01x04 - Hold That Machete Tight!

[bunniefuu]

Film

The shape's so hazy,

and the shadows end up looking

totally flat and different

I ended up drawing a pond up top,

even though there's no water source.

How does the smoke flow

from an expl*si*n, anyway?

This is gonna be hard to adjust.

Maybe a bunch of roots would imply

capillary action in a way that—

I'm getting nowhere, and it's

making my brain boil!

You've gotten really good

at handling a machete.

I wanted a real one, but they

said it was too dangerous.

I have no idea how this smoke is moving

Smoke can be pretty

complicated in motion.

There's nothing wrong with

using live action references,

but check out the kind of

stuff our forebears did.

I guess it can change pretty suddenly,

without much transition, too.

This has a lot of impact.

And this one is just shaking the screen?

You can learn a lot from studying

what our predecessors did!

There's something about the pace here

Both of you, in the PC room, now!

Hey, there's color, and it's composited!

Is that really all you have to say?

This feels totally different

from just flipping pages.

Since there's no option for previews,

only getting to see it once it's

finished makes a stronger impression.

The extra time until it's ready gives

you a more objective view on it

You get that, "So that's how

it turned out!" feeling,

like after you fire some sculpted clay.

You imagine how it'll turn

out while you work on it,

but once it's finished, it's hard

to make any corrections.

It makes you think about where

you could do a better job!

Since the screen's big

with good picture quality,

you get a better idea of how it turns out.

It's still kind of rough

Adding sound effects and music

will give it a new vibe, too!

Gotta say, I can't wait to

see the finished product!

Do you realize whose job that is?!

You'd like to see all the finished cuts, yes?

Because we only have a month

left until our deadline.

Hang on is that all we've

got for finished animation?

Exactly.

Mizusaki, what cut were

you working on last week?

Number four

What about this week?

Number four.

After an entire month,

we only have four cuts done?!

This pace is too slow! Try to consider

that we have to finish the entire thing!

Here we have two typical cuts.

And here are our four!

Each one has enough art for 36 cuts.

You said I could make the

acting realistic, Kanamori!

Only when there's leeway to do so,

in the context of finishing

the whole product!

At this rate, we have no chance of

finishing before the budget committee review!

You'd need to draw 24 hours a day for

the next month, starting today.

That impossible! Thirty all-nighters in a row?!

In that case, we'll shorten it to 48 hours

a day over the course of 15 days.

All you did was halve one of those

numbers and double the other!

That ought to give us another ten seconds.

What kind of magic did you use to do that?

I added a pure background to the cut.

Then throw in a little camerawork to jazz it up.

We don't have to animate every single scene.

Good! More like that!

Yes, ma'am!

Episode 4 Hold That Machete Tight!

Keep

Your

Hands

Off

Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken!

Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken!

We will now begin sh**ting with our

self-propelled tripod-mounted camera!

Now, where's our subject?

Asakusa! That car!

Rotating camera platform!

We can get away with just rotating the

cel for the camera with top down shots!

Wait, maybe we could rotate

the rest instead

Asakusa, hurry!

Get rid of anything that hasn't been painted

in an otherwise a pure background shot!

Got it!

If it's a close up of a rotating wheel,

we only need three frames to reuse over and over!

I'm not a fan of these highlight-only

backgrounds, though.

Then we can zoom in and add the sky!

But wouldn't that be a waste,

since we drew the bottom?

We could cycle three frames for the ground,

and fade them into the horizon!

How's that?!

Plus a side-scrolling cut!

It's the same background repeating, huh?

That one is pretty infuriating

Okay, let's take a cool pose, and stretch

it out to fill a bunch of time!

Pan! Pan! Pan!

Too close!

Since it's hand-drawn, we just rescan the art.

These are still roughs!

There's not enough detail.

The lines

So we throw in a light source!

We can add additional cuts to focus

on the parts with a lot of movement!

Tight focus, horizontal pan!

Make the background slightly

off-set from the character!

This is like cheating.

Aw, shut it!

It's not holding up with this zoom,

so I'm gonna add an additional frame.

That looks more natural!

I don't really like these kind of loops!

I'd rather draw a unique fluttering animation.

Too fancy!

If it's gonna hold on the shot

for so long, then one more frame!

That made a difference!

You take the classics and then add a

little variation to keep things fresh!

Just like the menu at a popular cafeteria!

Let's sh**t the sky!

Everybody loves a blue sky with clouds.

Movies set in summer are bound to

have a shot with clouds scrolling by.

If a character is framed against the sky,

it makes the backgrounds simple.

There are lots of panels in

manga with white backgrounds.

It makes you wonder why the backgrounds

bother being so detailed in anime!

Manga is monochrome! Is there

really any need for color?

But it's pretty!

We can change the level of exposure

to simulate a real camera.

That's how it works for

the human eye, after all.

Even if there are no animation cels involved,

we can't just show a purely static shot!

That said

If we overdo it, the story

is going to fall apart,

considering we've already

got a storyboard.

It makes a good impression, though.

Th-The thing is, even if it

looks good, without a story—

I'm trying to say that it's already cool.

Even in black and white.

You're not about to lay some kinda

weird stuff on us, are you?

It would be a lot easier

without a story, though.

You think we can pull that off somehow?

Let's drop the narrative

and have Asakusa figure out

a way to re-contextualize it all.

Whoa, hold on—

We do not have enough time for

additional color, sound, or photography.

Wait, you mean actually going monochrome?!

It should be fine.

We'll make it stylized, and present it

like a preview for the finished product.

Manga is monochrome too, but it's still

a full-fledged entertainment product.

But the story

The story won't matter if we can't finish it!

Listen. As long as we can deliver on

this presentation, we'll have funding.

Then, by all means, make whatever

you want, however you want.

We're going into this

budget review committee

And our plan is to bluff.

It's hard to get the right

line quality with a scan

You're the one who wanted

to do this with paper.

Getting the lines to look nice and

finishing the coloring takes time.

We're not going to be able to finish this anime

with just what you have on paper.

Film

Automated inbetweening?!

Right. We generate the art between

key frames automatically,

which should save us on the

time needed to color them.

That'll let you focus more

on the general animation.

Finished In-Betweens

Finished Keyframes

Hang on! I said I wanted to do this all by hand!

Why are you so dead set on that, anyway?

We're already using digital

colors and photography.

Those are different!

And it'll be hard to use this

method for the whole thing!

Finished In-Betweens

There's no guarantee it'll work

Besides, a lot of simple cuts are coming up!

I bet we make a ton of progress really fast!

Finished In-Betweens

Finished Keyframes

I've heard those kinds of

optimistic proclamations before,

and I've come to realize that

there's no basis for them.

TASK

MIZUSAKI

KEYFRAMES

IN-BETWEENS

The numbers aren't going up,

TUESDAY

WEDNESDAY

THURSDAY

FRIDAY

SATURDAY

SUNDAY

MONDAY

TUESDAY

WEDNESDAY

and based on that, we have to

assume it won't be done in time.

THURSDAY

FRIDAY

SATURDAY

SUNDAY

MONDAY

TUESDAY

WEDNESDAY

THURSDAY

FRIDAY

SATURDAY

SUNDAY

MONDAY

TUESDAY

WEDNESDAY

THURSDAY

FRIDAY

SATURDAY

SUNDAY

MONDAY TUESDAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY

It's already clear that this won't

work if it's 100% hand-drawn.

Finished In-Betweens

So we need to go with the methods

that will actually let us finish.

The audience won't be particular about

whether it's analog or digital anyway.

There are people who will be able to tell!

The alternative is you finding

a way to work 48 hours a day.

Look, I'm doing this by hand! Okay?!

Finished In-Betweens

Finished Keyframes

I think it'd be good for the

cuts where we need clean art

with simple proportion changes.

The way the lines stay clean even

when you zoom in is pretty handy.

Finished In-Betweens

But if we can't use digital at all,

we won't be able to finish.

Is it all right if I ask the art club

for help with the backgrounds?

I want you to be able to back

Mizusaki up as soon as possible.

I couldn't possibly start bossing

around the folks in the art club

Then we'll use solid white or

black shots for backgrounds.

And the remainder of our cuts will

be panning, static lip sync shots.

Using lip sync shots when there isn't

any dialog?! That misses the whole point!

Then it'll have to be a static picture story.

We can't do that! No way!

Would you rather screen the

line art we have right now?

I'm going to talk to the art club.

Hold That Machete Tight!

The art club was no help.

They've got their hands full preparing

for the budget review committee,

and apparently don't feel anime backgrounds

are a sufficient outlet for

their artistic ambitions.

That being the case

Moving forward, it'll be

stills and keyframes only—

I'll test out the automatic

in-betweening program!

In exchange, can I still do the cuts

that I want to focus on by hand?

That should be fine, as long as

you pull back some on other cuts,

and are willing to split the

work with Asakusa occasionally.

Okay! Then I'll put my focus where

it's needed, and get get to work!

Let's head to the PC room, and I can

give you the basic breakdown.

I've already set everything up,

and know how it's done.

P

C

R

O

O

M

Awesome!

What do you think, Mizusaki?

Yeah, this should work with a few adjustments.

It's better than I thought!

This is gonna work!

The lines are clean and flow smoothly,

so we can even up the frame count!

Please head back to the club room and

get to work on the backgrounds, Asakusa.

But I wanted to see more

Film

Place card here

Place card here

Asakusa?

Were you sleeping down there?

Yeah. I was pretending to be a pro.

And professional animators

sleep under their desks?

Yeah. What time is it?

It's 3:5.. wait, no, it's 4:00 AM now.

Good morning.

Yeah, something about 4:00 AM says,

"It's morning now," huh?

So, were you able to finish?

I'd say it's less about finishing

or completing the project,

and more the outcome of passion

crashing against compromise and resignation.

Where's Mizusaki?

The last cut is a pretty beefy one

I suppose we'll have to

use line art for that one.

No time to color it, huh?

I gotta say, there's something

humiliating about having to toss out the story

in favor of doing something

more like a preview!

Given the situation we were in,

what was the alternative?

And even then, we ended up having to stay

at school overnight the

day before the screening.

The night watch is going to

be making the rounds soon.

That's bad, Kanamori!

Then again, considering we never left,

it's not like we snuck in,

so we won't be arrested.

You realize being on campus

outside of designated hours is

still trespassing, right?

It is?!

It looks like Mizusaki's finished.

That sure is morning.

Let's finish this thing and clear on out.

Sorry I'm late!

Oh, good morning.

I got approval for our overnight stay.

You could've said something!

You never asked.

That's our Kanamori!

Moving on, during the presentation,

I want you two to stay quiet

and avoid anything dangerous.

Dangerous?

We're up against the student council,

who are apparently dangerous enough that,

"Keep your hands off the student council!"

is common advice.

We at the carbohydrates revolution group,

with the amoeba we have created

Club Activities

Budget Review Committee

Go home! Beat it!

h-have found a way to make the miso soup

from the cafeteria taste more mild!

How long is this gonna be?!

Who gives a damn?!

I like the rich flavor, dumbass!

Get lost!

The carbohydrates revolution

seeks to have ramen and rice

added to the cafeteria's menu,

and eliminate the parties responsible

for charging exorbitant prices

for double orders at our school's cafeteria!

Double carbs?!

Ramen with rice is a crime against nature!

This will all be made possible

by our electromagnetic amoeba!

Get off the stage!

Other people have

presentations to make!

SECURITY CLUB

Okay, that'll do.

There's inconsistency in your vision,

your agenda is ambiguous,

there's no scientific basis for

your claims about that amoeba,

and ramen with rice is not a socially

approved dietary combo.

Therefore, the carbohydrates revolution's

budget request is denied.

DENIED

This is one intense committee!

Next up is the film research association.

Calm down, people!

We've done all we can to prepare.

Let's hold our heads high

Come on, Asakusa.

We are the film research association.

One second, please.

Before your presentation,

SECURITY CLUB

there are questions about the

film research association's activities.

Or rather, antics you've gotten up to.

We've received reports that

you've smashed through steel walls,

and torn down iron pipe railings.

You do realize that you're damaging

property that was provided to you

by the school, right?

Isn't that a major problem?

I fail to see the problem.

Huh?

SECURITY CLUB

Well, there's more than that!

The anime club has made complaints

that your film club was chased through

their screening, disrupting it,

with non-school personnel being

on the premises as a result.

What do you have to say about that?

I don't believe it's a problem.

Well, it's a huge one!

SECURITY CLUB

There are even rumors the eizouken

has been keeping a wild raccoon dog!

Why don't you think it's a problem?

Why?

Are you curious about what I think about it?

We're making the call on whether

you get a budget here.

As it stands, the eizouken is

basically a public enemy.

And depending on how this goes,

you might even get shut down.

Our club room was damaged

because it was in disrepair.

The school has admitted that already,

and if there is an issue with

the outsiders on school grounds,

that would be a matter to

bring up with the school

as a lack of security, wouldn't it?

Meaning the problems you've stated

are the school's responsibility.

Which would be downright scandalous.

Would the faculty like to

discuss these scandals?

No! Let's not talk about any

school scandals at this meeting!

You don't have much of a poker face, huh?

By my authority as

student council president,

SECURITY CLUB

the eizouken's activities

are hereby suspended!

Your authority?

Does the student council wield their

authority like a blunt weapon, now?

SECURITY CLUB

Y'know, your little bluff might

have scared the teachers,

but do you really think it's

enough to get us to back down?

Aw, cram it!

You bunch, thinking you can get high and mighty

just 'cause you've got us over a barrel!

Well, we ain't exactly the kinda folks

who're gonna bow to bums like you!

We come up on this stage like clowns

'cause you decided to put on a show,

and now you wanna rake us over the coals?!

Say what now? All kindsa problems?!

Blast it, all you've done is run your

mouths about a buncha hokum, ya nimrods!

You think we were running

from those g*ons

or wrecking ourselves in that

crummy old club building for fun?!

But we did it all, cuz that's

what it took to make anime!

We took our lumps to get this

anime made, ya ignoramuses!

The proof's in the pudding! Don't run

yer mouth until you've tasted it!

Got it?!

Say what now?

"Don't complain about how it's done.

Look at the finished product first."

I suppose you can run your video, in that case.

You realize you just gave them the

okay to announce their project?

Hold That Machete Tight!

Film

Film

Holy crap

That wasn't in 3D, right?

Y'know how in 4D theaters,

they blow wind at you?

Huh they were actually

working on something.

I wanna see more.

What do you two think?

Aw, come on.

You're seriously asking that, Kanamori?

It was hard to pick the tank out

with the two-tone coloring.

We should've added some gray.

The transitions during the

fall didn't look too good.

And the dust clouds look really flat

unless you add textures to them all.

They got something done even without a budget.

The rough parts look more

obvious on a big screen.

Just shows you must do the job right,

no matter how small it seems.

One of the frames in the loops

was missing a shadow.

That made it look a bit choppy.

Some stuff only becomes obvious

when you see the final product.

Like how almost all the cuts

are with a wide angle lens.

We should bring a PC into the club

room so we can do regular checks!

I'll take it under advisement.

Anyway, we've gotta move on from here.

The editing is pretty rough.

You've gotta be thorough, or it wrecks the thing.

What do you think they'll come

up with if they get a budget?

Wouldn't the tank sh**t her down?

Don't be stupid! Those flight

suits are really fast!

We should probably go over what

we've got so far and redo the plan.

All right! Onto the next phase!

Our goal is to put everything

we want into this thing!

Yeah, definitely!

I dunno how we got this far, but it's

getting even more interesting!

Club Activity Budget Request Form

Club Name:

Film Study Association (Eizouken)

Goals:

Study of film, production of animation

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