Fan-made Anime?
Kyle Thomas Pope
a) Computers have become essential to the production of anime and
animation.
b) Home PCs have sufficient power to make effective use of
commercially available animation software packages.
c) Fans have been making anime music videos and fan dubs for years
giving them experience in production techniques.
it seems to me that fans should be quite capable of producing their
own near professional level anime-style productions from scratch.
Cons have screened CG animated works from Japanese anime fans for
years now and White Radish has produced anime style animated works and
are working on their own OVA.
So with all this capability and ambition are there anime fans out
there who are producing OVA and movie length animation or has that
stage not been reached yet?
Avatar
<hoot>
It's a thought, man, but no. Anime is effectively a corporate art form.
You'd have to have a small group of insanely dedicated folks to put
together a decent movie-length anime (or a larger army of employees and
a personal fortune... but then it ain't a fan-project anymore!), to say
nothing of a TV series.
Avatar
Kyle Thomas Pope
>It's a thought, man, but no. Anime is effectively a corporate art form.
>You'd have to have a small group of insanely dedicated folks to put
>together a decent movie-length anime (or a larger army of employees and
>a personal fortune... but then it ain't a fan-project anymore!), to say
>nothing of a TV series.
I've seen insanely dedicated fan productions of other shows. Have you
seen a video called "Troops" by Kevin Rubin that's a cross between
"Star Wars" and "Cops"? Very high production values. Fansubs
certainly take a lot of work and dedication, not to mention fan dubs.
Given that fans write fanfics and draw manga I would think producing
an anime would be the next logical step.
Heavy Cat Multimedia Ltd.
Its possible, but there are several other considerations:
a) You'll also need professional animators, background and character
artists, sketch artists, color and shading artists, etc. The animation
programs help, but its the original content that takes the most time and
effort. Having been involved in the design and production of some anime
characters now, I can say that it is *not* a quick process. ^^
b) Voice actors and music are also sometimes difficult to come by.
c) Then, once all of that is in place, someone has to write a story, then a
script, then a screenplay, or a series of each in the case of a television
series.
Its possible, but its a lot of work even if a full-time schedule is
available, assuming the project is properly funded.
Now, a smaller-scope project, perhaps a 15-minute short film, might be
easier to deal with. Feature films and television series are probably too
difficult to produce because of the sheer volume of material required.
--
Scott
Heavy Cat Multimedia Ltd.
http://www.heavycat.com/
http://www.ladystar.net/
Alicia S.
>
> Given the following facts:
> So with all this capability and ambition are there anime fans out
> there who are producing OVA and movie length animation or has that
> stage not been reached yet?
The best I've seen is the 10 minute 3rd Wish short based on the guy's
online comic of the same name at http://www.timedisorder.com/ It's
pretty cool, but you'd have to be crazy to try to animate a whole
series, because I've tried to animate just a few seconds and it's way
too hard and time consuming. Why would someone do that to themselves?
Alicia (back to lurking)
Lee Ratner
Cream Lemon and Legend of the Galactic Heros started off as fan
made anime. Some Japanese otaku are making Black Jack anime for the
web. Some otaku have made hentai doujinshi anime versions of
non-hentai anime like Ranma I think.
Nargun
It's possible to tell a reasonable story in a shorter format, though;
look at NeoRanga, DiDiCharat, or Ana no Maico... [or minigoddesses, if you
must...]
Not that I'm volunteering for anything; I think I've got about half an
idea of exactly how hard it would be...
Louis
--
Louis Patterson l.patt...@ugrad.unimelb.edu.au
"A kind of ghostly never-never land where the might-have-beens
play with the ifs" - Isaac Asimov, _The End of Eternity_
Shadow6865
So with all this capability and ambition are there anime fans out
there who are producing OVA and movie length animation or has that
stage not been reached yet? >>
Well fan made anime has been made before. The legendary Daikon films are fan
made anime. There are some infamous porno fan made animes for series like Ranma
and Eva. I think time is the biggest reason why fans don't make their own
anime.
Tolaris
--
Keep in mind "Troops", being a live action movie, was much
easier to produce than animation of the same length...
There's some attempts to make anime using computers, though.
One that comes to mind would be "Other Voices" which can be
found at http://www2.odn.ne.jp/~ccs50140/ Quite amazing.
Unfortunately, the page is in Japanese only.
There's also Terrence Walker's "Understanding Chaos" at
http://www.studioartfx.com/ but i have no idea if he's
working on something new now...
Tolaris
--
just before he died, he said:
"ssssssssssss....snore....ssssssssssss...snore..."
Kyle Thomas Pope
wrote:
>Keep in mind "Troops", being a live action movie, was much
>easier to produce than animation of the same length...
True. But its got some impressive costuming and CG work. I suspect
there was a time where people would have said that an amateur work of
that calibur would have been beyond the scope of anyone but a
professional film crew.
Tolaris
--
Hmm.. iirc, CG in Troops wasn't really that spectacular..
it's more the characters and script that made it such a hit.
[my favourite detail--one of the Stormtroopers wearing high
heels =]
There's "Troops II" in the works, with much more and way
better CG... unfortunately, i don't think anyone knows when
it's going to be finished... if at all.
Tolaris
--
just before he died, he said:
"I cast a lightning bolt at the ochre jelly."
Allan "Weapon X" Liangco
On Thu, 2 Aug 2001, 17:39:15 -0700, Kyle Thomas Pope
<kuro...@hotmail.com> wrote in
<CE585109461E50DC.359058E1...@lp.airnews.net>:
> Given the following facts:
> a) Computers have become essential to the production of anime and
> animation.
> b) Home PCs have sufficient power to make effective use of
> commercially available animation software packages.
> c) Fans have been making anime music videos and fan dubs for years
> giving them experience in production techniques.
> It seems to me that fans should be quite capable of producing their
> own near professional level anime-style productions from scratch.
> Cons have screened CG animated works from Japanese anime fans for
> years now and White Radish has produced anime style animated works and
> are working on their own OVA.
> So with all this capability and ambition are there anime fans out
> there who are producing OVA and movie length animation or has that
> stage not been reached yet?
The question that arises is: would they still be called "anime" by us
(based on the US's current definition: i.e., imported animation from
Japan).
;-)
For example, a group of people in America, or any other country other than
Japan, make a short clip or one fanmade episode of Bubblegum Crisis using
the same characters (drawn exactly as they are in the real anime), the
same kind of backgrounds, and even hire similar sounding voice talents
that will speak their fan-made script in Japanese dialog. Would this be
"anime" (to us in the USA) or just something with anime-styling or of
having distinct characteristics of popular anime?
My TF FTP site:
<http://pages.prodigy.net/transformer_mtmterid/Transformer_MTMTErid/TF_server.html>
My TF comic:
http://pages.prodigy.net/transformer_mtmterid/Transformer_MTMTErid/fanmade_project/comic-strip.htm
My TF fan-made stuff:
http://pages.prodigy.net/transformer_mtmterid/Transformer_MTMTErid/fanmade_project/0.htm
Weapon X <-Allan-> QSB...@prodigy.com
Visit my Transformers webpage at:
<http://pages.prodigy.com/Spiders_Web/tf-web.htm>
Minako Kenshou
> The question that arises is: would they still be called "anime" by us
> (based on the US's current definition: i.e., imported animation from
> Japan).
> For example, a group of people in America, or any other country other than
> Japan, make a short clip or one fanmade episode of Bubblegum Crisis using
> the same characters (drawn exactly as they are in the real anime), the
> same kind of backgrounds, and even hire similar sounding voice talents
> that will speak their fan-made script in Japanese dialog. Would this be
> "anime" (to us in the USA) or just something with anime-styling or of
> having distinct characteristics of popular anime?
Consider this. Both Batman and Disney's Aladdin (the cartoon series, not the
movies) were made in Japan by Japanese artists and animators -- does that
make them anime? Or, alternatively, how about a Disney animated film that's
imported to Japan? It would be refered to as anime in Japan, but it's
clearly not anime in appearance nor in accordance to the definition you
presented above.
IMO, the word "anime" refers to a particular style of artwork. If it looks
like anime, then it's anime. Sure, not every anime fits the description of
big eyed characters with rainbow colored hair, but there's a distintive and
unique style that makes an immense difference between Bugs Bunny and Utena.
You can look at both and tell which one is anime style animation.
Finally, let's compare artists. Yoshitaka Amano -- would you consider his
artwork to be *anime* style artwork? He's Japanese, but does his artwork
really have that sort of look to it? OTOH, I do anime style artwork. I'm not
Japanese, and I don't live in Japan, but I'm pretty certain that my artwork
looks more "anime style" then say, "Marvel superhero" style artwork. I'm
kinda talking in circles.. but.. you know what I mean? ^^;
Lindsay
http://www.cutepet.org/
Kyle Thomas Pope
<QSB...@prodigy.com> wrote:
>The question that arises is: would they still be called "anime" by us
>(based on the US's current definition: i.e., imported animation from
>Japan).
Whether it can rightfully be called "anime" is a minor quibble at the
moment. The question at hand is whether it can be made. Perhaps the
term "pseudo-anime" can be ascribed to it much as the term
"pseudo-manga" is applied to western comics that employ the manga
drawing style. But whatever you call it it seems to me that the
technology is available and I'm curious as to whether anyone it taking
advantage of it.
Kyle Thomas Pope
wrote:
>Hmm.. iirc, CG in Troops wasn't really that spectacular..
>it's more the characters and script that made it such a hit.
>[my favourite detail--one of the Stormtroopers wearing high
>heels =]
My point being that the technology required for such a production is
now readily available to the public at large. High power PCs and
capable animation software suites should do for amateur animators what
small, high quality video cameras and video editing software has done
for amateur film makers.
Leaping Larry Jojo
There probably are short "anime" films being made already. I think the
biggest reason is that the effort doesn't seem to be worth it. Even if
you make a short film, who will see it? Your friends? Wow. I guess you
could show it off in a convention like Gainax did, but you'd still
have a hard time finding funding and distribution if you want LOTS of
people to see your work. Flukes like Bandai funding Gainax's "Wings of
Honneamise" don't come around that often.
Making an anime isn't as easy, as say, sitting down and drawing manga,
which you can do for fun. You can't "make" anime for fun, at least not
an ambitious one.
Jojo
Danger X
"Leaping Larry Jojo" <macr...@excite.com> wrote in message
news:8fd15176.01080...@posting.google.com...
Well, if you want to do high quality animation (i.e. the intro to Slayers or
Tenchi Universe), it'll take an awfully long time to create even a five
minute short. An awesome idea (imho of course) would be to limit your idea
to say 60-90 seconds and create an intro to a fictional show you'd like to
see. As someone who had one year of animation at Sheridan College (Oakville
Ontario) over a decade ago, there is definitely a fun-factor there... The
only thing that really killed the fun-factor were those F#$#kin' deadlines!
^_^ Something that'd be non-existant in a fan-produced short.
More or less,
Kyle
Disruptor
book Knights of the Dinner Table. It takes him months to do each short,
and that is with the bad character designs, no background, and a fairly
static setting.
--
Tom Mathews a.k.a. Disruptor
http://home1.gte.net/mathews1/
Brian
Nosfertu is a weekly anime inspired animated program. I don't like it
that much but it's downloadable at:
http://www.museoffire.com/Nosferatu/
And Pseudome Studios did an CG anime called II with a few notable
American VAs as well as amateur online VAs: http://www.pseudome.net
Brian
boygirlcomic.com
Joachim Diepstraten
On Fri, 3 Aug 2001, Tolaris wrote:
> There's some attempts to make anime using computers, though.
> One that comes to mind would be "Other Voices" which can be
> found at http://www2.odn.ne.jp/~ccs50140/ Quite amazing.
> Unfortunately, the page is in Japanese only.
Wow this is awesome stuff. This guy could easily go into
professional at once.
EOF,
J.D. (aka GTC)
--
Jmark2k+1 (http://www.antiflash.net/jmark)
Test the performance of your PC online!
Kyle Thomas Pope
<diep...@rupert.informatik.uni-stuttgart.de> wrote:
>Wow this is awesome stuff. This guy could easily go into
>professional at once.
This is what I was referring to. So it does exist. Are only Japanese
fans doing this kind of work?
Allan [Weapon X] Liangco
On Fri, 3 Aug 2001, 19:23:21 GMT, Lindsay "Minako Kenshou"
<Minako...@hotmail.com> wrote in
<JSCa7.84069$o01.12...@typhoon.tampabay.rr.com>:
> Hi,
> On Fri, 3 Aug 2001, 17:19:09 GMT, Allan "Weapon X" Liangco
> <QSB...@prodigy.com> wrote in <3B6ADD25...@prodigy.com>:
> >On Thu, 2 Aug 2001, 17:39:15 -0700, Kyle Thomas Pope
> <kuro...@hotmail.com> wrote in
> <CE585109461E50DC.359058E1...@lp.airnews.net>:
[snip]
> > The question that arises is: would they still be called "anime" by us
> > (based on the US's current definition: i.e., imported animation from
> > Japan).
> > For example, a group of people in America, or any other country other than
> > Japan, make a short clip or one fanmade episode of Bubblegum Crisis using
> > the same characters (drawn exactly as they are in the real anime), the
> > same kind of backgrounds, and even hire similar sounding voice talents
> > that will speak their fan-made script in Japanese dialog. Would this be
> > "anime" (to us in the USA) or just something with anime-styling or of
> > having distinct characteristics of popular anime?
> Consider this. Both Batman and Disney's Aladdin (the cartoon series, not the
> movies) were made in Japan by Japanese artists and animators -- does that
> make them anime?
This is true for many of the TV cartoons distributed here in the States, but a
lot of people wont use the term anime to describe the animation series/shows put
out by Warner Bros. & Disney. Heh.
Perhaps I should have added to that statement: "imported animation from
Japan" the following ...
and initially distributed in that country.
So, several anime fans would consider an animation as "anime" if it was an
imported item/video that was *also* originally made for Japanese audiences to
watch (first). That would include Japanese animation that didn't even have "that
popular/well-recognized 'anime-look' " to it. Eventually these shows will make
it to the US later, but the fact is that they were intended for the Japanese
originally. Even though a lot of animation in the U.S. is made overseas, they
are not shown in Japan at first but in America at the onset. Probably a reason
why most people don't consider American cartoons that were probably produced in
Japan or other Asian country as "anime" -- it's because of primary distribution.
> Or, alternatively, how about a Disney animated film that's
> imported to Japan? It would be referred to as anime in Japan, but it's
> clearly not anime in appearance nor in accordance to the definition you
> presented above.
I'm actually interested to know what Japanese fans of US-distributed shows would
call, or categorize, such animation if they wanted to differentiate them from
the look of most animation in Japan. "Toons"? Nah, probably "anime" like
everything else.
> IMO, the word "anime" refers to a particular style of artwork. If it looks
> like anime, then it's anime. Sure, not every anime fits the description of
> big eyed characters with rainbow colored hair, but there's a distinctive and
> unique style that makes an immense difference between Bugs Bunny and Utena.
> You can look at both and tell which one is anime style animation.
I think that's something that is interpreted by many people differently. My
belief is that "anime" is animation made in Japan and shown there first, but I
agree with you in that there are shows/movies/etc. that have this sort of "anime
style." We're seeing "this style/these characteristics" of popular anime a lot
more from our very own American artists! The Americans, & even other countries'
artists, are getting more influenced by these art 'styles' found in current
anime just like how the Japanese were influenced by early Disney films.
Hey, we're getting back to the topic of this thread! Now, as far as
American-made (or other country that isn't Japan) fan-produced 'anime', the
possibility of seeing such an animation that is so indistinguishable from "real"
anime from Japan is very possible. Just at a recent anime convention I saw one
local guy's artwork that looks exactly like popular "anime style." If he had the
manpower & equipment, his art could easily be animated. :-)
> Finally, let's compare artists. Yoshitaka Amano -- would you consider his
> artwork to be *anime* style artwork? He's Japanese, but does his artwork
> really have that sort of look to it? OTOH, I do anime style artwork. I'm not
> Japanese, and I don't live in Japan, but I'm pretty certain that my artwork
> looks more "anime style" then say, "Marvel superhero" style artwork. I'm
> kinda talking in circles.. but.. you know what I mean? ^^;
I would have to see your work to say if it's 'anime style' (to me).
;-)
I take it some are available at your website in your sig?
Hmm...this reminds me. You know what's kinda bothered me when I go into most
video stores' anime sections??
They put "Reboot" in that same section. Oh, just being nit-picky, I guess. Heh.
> Lindsay
> http://www.cutepet.org/
Allan [=Weapon X=] Liangco
On Fri, 3 Aug 2001, 12:46:13 -0700, Kyle Thomas Pope
<kuro...@hotmail.com> wrote in
<A49359BCECA273C4.0E71131C...@lp.airnews.net>:
> On Fri, 3 Aug 2001 17:19:09 GMT, Allan \"Weapon X\" Liangco
> <QSB...@prodigy.com> wrote <3B6ADD25...@prodigy.com>:
> > On Thu, 2 Aug 2001, 17:39:15 -0700, Kyle Thomas Pope
> > <kuro...@hotmail.com> wrote in
> <CE585109461E50DC.359058E1...@lp.airnews.net>:
[snip]
> >The question that arises is: would they still be called "anime" by us
> >(based on the US's current definition: i.e., imported animation from
> >Japan).
> Whether it can rightfully be called "anime" is a minor quibble at the
> moment. The question at hand is whether it can be made. Perhaps the
> term "pseudo-anime" can be ascribed to it much as the term
> "pseudo-manga" is applied to western comics that employ the manga
> drawing style. But whatever you call it it seems to me that the
> technology is available and I'm curious as to whether anyone it taking
> advantage of it.
Ahh, yes. I didn't mean to stray from the topic you had presented for this
thread. My question as to the merits of such an animation to be considered
as "anime" was out of curiosity.
Now, back to the topic at hand. I think that something like this is very
possible and has been done already. I had seen one animated feature which
had (practically) everything you saw in popular anime: the "extraordinary
hairstyles," the awesome tech stuff (fast cars, sci-fi stuff, holograms),
the abstract-like drawings of its characters (especially facial and body
types), the "fan-service" shots, & other "well-known" characteristics
found in anime. It was very interesting to see; looks like anime, or more
exactly like "anime style" ... but it came from France. :-)
If a group from France was able to produce something of this caliber, then
the question of whether somebody has taken advantage of it has been
answered. The only thing left to do is get enough manpower and the right
equipment to distribute this 'animation' if one wanted to offer it for
everyone to watch.
My Transformers FTP site:
VC
called RIAP that made a few short videos complete with voices,
effects, everything. I believe their videos are being sold at
www.vtechmedia.com.
Also, I'm surprised no one has mentioned White-Radish, the other group
that started with a group of fans. They used quite a bit of computer
in their short videos. They're at www.whiteradish.com
S.t.A.n.L.e.E
> 1:44 PM EST, 8/6/2001
>
> On Fri, 3 Aug 2001, 12:46:13 -0700, Kyle Thomas Pope
> <kuro...@hotmail.com> wrote in
> <A49359BCECA273C4.0E71131C...@lp.airnews.net>:
>
> > Whether it can rightfully be called "anime" is a minor quibble at the
> > moment. The question at hand is whether it can be made. Perhaps the
> > term "pseudo-anime" can be ascribed to it much as the term
> > "pseudo-manga" is applied to western comics that employ the manga
> > drawing style. But whatever you call it it seems to me that the
> > technology is available and I'm curious as to whether anyone it taking
> > advantage of it.
>
> Ahh, yes. I didn't mean to stray from the topic you had presented for this
> thread. My question as to the merits of such an animation to be considered
> as "anime" was out of curiosity.
>
> Now, back to the topic at hand. I think that something like this is very
> possible and has been done already. I had seen one animated feature which
> had (practically) everything you saw in popular anime: the "extraordinary
> hairstyles," the awesome tech stuff (fast cars, sci-fi stuff, holograms),
> the abstract-like drawings of its characters (especially facial and body
For a moment there, I thought you were talking about
Invader Zim, except it wasn't an animated feature (yet).
Laters. =)
Stan
--
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/ _ | |/ Stanlee Dometita sta...@www.cif.rochester.edu
| ( _| | U of Rochester www.cif.rochester.edu/~stanlee
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