Luke Pearson's Hilda

A while ago, I read a graphic novel my dad picked up called Hildafolk. I loved it instantly, for its simple style and folklore elements, as well as the character design.

The second book in the series, Hilda and the Midnight Giant, has a lot more complexity in the character design. It is interesting to see how Luke Pearson's art style changes through the books.

For the second book, Pearson has delved into more detail for his backgrounds and character design. Still, there is still the feeling that the art style is not fully established. Many elements are complex, while other designs are simple - and the most effective panels and moments are the ones where there isn't too much visual detail.

The third book, Hilda and the Bird Parade, has a more established art style, that is "rounder" and uses the environment of the city to build up simple detail, rather than focusing on tiny details. It was also exciting to see the development of human character design, which had been lacking in the previous books, as they had been set in the valley with the only human characters being Hilda and her mother.

I was able to find comparisons of Hilda, her mother, and her pet Twig online, comparing the style of the three across the first three books.

I think Pearson's work is a testament to the power of good colour choices, simple but confident linework, and character design. I think his most powerful character designs are the simplest ones, which evolves naturally. The designs are cute, but not overly pandering. I would love to develop a style similar to this. 

Tokyo or Bust

This January, we took a three-day trip to Tokyo. This was a truly exciting trip for me, as I have always wanted to go to Japan, and I was looking forward to going since it was announced.

The flight out there was long and painful. Excitement quickly gave way to tiredness and jetlag, as we met outside college at 3am for a long journey ahead.

full of hope

Once we got there (about 24 hours later, running on two hours of sleep), we were free to explore the city. Maybe it's because I was so sleep-deprived, but the city was so full of life. We visited a temple, and made wishes based on what everyone else seemed to be doing.

It was then on to lunch, and then back to the hotel to get rid of 30 hours' worth of grime. A few of us had booked a slot at a hedgehog cafe in Tokyo, so we had to work out how to get there. After managing to work out the metro system (with help), we enjoyed some hedgehoggy company. It wasn't the most cultural activity, but it was cute as all heck.

i had the only hedghehog who wasnt a mean bean

Afterwards, we visited one of the many bars along the famous Golden Gai, which is packed with tiny bars that can fit about seven people at most. The less said about that evening, the better.

chunderdragon is emerging

The next day, after some much-needed sleep, we took a trip up the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building, which was right next to our hotel. It had a fantastic view over Tokyo on such a clear day, and we could see all the way to Mount Fuji, which was pretty cool! A couple of friends and I also visited a local flea market which we spotted from the observation deck, and picked up some knick-knacks.

That evening, we went to Tokyo Disney, which was only a couple of metro rides away. We were able to enjoy a few hours there, which was enough time to go on a couple of rides, look in the shops, and enjoy the general atmosphere of animation. It was wonderful to be able to visit with my friends who are also big Disney fans - it definitely reminded me why I love animation so much, seeing so many happy faces. It was also so damn expensive. 

 this was magical as hell

On the final day, we visited the Studio Ghibli museum. I am a huge Ghibli fan, so this was one of the highlights of the trip. This was also a chance to catch up with some of the other students who were visiting, since my friends and I had sort of gone off to do our own thing. Since we were slightly more experienced with going on the metro as well, we acted as guides to the rest of the group. 

The Ghibli museum was quite literally like walking into a Ghibli movie. It was bright, colourful, with a kind of mystical feel to it. It was quite the experience, and we managed to get a few photos, even though the whole place was sworn to secrecy without photos. 

The museum allowed an insight into the way the films come together. One room that was particularly striking had replicated an animator's setup, complete with real cells, sketches and designs. It was a wonderful mess, and you could tell that creativity was bursting from the seams. I wanted to take as many photos as I could to remember it in better detail, but that was forbidden. Still, that room was one of my favourites.

Another favourite was the room that replicated the Catbus from My Neighbour Totoro, which was squishy and soft inside. We sat there for half an hour, just enjoying how comfy it was. That kind of immersion was what made the museum so memorable.

After visiting Ghibli, we went on to Harajuku, which was this gorgeous mishmash of street fashion and colourful culture. We shopped hard, picking up all kinds of things that were very Japanese. It was also interesting to see how fashion changes - I am a size 6/7 when it comes to shoes, which is about average for a female in the UK, but in Japan that was the biggest size. I bought a pair of shoes which are a tiny bit pinchy, and are the biggest size - LL. 

We were also able to go to a mini-mall and watch a J-Pop band, and eat some sugary ice stuff. It was good to be able to let our hair down a bit just soak in what teenage culture is overseas.

After these three long days, we finally flew back to the UK.

Japan was an extremely tiring trip, and I was severely jet-lagged and sleep deprived for most of it. Still, it was one of the most rewarding trips I've ever taken, part of which came from the independence we were able to have. I enjoyed both taking in the culture and animation elements, and the trip certainly resparked my love for animation, and my appreciation for foreign animation.

Life, Animated - Simple Expression

I recently watched Life, Animated, a documentary about a boy with autism and his experiences growing up and understanding the world through Disney movies. I watched it for research for my Applied Animation module, but thought it was worth putting up here for PPP since it was so well-made.

The documentary used animation and live-action to tell the story of Owen Suskind, by recounting his childhood through his parents' words and home videos, and then going on to show him coping with adulthood and his growing independence as he learns to deal with real-life issues.

One thing that stood out to me about Life, Animated was the way it dealt with Owen's autism in terms of representing it through animation. I have seen a lot of films or adverts about autism that show it as scary and chaotic, but Life, Animated simply expressed how Owen loves Disney, and used beautiful lineless animation to represent his childhood and endless imagination. 

I also loved how seemingly simple the animation was. By keeping it fairly sketchy and rough, there was emphasis that could be put on colour and lighting, rather than focusing on the detail. This also reminded us that Owen's mind is childish, not exactly neat and tidy, but this isn't a bad thing. It reminds us of the drawings Owen has done - messy, but still full of character.

Ultimately, Life, Animated gave a new insight into the ways that animated films can impact someone in a way that is unexpected. I cannot even begin to imagine how honouring it would be to know that the animation you worked on has allowed a child to communicate with the world again. The documentary really emphasises how important animation is beyond providing a few hours of entertainment - how character design choices matter so deeply, how the relatable struggles of characters can help someone in the same situation.