Gedo Senki (Tales from Earthsea)

9th February 2006

Number 34 - Don't skimp on the pans[1]

Just because I'm the director of an animated film doesn't mean every day is a barrel of laughs. That's why topics for these entries aren't just rolling around the place waiting to be picked up.

Yesterday was just drawing layouts the whole day, nothing else.

The particularly difficult thing about drawing layouts is doing action scenes and cuts where you have to "attached pan" with moving characters.
"Attached pan" refers to a method of camerawork where the camera is moved along with characters who are themselves moving across the screen.[2]

In that case, in addition to thinking "How do I want to try moving the camera?"
I also have to envisage the motion of the character the camera is tracking while I'm drawing the layout.
I'm not originally an animator, so this is particularly difficult for me.

I get Mr. Yamashita, as the animation director, to check the layouts I have drawn.
It's gotten fewer, but the ratio is still 20% where I get a "let's make the movement here feel a little better" and a correction.

And even in ordinary pans, where I just want to give a good look at the scenery or something, I've come to understand that moving the camera 1.5 x what I thought was "good enough" makes it just right.

In any case, don't skimp on the pans.

Translator's Notes

[1]: This is probably a pun. "Pan" as in the camera movement and "Pan" meaning bread sound exactly the same in Japanese.

[2]: As far as I can figure out from research, an attached-pan is similar to a follow-pan but different. You use it to reduce 'flicker' (i.e. jumpy/unnatural motions) without adding an additional frame. The camera tracks the motion making it appear smoother and easier to follow to the eyes. "Attached Pan" is "Tsuke Pan" [付 パ ン] in Japanese.