Space Dandy S2 Episode 5

This episode was exceptional at immediately immersing the viewers to a new world by making the main character inconspicuous. By immersing the viewers in the initial moments, they get absorbed into the journey even before the focus shifts to Dandy.

In this shot you really don’t notice Dandy right away. He’s a tiny figure at the bottom right, covered by the shadow and his brown color palette blending with the ground. The audience’s eyes are immediately attracted to the environment, specifically the cacti.

Dandy is more noticeable in these images but again the world is the focus. The scale of the rocky tower and the amount of detail it has captures the audience’s attention.

Again, Dandy blends with the background. In the first image the viewers’ attention is initially drawn to the side characters since their colors contrast more against the brown wall. The secondary focus is the outside environment seen through the window.   In the second image the side characters remain as the focus. Notice the ray of light; it basically acts as lines directing the viewers’ attention to these characters. Another thing that draws the viewers’ attention are the dense amount of colorful objects that the side characters are sitting next to.

Kancolle Anime is Coming in Jan 2015

To be honest, I don't get this craze for web based naval game that is using real World War 2 ships such as Yamato or Akagi and anthropomorphize it into moe, cute anime girls but apparently it taken the anime world by storm. Not surprisingly, to cash in the surging popularity, the anime series is coming soon. This kinda reminds me of Strike Witches and Girls und Panzer.

This wiki entry will give a general idea on the phenomenon. 

The official website for the anime.

Zankyou no Terror Episode 4

The obvious eye-catcher in this episode was the exquisite motorcycle scene. The best parts of the scene were the use of camera movement to seamlessly transition to a cut.

In this cut the camera pushes in until the tire covers the entire screen. This acts sort of like a fade to black. The camera then zooms out to show the viewers a side view of the motorcycle. This sequence, due to good camera use has a feel of a very smooth match on action cut.

This is my favorite, which was a creative way of doing a graphic match. The camera continues to track the motorcycle until it accelerates pass the camera and all we see are the horizontal lines on the wall. Then it cuts to a graphic match of an extreme close-up of the line formed by Lisa’s eyelashes. The camera then zooms out to complete the sequence.

And here’s the entire scene for your viewing pleasure:

_______________________________________________________________________

Here’s a couple of interesting shots, which use foreground framing to provide a narrower focus on the subjects. This narrow focus strongly directs the audience’s view on the failure and vulnerability of the police department. They were caught and deceived; the resulting humiliation is communicated well in these shots.

Heaven's Feel Movie is Announced.

Well, smack me some tentacles and call me Horsey! They just announced a movie adaptation for Heaven's Feel, the final arc in Fate/Stay Night story. A surely tremendous time for TYPEMOON/Fate fans (like me)

Personally, I think it is the best story out of 3 from the original visual novel. To some people, it is a bit too bloody and brutal.

Needless to say, I am damn fucking excited.

Japanese Government Wants to Shut Down Foreign Pirate Sites.

Okay, what I roughly understand from this NHK news is Japanese government will go after 580 sites outside Japan to remove all illegal content such as anime, manga etc 1 year from now. The particular target is China and government ministry estimated 560 billion yen is lost due to piracy (equals to USD$ 5.4 billion) annually. Undoubtedly, the fansub sites might be targeted too.

How successful it would be is kinda doubtful, given the dissemination of these products is so widespread and common especially at Asia.

I am interested to see how they will pull this one off.

Link.

Zankyou no Terror Episode 3

The scene below is a good example of visual storytelling. The use of one point perspective directs the viewers’ gaze to Lisa, which is important for the emotional connection this scene is trying to achieve. With the audience’s attention drawn to the center, they themselves can feel surrounded by the shadows in the hallway; a visual experience that effectively coveys a morose atmosphere. The only light source from the outside not only put more focus on Lisa but also gives off a “light at the end of the tunnel” effect. Lisa walking away from that light expresses her feeling of hopelessness. Also, notice the girls socializing outside. This is a stark contrast to Lisa being alone in the darkness of the hallway and further reinforces the strong sense of isolation present in this scene.

There are a couple of cuts to Lisa’s shoes, and each time the camera zooms closer. This visually communicates that she’s still a target of bullying, which is then confirmed as she discovers her locker to be empty.

Near the end of the scene we see Lisa’s reflection in the overhead convex mirror. This effectively works as a high angle shot, which are often used to characterize a person as weak and powerless. The mirror distorting her into a diminutive figure even puts more emphasis on her feeling of smallness and seclusion.

Haikyuu!! Episode 16

Whip pans can be visually off-putting when used inappropriately due to the abrupt movement and distortion of image. When used well, whip pan is a good way to do dynamic transitions especially in action oriented scenes and that’s what this episode of Haikyuu does.

In this sequence two different actions in different places are cut together. By using whip pan to imitate the volleyball’s movement it makes a seamless transition from one action to another, which gives an impression of one cohesive action. This also helps the narrative as it connects two groups of people going through a similar experience of being overmatched but yet still staying resilient.

In this scene, the use of whip pan was more straightforward but nonetheless very effective at showing teamwork. Hinata acts as a decoy, then a whip pan to Daichi as the spiker.

__________________________________________________________________________

The video below was the beautifully done montage. I really like how it uses the shape of the volleyball to frame the sequence, which puts an emphasis on how much the sport can mean to people. Also, the narrow and round field of vision helps puts more focus on the pain of defeat expressed in their faces and body language.

Another thing worth of note is the use of extreme close up on Hinata’s eye with the reflection of his defeated opponent. A moving image but also a subtle way to show Hinata’s empathy since he had a similar experience.