Michael Arias
Encyclopedia
Michael Arias is an American-born filmmaker
active primarily in Japan
.
Though Arias has worked variously as visual effects
artist, animation software
developer, and producer
, he is best known for his directorial debut, the anime
feature
Tekkonkinkreet, which established him as the first non-Japanese director of a major anime film.
(born 1941) is a former senior writer and correspondent
for People magazine and a highly regarded Chicano
writer. Michael Arias' mother, Dr. Joan Arias, is a former professor of Spanish and IBM Software Sales Specialist.
When still a young boy, Arias often watched movies in the theater with his parents and borrowed 16mm prints from a local public library for screening at home; it was at this stage in his life that he developed his passion for cinema.
Arias graduated from high school at the age of 16. He then attended Wesleyan University
in Connecticut
, majoring in linguistics
for two years, before dropping out to pursue a career as a musician. Michael's early musical associates include Moby
and Margaret Fiedler McGinnis.
Soon after quitting Wesleyan, Arias moved to Los Angeles, abandoned his musical ambitions and, through the efforts of a family friend, began working in the film industry.
, CG
production and software development, and as a producer of animated films.
stages, working on such effects-heavy Hollywood films as The Abyss
, Total Recall
, and Fat Man and Little Boy
.
At the time, the visual effects industry had only just begun adopting digital technologies, and analog techniques such as motion control and stop motion
photography, miniatures, optical compositing
, matte painting
, and pyrotechnics
still dominated. Arias, by his own account, flourished in the hands-on environment of DQ ("a big tinkertoy factory run by car nuts and mad bikers").
program. Soon after enrolling though, Arias was contacted by visual effects veteran and fellow Abyss
alumnus Susan Sitnek, who invited Arias to join the crew of Universal Studios
’ immersive attraction Back To The Future: The Ride
(BTTFTR), helmed by visual effects legend Douglas Trumbull
. Once relocated to the Berkshires, where pre-production was underway, Arias was drafted by Trumbull to animate the attraction's flight-simulator
-style ride vehicles. Of his time working under Trumbull, Arias recalls, "Doug was – IS – such an inspiring figure. For me and the other younger crew, including John Gaeta
, now VFX Supervisor on the Matrix
films, Doug was so generous with his knowledge; such a very warm and receptive and articulate and creative guy."
Arias' association with Trumbull proved fortuitous, not only for the experience of working daily with Trumbull himself, but also because it resulted in what would be Arias' first trip to Japan, with Trumbull, with whom he toured the Osaka Expo and visited post-production monolith Imagica
and video game giant Sega Enterprises. That first visit, combined with Arias' friendship with key members of BTTFTRs largely Japanese modelmaking crew, set the stage for Arias' subsequent long-term stay in Japan.
to join a newly-formed computer graphics unit at Sega Enterprises Amusement Research and Development facility. At Sega, Arias co-directed and animated the ridefilm Megalopolice: Tokyo City Battle (featured in SIGGRAPH
1993’s Electronic Theater).
title designers Randall Balsmeyer & Mimi Everett, with who he co-founded CG design boutique Syzygy Digital Cinema, creators of digital sequences for David Cronenberg
’s M. Butterfly
, Joel and Ethan Coen’s The Hudsucker Proxy
, Robert Altman
’s Prêt-à-Porter
, and Spike Lee
’s Crooklyn
and Clockers. Their title sequence for M. Butterfly was honored by inclusion in the SIGGRAPH 1994 Screening Room and Montreal's Cinéma Du Futur festival of the same year.
to join their newly-formed Special Projects group, a "S.W.A.T." team of artists and engineers established to assist key high-end customers on-site.
Encouraged by colleagues, Arias quickly immersed himself in the mental ray
rendering
API and thereafter began experimenting with techniques for simulating traditional animation
imagery using computer graphics tools. This research led to Arias' developing and eventually patenting Softimage's Toon Shaders, rendering software for facilitating integration of computer graphics imagery with cel animation. Newly-minted Toon Shaders in hand, Arias worked closely with the staff of Dreamworks Animation
and Studio Ghibli
to add a distinct visual flavor to the traditional/digital hybrid animation of films Prince Of Egypt, The Road to El Dorado
, and Hayao Miyazaki
’s and .
's manga , a work that profoundly affected him. Tekkonkinkreet (Tekkon) is a metaphysical coming-of-age story concerning two orphans, and and their struggle to survive in a pan-Asian metropolis, , beset by evil. Of first discovering Tekkon, Arias recalls that a friend loaned him Tekkon to read, "And that was it. Hooked. ...I cried many times reading it, also a new experience for me to be moved to tears by a manga."
In November 1997, a conversation with animation auteur Koji Morimoto
, who had shown interest in Arias' software projects, led to Arias' introduction to manga
artist Taiyō Matsumoto
. From there, what had begun as a simple software demo for Morimoto rapidly escalated to a full-fledged all-CG feature-film project, helmed by Morimoto, with computer graphics efforts directed by Arias himself.
Though the completed 4-minute went on to take an Outstanding Performance award for Non-Interactive Digital Art at the Japan Media Arts Festival
and be featured in the SIGGRAPH 2000 Animation Theater', the project was abandoned shortly thereafter for lack of funding and director Morimoto's flagging interest in Tekkonkinkreet.
and Andy and Larry Wachowski (the Wachowski Brothers) to produce Warner Bros’ Matrix
-inspired animation anthology The Animatrix
, a project that consumed him for over three years. On being pegged to produce The Animatrix
, despite his lack of experience producing, Arias recounts, "I really had to draw on a great deal of experience that had sat unused in the background while I’d been pursuing software development. Everything I’d learned until this point: a brief career in recording studios, composing music and doing sound effects for short films in college, having my own company, working in special effects. It was a great chance to exercise some dormant (or damaged) brain cells."
Arias worked closely with the Wachowskis to refine the project's unique specifications: though initially conceived of as a television series, The Animatrix evolved into a collection of nine non-episodic animated shorts, each six to ten minutes long. With co-producers Hiroaki Takeuchi and Eiko Tanaka
(president of maverick animation boutique Studio 4°C
, where much of The Animatrix was animated), Arias ultimately developed and produced eight of the nine Animatrix segments (the lone exception being a CG-animated short created by Square Pictures). To helm the films, Arias and his partners assembled a "dream team" of anime luminaries that included Yoshiaki Kawajiri
, Koji Morimoto
, Shinichiro Watanabe
, and Mahiro Maeda
.
The Animatrix was a commercial success and went on garner the 2004 ASIFA Annie Award
for Outstanding Achievement in an Animated Home Entertainment Production.
, Arias picked up Tekkonkinkreet again. Armed with an English-language screenplay penned by screenwriter Anthony Weintraub, and encouraged by mentor Morimoto, Arias moved forward with plans to revive Tekkon at Studio 4°C
, with Animatrix collaborator and 4 °C president Eiko Tanaka
producing and Arias directing.
The film was completed in August 2006 and premiered at the Tokyo International Film Festival
soon thereafter.
Museum of Modern Art (MoMA)
curator Barbara London
named Tekkonkinkreet "Best Film of 2006" in her Art Forum roundup, and subsequently arranged for the film's North American premiere to be held at MoMA.
With his adaptation of Tekkonkinkreet Arias, with Production Designer
Shinji Kimura, had re-imagined the manga's Treasure Town as a chaotic pan-Asian hybrid, part Hong Kong, part Bombay, with futuristic and industrial elements densely layered over a foundation that borrowed much from images of Shōwa
-era Tokyo. New York Times critic Manohla Dargis
, in her review of Tekkonkinkreet, describes Treasure Town as "a surreal explosion of skewed angles, leaning towers, hanging wires, narrow alleys and gaudily cute flourishes that bring to mind a yakuza cityscape by way of a Hello Kitty theme park." Indeed Tekkons sumptuous art direction was widely praised, with Production Designer Kimura receiving the Best Art Direction award
at the 2008 Tokyo International Anime Fair
. Tekkon was further lauded, not only for Arias' innovative use of computer graphics techniques and seamless integration of digital and traditional animation, but also for the film's handmade, documentary-style approach to storytelling. After an early Tekkon screening at the Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival
, filmjourney.org editor Doug Cummings elaborated:
Though Tekkonkinkreet was considered a hit locally and generally well-received by critics and audiences worldwide (particularly in France, where author Taiyō Matsumoto
's work is well known among manga readers), North American anime fans questioned Arias' filmmaking credentials and criticized his decidedly non-purist approach to adapting manga to anime (including his decision to work from Anthony Weintraub's English-language screenplay rather than a Japanese text). Online animation forum Animation Insider pointedly asked, "What in the hell does Michael Arias think he's doing?"
In defense of Weintraub's screenplay, Arias explained to readers of AniPages Daily, "He really got it right – the story of Treasure Town, the sense of doom, the action in Kiddie Kastle all fit together very seamlessly." Regarding Tekkonkinkreets evident subversion of (so-called) traditional animation conventions, he added, "I wanted to do things differently.... Ōtomo
once said to me and [Lead Animation Supervisor] Nishimi, 'if you're not doing things differently you shouldn't even bother'."
In the final analysis, Tekkonkinkreet remains a milestone in Japanese animation. It was awarded Japan's prestigious Noburō Ōfuji
award at home, and continued on to compete for two awards at the 57th Berlin International Film Festival
and later win the 2008 Japan Academy Prize for Animation of the Year
. The Guardian
listed Tekkonkinkreet third in its roundup of the ten most underrated movies of the decade.
. Arias is the first to join the roster of Asmik's artist management division.
animation anthology . Individual segments were streamed from the official Ani*Kuri15 website, and broadcast piecemeal starting in May 2007.
Arias created the film at Studio4°C
, calling on animation prodigy Takayuki Hamada (one of Tekkons lead animators) to design and animate characters. Other contributors to Arias' Ani*Kuri short include Colorist Miyuki Itō, CG Director Takuma Sakamoto, British electronic music composers Plaid
, and Sound Designer
Mitch Osias, all Tekkonkinkreet alumni. Tekkon Lead Animation Supervisor Shōjirō Nishimi and Production Designer Shinji Kimura each directed his own Ani*Kuri segment, and other directors included Satoshi Kon
, Mamoru Oshii
, and Mahiro Maeda
.
The entire collection of fifteen Anikuri shorts has since been released as a DVD-book set, featuring production detail, creator interviews, and storyboard and background artwork.
directed by Thomas Jahn
and written by Jahn and actor Til Schweiger
. Arias' adaptation features J-Pop
heartthrob Tomoya Nagase
and ingenue Mayuko Fukuda
as unlikely comrades who flee the hospital where they first meet, and embark on a road-trip to reach the ocean and watch the sun set there in the short time they have left.
Heaven's Door marks the return of Arias' Tekkonkinkreet collaborators Min Tanaka (the voice of Tekkonkinkreets "Suzuki"), composers Plaid
, and Sound Designer Mitch Osias.
Heaven's Door was released in Japanese theaters on February 7, 2009 to mixed press and lukewarm box office, but was praised for its cast, music, cinematography, and sound design. Screen International
correspondent Jason Gray concludes, "I think younger audiences will find the tragedy of Heaven´s Door palpable.... For someone like me who devoured American cinema of the early 70s, tearing up at films like Thunderbolt and Lightfoot
, I might not be the best judge. Who knows, Heaven's Door may become the new Léon
for the teen set here and regarded as a minor indie classic overseas."
announced the upcoming on-air premiere of Arias' surreal short film Hope, featuring popular actress Juri Ueno
as a struggling animator trapped overnight in an elevator.
Hope was penned by Arisa Kaneko, shot by Heaven's Door DP Takashi Komatsu, J.S.C., and features original score by Plaid and sound design by Mitch Osias.
The animation studio interiors were shot on location at Tokyo's Madhouse
studios, while veteran production designer (and frequent Sōgo Ishii
collaborator) Toshihiro Isomi created a rotating set for Miyuki's elevator on a Yokohama soundstage.
, Japan
since he was 23 and speaks and writes Japanese fluently. He has two children of mixed Japanese descent.
In 2011 Arias documented his experiences providing relief to relatives in Miyagi Prefecture
during the days immediately following the Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami
.
Filmmaking
Filmmaking is the process of making a film, from an initial story, idea, or commission, through scriptwriting, casting, shooting, directing, editing, and screening the finished product before an audience that may result in a theatrical release or television program...
active primarily in Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
.
Though Arias has worked variously as visual effects
Visual effects
Visual effects are the various processes by which imagery is created and/or manipulated outside the context of a live action shoot. Visual effects involve the integration of live-action footage and generated imagery to create environments which look realistic, but would be dangerous, costly, or...
artist, animation software
Computer animation
Computer animation is the process used for generating animated images by using computer graphics. The more general term computer generated imagery encompasses both static scenes and dynamic images, while computer animation only refers to moving images....
developer, and producer
Film producer
A film producer oversees and delivers a film project to all relevant parties while preserving the integrity, voice and vision of the film. They will also often take on some financial risk by using their own money, especially during the pre-production period, before a film is fully financed.The...
, he is best known for his directorial debut, the anime
Anime
is the Japanese abbreviated pronunciation of "animation". The definition sometimes changes depending on the context. In English-speaking countries, the term most commonly refers to Japanese animated cartoons....
feature
Feature film
In the film industry, a feature film is a film production made for initial distribution in theaters and being the main attraction of the screening, rather than a short film screened before it; a full length movie...
Tekkonkinkreet, which established him as the first non-Japanese director of a major anime film.
Early life
Michael Arias was born in Los Angeles, California. His father, Ron AriasRon Arias
Ron Arias is a former senior writer and correspondent for People magazine and People en Español. He is also a highly regarded Chicano writer whose novel The Road to Tamazunchale has been called "one of the founding texts in Contemporary Chicano/a Literature."-Early life:Arias is a native of Los...
(born 1941) is a former senior writer and correspondent
Correspondent
A correspondent or on-the-scene reporter is a journalist or commentator, or more general speaking, an agent who contributes reports to a newspaper, or radio or television news, or another type of company, from a remote, often distant, location. A foreign correspondent is stationed in a foreign...
for People magazine and a highly regarded Chicano
Chicano
The terms "Chicano" and "Chicana" are used in reference to U.S. citizens of Mexican descent. However, those terms have a wide range of meanings in various parts of the world. The term began to be widely used during the Chicano Movement, mainly among Mexican Americans, especially in the movement's...
writer. Michael Arias' mother, Dr. Joan Arias, is a former professor of Spanish and IBM Software Sales Specialist.
When still a young boy, Arias often watched movies in the theater with his parents and borrowed 16mm prints from a local public library for screening at home; it was at this stage in his life that he developed his passion for cinema.
Arias graduated from high school at the age of 16. He then attended Wesleyan University
Wesleyan University
Wesleyan University is a private liberal arts college founded in 1831 and located in Middletown, Connecticut. According to the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, Wesleyan is the only Baccalaureate College in the nation that emphasizes undergraduate instruction in the arts and...
in Connecticut
Connecticut
Connecticut is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, and the state of New York to the west and the south .Connecticut is named for the Connecticut River, the major U.S. river that approximately...
, majoring in linguistics
Linguistics
Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. Linguistics can be broadly broken into three categories or subfields of study: language form, language meaning, and language in context....
for two years, before dropping out to pursue a career as a musician. Michael's early musical associates include Moby
Moby
Richard Melville Hall , better known by his stage name Moby, is an American musician, DJ, and photographer. He is known mainly for his sample-based electronic music and his outspoken liberal political views, including his support of veganism and animal rights.Moby gained attention in the early...
and Margaret Fiedler McGinnis.
Soon after quitting Wesleyan, Arias moved to Los Angeles, abandoned his musical ambitions and, through the efforts of a family friend, began working in the film industry.
Early career
Michael Arias' early filmmaking career is marked by stints in both the U.S. and Japan, working in VFXVisual effects
Visual effects are the various processes by which imagery is created and/or manipulated outside the context of a live action shoot. Visual effects involve the integration of live-action footage and generated imagery to create environments which look realistic, but would be dangerous, costly, or...
, CG
Computer graphics
Computer graphics are graphics created using computers and, more generally, the representation and manipulation of image data by a computer with help from specialized software and hardware....
production and software development, and as a producer of animated films.
Dream Quest Images
Michael Arias began his film career in 1987 at nascent visual effects powerhouse Dream Quest Images (DQ), first as an unpaid intern and then as a full-time employee and IATSE member. The bulk of his time at DQ was spent as a camera assistant on the motion controlMotion control photography
Motion control photography is a technique used in still and motion photography that enables precise control of, and optionally also allows repetition of, camera movements. It can be used to facilitate special effects photography. The process can involve filming several elements using the same...
stages, working on such effects-heavy Hollywood films as The Abyss
The Abyss
The Abyss is a 1989 science fiction film written and directed by James Cameron. It stars Ed Harris, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, and Michael Biehn. The original musical score was composed by Alan Silvestri...
, Total Recall
Total Recall
Total Recall is a 1990 American science fiction action film. The film stars Arnold Schwarzenegger, Rachel Ticotin, Sharon Stone, Michael Ironside, Ronny Cox & Mel Johnson, Jr.. It is based on the Philip K. Dick story “We Can Remember It for You Wholesale”...
, and Fat Man and Little Boy
Fat Man and Little Boy
Fat Man and Little Boy is a 1989 film that reenacts the Manhattan Project, the secret Allied endeavor to develop the first nuclear weapons during World War II. The film is named after the nuclear weapons known by the code names "Fat Man" and "Little Boy". The code names can be taken for joking...
.
At the time, the visual effects industry had only just begun adopting digital technologies, and analog techniques such as motion control and stop motion
Stop motion
Stop motion is an animation technique to make a physically manipulated object appear to move on its own. The object is moved in small increments between individually photographed frames, creating the illusion of movement when the series of frames is played as a continuous sequence...
photography, miniatures, optical compositing
Compositing
Compositing is the combining of visual elements from separate sources into single images, often to create the illusion that all those elements are parts of the same scene. Live-action shooting for compositing is variously called "chroma key", "blue screen", "green screen" and other names. Today,...
, matte painting
Matte painting
A matte painting is a painted representation of a landscape, set, or distant location that allows filmmakers to create the illusion of an environment that would otherwise be too expensive or impossible to build or visit. Historically, matte painters and film technicians have used various techniques...
, and pyrotechnics
Pyrotechnics
Pyrotechnics is the science of using materials capable of undergoing self-contained and self-sustained exothermic chemical reactions for the production of heat, light, gas, smoke and/or sound...
still dominated. Arias, by his own account, flourished in the hands-on environment of DQ ("a big tinkertoy factory run by car nuts and mad bikers").
Back To The Future: The Ride
After two years of working at Dream Quest, Arias returned to the East Coast with the intention of finishing his studies, this time at NYU's Music TechnologyMusic technology
Music technology is a term that refers to all forms of technology involved with the musical arts, particularly the use of electronic devices and computer software to facilitate playback, recording, composition, storage and performance. This subject is taught at many different educational levels,...
program. Soon after enrolling though, Arias was contacted by visual effects veteran and fellow Abyss
The Abyss
The Abyss is a 1989 science fiction film written and directed by James Cameron. It stars Ed Harris, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, and Michael Biehn. The original musical score was composed by Alan Silvestri...
alumnus Susan Sitnek, who invited Arias to join the crew of Universal Studios
Universal Studios
Universal Pictures , a subsidiary of NBCUniversal, is one of the six major movie studios....
’ immersive attraction Back To The Future: The Ride
Back to the Future: The Ride
Back to the Future: The Ride is a simulator ride based on and inspired by the Back to the Future trilogy and is a mini-sequel to 1990's Back to the Future Part III. In the United States, it was replaced by The Simpsons Ride...
(BTTFTR), helmed by visual effects legend Douglas Trumbull
Douglas Trumbull
Douglas Huntley Trumbull is an American film director, special effects supervisor, and inventor. He contributed to, or was responsible for, the special photographic effects of 2001: A Space Odyssey, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Star Trek: The Motion Picture, Blade Runner and The Tree of...
. Once relocated to the Berkshires, where pre-production was underway, Arias was drafted by Trumbull to animate the attraction's flight-simulator
Flight simulator
A flight simulator is a device that artificially re-creates aircraft flight and various aspects of the flight environment. This includes the equations that govern how aircraft fly, how they react to applications of their controls and other aircraft systems, and how they react to the external...
-style ride vehicles. Of his time working under Trumbull, Arias recalls, "Doug was – IS – such an inspiring figure. For me and the other younger crew, including John Gaeta
John Gaeta
John Gaeta is an academy award winning visual effects designer best known for his work on the Matrix film trilogy and Speed Racer, where he explored and advanced the effects methods known as "Bullet Time", "Virtual Cinematography", and "Photo Anime".-Career:John C. Gaeta's career began in New York...
, now VFX Supervisor on the Matrix
The Matrix
The Matrix is a 1999 science fiction-action film written and directed by Larry and Andy Wachowski, starring Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne, Carrie-Anne Moss, Joe Pantoliano, and Hugo Weaving...
films, Doug was so generous with his knowledge; such a very warm and receptive and articulate and creative guy."
Arias' association with Trumbull proved fortuitous, not only for the experience of working daily with Trumbull himself, but also because it resulted in what would be Arias' first trip to Japan, with Trumbull, with whom he toured the Osaka Expo and visited post-production monolith Imagica
Imagica
is a Japanese post-production company for movies, television programmes and commercials, etc, established in 1935 and headquartered in Shinagawa, Tokyo, Japan. It is a subsidiary of Imagica Robot Holdings Inc.-History:...
and video game giant Sega Enterprises. That first visit, combined with Arias' friendship with key members of BTTFTRs largely Japanese modelmaking crew, set the stage for Arias' subsequent long-term stay in Japan.
Imagica and Sega Enterprises
In 1991 Arias accepted an offer to work as a motion-control camera operator in Imagica's Special Effects department, and moved to Tokyo. Then, after less than a year at Imagica, he was invited by up-and-coming game producer Tetsuya MizuguchiTetsuya Mizuguchi
is a video game designer and founder of the video game development firm Q Entertainment. He formerly worked for Sega were he eventually became the head of their United Game Artists division...
to join a newly-formed computer graphics unit at Sega Enterprises Amusement Research and Development facility. At Sega, Arias co-directed and animated the ridefilm Megalopolice: Tokyo City Battle (featured in SIGGRAPH
SIGGRAPH
SIGGRAPH is the name of the annual conference on computer graphics convened by the ACM SIGGRAPH organization. The first SIGGRAPH conference was in 1974. The conference is attended by tens of thousands of computer professionals...
1993’s Electronic Theater).
Syzygy Digital Cinema
In 1993 Arias returned to the US and teamed up with renowned New YorkNew York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
title designers Randall Balsmeyer & Mimi Everett, with who he co-founded CG design boutique Syzygy Digital Cinema, creators of digital sequences for David Cronenberg
David Cronenberg
David Paul Cronenberg, OC, FRSC is a Canadian filmmaker, screenwriter and actor. He is one of the principal originators of what is commonly known as the body horror or venereal horror genre. This style of filmmaking explores people's fears of bodily transformation and infection. In his films, the...
’s M. Butterfly
M. Butterfly (film)
M. Butterfly is a 1993 romantic drama film directed by David Cronenberg. The screenplay was written by David Henry Hwang based on his play of the same name...
, Joel and Ethan Coen’s The Hudsucker Proxy
The Hudsucker Proxy
The Hudsucker Proxy is a 1994 screwball comedy film written, produced, and directed by Joel and Ethan Coen. Sam Raimi co-wrote the script and served as second unit director....
, Robert Altman
Robert Altman
Robert Bernard Altman was an American film director and screenwriter known for making films that are highly naturalistic, but with a stylized perspective. In 2006, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences recognized his body of work with an Academy Honorary Award.His films MASH , McCabe and...
’s Prêt-à-Porter
Prêt-à-Porter (film)
Prêt-à-Porter is a 1994 American satirical black comedy film co-written, directed, and produced by Robert Altman and shot during the Paris, France, Fashion Week with a host of international stars, models and designers...
, and Spike Lee
Spike Lee
Shelton Jackson "Spike" Lee is an American film director, producer, writer, and actor. His production company, 40 Acres & A Mule Filmworks, has produced over 35 films since 1983....
’s Crooklyn
Crooklyn
Crooklyn is a 1994 semi-autobiographical film co-written and directed by Spike Lee. The film takes place in Brooklyn, New York and the neighborhood of Bedford-Stuyvesant during the summer of 1973. Its primary focus is a young girl, Troy , and her family...
and Clockers. Their title sequence for M. Butterfly was honored by inclusion in the SIGGRAPH 1994 Screening Room and Montreal's Cinéma Du Futur festival of the same year.
Softimage
Exhausted by the demands of production and hoping to gain further experience developing computer graphics software, Arias accepted an offer from 3D-animation software innovator SoftimageSoftimage
Softimage, Co. was a company located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada that produced 3D animation software. Their flagship products, Softimage 3D and Softimage XSI, are used in the creation of computer animation for films, television advertisement, and video games...
to join their newly-formed Special Projects group, a "S.W.A.T." team of artists and engineers established to assist key high-end customers on-site.
Encouraged by colleagues, Arias quickly immersed himself in the mental ray
Mental Ray
mental ray is a production-quality rendering application developed by mental images . mental images was bought in December 2007 by NVIDIA.As the name implies, it supports ray tracing to generate images....
rendering
Rendering (computer graphics)
Rendering is the process of generating an image from a model , by means of computer programs. A scene file contains objects in a strictly defined language or data structure; it would contain geometry, viewpoint, texture, lighting, and shading information as a description of the virtual scene...
API and thereafter began experimenting with techniques for simulating traditional animation
Traditional animation
Traditional animation, is an animation technique where each frame is drawn by hand...
imagery using computer graphics tools. This research led to Arias' developing and eventually patenting Softimage's Toon Shaders, rendering software for facilitating integration of computer graphics imagery with cel animation. Newly-minted Toon Shaders in hand, Arias worked closely with the staff of Dreamworks Animation
DreamWorks Animation
DreamWorks Animation SKG, Inc. is an American animation studio based in Glendale, California that creates animated feature films, television program and online virtual worlds...
and Studio Ghibli
Studio Ghibli
is a Japanese animation and film studio founded in June 1985. The company's logo features the character Totoro from Hayao Miyazaki's film My Neighbor Totoro...
to add a distinct visual flavor to the traditional/digital hybrid animation of films Prince Of Egypt, The Road to El Dorado
The Road to El Dorado
The Road to El Dorado is a 2000 American animated adventure comedy film by DreamWorks. The soundtrack features songs by Elton John and Tim Rice, the music team from Disney's The Lion King....
, and Hayao Miyazaki
Hayao Miyazaki
is a Japanese manga artist and prominent film director and animator of many popular anime feature films. Through a career that has spanned nearly fifty years, Miyazaki has attained international acclaim as a maker of animated feature films and, along with Isao Takahata, co-founded Studio Ghibli,...
’s and .
Tekkonkinkreet Pilot Film In 1995, after establishing himself definitively in Tokyo, Arias was introduced by a friend to Taiyō Matsumoto
Taiyo Matsumoto
is an influential manga artist. He made his debut in Afternoon, Kodansha's monthly seinen manga magazine, but is probably best known for his works with Kodansha's rival publisher Shogakukan, including Tekkonkinkreet, Ping Pong and Number Five. He has received critical praise for his unconventional...
's manga , a work that profoundly affected him. Tekkonkinkreet (Tekkon) is a metaphysical coming-of-age story concerning two orphans, and and their struggle to survive in a pan-Asian metropolis, , beset by evil. Of first discovering Tekkon, Arias recalls that a friend loaned him Tekkon to read, "And that was it. Hooked. ...I cried many times reading it, also a new experience for me to be moved to tears by a manga."
In November 1997, a conversation with animation auteur Koji Morimoto
Koji Morimoto
, born December 26, 1959) is an animator and one of Japan’s premier anime directors.- Biography :Born in Wakayama, Japan, he graduated from the Osaka School of Design in 1979 and a couple years later joined the studio Annapuru as an animator for the TV series “Tomorrow's Joe”...
, who had shown interest in Arias' software projects, led to Arias' introduction to manga
Manga
Manga is the Japanese word for "comics" and consists of comics and print cartoons . In the West, the term "manga" has been appropriated to refer specifically to comics created in Japan, or by Japanese authors, in the Japanese language and conforming to the style developed in Japan in the late 19th...
artist Taiyō Matsumoto
Taiyo Matsumoto
is an influential manga artist. He made his debut in Afternoon, Kodansha's monthly seinen manga magazine, but is probably best known for his works with Kodansha's rival publisher Shogakukan, including Tekkonkinkreet, Ping Pong and Number Five. He has received critical praise for his unconventional...
. From there, what had begun as a simple software demo for Morimoto rapidly escalated to a full-fledged all-CG feature-film project, helmed by Morimoto, with computer graphics efforts directed by Arias himself.
Though the completed 4-minute went on to take an Outstanding Performance award for Non-Interactive Digital Art at the Japan Media Arts Festival
Japan Media Arts Festival
The Japan Media Arts Festival is an annual festival held by Japan's Agency for Cultural Affairs since 1997. The festival for a nominal year was usually held during February or March next year, rather than at the end of the nominal year. For instance, the 2010 Japan Media Arts Festival, where...
and be featured in the SIGGRAPH 2000 Animation Theater', the project was abandoned shortly thereafter for lack of funding and director Morimoto's flagging interest in Tekkonkinkreet.
The Animatrix
Then, in 2000, while still under contract to Softimage, Michael accepted an invitation from Joel SilverJoel Silver
Joel Silver is an American Hollywood film producer, co-creator of the sport of Ultimate, co-founder of Dark Castle Entertainment and owner of Silver Pictures.-Life and career:...
and Andy and Larry Wachowski (the Wachowski Brothers) to produce Warner Bros’ Matrix
The Matrix
The Matrix is a 1999 science fiction-action film written and directed by Larry and Andy Wachowski, starring Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne, Carrie-Anne Moss, Joe Pantoliano, and Hugo Weaving...
-inspired animation anthology The Animatrix
The Animatrix
is a 2003 direct-to-video anthology film based on The Matrix trilogy. The film is a compilation of nine animated short films.-Production:Development of the Animatrix project began when the film series' writers and directors, the Wachowski brothers, were in Japan promoting the first Matrix film...
, a project that consumed him for over three years. On being pegged to produce The Animatrix
The Animatrix
is a 2003 direct-to-video anthology film based on The Matrix trilogy. The film is a compilation of nine animated short films.-Production:Development of the Animatrix project began when the film series' writers and directors, the Wachowski brothers, were in Japan promoting the first Matrix film...
, despite his lack of experience producing, Arias recounts, "I really had to draw on a great deal of experience that had sat unused in the background while I’d been pursuing software development. Everything I’d learned until this point: a brief career in recording studios, composing music and doing sound effects for short films in college, having my own company, working in special effects. It was a great chance to exercise some dormant (or damaged) brain cells."
Arias worked closely with the Wachowskis to refine the project's unique specifications: though initially conceived of as a television series, The Animatrix evolved into a collection of nine non-episodic animated shorts, each six to ten minutes long. With co-producers Hiroaki Takeuchi and Eiko Tanaka
Eiko Tanaka
is the chief executive officer and the president of STUDIO4°C, an animation studio she founded in 1986. Tanaka is also the chief executive officer of a producing company called Beyond C....
(president of maverick animation boutique Studio 4°C
Studio 4°C
is a Japanese animation studio founded by Eiko Tanaka in 1986. The name comes from the temperature at which water is most dense.-History:STUDIO4°C has produced numerous feature films, OVAs, and shorts. Early film titles include; Memories , Spriggan and Princess Arete...
, where much of The Animatrix was animated), Arias ultimately developed and produced eight of the nine Animatrix segments (the lone exception being a CG-animated short created by Square Pictures). To helm the films, Arias and his partners assembled a "dream team" of anime luminaries that included Yoshiaki Kawajiri
Yoshiaki Kawajiri
is a critically acclaimed writer and director of Japanese animation. He is the creator of titles such as Wicked City, Ninja Scroll, and Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust.-Career:...
, Koji Morimoto
Koji Morimoto
, born December 26, 1959) is an animator and one of Japan’s premier anime directors.- Biography :Born in Wakayama, Japan, he graduated from the Osaka School of Design in 1979 and a couple years later joined the studio Annapuru as an animator for the TV series “Tomorrow's Joe”...
, Shinichiro Watanabe
Shinichiro Watanabe
is a Japanese anime filmmaker, screenwriter, and producer. He is known for directing the popular anime series Cowboy Bebop and Samurai Champloo.Watanabe is known for blending together multiple genres in his anime creations...
, and Mahiro Maeda
Mahiro Maeda
Mahiro Maeda is one of the most prominent Japanese anime creators working today, having worked as director, character designer, and animator for many of Japan's top series....
.
The Animatrix was a commercial success and went on garner the 2004 ASIFA Annie Award
Annie Award
The Annie Awards have been presented by the Los Angeles, California branch of the International Animated Film Association, ASIFA-Hollywood since 1972...
for Outstanding Achievement in an Animated Home Entertainment Production.
Tekkonkinkreet
In 2003, while working on The AnimatrixThe Animatrix
is a 2003 direct-to-video anthology film based on The Matrix trilogy. The film is a compilation of nine animated short films.-Production:Development of the Animatrix project began when the film series' writers and directors, the Wachowski brothers, were in Japan promoting the first Matrix film...
, Arias picked up Tekkonkinkreet again. Armed with an English-language screenplay penned by screenwriter Anthony Weintraub, and encouraged by mentor Morimoto, Arias moved forward with plans to revive Tekkon at Studio 4°C
Studio 4°C
is a Japanese animation studio founded by Eiko Tanaka in 1986. The name comes from the temperature at which water is most dense.-History:STUDIO4°C has produced numerous feature films, OVAs, and shorts. Early film titles include; Memories , Spriggan and Princess Arete...
, with Animatrix collaborator and 4 °C president Eiko Tanaka
Eiko Tanaka
is the chief executive officer and the president of STUDIO4°C, an animation studio she founded in 1986. Tanaka is also the chief executive officer of a producing company called Beyond C....
producing and Arias directing.
The film was completed in August 2006 and premiered at the Tokyo International Film Festival
Tokyo International Film Festival
Tokyo International Film Festival is a film festival established in 1985. The event was held biannually from 1985 to 1991 and annually thereafter...
soon thereafter.
Museum of Modern Art (MoMA)
Museum of Modern Art
The Museum of Modern Art is an art museum in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, on 53rd Street, between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It has been important in developing and collecting modernist art, and is often identified as the most influential museum of modern art in the world...
curator Barbara London
Barbara London
-Filmography:* The Biz .... Babs* Frankie and Johnny .... Night Waitress* The Wild Life .... Salesgirl* Love in the Present Tense .... Roz* California Split .... Lady on the Bus...
named Tekkonkinkreet "Best Film of 2006" in her Art Forum roundup, and subsequently arranged for the film's North American premiere to be held at MoMA.
With his adaptation of Tekkonkinkreet Arias, with Production Designer
Production designer
In film and television, a production designer is the person responsible for the overall look of a filmed event such as films, TV programs, music videos or adverts. Production designers have one of the key creative roles in the creation of motion pictures and television. Working directly with the...
Shinji Kimura, had re-imagined the manga's Treasure Town as a chaotic pan-Asian hybrid, part Hong Kong, part Bombay, with futuristic and industrial elements densely layered over a foundation that borrowed much from images of Shōwa
Showa period
The , or Shōwa era, is the period of Japanese history corresponding to the reign of the Shōwa Emperor, Hirohito, from December 25, 1926 through January 7, 1989.The Shōwa period was longer than the reign of any previous Japanese emperor...
-era Tokyo. New York Times critic Manohla Dargis
Manohla Dargis
Manohla Dargis is a chief film critic for The New York Times, along with A.O. Scott. She was formerly a chief film critic for the Los Angeles Times, the film editor at the LA Weekly, and a film critic at The Village Voice. She has written for a variety of publications, including Film Comment and...
, in her review of Tekkonkinkreet, describes Treasure Town as "a surreal explosion of skewed angles, leaning towers, hanging wires, narrow alleys and gaudily cute flourishes that bring to mind a yakuza cityscape by way of a Hello Kitty theme park." Indeed Tekkons sumptuous art direction was widely praised, with Production Designer Kimura receiving the Best Art Direction award
Tokyo Anime Award
The Tokyo Anime Award started from 2002, but was named in 2005. The first, second and third awards were only named simply 'Competition'. The award ceremony is held at the Tokyo International Anime Fair....
at the 2008 Tokyo International Anime Fair
Tokyo International Anime Fair
The Tokyo International Anime Fair also known as Tokyo International Animation Fair is one of the largest anime trade fairs in the world, held annually in Japan. The first event was held in 2002 as "Tokyo International Anime Fair 21". The event is held at Tokyo Big Sight, a convention and...
. Tekkon was further lauded, not only for Arias' innovative use of computer graphics techniques and seamless integration of digital and traditional animation, but also for the film's handmade, documentary-style approach to storytelling. After an early Tekkon screening at the Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival
Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival
The Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival – formerly known as VC FilmFest – is an annual film festival presented by Visual Communications . It was established in 1983 as a vehicle to promote Asian Pacific American and Asian international cinema. The festival fulfills a unique mission in...
, filmjourney.org editor Doug Cummings elaborated:
Arias’ angles and compositions are uniformally inventive and striking, and most impressively, he incorporates a bevy of live action camera techniques: handheld framing, long tracking shots through corridors, rack focusing and shifting depths of field–that generate considerable immediacy and environmental realism (despite the obvious hand-drawn artifice). More than simple technological advances, these elements have long been untapped by feature animation due to their inability to be storyboarded – they’re traditional luxuries of live action spontaneity. For all the accolades bestowed upon Alfonso CuarónAlfonso CuarónAlfonso Cuarón Orozco is a Mexican film director, screenwriter and film producer, best known for his films Children of Men, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Y tu mamá también, and A Little Princess.- Early life :...
’s digitally-composited tracking shots in Children of MenChildren of MenChildren of Men is a 2006 science fiction film loosely adapted from P. D. James's 1992 novel The Children of Men, directed by Alfonso Cuarón. In 2027, two decades of human infertility have left society on the brink of collapse. Illegal immigrants seek sanctuary in England, where the last...
, Arias’ techniques here are arguably greater achievements.
Though Tekkonkinkreet was considered a hit locally and generally well-received by critics and audiences worldwide (particularly in France, where author Taiyō Matsumoto
Taiyo Matsumoto
is an influential manga artist. He made his debut in Afternoon, Kodansha's monthly seinen manga magazine, but is probably best known for his works with Kodansha's rival publisher Shogakukan, including Tekkonkinkreet, Ping Pong and Number Five. He has received critical praise for his unconventional...
's work is well known among manga readers), North American anime fans questioned Arias' filmmaking credentials and criticized his decidedly non-purist approach to adapting manga to anime (including his decision to work from Anthony Weintraub's English-language screenplay rather than a Japanese text). Online animation forum Animation Insider pointedly asked, "What in the hell does Michael Arias think he's doing?"
In defense of Weintraub's screenplay, Arias explained to readers of AniPages Daily, "He really got it right – the story of Treasure Town, the sense of doom, the action in Kiddie Kastle all fit together very seamlessly." Regarding Tekkonkinkreets evident subversion of (so-called) traditional animation conventions, he added, "I wanted to do things differently.... Ōtomo
Katsuhiro Otomo
is a Japanese comic book creator, screenwriter and film director. He is best known as the creator of the manga Akira and its animated film adaptation. Otomo has also directed several live-action films, such as the 2006 feature film adaptation of the manga Mushishi.-Biography:Katsuhiro Otomo was...
once said to me and [Lead Animation Supervisor] Nishimi, 'if you're not doing things differently you shouldn't even bother'."
In the final analysis, Tekkonkinkreet remains a milestone in Japanese animation. It was awarded Japan's prestigious Noburō Ōfuji
Noburō Ōfuji
was a Japanese film director and animator. One of the most notable auteurs of anime of the first half of the 20th century , he worked primarily with cutout and silhouette animation...
award at home, and continued on to compete for two awards at the 57th Berlin International Film Festival
Berlin International Film Festival
The Berlin International Film Festival , also called the Berlinale, is one of the world's leading film festivals and most reputable media events. It is held in Berlin, Germany. Founded in West Berlin in 1951, the festival has been celebrated annually in February since 1978...
and later win the 2008 Japan Academy Prize for Animation of the Year
Japan Academy Prize for Animation of the Year
The of the Japan Academy Prize is one of the annual Awards given by the Nippon Academy-sho association .-History:...
. The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
listed Tekkonkinkreet third in its roundup of the ten most underrated movies of the decade.
Association with Asmik Ace
Summer 2007 was marked by the formalization of the long-standing relationship between Arias and the Japanese film distribution and production company Asmik Ace EntertainmentAsmik Ace Entertainment
was formed in 1997 through a merger between the Asmik Corporation and Ace Entertainment, both of Japan. The name Asmik comes from its three founding companies: Ask, Sumitomo and Kodansha. The company is headquartered on the third floor of the Lapiross Roppongi building in Minato, Tokyo.Asmik...
. Arias is the first to join the roster of Asmik's artist management division.
Short film: Okkakekko
Shortly after finishing publicity for Tekkonkinkreet, Arias began work writing and directing , one of fifteen 1-minute animated shorts comprising the NHKNHK
NHK is Japan's national public broadcasting organization. NHK, which has always identified itself to its audiences by the English pronunciation of its initials, is a publicly owned corporation funded by viewers' payments of a television license fee....
animation anthology . Individual segments were streamed from the official Ani*Kuri15 website, and broadcast piecemeal starting in May 2007.
Arias created the film at Studio4°C
Studio 4°C
is a Japanese animation studio founded by Eiko Tanaka in 1986. The name comes from the temperature at which water is most dense.-History:STUDIO4°C has produced numerous feature films, OVAs, and shorts. Early film titles include; Memories , Spriggan and Princess Arete...
, calling on animation prodigy Takayuki Hamada (one of Tekkons lead animators) to design and animate characters. Other contributors to Arias' Ani*Kuri short include Colorist Miyuki Itō, CG Director Takuma Sakamoto, British electronic music composers Plaid
Plaid (band)
Plaid is a London-based British electronic music duo comprising Andy Turner and Ed Handley. They are former members of The Black Dog and used many other names, such as Atypic and Balil , before settling on Plaid...
, and Sound Designer
Sound design
Sound design is the process of specifying, acquiring, manipulating or generating audio elements. It is employed in a variety of disciplines including filmmaking, television production, theatre, sound recording and reproduction, live performance, sound art, post-production and video game software...
Mitch Osias, all Tekkonkinkreet alumni. Tekkon Lead Animation Supervisor Shōjirō Nishimi and Production Designer Shinji Kimura each directed his own Ani*Kuri segment, and other directors included Satoshi Kon
Satoshi Kon
was a Japanese anime director and manga artist from Kushiro, Hokkaidō and a member of the Japanese Animation Creators Association . He was a graduate of the Graphic Design department of the Musashino Art University. He is sometimes credited as in the credits of Paranoia Agent...
, Mamoru Oshii
Mamoru Oshii
Mamoru Oshii is a Japanese filmmaker, television director, and writer. Famous for his philosophy-oriented storytelling, Oshii has directed a number of popular anime, including Urusei Yatsura 2: Beautiful Dreamer, Ghost in the Shell, and Patlabor 2...
, and Mahiro Maeda
Mahiro Maeda
Mahiro Maeda is one of the most prominent Japanese anime creators working today, having worked as director, character designer, and animator for many of Japan's top series....
.
The entire collection of fifteen Anikuri shorts has since been released as a DVD-book set, featuring production detail, creator interviews, and storyboard and background artwork.
Heaven's Door In 2007 Arias began work on Heaven's Door, a Japanese live-action feature film loosely based on the German hit Knockin' on Heaven's Door
Knockin' on Heaven's Door (film)
Knockin' on Heaven's Door is a 1997 German criminal comedy, by Thomas Jahn, starring Til Schweiger, Moritz Bleibtreu and Rutger Hauer. Its name derives from the Bob Dylan song which is also on the film's soundtrack.- Story :...
directed by Thomas Jahn
Thomas Jahn
Thomas Jahn is a German Actor and Director.He was born in 1965.Credits include Knockin' on heaven's door Thomas Jahn is a German Actor and Director.He was born in 1965.Credits include Knockin' on heaven's door Thomas Jahn is a German Actor and Director.He was born in 1965.Credits include Knockin'...
and written by Jahn and actor Til Schweiger
Til Schweiger
Tilman Valentin "Til" Schweiger is a German actor, director, and producer.He is one of Germany’s most successful filmmakers. Since 1968, when the FFA started counting, no other German actor has drawn more people to the cinemas. He runs his own production company, Barefoot Films, in Berlin.-Early...
. Arias' adaptation features J-Pop
J-pop
, an abbreviation for Japanese pop, is a musical genre that entered the musical mainstream of Japan in the 1990s. Modern J-pop has its roots in 1960s music, such as The Beatles, and replaced kayōkyoku in the Japanese music scene...
heartthrob Tomoya Nagase
Tomoya Nagase
is a Japanese singer and actor. He is a member of Tokio, a Johnny & Associates musical group. He is the primary vocalist, in addition to playing the guitar alongside Tokio's leader, Shigeru Joshima.- As an artist :...
and ingenue Mayuko Fukuda
Mayuko Fukuda
, born on August 4, 1994 in Tokyo, Japan, is a Japanese child actress who made her debut in 1998. She is contracted to talent agency FLaMme.Her father, Kenji Fukuda, is a drummer in the band Kasutera.- Profile :*Nicknames: , *Interests: art...
as unlikely comrades who flee the hospital where they first meet, and embark on a road-trip to reach the ocean and watch the sun set there in the short time they have left.
Heaven's Door marks the return of Arias' Tekkonkinkreet collaborators Min Tanaka (the voice of Tekkonkinkreets "Suzuki"), composers Plaid
Plaid (band)
Plaid is a London-based British electronic music duo comprising Andy Turner and Ed Handley. They are former members of The Black Dog and used many other names, such as Atypic and Balil , before settling on Plaid...
, and Sound Designer Mitch Osias.
Heaven's Door was released in Japanese theaters on February 7, 2009 to mixed press and lukewarm box office, but was praised for its cast, music, cinematography, and sound design. Screen International
Screen International
Screen International is a multimedia film magazine covering the international film business. It is published by EMAP, a British b2b media company.The magazine is primarily aimed at those involved in the global movie business...
correspondent Jason Gray concludes, "I think younger audiences will find the tragedy of Heaven´s Door palpable.... For someone like me who devoured American cinema of the early 70s, tearing up at films like Thunderbolt and Lightfoot
Thunderbolt and Lightfoot
Thunderbolt and Lightfoot is a 1974 American crime film written and directed by Michael Cimino and starring Clint Eastwood, Jeff Bridges, George Kennedy, and Geoffrey Lewis.-Plot:...
, I might not be the best judge. Who knows, Heaven's Door may become the new Léon
Léon (film)
Léon is a 1994 French thriller film written and directed by Luc Besson...
for the teen set here and regarded as a minor indie classic overseas."
Short film: Hope
On June 23, 2009 Japanese pay-per-view broadcaster WOWOWWOWOW
WOWOW was the first private satellite broadcasting and pay TV station in Japan. It has its headquarters on the 21st floor of the Akasaka Park Building in Akasaka, Minato, Tokyo...
announced the upcoming on-air premiere of Arias' surreal short film Hope, featuring popular actress Juri Ueno
Juri Ueno
is a Japanese actress from Kakogawa, Hyogo, Japan. She was one of six actors to receive the "Newcomer of the Year" prize at the Japanese Academy Awards in 2005 for her role in Swing Girls....
as a struggling animator trapped overnight in an elevator.
Hope was penned by Arisa Kaneko, shot by Heaven's Door DP Takashi Komatsu, J.S.C., and features original score by Plaid and sound design by Mitch Osias.
The animation studio interiors were shot on location at Tokyo's Madhouse
Madhouse (company)
is a Japanese animation studio, founded in 1972 by ex–Mushi Pro animators including Masao Maruyama, Osamu Dezaki, Rintaro, and Yoshiaki Kawajiri. It has created and helped to produce many well known shows, starting with TV anime series Ace o Nerae! in 1973, and including western favourites Ninja...
studios, while veteran production designer (and frequent Sōgo Ishii
Sogo Ishii
', formerly is a Japanese filmmaker known for his striking visuals and sometimes outlandish subject matter.Ishii was born in Fukuoka City, Fukuoka Prefecture, and is a graduate of Fukuoka Prefectural Fukuoka High School and Nihon University College of Art....
collaborator) Toshihiro Isomi created a rotating set for Miyuki's elevator on a Yokohama soundstage.
Personal life
Arias has lived in TokyoTokyo
, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...
, Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
since he was 23 and speaks and writes Japanese fluently. He has two children of mixed Japanese descent.
In 2011 Arias documented his experiences providing relief to relatives in Miyagi Prefecture
Miyagi Prefecture
is a prefecture of Japan in the Tōhoku Region on Honshu island. The capital is Sendai.- History :Miyagi Prefecture was formerly part of the province of Mutsu. Mutsu Province, on northern Honshu, was one of the last provinces to be formed as land was taken from the indigenous Emishi, and became the...
during the days immediately following the Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami
2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami
The 2011 earthquake off the Pacific coast of Tohoku, also known as the 2011 Tohoku earthquake, or the Great East Japan Earthquake, was a magnitude 9.0 undersea megathrust earthquake off the coast of Japan that occurred at 14:46 JST on Friday, 11 March 2011, with the epicenter approximately east...
.
Filmography
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1989 | Motion control cameraperson (uncredited) | |||
| 1989 | Fat Man and Little Boy Fat Man and Little Boy Fat Man and Little Boy is a 1989 film that reenacts the Manhattan Project, the secret Allied endeavor to develop the first nuclear weapons during World War II. The film is named after the nuclear weapons known by the code names "Fat Man" and "Little Boy". The code names can be taken for joking... |
Motion control cameraperson (uncredited) | ||
| 1991 | Back To The Future: The Ride Back to the Future: The Ride Back to the Future: The Ride is a simulator ride based on and inspired by the Back to the Future trilogy and is a mini-sequel to 1990's Back to the Future Part III. In the United States, it was replaced by The Simpsons Ride... |
Ride programmer (uncredited) | ||
| 1993 | M. Butterfly M. Butterfly (film) M. Butterfly is a 1993 romantic drama film directed by David Cronenberg. The screenplay was written by David Henry Hwang based on his play of the same name... |
Title sequence computer graphics (as Syzygy Digital Cinema) | ||
| 1994 | Title sequence and newsreel sequence computer graphics (as Syzygy Digital Cinema) | |||
| 2003 | Producer, computer graphics, additional sequence director, voice cast | 2004 ASIFA Annie Annie Award The Annie Awards have been presented by the Los Angeles, California branch of the International Animated Film Association, ASIFA-Hollywood since 1972... for Outstanding Achievement in an Animated Home Entertainment Production. |
||
| 2006 | Director, storyboard artist, additional voices | 2006 Mainichi Film Concours Noburō Ōfuji Noburō Ōfuji was a Japanese film director and animator. One of the most notable auteurs of anime of the first half of the 20th century , he worked primarily with cutout and silhouette animation... award for excellence in animation 2008 Japan Academy Prize for Animation of the Year Japan Academy Prize for Animation of the Year The of the Japan Academy Prize is one of the annual Awards given by the Nippon Academy-sho association .-History:... . 57th Berlin International Film Festival Berlin International Film Festival The Berlin International Film Festival , also called the Berlinale, is one of the world's leading film festivals and most reputable media events. It is held in Berlin, Germany. Founded in West Berlin in 1951, the festival has been celebrated annually in February since 1978... Generation 14plus and Best First Feature nominations Gertie Award Jury Special Mention—40th Sitges Film Festival Gran Prix—Anima 2008 festival in Brussels, Belgium Golden Prize for Best Animated / Stop Motion Film—2007 Fantasia International Film Festival Fantasia Festival Fantasia International Film Festival is a genre film festival that has been based mainly in Montreal since its founding in 1996... Animation Unlimited screening—31st Hong Kong International Film Festival Hong Kong International Film Festival The Hong Kong International Film Festival is a platform for filmmakers, film professionals and filmgoers from all over the world to launch and experience new film work. There are seminars, conferences, exhibitions, and parties celebrating the festival community... Panorama Selection—2007 Deauville Asian Film Festival Deauville Asian Film Festival The Deauville Asian Film Festival takes place annually in Deauville, France since 1999 and focuses on Asian cinema... 2007 Nippon Connection Film Festival in Frankfurt, Germany 2007 Camera Japan Festival in Holland Nippon Cinema program—2010 Nippon Connection Film Festival in Frankfurt, Germany Lancia Platinum Grand Prize Special Mention—2008 Future Film Festival in Bologna, Italy |
||
| 2007 | Director, writer, storyboard artist | |||
| 2009 | Heaven's Door | Director | Nippon Cinema program—2010 Nippon Connection Film Festival in Frankfurt, Germany | |
| 2009 | Hope | Director | ||
| 2010 | Team Dragon from AKB48 AKB48 AKB48 is a Japanese female idol group produced by Yasushi Akimoto.The group has achieved enormous popularity in Japan. Its ten latest consecutive singles topped the Oricon Weekly Singles Chart... |
Director, visual effects supervisor | Music video for theme music |
Achievements and recognitions
- At SIGGRAPH 1996 Arias presented the technical sketch "Toon Shaders for Simulating Cel Animation" detailing his work on rendering software for use in simulating the appearance of cel animation.
- Arias was Guest Editor of the SIGGRAPH Computer GraphicsComputer Graphics (Publication)Computer Graphics is a publication of ACM SIGGRAPH. It has published the yearly proceedings of the annual SIGGRAPH conferences, as well as a variety of papers on a quarterly basis. Since 2003, all printed materials from the annual conference are included in an issue of ACM Transactions on Graphics ....
journal, Volume 32, Number 1, published February 1999. The issue focused on non-photorealistic renderingNon-photorealistic renderingNon-Photorealistic rendering is an area of computer graphics that focuses on enabling a wide variety of expressive styles for digital art. In contrast to traditional computer graphics, which has focused on photorealism, NPR is inspired by artistic styles such as painting, drawing, technical...
(NPR). - On October 12, 1999 the United States Patent and Trademark OfficeUnited States Patent and Trademark OfficeThe United States Patent and Trademark Office is an agency in the United States Department of Commerce that issues patents to inventors and businesses for their inventions, and trademark registration for product and intellectual property identification.The USPTO is based in Alexandria, Virginia,...
awarded Arias U.S. Patent 5,966,134 for invention of a technique for simulating cel animation and shading. - Arias was a contributor to the Animation and Special Effects program of SIGGRAPH 2000. As a member of the panel "Digital Cel Animation in Japan", Arias presented his work on the Tekkonkinkreet pilot and, with moderator Ken Anjyo and co-panelists Youichi Horry and Yoshiyuki Momose, discussed historical developments, cultural influences, and technical innovations particular to Japanese animation.
- Arias is listed as a member of the Visual Effects SocietyVisual Effects SocietyThe Visual Effects Society is the entertainment industry's only organization representing the full breadth of visual effects practitioners including artists, animators, technologists, model makers, educators, studio leaders, supervisors, PR/marketing specialists and producers in all areas of...
.