Miyazaki

So as most of you probably know, Hayao Miyazaki announced recently that he is officially retiring from the film business. For those of you who don't know, Miyazaki is a renowned animator and film maker. He was the creator of "My Neighbor Totoro",   "Howl's Moving Castle", and "Spirited Away" to name a just a few. It is because of this that today I chose to post a scene from "Howl's Moving Castle". I chose this particular clip because there's a lot going on in it. In this scene the interior of the castle is transforming into a small almost cottage-like setting and that process is shown here. Along with that, there's the wind that billows Howl's clothes, and Calcifer, the fire demon's sudden transformation. I think looking at a piece of hand drawn animation is not only an opportunity for admiration, but also to understand where a lot of the techniques we use today came from. Things like tweening and other processes we still use today started with animating in this manor. I'm always impressed by the shear amount of work that goes into something like this, and by how much movement and life these animators can create with 2 dimensional images. Animation like this has amazed me since I was about 6, and Miyazaki was always a prevalent part of that inspiration.