©”A few minutes of cheer” production committee
Recently at the Tokyo International Film Festival, I sat down POPREQdirector of recent films brief cheer. During our conversation, we talked about the making of the film and how much of its story came from his own life.
POPREQ He didn’t always want to be a director – far from it, in fact. “Up until my junior year in high school, I planned to be a public official. But it wasn’t really the career I wanted. I just passively thought this was a job that would bring me stability,” POPREQ here we go. “I loved visual arts like painting. But I thought art school was for people who had a lot of talent — and I didn’t think I had that talent.
However, as the time to decide his own path approached, he changed his mind. “I thought being a public worker might not be that interesting,” he said with a laugh. “So I thought okay, why don’t I give it a try [the art path] Just once, see what I can do? And if it turns out I don’t have any talent, I’ll give up. That’s how I started.
since then, POPREQ Known for producing animated music videos with his two partners, Daji and Sun Yueexist cheer!their three-person studio. In fact, their unique animation style sparked interest in the future brief cheer.
Production on this film began a little differently than most animated films. “When I first started working on this project, no one came up to me and said, ‘Director, please make this movie,'” POPREQ Told me. “It’s more like, ‘We like the work you’re doing, so can you make it into a movie?'”
brief cheer is the story of amateur music video producer Kanata, his high school teacher/musician Yu and his classical artist friend Daisuke. All three struggled with their art—albeit in different ways. Two of the characters, Kanata and Yu, are taken from ” POPREQown life. Simply put, “Kanata depicts the child side of me, while Yuu represents more of the adult side of me.”
“When I was in college I created all kinds of pictures and I’m very proud of finishing them,” POPREQ As he spoke, he explained Kanata’s own feelings. “I felt like, ‘Oh, there are so many possibilities in my life!’ I had more expectations and expectations then.
Kanata’s main conflict in the film is his attempt to make his first commissioned piece of art, rather than one he created for himself. “In the movie, Kanta failed to create what Xiaoyu wanted – I actually had the same experience,” POPREQ Told me. “[When making commissioned art,] It’s important to try and understand the request for what you need to do – but I feel like even if you were able to see into another person’s head – and you were able to create something directly from that person’s head – it wouldn’t turn into something great. “
So how about POPREQ Handle these situations? “I listen to the client’s request and then think about it. Then I make my proposal and say, ‘Okay, here’s my proposal based on what you said to me. Now, would you like to work with me on this project? ?
As for Yu, while following the same artistic path as Ban Fang (albeit in a different medium), she goes further—especially when it comes to her troubles. “Woo, she’s on the verge of a breakdown. She can’t continue making her art like she used to because she realizes there are so many musicians greater than her. She thought she was in control of her life, but she’s reached the point where ‘This is reality”. I’ve accepted that I have to move on. POPREQ He remembers the blow to his self-confidence growing up. “There’s a lot going on in my life, and I’ve met a lot of other greater people with greater talents. So I feel like I exist in a much smaller way. It’s that feeling that’s so important to understanding Yu’s character and her role in life. The key to your location.
Of course, just like Kanata and Yu struggle artistically in the film, POPREQ Faces strives to do just that. After all, in terms of production, even a 68-minute movie is very different from a short music video. As the workload increases, more practice platforms are needed, so the team cheer! Researched things they could outsource.
This proved problematic for several reasons, the first being the actual style of animation. “Our animation isn’t your average 2D animation, but it also doesn’t have the usual CGI raw motion. We wanted to do something in between – a hybrid between the two. POPREQ explained. “It’s a little difficult for people [outside of our company] To understand this.
Then there’s the unique look of the film. “exist cheer!all images were created by another staff member, Sun Yue for all our animations. Sun Yue came up with all these images, we know [instinctively] How to put them into animation, because we’ve been working together for many years. […] We knew what each other was looking for and got it immediately. But if someone new joins the project, it’s hard to tell them what we’re looking for,” POPREQ sighed. “Even if we could, it would be hard for that person to really understand.”
However, that’s not the biggest obstacle the team faces. “I think the biggest problem is [we were asking any potential workers] Able to do everything. POPREQ Continuing, “For example, in my case, I work on the art and backgrounds. I do the 3D production, all the layout, and everything a 2D animation artist would do. [But when outsourcing,] Let’s say there’s an artistic person on the other end. When you ask an artist to do 3D, he can’t do it. And a 3D person wouldn’t be able to do the art part or the composition part.
How to do that POPREQ Overcome these personnel issues? “We tried to outsource the drawing to other people, but the result wasn’t really what we wanted. So in the end we just said, OK, people cheer!There are three of us, and we have to create all the pictures ourselves. This creates a lot of work for this small team.
“Sometimes the only solution is to do the best you can,” POPREQ explain. “There’s no smart or clever way to solve this type of problem. It’s more like, we’ve got to work hard or we might not have time to get it done – but we’ve got to get it done. And they did.
brief cheer Released in Japanese theaters on June 14, 2024.
