Animation director

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An animation director is the director in charge of all aspects of the animation process during the production of an animated or television film, or an animated segment for a live action film or television show. Alternatively, the animation director can be the animator in charge of correcting layouts and drawings for the above media. The difference between the two is largely in the difference between the western and eastern animation industries.

Career pathways[edit]

Animator directors often start in entry-level roles such as animator or storyboard artist to gain practical experience. In addition to skills relating to animation, skills like time management, storytelling, and collaborations are needed to successfully direct animated projects.[1] Besides the animation industry, animation directors can also work in advertising, marketing, public relations, game design and development, and more.[2]

Education[edit]

Animator directors typically begin their careers by obtaining a bachelor's degree in animation or a related field. They may also pursue additional training through courses or workshops to refine their skills.

Responsibilities[edit]

Western production pipeline[edit]

In western animation, such as Disney, the responsibilities of an animation director include directing the storyboards, character designs, background animation, and other technical aspects of a project's animation. Some animated film productions may split the duties between an animation director, who focuses on the creation of the animation, and a director who oversees all other aspects of the film. A supervising animator is commonly in charge of all aspects of the design and artwork for a single major character. The supervising animator oversees a group of animators who complete the entire scenes in which a particular character appears. The day-to-day responsibilities of an animation director may include checking and updating lists for each scene.[3][4] These lists will track the status of each shot with written notes and approvals from the Director.

Eastern production pipeline[edit]

In the eastern production pipeline, most notably in the anime industry, the role of an "animation director" is significantly different from its western counterpart in the animation production pipeline. Rather than overseeing all of a project's animation, an animation director (作画監督, sakuga kantoku), known as a sakkan (作監) for short, acts more as a sort of 'drawing director' who corrects key animation drawings and layouts.[5] These corrections can range from the sakkan literally correcting parts of the animation that are off-model or not up-to-par, to changing some of the drawings into their style, or simply maintaining a level of quality while allowing for free expression from the key animators.[5] Above an animation director in Japanese productions is the chief animation director (総作画監督, sō sakuga kantoku), shortened to sou sakkan (総作監), whose job is to maintain a level of uniformity across an entire series.[5] Although these roles are meant to be encompassed by a small number of animators maintaining high-quality work, the state of the Japanese animation industry has shifted the roles, with sou sakkans appearing in multiples across singular episodes at times, which is largely due to the lack of animators and lack of time or bad scheduling which vastly limit the possibility of only a few sou sakkans appearing across an entire work.[5] These terms and pipeline system originated in Japan, but the Chinese animation industry has a similar production system with more-or-less the same roles, such as the chief animation director (总作画监督) and animation director (作画监督).

Besides the sakkan credit, there is also the animation director (アニメーションディレクター) credit, although there are several nuances of the role. In some instances, such as Yoshikazu Yasuhiko's role on Mobile Suit Gundam, the role refers to Yasuhiko performing what is basically a sou sakkan role with a few added responsibilities like drawing layouts himself (rather than correcting them). Early works by studio Bones utilized the "animation director" role to a similar capacity according to director Hiroyuki Kitakubo.[6] Another way the credit is used is as a sort of pseudo-director, such as Keizou Shimizu's role on Legend of the Galactic Heroes seasons 3 and 4, in which he described his role on the series as him acting as both a drawing director who supervised layouts and animation, as well as performing traditional directing duties such as checking storyboards and correcting them.[7] One other way the credit is used is much closer to the western production pipeline's understanding of the role, in which the animation director acts more like a technical director; for example, Reiji Nagazono has been credited as such on several of the works by Polygon Pictures, in which studio representative director Shuuzou John Shiota described as being the person who helps to define and supervise the entirety of the animation process in a project.[8]

Awards and Recognition[edit]

Animator directors and the animated projects they helm often receive recognition through various awards and accolades in the animation industry. These awards celebrate excellence in animation and honor the creative achievements of animator directors, animators, and production teams. Some of the most prestigious awards in the animation industry include: Academy Awards (Oscars), Annie Awards, and BAFTA Awards.

Controversy among Oscars[edit]

There has been criticism regarding the level of recognition afforded to animation at the Oscars. Several articles over the past years after the award show have highlighted the disdain of viewers when the Oscars include various jokes about animation only being for children.

During the 2022 ceremony, host Amy Schumer jokes about animated movies and said: "The only one I've seen is Encanto because of my kid".[9] When Halle Bailey, Lily James, and Naomi Scott presented for the Best Animated Feature section, their speech included mockery over children watching animated films constantly. “So many kids watch these movies over, and over, and over, and over, and over, and over, and over,” James and Bailey said.[10]

This has sparked discussions about the representation of animation in mainstream awards culture and the need for greater recognition of animator directors' contributions. Phil Lord and Chris Miller, producers of The Mitchells Vs. The Machines and 2019 winners of the best animated feature award for Spider-Man: Into the Spiderverse discussed their disdain of the Oscar's jokes, saying "Framing the five Academy Award nominees for best animated feature as a corporate product for kids that parents must begrudgingly endure could be dismissed as simply careless. But to those of us who have dedicated our lives to making animated films, that carelessness has become routine."[11]

Many tweets following the ceremony were made by thousands of users to show their disdain of the treatment of the animation industry. The official Twitter account of the movie, Mitchells vs. The Machines responded by tweeting a picture of a character from the film holding a sign that says, "Animation is Cinema". [12]


References[edit]

  1. ^ Ramenzari, Paria (2024). Animation Director; How to Become a Top One?. Pixune Studios. Retrieved April 17, 2024.
  2. ^ How to Become an Animation Director. Animation Career Review. 2021. Retrieved April 17, 2024.
  3. ^ Kelly, Doug (1998). Character animation in depth. Creative Professionals Press. p. 38. ISBN 9781566047715.
  4. ^ Thomas, Bob (1958). Walt Disney, the Art of Animation: The Story of the Disney Studio Contribution to a New Art. Simon and Schuster. p. 101.
  5. ^ a b c d Cirugeda, Kevin (March 16, 2016). "Your Ultimate Guide to Anime Ending Credits: Part I". Anime News Network. Retrieved February 2, 2022.
  6. ^ Kitakubo, Hiroyuki [@LawofGreen] (August 25, 2016). でですね、今の第一原画第二原画というメソッドが導入されたキッカケは出渕裕さんが監督、佐野浩敏くんがアニメーション・ディレクター(このアニメーション・ディレクターというのがガンダムで安彦良和さんが就いたポジション)のラーゼフォンです。 [The method of introducing the current first key animator and second key animator was introduced in Rahxephon, directed by Yutaka Izubuchi with Hirotoshi Sano as animation director (this animation director is the position that Yoshikazu Yasuhiko held in Gundam.)] (Tweet). Retrieved May 19, 2022 – via Twitter.
  7. ^ 第５回 清水恵蔵（キャラクターデザイン・総作画監督）「１９９４年 第３期制作時インタビューより抜粋」 [5th Interview, Keizou Shimizu (Character Designer and Chief Animation Director) - Excerpt from 3rd Series Production Interivew, 1994]. Legend of the Galactic Heroes. Retrieved November 7, 2021.
  8. ^ Shiota, Shuuzou John [@da_shooz] (May 20, 2022). "The アニメーションディレクター animation director works with the director to define and supervise all aspects of the animation process in the film" (Tweet). Retrieved May 20, 2022 – via Twitter.
  9. ^ Prance, Sam (2022). Oscars slammed for saying animated films are 'just for kids'. The Recorder. Retrieved April 17, 2024.
  10. ^ Rivera, Melody (2022). The Oscars Doesn’t Respect Animation. The Recorder. Retrieved April 17, 2024.
  11. ^ Lang, Jamie (2022). In New Op-Ed, Phil Lord And Chris Miller Ask Hollywood To ‘Elevate, Not Diminish’ Animation. Cartoon Brew. Retrieved April 17, 2024.
  12. ^ The Mitchells vs. The Machines [@MitchellsMovie] (March 28, 2022). "*taps sign*" (Tweet). Retrieved April 17, 2024 – via Twitter.
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