One drawing was cut into two for the overpass for a jarring effect. The effects team handled the vibration of the steel frame.

The director gives us keywords and a real challenge is figuring out how best to reflect them. He wrote “dreamy” for the whale scene in the storyboard… Of course, we discussed it in a meeting, but I thought long and hard about how to convey “dreamy” in the way the director wanted.

In the aerial shot scene, the background art was projected onto the 3D model in the very first frame. Although for the most part this was created in a similar fashion as the allies in Shibuya, there was no panning-in with the camera, so it was easier in that respect. But we encountered drawing errors, like an image that flickers with mob’s movement, and the compositing work was hard. And the camera angle did change a lot. We had the stadium modeling data that Anri Kamijo from the art set-up team created using SketchUp (simplified 3DCG software), so all we had to do was retouching the gaps and adding fine details. The model we received had had small parts built into it, and sections that would be okay as plane polygons were processed as plane and for sections that had change in perspective as the aerial camera moved across (such as the trees lining the streets and team flags), a polygon board was placed. 3D Background Lead
Tsubasa HARIKAE

The background inside the stadium was mostly CG. It wouldn’t match the 2D layout and the shape of the stadium had to be modified in keeping with the layout, so we asked for a few patterns or forms. It tuned out that this was quite a grueling task. This also happened with Summer Wars. We made the equatorial belt a straight line rather than circular to use in OZ. It is uncommon to modify shapes of buildings with full CG. Perhaps this is unique to animated films. They do mesh better with 2D images, while also creating a sense of depth. Despite the modification, they look natural, in other words, they don’t stand out so you don’t notice them.

Generally speaking, the background in stadium cuts is all 3DCG. The material we received in advance for art parts was texturized for production. Artists’ drawings were used untouched as a Book (layer) only near the foreground. DF decided the camera position based on the layout, and composites were made by placing the camera and mobs for all cuts.

Sparks were added as a separate element and the flame’s realness (amount of light) was augmented in the composites. Ikeda took care of compositing all of these. Effect Lead
Takahiro MATSUI

I think these may have been the most complicated composites in my CG career (laughter breaks out from the staff). It was a long scene with many elements, which meant that compositing was very complex with countless layers. To top it off, it was hard to get the rhythm right. Scenes flowed seamlessly one after another. The opening was one cut. Here, the front stage was fully described so in terms of length, it was about two minutes. It was a real challenge to work on the entire length. Effects and everything else all had to come together and this was a test of everyone’s creativity. Composit Lead
Masanori IKEDA

There was a last-minute director’s edit to change the flame color of the sward in the climax. Rather than simple flames, the director wanted an aura-like impression. At the time, the flames were supposed to be orange through to the end, but just as we were about to finish, he said, “maybe flames aren't the way to go”. So I had to explain the change to everyone and quickly delegated the tasks for the cut and started working on it. The retake was actually ordered the day before it was scheduled to be delivered. It really came at the very end. The staff also felt that the work had already been finished.

At that point, it was too late to change the material, so we had to somehow make it work with compositing.

And it was the biggest tear-jerking scene as well.

Kyuta was also originally orange, not pink. We weren’t getting any more celluloid pictures, so Horibe decided on the cel colors and we changed the colors on composites.

We further discussed this image with the director. We found a video of the sea sparkles luminescing were there were waves, so we asked for a splash and other effects based on this reference video.

We used Houdini for the main blow of the whale. It was a quite long scene with many cuts, so I figured it would be better to change the way to approach this and prepared it so that effects work could be done efficiently.

The testing phase material was fairly close to the reference video, and we needed to tone down the realness of CG and make it more like animation. We asked Shimozawa from the composite team for editorial supervision on the level of details to be left in.

If untouched, this type of material really shows its details. We changed it to an organic material that was more watery but not quite water, while making sure it did not look full CG. There was a request for particles that looked like fireflies, so we avoided materials with textures. Like the explosion scene, we selected details like velocity and where the light is coming from and picked fairly monotone materials to zero in on parts that paired with the level of animation details. But this balance is hard to achieve and even more so when our aim was not to reduce the amount of details in composites so that they would look 2D. They inevitably look cheap if you simply pare down the details. We still wanted to keep the same level of density, so we experimented by trial and error. It’s an abstract thing, so you can’t avoid this kid of uncertainty. We asked the effects team for many retakes of the movement of water droplets that fall on the character. We made sure that the movement matched the mood or character’s emotion. Composit Lead
Yohei SHIMOZAWA

We did not want it to be realistic, but to go further along another vector, so it was challenging to achieve exactly what the director envisions. We didn’t reach the solution immediately; we finally got there after a few exchanges. The director may have had a dreamlike vision, but it wasn’t as though there was something concrete to grasp, so I had to trust myself with what I thought would be good. We were creating something that no one had ever seen before.

The director was also wavering until the end about how everything looked. That is hard to communicate with words. And you can’t explain where and how something isn't right. So we had no choice but to work though the problem by trial and error until we got it right. In the beginning, we didn’t know anything; whether the color of the whale was supposed to be blue or green, or whether there was some substance to it. The character team created the shimmering of the whale’s surface, which was agitated by the composite team. Variations were created in its movement. We added spray-like material, luminescent particles, something that pulled on its tail, and a spray material in a green tone to give color variation. This whale was born out of numerous elements. It is really a fruit of DF team’s effort. To achieve a level of quality so there would be no disharmony between the CG and drawings, and to make the CG right for drawings, that is all that matters.

The PM’s role is to oversee the progress of production. Generally speaking, the main jobs are external liaison and project management. On the production side, I believe this position has the most interactions externally and I attend meeting with the director along with Horibe and others.

She helps us prepare for meetings. For instance, before heading to Studio Chizu, I give her a data sheet I created to be checked that day and she prepares copies to take with, things like that. She is dependable.

For example, if are heading out at 4 o’clock, internal checking continues till the last minute and then I quickly make copies of what has been approved. Sometimes, I wasn’t ready when we were supposed to leave, so Horibe and others had to go ahead and I showed up later with the material. Data is sent over the network, but sometimes it takes time for the receiver to download and confirm it, so I try to take the media containing checked data with me as an insurance. What we don’t want is to make the director wait.

The director never forgets to thank his staff. Of course he rejects our work sometimes, but when he is pleased with it he is generous with his compliments.

When I deliver his compliments to the designers back at the office, they get excited. Their tension soars and everyone becomes even more motivated. As a PM, I receive the director’s messages directly and I get to deliver his messages to the staff. I think that’s the best part of being a PM for the production team. In reality, it’s more like I’m running around and out of breath just so that I can finally hear the director’s words [laughs].

We often get emotional instructions from the director. I listened to him thinking that he had a picture in his mid. When he used non-concrete words to describe his vision, I thought he might be trying to inspire everyone, but they were also difficult to interpret. Horibe takes home those words and always mulls over them [laughs]. Assistant Production Manager
Takami OKAMOTO

There were edits to be made for the part everyone thought was the biggest challenge. It was a cut with a major CG component and everyone was waiting nervously. And then a retake order… We were thrown into a commotion. The director knew the schedule, so we were mostly expecting an okay, and not anticipating a retake at all.

It was the last day to have the editorial room, so we only had one shot to do the editing whether we liked it or not. When I returned to the office I quickly came up with an idea for change and created a QT and sent it over. When I checked with the director, he said, “let’s try this” and then we ran detailed checks. The next day we presented the scene, I was so relieved when I heard him say, “Ah, this is great!” It was the climax, the most crucial scene, but Hosoda’s films are always produced from the beginning according to the sequence of the script, which naturally means the climax scene is created at the end. So we can’t avoid situations like this. I should say that in previous films we had never been under such pressure.

Sometimes, I got questions like “what is line footage?” and I had to explain the animation industry lingo to our staff. Also, simplifying our conversations with Studio Chizu’s when communicating them internally was one my important roles.
My reason for joining DF was to be involved in Director Hosoda’s films. Even though I was not part of the team from the beginning, I was lucky to have been put on the project at the height of it. I am extremely grateful for having my dream come true and at the same time being able to have the first-hand experience.