Making of Ponyo - Studio Ghibli (English subtitles)

Hello! This is Mao Kobayashi. Today, Ponyo joins us in the studio! Nice to meet you Ponyo! The latest creation by Hayao Miyazaki, Ponyo, is now in theaters. It is a big hit! But how was it made? We'd like to show you behind the scenes. Hmm, what's that? Wow! There were five leaders involved in the creation of Ponyo. "Who are you?" Everyone loves Totoro, Nausicaa, Chihiro and Kiki… This summer, a new friend has been added to this list of popular characters. "Ponyo likes Sousuke!" Yes, they were all created in the same place! And that includes Ponyo, currently in theaters. That place is… Studio Ghibli! What kind of place is Studio Ghibli? Hey, how was Ponyo born? Well, today News Zero will show everyone around Studio Ghibli! Our hosts will be the five leaders mentioned earlier. As for who gave movement to Ponyo, it is this man with the glasses. As for who drew the house and ocean backgrounds, It is this man with the beard. As for who gave color to Ponyo and Sosuke, it is this woman. This person created the audio for Ponyo. "Ponyo. What a nice name." And last but not least, the man behind the beloved theme song. These five leaders will teach you how Ponyo was made in an interesting, easy-to-understand, and fun way!

I'm glad I've been able to work on Miyazaki's creations. Contributing to Ponyo has been another great experience.

It's not written in words. It's all written in musical notes.

As for the animation and hand drawings, the most important part is —

Well, there will be lots of surprises and discoveries. Like, what on earth is this jar used for? And wow, an orchestra of 90 people for the Ponyo theme song! Of course, we also heard from Hayao Miyazaki, the creator of Ponyo's world! Now, it's time to start the Studio Ghibli field trip! This is a News Zero spin-off! A field trip of Studio Ghibli to find the amazing creatives behind Ponyo. Without any further delay, this is the process that goes into creating a Miyazaki animation. First of all, a concept and a script that decides the content of the work. Then, the storyboard that Miyazaki makes. For Studio Ghibli's animation, Miyazaki creates the concept, script, and even the storyboard. Here you can see that original storyboard. A storyboard is an illustration of the content of the story, that basically turns out like a manga. It is a very important step that is the foundation of the animation. Next, we move on to the layout step, based on the storyboard. What is the layout step? This involves working out where the character is on the screen when it actually becomes a movie, and what kind of movement it has. The background is a blueprint that decides what kind of look the scene has and how the camera will be positioned in it. Then, based on this layout, the work proceeds, divided into foreground animation and background art. For example, look at this. It is the drawings of Sousuke's movement. Now, let's understand the background art in this clip. As you can see, it is a drawing of that which doesn't move, such as the bamboo fence. Of the five leaders who made Ponyo, the first is Mr. Katsuya Kondo. Mr. Kondo is in charge of layout and drawing, and is an expert who can faithfully and quickly reproduce the world as envisioned by Miyazaki. Koganei, Tokyo. Totoro, Nausicaa, Chihiro and many other beloved characters were all born here, at Studio Ghibli. When we enter, Totoro comes to welcome us! The staff workshop is on the second floor. Miyazaki's desk is the place with the most sunlight. And sitting next to the director, is Katsuya Kondo. What does the director of animation do?

Ultimately, it's simply the work of forming cohesive shapes out of many lines.

What in the world does he mean? How do you move a picture that doesn't move? Let's take a closer look at Mr. Kondo's work! Hmm? Oh, this is Sousuke. Mr. Kondo, what are you doing by flipping and turning the paper over and over again?

The most important part of animation and hand-drawing, that effect… Really, animation is simply the illusion of a movie, created by quickly flipping between drawings that change little by little in-between each one.

That's why Mr. Kondo was checking the movement by comparing the pictures before and after. Looking more carefully, we can see Mr. Kondo writing on some kind of yellow paper on his desk. In fact, the secret behind Mr. Kondo's work lies on this yellow paper! This paper, called a timesheet, shows the number of picture frames needed per second. The sheet is divided into 6 blocks, and one block represents 1 second. The number of frames required for 6 seconds is written on this one sheet. This timesheet is indispensable for a Miyazaki animation. There are around 100 staff members led by Mr. Kondo. Mr. Kondo's job is to properly convey the storyboard to each staff member.

The storyboard is the most important thing in my work. There is a lot of work to be done, right. The job is to create the animation while keeping the essence of the storyboard, all the way to the end, without slippage.

The storyboard is filled to the brim with the world of Ponyo that Miyazaki wants to express. Unless all 100 staff members build on the storyboard in the same way, the end result will not be as Miyazaki envisions. This timesheet is the means to make this happen. Mr. Kondo is the master of keeping this timesheet. So what exactly is written on this cryptic timesheet? Let's ask Mr. Kondo to teach us. As Miyazaki finished the storyboard, these three pictures are chosen for scene #199. Sousuke comes from the other side of the tree, runs through the fence and runs out. This series of actions is scene #199. The duration here is about four seconds.

I will draw this movement within these four seconds.

Let's actually look at scene #199. Here is the timesheet for scene #199. This scene lasts four seconds. Therefore, the number of frames required for this scene is written on the four blocks. The number of sheets is represented by numbers and dots. This means that you need eight frames per second. The numbers represent key frames and are the core of the movement. The dots represent what are called in-between frames, which link the key frames together. Let's take a close look at one second of clip #199. On the timesheet, five key frames from #4 to #8 are written. When looking at the five key frames side-by-side, we see something surprising. The crouching Sosuke's T-shirt is starting to twist in the fifth key frame. The back is visible in the sixth key frame. Next, if you look at the in-between represented by the dot between #5 and #6, it is drawn simply to transition them. The moment when Sousuke ducks under the bamboo fence. The time is only one second, containing 12 frames. If you watch the video, it's certainly 12 frames. This is Miyazaki's detailed process. Mr. Kondo is the supervisor who understands it and conveys it to the team. The animation staff follow these instructions and faithfully carry them out. Certainly, many people were involved in creating the world of Ponyo. It all begins with the seed created by Mr. Miyazaki. Everyone wants to help flesh it out, to create the fruit. May 10th. He has become so skilled. Ok, breaktime! His (Mr. Kondo's) work is done! Mr. Kondo's two years of work has completed on this day. In the end, Ponyo needed 170,563 drawings!

I want to help as much as I can, and while my help is needed, I think being Mr. Miyazaki's closest assistant is fulfilling.

It's heavily raining in Tokyo. News Zero caster Mr. Murao is visiting Miyazaki's personal studio.

I'm sorry to bother you today, especially when you are so busy.

This is Mr. Murao, who has met with some of the world's biggest names, such as President Bush and former UK Prime Minister Blair. This time, he meets with director Hayao Miyazaki, expert in the world of animation. Mr. Murao, who's from the Ministry of Finance, seems a little more nervous than usual, animation being a field that he is not used to.

It reminds me of a mountain lodge! When I saw the film, I felt it was unusually ... warm.

So in short, when you went all the way digitally, it didn't make you happy… I guess some amount of imprecision, is necessary for it to feel right?

Of the five leaders who made Ponyo, the second one is Noboru Yoshida, the art director who oversees the background art. To explain using our set as example, Ponyo moves in front of this set, so this set is the background. In fact, with Ponyo, this is Mr. Yoshida's first time being appointed as solo art director of a feature-length animation. Miyazaki selected him out of many candidates. Why? Let's find out! Art director Noboru Yoshida is sitting next to Miyazaki and Mr. Kondo. He is a 20-year veteran of this field. In his position, he is in charge of deciding what kind of backgrounds to use for the frames drawn by Miyazaki. He also directs 16 staff members. In scene #199, Mr. Yoshida draws the bamboo fence, the ground, and everything other than the moving character Sosuke. Oh? Miyazaki is sitting in Mr. Yoshida's seat.

It seems he is pulling a prank while Mr. Yoshida is away… He won't notice it. At least at first. I'm not sure though. Mr. Yoshida's gentle and quiet personality makes for a good target for Miyazaki, when he needs a break. Will Mr. Yoshida notice?

I was a little surprised…

How is the background art of Ponyo made? Let's take a closer look at Mr. Yoshida's work! Oh? He is drawing clouds. In this way, the background is a picture of the non-moving part of the animation. But then…

Unfortunately, it must be redone. Then on another day… The drawing of the sea for the ending clip is finally completed. But if you think it's perfect…

Once again, it must be redone! Mr. Yoshida seems completely depressed. It's not so easy to get an "OK".

Yes, that did stress me out a lot.

Looking at the background art of Miyazaki's past works, you probably remember these forests and trees. Yes, this is Kazuo Oga, who created the forest world from My Neighbor Totoro. Mr. Oga is the foremost artist behind these detailed and beautiful backgrounds.

I learned so much from Mr. Oga that… in fact, I never actually stopped learning.

This is the first time that Mr. Yoshida is appointed as solo background art director of a feature-length film. Miyazaki selected him out of many.

Yes, I was very happy. But at the same time I wondered if I can actually do it, and yes, I did also feel things like anxiety.

So why did Miyazaki choose Mr. Yoshida? We secretly asked Miyazaki! So Mr. Miyazaki, why did you choose Mr. Yoshida out of so many to be the background art director?

Spirited Away was released in 2001. In the movie, Mr. Yoshida was in charge of the background of this demon room. Even Miyazaki was surprised with the result.

Three years after Spirited Away, Mr. Yoshida did background art for this TV commercial. The scenery is very nostalgic and very warm. Miyazaki noticed this part of Mr. Yoshida's style. By leveraging curved lines, it expresses a soft world-view. "I promised to protect Ponyo." In fact, magic makes an appearance in this movie. Miyazaki was aiming for a world-view of "Anything can happen". For that purpose, the art needed to have the unique curved style of Mr. Yoshida. However, he said that he was worried about the difference between the detailed backgrounds in previous Miyazaki works and his own style. However, Miyazaki's nonchalant attitude ended up reassuring Mr. Yoshida.

There were times when I felt like I was just drawing scribbles. Well, there were also times that I felt, "Hey this isn't so bad is it?"

After discussing with Miyazaki, Mr. Yoshida ended up feeling confident. He decided to stick to the curved lines of his speciality. This is the background of Sousuke's house. There are no straight lines there, everything is curved. It is Mr. Yoshida's focus on the warmth of hand-drawn curved lines that gave birth to the world of Ponyo. The difference is obvious when compared to Mei and Satsuki's house from My Neighbor Totoro. Where did Mr. Yoshida's style of curved lines come from in the first place?

Well, when I was walking down the street, I noticed the road was not completely straight. And to my naked eye, even the utility poles weren't standing completely straight. And so it was that feeling I got from looking at the landscape while walking, that I wanted to express on the screen.

After that, this Yoshida-style world-view made Miyazaki sigh in admiration.

In addition, Mr. Yoshida adopted some tools to create the mysterious world of this movie. That's a crayon. Normally, paints and poster paints are used for the background, but Mr. Yoshida succeeded in creating a rough and warm world by using crayons. Here is a Yoshida-style background completed using crayons. It's very warm, isn't it? Without trying to hide it, you can pull the crayon like this, so that the strokes of your hand can be visible on the screen. In addition, Mr. Yoshida also challenged himself. This is Sousuke's house on a stormy day. Please take a close look. You can see that the house is tilted. This helps convey how strong the wind is. May 10th. It's over. It's over? It's been about 2 years since his work started. All 1139 backgrounds are complete!

Thank you for helping me.

As for this kind of fun art style, I strongly feel that... it is totally different than what is said can be done in animation.

Of the five leaders who made "Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea", the third is Michiyo Yasuda, who is in charge of the finishing touch. The finishing touch refers to the process of coloring all moving objects, everything other than the background, including character skin and clothes, and she is the one who decides which colors too. Ms. Yasuda, who has been in the industry for 50 years now, challenged herself to break from common practice in this film. In May, the movie release date is barely over 2 months away. "Ms. Yasuda, are things ok?"

Yes! I'm going home. I'll make this the last thing. I have to stay in good physical condition.

This is Michiyo Yasuda of color design.

My back is so stiff that if there were a Japan-wide competition, I could really compete. But even if you seriously massage it, will it really heal? Or not... Well the next day one day's work will get done… It's a big deal when one can get even one day's work done!

The two have been close friends for over 40 years, as a team. "Heidi, Girl of the Alps" was broadcast 34 years ago. They made this masterpiece together. "It was just frightened!" Ms. Yasuda has decided on all the skin colors and costume colors of the characters that have appeared in Miyazaki's works, such as "Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind" and "Laputa: Castle in the Sky". How are the colors in Ponyo decided? Let's take a closer look at Ms. Yasuda's work! She is in the process of painting Sousuke's hat. Mr. Yasuda's job is to use a computer to determine the colors of the moving characters. But it's not just about coloring! There is also a great technique unique to Ms. Yasuda, longtime veteran as she is. "Who are you?" We can see this care in "My Neighbor Totoro". This is a scene where a 5-year-old Mei is picking up an acorn under the blue sky. This is the scene where Mei and Totoro meet in Totoro's Forest. Pay attention to Mei's clothes. The color of the same clothes changes depending on the background!

I always think about the balance with the background. For example if the background is a very plain color, red looks red just by adding a little red. If the background is extremely vivid, you can add a slightly dull red, and it will become a dark red. Because of this, one has to be very careful.

Ms. Yasuda's careful work has resulted in a friendly color scheme unique to Miyazaki's films. It's been a month since our close contact with Ms. Yasuda. This seasoned veteran, with 50 years of experience, has told us that she is taking on a new challenge this time. Examine Ponyo swimming in the bucket… This is a new challenge? What in the world is meant by that? "Tadpole!" This is a scene where Mei is trying to catch a tadpole in the water from My Neighbor Totoro. The moment the hand is put in the water, the color of the fingertips changed. This conveys that the hand has entered the water. It is common knowledge in animation to make colors dull in water. However, back to Ponyo, pay attention to the pink part of Ponyo. The pink color is the same both underwater and outside. Why?! When it comes to this film, if the color of Ponyo is blunted, it will unfortunately no longer be Ponyo. Ponyo should always be Ponyo. Ms. Yasuda set aside the common practice in the anime world (of changing colors underwater) so as to not ruin the cuteness of Ponyo. It can't look fake. Even though it is of course not real, the viewer shouldn't be thinking "being underwater is not like that…". After all, being underwater is being underwater.

I'm glad I've been able to work on Miyazaki's creations. Contributing to Ponyo has been another great experience.

Only because I have known Ms. Yasuda for over 40 years, I can call her by that nickname ("Yacchin"). It seems to be a feature of digital that you can use as many colors as you like, but it is also a problem to have too many. That's why it's often difficult to make a choice, if you can't just say "eh, good enough". If I look at the current state of things, that's how it seems.

We only use very simple colors. When that goldfish shows its red face above the water surface, versus when it goes back into the water, there is the question of how to change the color, and where to change the color, and how to search for the right color… This is what it means to achieve that effect. Let alone whether it is bucket water, or normal ocean water. We've made it this far with the common knowledge, how the underwater color and the above-water color are distinguished. It's been 30 years with that technique, but now we're completely ignoring it. Isn't the goldfish more beautiful when it's in the water? I'm not sure what's best… When we dull its color in water, it conveys the fact of being underwater, yes, but goldfish are more beautiful in the water, aren't they? So I think we can't dull the color just because it's in the water. In the end we decided it is better not to change the color so much between being underwater and above water. Even though we live in such a world. It took 30 years to see this. We kept going back and forth, on if changing the color was just one way of doing things that we should avoid overdoing, and whether we should stick with a simpler approach. Well, this was the result of thinking carefully together.

Next, we meet the people involved in creating the audio in Ponyo. Of the five leaders behind the making of Ponyo, the fourth is Shuji Inoue, who Miyazaki calls an "audio magician". Mr. Inoue is in charge of all things audio-related. By the way, what do you think this jar is? This item actually became necessary for the film, through Mr. Inoue's attention to detail. It is three months before the release of Ponyo. We visited the site where voice recording is taking place. The voice actors are an all-star cast.

Ok whenever you're ready.

This day's recording session is of Ponyo's mother, Yuki Amami, who played the role of Granmamare. "The ocean has returned to how it was in the Devonian era." Shuji Inoue is in charge of the audio.

Yes that's fine.

They never do a special feature on Mr. Inoue huh, on Nippon Television. He is an audio magician. Mr. Inoue has earned a great deal of trust from Miyazaki. What is Mr. Inoue's work? Let's take a closer look at Mr. Inoue's work! Huh? Mr. Inoue is holding a baby. What on earth is he doing? Audio refers to dialogue, sound effects, things in the environment such as rain, and really any sound necessary for a movie, such as background music. Mr. Inoue is an audio expert who mixes these sounds together in a well-balanced manner. On this day, they're recording a scene where a baby is crying. Normally, anime uses pre-made sound-effect CDs for baby sounds. However, Mr. Inoue decided to record from scratch.

Mr. Miyazaki's works have been broadcast countless times over the past two decades. Now for Ponyo, there might be people watching it even 10 years from now. It's tough, you can't simply say "Eh, good enough".

Recording was finally finished after three hours. They immediately proceed to match the baby's voice with the animation footage.

The voice around there…

Then, Miyazaki checks the result. What do you think, director?

My cradling method wasn't bad, huh.

Miyazaki is also very satisfied. On another day, they are fine-tuning the voice recordings. But there is a big problem. Mr. Inoue's hand has stopped. Something feels unconvincing. Underwater audio is difficult huh, no one can really understand it. Mr. Inoue is worried about the sound of the voice when talking underwater.

I'm stumped.

Compromise is not acceptable. Mr. Inoue is stressed as he always strives for realistic sounds. Mr. Inoue finally moves! What did he figure out? … What?! A vase? A vase is necessary… for the reverberations. The sounds that come from echoing in the vase are what is needed. By putting a microphone in the vase, playing the voice into it, and then recording the echoes, they can emulate the sound of underwater dialogue. Hmm… after all that, it's not good enough. It seems the result is still unconvincing. This time they are bringing in newspaper and water. What on earth are they going to do? Oh, they are sticking wet newspaper inside the vase! In this way, they can suppress the excessive echoes. When we compare the results… <Original audio> <Just inside the vase> <Inside vase with water and newspaper> Did you hear the difference? Now, a check by Miyazaki.

Wonderful! The vase-newspaper technique has been selected!

In terms of movies, Miyazaki makes animation with a hand-made style… So I think he is very much an "analog" person. He loves analog. So I tried to stop all digital usage and record everything in analog. Indeed, in this era there is already so much usage of digital machines, that if you can use an analog machine, why not try it? This is all because I wanted to create something that will fit with the animation.

Mr. Inoue is a true recording mixer. But he is actually someone with more power than just a mixer. To record a baby's voice, he actually went and recorded the baby of an assenting staff member. The baby is only in a good mood when the mother is there, so Mr. Inoue holds the baby and the mother goes to hide, and so the baby cries.

Well in the middle of recording the baby fell asleep. Then when I arrived and he saw my face, I thought he would cry, but he actually didn't! The baby was in a good mood.

I think that the staff did a good job in recording this variety of sounds, but what made the result was how they cut and matched the audio with the movement of the animation. Ponyo is almost done. The fifth leader is Joe Hisaishi, a composer. He has contributed to every feature film directed by Miyazaki. For example, Ponyo, do you recognize this piece? Yes! "Laputa, Castle in the Sky"! How about the next piece? Yes, it's "My Neighbor Totoro"! We took a closer look at Mr. Hisaishi's composition and recording workspace. We found a strong passion for Miyazaki's work. This is Mr. Hisaishi's workplace. We were allowed an unmanned camera, to show it on TV for the first time. A two-year vision. Here, all 39 pieces from Ponyo were created. How was Ponyo's music made? Let's take a closer look at Mr. Hisaishi's work.

Good morning.

Today is the recording of Ponyo's music. Miyazaki has also arrived. The performers are Japan's leading New Japan Philharmonic Orchestra. It is a full orchestra of about 90 people, which is the highest ever for a Miyazaki film. Countless microphones are set up on the stage for recording. Audio mixer Mr. Inoue arrived at the venue just before the performance. In addition, background art director Mr. Yoshida. In fact, Miyazaki invited this music lover. Finally, it is time. Mr. Hisaishi takes the stage. Mr. Hisaishi does the conducting while watching the video on the monitor. Hmm? Look at the monitor. What are those symbols for? Actually, that is a signal notifying of an upcoming melody change, in sync with the scene. It shows six seconds in advance. Let's again watch scene #199, where Sousuke goes through the bamboo fence, but this time with the music. Watching the result… The music is beautifully synced to the change in Sousuke's feelings.

One must really work hard to get through a Miyazaki production. It's basically once every four years. To make it to release requires really working hard for those four years. Each time, it is the result of giving everything one has got.

Since Nausicaa, it has been 25 years of compositions. All together, 205 pieces. This time Mr. Hisaishi has been given a wonderful present by Director Miyazaki. It's a flyer for a concert at the Budokan this summer. All the illustrations of Mr. Hisaishi and the characters were hand-drawn by Miyazaki.

Actually, I was amazed. Even though he is so busy, he drew it for me. It is already a family heirloom!

Mr. Hisaishi, what do you think Miyazaki animation has come to be?

It is basically my life. This has truly been a happy collaboration. This work tempo… all sorts of things came together in a good way. This kind of artist, this kind of director… you can't expect to meet another one like him. As for me, it has been the upmost pleasure.

Mr. Miyazaki, what do you think of today's children?

Right, I see. We used to play that but, now we give different things to our children. Is it better that the adults don't exist?

Oh I see.

Next, Miyazaki talks about a serious issue in the anime world. I get the feeling that you are somehow in opposition to the current generation.

So it seems you're not happy with the way in which Japanese society is heading, huh?

With completion just around the corner, Miyazaki is drawing the end credits. In it, he is pouring his gratitude to the staff. In this episode we did a field trip of Studio Ghibli and saw how the five leaders did their work to create Ponyo. But with just five people alone, the movie cannot be made. As the release date neared, Miyazaki was the last one left working. That is for the end credits. Miyazaki himself drew special illustrations for each of the 420 staff members. Thank you all for your hard work. After the private showing, Miyazaki has one last thing to say.