One of Japan's most prolific independent animation artists, Tomoyasu Murata (村田朋泰, b. 1974) has created breath-taking, boundary-breaking stop motion animated films over the last two decades. Initially inspired by the expressive power of traditional Japanese bunraku puppet theatre, Murata's films — at once tender, whimsical and mysterious — deal with themes of memory, absence and mujo (the Buddhist concept of impermanence) through the cinematic manipulation of his meticulously handcrafted puppets and fantastical miniature sets. The eight short films in this program range from the artist's award-winning student work to recent projects that respond to the Great East Japan Earthquake.
All films written, directed and animated by Tomoyasu Murata.
Nostalgia 睡蓮の人 Suiren no Hito
2000 / 16’
In Murata’s award-winning thesis work, which mourns the loss of a loved one, an elderly man’s daily routine is interrupted by a rediscovered fragment of a precious memory.
The Scarlet Road 朱の路 Ake no Michi
2002 / 14’
Part of Murata’s “Road” series, a sorrowful pianist on a journey meets a girl who gives him a vermillion flower in a tunnel connecting them to a world beyond.
The Seven Lucky Gods (or kami, meaning both "hair" and "gods") live in the Takada’s barber shop in Tokyo—a set based on a real-life now-lost local store close to Murata’s heart—where they play charming tricks on the family of four.
Forest this Flower Blooms 木ノ花ノ咲クヤ森 Ki-no Hana-no Sakuya Mori
2015 / 11’
In the first episode in a series of films centred on The Great East Japan Earthquake, an amnesiac wolf traces his past and escapes from hunters who are after him in an eerily beautiful moonscape.
Ametsuchi 天地 Ametsuchi
2016 / 11’
The island repeats volcanic eruption after earthquake, smoke and glowing heat bubbling from the morphing surface—but when the tectonic activity recedes, all is sand and, finally, the miracle of water flowing, of life.
A Branch of a Pine is Tied Up 松が枝を結び Matsuga Edawo Musubi
2017 / 17’
Twins are separated by the destructive earthquake and tsunami that ravaged Japan's Tohoku region in 2011, but with a swirling snow globe, they traverse the present and the past, the living and the dead: reconciling, remembering, and restoring.
This past
March, the 8th cohort of graduates from the MA in Animation
programme at Tokyo University of the Arts (Geidai) celebrated their graduation
with the annual tradition of an exhibition and screening event.According to the accompanying catalogue, they
called their year “ZOOM” because they “ZOOM into
the deepest consciousness when creating animation, where vivid fantasy worlds
unfurl endlessly and no impasses will be seen.”
In his
comments on the graduating class, their professor Taruto Fuyama writes that he heard that they choose the name
ZOOM because of the visual similarity between the number 8 and “OO”.Yet, he cautions that beginner filmmakers
often overuse the zoom function on the camera and advises against this practice
because zooming creates a fixed distance between the filmmaker and their
subject matter rather than creating greater intimacy: “Since the advent of the internet era, we tend to feel like
it’s troublesome to bring ourselves
closer to the subject matter in order to gain an understanding of it.However, an artist can’t be a bystander to the theme he or she wants to express. After
all, ZOOM is dependent upon technology. I want you to remember the attitude of moving
your own body closer to your subject matter to interact with it, understand it,
and figure out your own answers.”With his Koma
Koma Lab, Fuyama has built his career designing technology that allows
people to interact with the art of animation in inventive and engaging ways.I hope his students will heed his advice.
Alongside
Fuyama, who taught them research and theory, the class of 2017 was supervised
by stop motion animator Yūichi Itō
(model animation course), producer Mitsuko
Okamoto (project planning and development course), and the Oscar-nominated
animator Kōji
Yamamura (2D animation course). The
students collaborate with students from other departments at Geidai for their
soundtracks.Their sound lecturers were Yuichi Kishino and Hiroshi Takayama, with support from Tatsuhiko Nishioka and Toru
Kamekawa.In addition, French
animation expert Ilan Nguyen lectured
the students and animator Hiromitsu
Murakami provided support in his role as assistant professor. Former
students Hiroki Kono (Geidai
2011), Hakhyun Kim (Geidai
2013), and Yūtarō Kubo (Geidai
2014) also provided assistance.
Women once
again dominate the student body at Geidai.Of the 14 students graduating this year, only 3 are men, and the current
student body in the graduate programme in animation is also more than half
women.Interestingly, four of this year’s graduates did their undergraduate
studies at Joshibi University of Art and Design, the private art school for
women which was founded in 1900.Tokyo
University of the Arts began as a male-only fine arts school in 1887 that did not
admit women until 1946. It joined with a
music college to become a university in 1949.
The Geidai
animation department also continues to diversify its student body with
international students.Yunjae Oh is from Korea, Wenrui Huang from China, and Man Yee Lam from Hong Kong.Many of the Japanese students have an
international outlook.Ryōtarō Miyajima was born in
Tokyo but grew up in Bali and Honami
Yano did a year abroad at Rhode Island School of Design during her
undergraduate studies.In addition, the
department hosted an exchange student from ENSAD
(France), Marilou Soller, whose film
Power Down was included in the
exhibition of first year student works in March.You can watch the film on her Vimeo profile.
This year’s graduates represent a wide variety
of styles both 2D and 3D, ranging from drawn to stop motion, experimental to traditional.My favourite work is also one of the
shortest: Kōjirō Inoue’s first year work Who’s
there? (だぁれぇ/
Dārē, 2016)
which I reviewed
last year after it screened at Nippon Connection.Other stand outs for me are Moe Kuribara with her innovative wool felt
stop motion, Rina Okada who uses various
minerals in her animation, and Haruka
Uemura, whose character design looks inspired by illustration styles of the
1920s and 1930s.On the whole, it is a
very strong year and the preview of the class of 2018 that I saw at Nippon Connection
promises more great work in the coming year.
8th Graduate Works
第八期生修了作品集
Helpless Void
3’20”
“At night, a man holds out his own
leash into the void.He has to explode
in order to escape.”
Born in Seoul,
Korea.She graduated with a degree in
Imaging Arts and Sciences from Musashino Art University in 2015.
cosmopolite
3’40”
“Hold up minerals and natural stones
to the sunlight.Search for the shapes
where light shines through and [for]
the shapes of shadows.The process of a
small spot gradually finding its own form.”
Rina OKADA (岡田莉奈, b. 1992)
Born in
Tokyo.She graduated with a degree in Visual
Design from Joshibi University of Art and Design in 2015.
Mind Room
4’11”
“Little by little, something has gone
wrong with a career woman’s
personal life.But these little things
are what fill the big hole in her heart.”
Moe KURIBARA (栗原萌, b. 1993)
Born in
Kanagawa. She graduated with a degree in
Visual Design from Joshibi University of Art and Design in 2015.
South Forest
6’48”
“The Gaza Strip is at war.A little girl feeds the deprived helpless
animals in an abandoned zoo.Suddenly,
an air raid strikes.”
Wenrui HUANG (黄雯睿 / コウ・ブンエイ, b. 1991)
Born in X’ian, China.She graduated with a degree in Animation from
the X’ian Academy of Fine Arts,
Motion Picture Photography, and Animation in 2013.
Cogito Wonderland
大丈夫だよ
/ Daijyōbu dayo
/7’
“This is film is an allegory [of]
clumsy people.Having met egocentric
people, I go down the stairs of melancholia.I get swallowed up by the waves that I myself create.I know life is not only bad...[but] who am I?What am I?
Born in
Shizuoka.She graduated with a degree in
Fine Arts from Joshibi University of Art and Design in 2010.
Scroll of Darkness
闇の絵巻
/ Yami no emaki / 7’48”
“One night as I was walking through
the forest, a robber steals my bookmark.I chase him only to end up in an endless void of darkness.”
Tomoko TAKAYA (髙谷智子, b. 1992)
Born in
Tokyo.She graduated with a degree in
Imaging Arts and Sciences from Musashino Art University in 2014.
Lady Nosferatu
少女ノスフェラトゥ/
Shōjo Nosferatu
/ 6’10”
“The story of Nosferatu vampires glimpsed
by a boy who gets lost in the forest.”
Chinami TANIGUCHI (谷口ちなみ. b. 1992) / tumblr / twitter
Born in
Hiroshima.She graduated with a degree
in Visual Design from Joshibi University of Art and Design in 2015.
Aeon
3’48”
“Self-replicating entities that have
evolved on different planets merge and proliferate exponentially.In search of more energy sources, they
consume other stars.”
Born in
Tokyo but grew up in Bali, Indonesia.He
graduated with a degree in Intermedia Art from Tokyo University of the Arts in
2015.
Chromosome Sweetheart
染色体の恋人
/ Senshokutai no Koibito/ 4’55”
“An ex-couple in a café, a girl sucking on her girlfriend’s hair, a running woman, a fleeing
town, a little girl walking along the river.In this world, there are as many forms of love as there are people.”
Born in
Ehime.Studied at the Rhode Island
School of Design in 2013 as part of an exchange program.She graduated with a degree in Animation from
Kyoto Seika University in 2015.
There was a Man
8’47”
“A one-armed mountaineer encounters a
lost arm on a mountain of salt.Who did
it belong to?Why was it left there?”
Moeka YAMAZAKI (山崎萌花, b. 1993)
Born in
Hokkaido.Graduated from Tama Art University
in 2014.She produces stop motion
animation using cutouts and minerals.Her creative motto is: “Visual
Art you want to touch.”
Silent Smile
5’20”
“She wears a white mask to keep her
sadness hidden from others.How can she
free herself from the darkness of her mind?”
Man Yee LAM (林文薏/ リン・マンイ,
b. 1991) /
Born in Hong
Kong.She graduated with a degree in
Animation from Northumbria University.
1st Year Works 2016
一年次作品2016
Eternal Flame
無限の火/
Mugen no Hi / 4’02”
“In the pitch darkness a man cannot
see anything. [The]
only light source is a light lit with a match by someone else.The night is lit and put out.This repeats [for some time]and eventually the man makes up his mind.
“The Rakugo story of Parrot is told by a Rakugo-ka, or a lone
storyteller formed of Japanese characters.”
Kōjirō INOUE (井上幸次郎)
– profile above
Jade
翡翠
/ Hisui / 3’45”
“A woman is pronounced to be ill but
it is too much for her to accept.Her
thoughts and worries continually change to [make] a strange and mysterious
world.”
Yume UKAI (鵜飼ゆめ, b. 1991)
Born in the Chubu
region. Graduated with a degree in Design from Tokyo University of the Arts in
2015. As of 2017, she still in the graduate
animation programme at Tokyo University of the Arts.
First Hand Memories
てのひらのにわ
/ Te no hira no niwa / 5’04”
“A girl
looks [at]
the surrounding world through a core of toilet paper, [playing in a
way that everyone can identify with].”
Haruka UMEMURA (梅村晴香) – profile above
Sounds Over Seas
貝殻のウラ
/ Kaigarano Ura / 2’26”
“The film is a journal of a woman who
travels in time. . .”
Yunjae OH (お・ゆんじぇ)
– profile above
Smells like Coffee Spirit
まごころ？マスター
/ Magokoro? Masutā / 3’36”
“Kosaku Sarutahiko is a minuscule
manager of a mysterious café.He tries many ways to treat his customer with
the coffee he brewed but...”
Erica OHYAMA (大山絵梨香/ Erika Ōyama, b. 1992)
Born in Okazaki City.She graduated with a degree in Art History and Aesthetics from Tokyo University
of the Arts in 2015.As of 2017, she
still in the graduate animation programme at Tokyo University of the Arts.
Charon Pluto’s Lonesomeness
CHARON 冥王星の孤独
/ Charon Mei
“In the pitch darkness a man cannot
see anything. [The]
only light source is a light lit with a match by someone else.The night is lit and put out.This repeats [for some time]and eventually the man makes up his mind.
Rina OKADA (岡田莉奈) – profile above
Japanese Chess
将棋 / Shōgi/ 3’44”
“At a Shogi chess game, the players
start pondering the opponent’s game
strategy...They
lose themselves in their deep contemplation.”
Moe KURIBARA (栗原萌) – profile above
Umbrella
傘
/ Kasa / 4’37”
“In the world of constant black rain, people live under umbrellas' protection. One day a man threw his umbrella away, which [brings] him a green plant. . . People desire his plant and start to scramble for it.”
Wenrui HUANG (黄雯睿 / コウ・ブンエイ) – profile above
Braid
あみこみ
/ Amikomi / 3’23”
“A girl braids her classmate’s long hair.She remembers moments [from the past] with her friend...Did [any]
of these actually happen?”
Nozomi KOYASU (子安のぞみ, b. 1991)
Born in Osaka.She
has a degree in Information Design from Tama Art University (2014).As of 2017, she still in the graduate
animation programme at Tokyo University of the Arts.
Mayumi
まゆみ
/ Mayumi / 5’36”
“Mayumi is a spoiled girl whose
parents buy her anything she wants.She
names. . . everything she receives ‘Mayumi’ and her room is gradually filled
with many Mayumis.Mayumi herself gets
swallowed by the characters of her name.”
Chinami TANIGUCHI (谷口ちなみ) – profile above
Radio Wave
3’09”
“Numbers stations were prominently
used during the Cold War.A boy was
tuning into the radio [on
a snowy] mountain and
happened to tune [into] the shortwave of codes.”
Ryōtarō MIYAJIMA (宮嶋龍太郎)
– profile above
Milky Ways
牛乳の麓/ Gyūnyū no
Fumoto / 8’07”
“A woman pours milk from the top of
the mountain.At the foot of the
mountain a man milks and pours it into a tank.One evening his pigeon doesn’t come
back as usual and finally, it brings back [a] small miracle from a
woman.”
Honami YANO (矢野ほなみ) – profile above
Man of Many Arms
腕の多い男
/ Ude no Ōi Otoko
/ 5’37”
“Many arms cling to a man. He doesn’t like it but he believes the
situation will never change.”
Moeka YAMAZAKI (山崎萌花) – profile above
Brick Games
3’22”
“[A] little girl [lives] with her brother in a city
full of skyscrapers.One night, when
there [a]re playing their favourite
game Jenga, something strange happen[s].”
Man Yee LAM (林文薏/ リン・マンイ)
– profile above
Nothing for Them
4’14”
“A woman and man speak over the telephone. From the woman to the man, from the man to the woman, their feelings, love and hate get mingled.”
Kenshirō WADA
(和田健士郎,
b. 1991)
Born in Tokyo.He has
a degree in Graphic Design from Tama Art University (2014). As of 2017, he
still in the graduate animation programme at Tokyo University of the Arts.
