The Charm of Moving "Paintings" (Beyond Rotoscope)

living painting

I have written about this on "note" before, but the SONY commercial where a precisely pencil-sketched Keiko Kitagawa comes to life uses an animation technique called "rotoscoping."

About "Rotoscoping"

In the first place, "rotoscoping" is a technique for creating animated footage by tracing live-action footage that uses models or the like.

Although it is a technique seen since the early days of animation history, it is also a technique that has faced criticism, such as: if you are going to go through the trouble of filming live-action, why bother making it an animation?
Well, since it doesn't produce the deformed movements or creative motions unique to animation, perhaps it wasn't viewed as progressive.

Actually, it is also used in Disney films, but it seems to be used in a limited way for human movements. Since it feels like reality is being added to the characters' movements in contrast to their deformed motions, I think it is an example of successfully integrating "rotoscoping."

After that, "rotoscoping" never became mainstream, but with the evolution of digital technology, techniques were created to move CG characters by utilizing "motion capture" to trace the movements of performers, as well as digital versions of "rotoscoping" technology.

Director Richard Linklater used this digital version of "rotoscoping" to produce films such as "A Scanner Darkly" (2006).

In my case, while I find "A Scanner Darkly" interesting in terms of its visuals, it made me feel somewhat unsettled and a bit uncomfortable. (Perhaps that was the intention!) ...If it were a bit more CG-oriented like "Avatar," I would be fine with it, but it seems it just didn't suit my constitution.

Beyond "Rotoscoping"

Although it did not become the mainstream of animation, you can see footage that utilizes "rotoscoping" through an approach from an artistic perspective.

"Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" by The Beatles

I think the Beatles' first animated film, "Yellow Submarine" (1968), is a highly artistic work that incorporates pop art, and in "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" in particular, you can see a new form of expression that utilizes "rotoscoping" technology.

I think I was a high school student when I watched it (not in real-time), but I was very surprised by the scene where women painted in psychedelic colors were dancing. The coloring has a painting-like quality, but the movement feels so realistic, which makes it very beautiful.

"Take on Me" by a-ha

This music video was incredibly popular.
It's a story about a girl reading a comic book who enters the world of the comic, and it's so well-made that I couldn't help but get hooked on "a-ha" as well.

The "rotoscope" technique is used, but I like that the art style has a pencil-sketch feel to it.
The commercial featuring Keiko Kitagawa that I introduced at the beginning is definitely part of the lineage of this music video.

In the "Take on Me" music video, the man from the comic ends up becoming a real-world human, but because the video had such a huge response, a little bit of the conclusion is inserted into the music video for the next single, so I'll introduce it here for those who want to know the true ending.

Calorie Mate CM "Show Them Your Inner Strength." Edition

I was truly moved when this commercial aired in 2015.
I wonder how much time and effort it took... beyond the quality of the work itself, it was a wonderful piece created using 6,328 frames of blackboard art, drawn by a total of 34 art students over a combined total of more than 2,623 hours.

"Loving Vincent" Director: Dorota Kobiela (2017)

Released in 2017, this work was a surprising piece that used the "rotoscope" technique while recreating everything in oil paintings with Van Gogh's drawing style.

It is truly a masterpiece, considering it was produced by a team of 125 painters and took four years to complete.

"On-Gaku: Our Sound" Director: Kenji Iwaisawa (2020)

The last one I'll introduce is a major work that took over seven years to produce, with over 40,000 frames of animation drawn almost entirely by hand by Director Kenji Iwaisawa.
It was created using the "rotoscope" technique, and while it has a manga-like touch, the final live performance scene is truly full of dynamism and makes you feel a new form of expression.
I feel that Japan, in particular, where line art has been central, has a fertile ground for "rotoscope."

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"Rotoscoping" is a controversial technique and not exactly the mainstream of animation, but when I think about how it created new forms of expression not through realism, but by bringing sketches and paintings to life, it gives me a strange feeling.

Technology must be what gives birth to new creativity. ___

*It's not "rotoscoping," but...

Finally, I would like to introduce some works that were animated using sketching or painterly techniques, featuring original characters rather than traces of real-life footage.

"The Tale of the Princess Kaguya" Director: Isao Takahata (2013)

This was the late director Takahata's final work, and it was composed with a hand-drawn touch that made it feel like watching a watercolor painting in motion.

Shiseido Aleph CM

The screen looks as if it were drawn while leaving the rough sketch lines of a manga intact, but the result was enough to excite any "Slam Dunk" fan.
The lines drawn by Takehiko Inoue truly have a sense of dynamism.

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