. However, the main shot of framing two people together is extremely attractive for action movie lovers. Although the "animation routine-style big close" may seem a bit excessive, the design sense of the "pommel horse action" on the bench is commendable.

In addition, the mid-shot meat-and-ball battle in the middle of the animation is also quite eye-catching. The design and sense of speed of the joint hitting are well expressed. You can also clearly see the changes in the expressions of the two people, which is very interesting.

This design feels more mature when it comes to "God of War Trailer". In this work, the human wolf no longer paints a large number of color blocks that are free from the lines, but designs different deformations for different ways of movement of different things.

It's more intuitive to give an example. After entering the low-level wide-angle lens, three god generals (?) rushed up in front of the protagonist. ）。 You can roughly observe the difference between the deformation of the first god when he spins his spear and when he slashes with his spear.

When turning the gun, the force is in the middle of the gun, and the movement of the two ends will be relatively even, so the human wolf draws the trajectory of the gun as a large color block deformation.

When slashing, the power point is concentrated on the lower end of the handle, and due to the flexibility of the handle itself, there will definitely be a "delay" in movement at the upper end. In order to reflect the sense of strength of the slash, on the one hand, the human wolf adds different deformations of different lengths to the gun according to the distance from the power point, and on the other hand, stretches the length of the gun, so that the swing (backward bending) of the upper end of the gun becomes larger. This is also the "tense" part of the action as mentioned before.

The part that actually hacks down the "outbreak". Because of the faster speed and greater displacement, a more exaggerated and wide-ranging burr deformation is used, allowing all the accumulated power to smash on the opponent's weapon.

If you have carefully watched this fight scene, it is not difficult to find that this kind of targeted design runs through the entire shot.

Of course, there are many interesting things to see in the action design itself. For example, when the protagonist turns around and kicks, although the upper part of the waist has been twisted to the front, the lower body has not been twisted. The design sense of twisting the body when it is "tense" can often play a good role in action scenes.

In addition to the application of deformation and the design of the shape, "God of War Trailer" also reflects the evolution of wolf smoke animation in camera performance. Techniques such as lens vibration and push-pull zoom can show the courage of action even when painting almost "stops". In addition, the technique of moving the camera position to achieve the balance of the picture and the change of scene is also one of the highlights of this short scene.

☆ Changing martial arts faction - uzumaki (work: "Mr. Marvel in China")

The author heard that there was an original artist in China who liked Ji Chengyao, but I never noticed his painting fragments. It wasn't until "Mr. Marvel in China" was animated that I saw a very interesting fight scene in episode 4. Most of the actions in the first half of that fight scene were basically based on one shot and three. The action of the fight, except for the part that throws the protagonist in a circle at the end is relatively closely connected, basically only relies on the state at each point in time to maintain the dynamics of the character.

The author usually pays little attention to domestic animation, and this is the first time I have seen the painting of the timeline system in a domestic animation work. Moreover, this is also the most powerful painting fragment in this work that the author has seen.

At that time, I didn't know that the person in charge of painting this section was uzumaki of colored pencil animation.

In addition to the feature film of episode 4, the protagonist in the ED of this film is also uzumaki, which is also very good, especially after doing a somersault to kill the first zombie, the part that gets up has an acting that takes into account the change of center of gravity, and the movement of the characters and the rhythm of the play are well adjusted. It's just that the stepping points and design of this part of the painting are very different from the fighting scenes in the feature film of episode 4.

It is indeed very rare for the same person to paint in a completely different style in the same work.

Later, I watched Uzumaki's collection of paintings in 2013, and I found that his painting style in 2013 is also very different from his current painting style. Very full of charge, static POSE-style force description, background animation with a good sense of speed, walking that emphasizes the shift of the center of gravity, and smoke special effects of the Toei system. It's as if you're drawing with different methodologies in different types of animation, so it's a lot of fun.

☆ MADHOUSE's important combat power - Liang Boya (works: "Death Snooker", "Hunter")

Liang Boya was able to gain a firm foothold in MADHOUSE, not because of play. If you look at her paintings, you will find that she is completely different from the two introduced earlier.

During her time at MADHOUSE, Liang Boya participated in the original painting of many works, from the prosaic passerby shots to the key shots of a word, she did her best to complete them, and you can also see her down-to-earth craftsman temperament. So far, she has only painted very few special effects and action shots, and most of them are executed according to the intention of the director or performance, and there is very little room for personal play, so it is difficult to judge her talent in this area. However, in the handling of detailed acting skills, she thinks more than many people and is more delicate.

The new version of "The Hunter" may be the work in which she has been fighting for the longest time. Since she herself will also release some of her own responsibilities on the **, we can also appreciate her work relatively quickly. If you look at it at a cursory, you can see that she is an original artist who draws from the feelings of the characters. The changes in the characters' expressions, the subtle movements of the body elements, and even the subtle changes in the environment convey the changes in the characters' feelings. It doesn't seem to move much, but it works very well to convey feelings.

Taking chapter 146 of "The Hunter" as an example, it can be seen that Liang Boya has spent a lot of effort on the portrayal of character expressions and small acting skills. Nanika's change in expression from stunned to sobbing to sadness, and the series of Slaps in the face to a smile from Killua all illustrate the intentions of the "performance". However, I personally think that the handling of small acting skills is the most outstanding part of this emotional drama in terms of perception. When Killua asked Nanica not to come out again, he stepped on the rhythm of speech and moved his head in just the right amount of movement; Aluca's center of gravity swings and returns when she gets up, and although her waist is not visible in a mid-to-close view, the movement of her hair is also telling; When Arouca is angry, he stomps his feet, and when he switches to a close-up of his feet, he tiptoes forward to express his strong claim. It can be said that this whole section is the culmination of Liang Boya's painting in the hunter.

In addition, in episode 142, I also think it is interesting to see the table xiàn of the sense of speed of the coin. The movement of the Sisoka earrings is used to convey the sense of speed of the coin by expressing the "wind" that appears when the coin rebounds. In the 131 episodes of slow motion, the elastic table of the spatial hierarchy and the "puppet Pete" who "lost some of his weight" is also quite well done.

Sometimes, the look and feel doesn't have to be improved by exaggerated acting and flashy movements. As long as the emotions of the characters are conveyed, even the smallest movements should be able to be captured by the eyes of enthusiasts. This kind of small acting processing may be what Liang Boya is best at at present.

☆ Chinese original painting reserve

Nowadays, the number of Chinese original artists who love animation is increasing. Many people have been influenced by "painting" and have gone to Japan to study, work, and exercise their wrists. For example, Liang Boya, who has worked hard in Japan for many years mentioned above, Wu Baiyu, a mysterious newcomer who tried his hand at "Ping Pong", and Wang Guonian, a new talent from Baodao who showed his skills in "Flower Dancing Girl". Even Zhu Xiao, who belonged to the original PIERROT, has taken a group of original artists to become independent from the company and established a Chinese painting company in Japan, the Candy Box Studio. They are all very admirable.

On the other hand, with the sudden rise of online animation, local original artists have a stage to show their strengths, and some people have also emerged as a result. In addition to Uzumaki, Shoko, Kiko Sho, Xiao Wei and others, who are also in the colored pencil studio, are also very potential original artists. In addition, LAN, who has recently been active in "Mantou Diary", is also a very comprehensive original artist who has a deep understanding of painting.

In terms of independence, there are new talents such as Cheng Teng and Li Xia in the European and American systems. In addition, there are also predecessors in China, such as Sun Meng, who is good at mechanical and special effects painting, Shen Hong, who is also highly praised in the Japanese industry, and Yang Tingmu, an original painter who is good at performing in both Japan and the United States.

"It's tiring to animate, but it's fun to draw!" As a craftsman, it is not easy to have a heart for the joy of painting. It is useless to raise your arms and shout, but after moving forward with interest and arming yourself, you can have the capital to raise your arms and shout at the right time and on the right occasion.

As a hobbyist......

As a hobbyist, it's not hard to say a few words. The same is true for the author.

It's just that the author is a little worried about the attitude of some "self-proclaimed enthusiasts" looking at animation now. The chatter after tea and dinner is actually harmless, but as soon as the animation is not in line with the taste, it jumps to the public platform and scolds, and even runs to the original artist's ** to harass him, which is really a bit excessive.

When the production staff is working steadily, what have we done?

Ignoring the animation carrier itself, blindly affirming or denying the work of others with personal likes and dislikes. It is easy to follow the trend, easy to be instigated, and people follow the clouds, and they don't know how to pretend to understand; Be ashamed to speak and point out the country.

We may not understand the principle of the animation table, but we have to affirm the efforts of the animators; We may not understand the magic of the lens, but we can try to appreciate the perception that the lens brings to us; We can not recognize the achievements of domestic animation, but we can pay more attention to the strength of some people. Take a step back from the subjective and emotional point of view, and be more objective and rational. Talk about technology if you understand technology, talk about feelings if you don't understand technology, and not just achieve the purpose of venting.

The audience can try to do something for the animation, not blindly support or suppress it. On the basis of trying to understand the animation, feedback your real feelings to the workers. In this way, it may give them more motivation to move forward.

Of course, when you have to pay for a good work, be sure to be blind (laughs). It's not arrogant, after all, the audience is also the one who supports the development of animation.

epilogue

If you want to have fun drawing, please pick up your pen; If you are more interested in being a spectator, please lay a sturdy pedal under the feet of the animators. Don't seek to leap thousands of miles with strength, but seek to gain a firm foothold.