I have chosen Makoto Shinkai as my eminent person for grade nine. Makoto Shinkai is a director, writer, producer, animator, editor, cinematographer, voice actor, artist and a former graphic designer. Makoto Shinkai was born in Nagano Prefecture in 1973. Before he started creating animated movies, Shinkai studied at Chuo University, drawing picture books and studying Japanese literature before getting a job in 1994. Shinkai was hired at Falcom, a video game company where he created video clips and graphic design art for games. As of now, he still works as everything said above, except as a graphic designer. He no longer works at the game company. Shinkai does a lot of his work alone and has the ability to conjure up amazing work in a short amount of time.
“Voices of a Distant Star” is a twenty-five-minute-long film by Makoto Shinkai. It was one of his first works that became popular around the world.
Makoto Shinkai is someone who can recognize his own mistakes and failures as he creates his own world. I’m drawn to the fact that he can create animations and films by himself with such detail. Makoto is shown to be dedicated to his work, no matter how large the project. Like myself, he often thinks that some of his works are not good enough and should have been better than he made them. He can expand upon very simple ideas and create award winning films from those ideas. As a learner, Makoto Shinkai prefers to figure out how things work by himself, through research and hard work. Similarly, I like researching into whatever I’m interested in at the time, with sometimes a little too much work. He prefers to work on computers to draw his animations, because he finds that it’s easier and the industry is generally going in the direction of digital art. I also prefer to work on computers, since I work more efficiently on them. Like Shinkai, I also like to draw sometimes in my free time.
Makoto Shinkai pays a very close attention to detail, sometimes causing him to think some of his work is not good enough. I also pay very close attention to detail and will often think my work isn’t good enough when I complete it. He often finds that he likes the feeling of accomplishment when he finishes an entire project with little to no help from others, and I feel the same. I think we both share a creative mind when it comes to creating and expanding upon ideas with many more ideas. We both prefer to be independent when it comes to working but enjoy help when it’s given. From what I’ve read, he seems to enjoy leading projects and doing a lot of things himself. I also enjoy leading a group, while also doing a lot of work myself. We both enjoy being leaders of a group but prefer the members of the group to think of ourselves as a friend, not a boss.
Makoto Shinkai exemplifies my goal of becoming better at public speaking and managing my time better. He sometimes shares the same difficulty when he wants to do something better, but the time frame he has holds him back from doing so. Since Makoto Shinkai is Japanese and grew up in Japan countryside, I will probably have trouble connecting with him when it comes to being raised, since I grew up in Canada in a residential area. I will try to overcome this by furthering my research into Japanese culture and Makoto Shinkai himself, to find out what his life growing up was. I will also research everyday life in Japan and the specific locations he stayed at (Tokyo and Nagano Prefecture).
Stunning rain animation from Makoto Shinkai’s “The Garden of Words”
Makoto is a very dedicated person of his profession, very few people can match his work. He is praised for his ability to create emotion from the background and scenery, while also telling a story with it. Many people are affected by his animations and I think it has a large impact on the industry. Because of the low number of people who can match him, he changes the way people think about the industry. Shinkai has influenced many people through his films and the emotions that come with them. Many people believe his films are beautiful in the animation, cinematography and the storyline. In ten years, his films will still be watched by many, and affect them in the future as they live their lives. The ideas, emotions and messages throughout his films can change people’s lives. In fifty years, I think he will be remembered as someone who created beautiful films by himself and with his team. His films will still be watched, many more films of his are still releasing every year. In one hundred years, he will still be remembered as someone who changed the way Japanese animation was looked at internationally. He was one of the first few creators to become popular internationally, after Hayao Miyazaki, the creator of Studio Ghibli.
Image from “Children Who Chase Lost Voices”
Early in his career Makoto created an five-minute short film by himself, only using his girlfriend at the time as a voice actor for the other character. With a very small team, he made a twenty-five minute long short film that also became popular. Later in his career, he took a risk as a creator when he decided to let other people take over parts that he would normally cover, such as animation in “Children Who Chase Lost Voices”. Many people think that of all his films, this showed his personality and style the least because he was not in charge of the animation. The movie is often reffered to as his most “Ghibli-like” movie.
The short film that made Shinkai known in Japan and won him awards, “Her and Her Cat”
Makoto’s strengths as a gifted person is his dedication and how he can pour his heart in to his films with being able to understand when cuts need to be made. He excels at working alone and in small groups on big projects that normally take a larger team to complete. He struggles to realize that not everything that he makes needs to be perfect. One time he told people to not watch his most popular work because he thought it was incomplete and not good enough. Shinkai wants people to feel how they can be distanced, but at the same time connected in many ways. He fears imperfection in his films and wants them to be improved. He also wants people to learn from his films and understand that even though you are apart from someone, doesn’t mean you are separated. You will stay connected through fate and coincidences that seem impossible to happen normally.
For writing my script, I want to write it from the perspective of Makoto Shinkai’s glasses. I think writing from his glasses can show the emotion and what he sees everyday. I can use it to show how he was inspired by other filmmakers. A goal I have going into the future for eminent, is being able to research into the topics I need to without going off topic while doing it.