Production Aspects
Despite White Fox only Emerging in 2007 they've had an incredible start, I mean if we discount their first anime production Tears of Tiara. They've been able to produce a plethora of some of my favourites and overwhelmingly successful productions including Katanagatari in 2010, Steins Gate in 2011 and Jormungandr 2012 in a relatively short span of time. I'm also somewhat interested in watching series such as Akagame Ga Kill and Hataraki Maou-Sama! But we'll see.
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| Hamasaki Hiroshi |
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| Takuya Satou [Supposedly] |
Cinematography
Very similar to pretty much any Madhouse production at the time, as the same shot and reverse shot patterns seem to take precedent here. However the directing staff also utilizes the space within the shot quite well - Where in addition to shot and reverse shots, often times action is framed on opposing sides of the screen for say when two characters are in opposition, or perhaps when in agreement are framed on together on the same side, showing an awareness on how to stage subjects relative to the spatial relationships involved when depicting both the intimacy of the shot and figurative space between the given subjects, alongside the perspective in which it's being framed from. In that respect biased film grammar such as subjective medium long/ or just medium shots take precedence, often transitioning to a closeup when closing the gap for a reaction shot. As it's common to see a lot of Pov shot used in the same vein, in that the story has a relatively linear trajectory despite the use of time travel, being that most of the story is singular to Okabe. Although, when the situation calls for it, the directing staff and team of story boarders do a pretty good job in depicting Okabe's anxiety and his isolation from the rest of the world, also servicing the more up close and personal moments. The directing staff knows when utilize film grammar to either separate, isolate or perhaps be inclusionary when it comes to framing given subjects or point of interest.
While being something of a mystery, as well as a Sci-Fi thriller, there's a great amount of oblique angular shots, both vertically and horizontally for the more tense and unnerving moments. I also found that the use of reaction shots, unnerving zooms and closeups were intermingled here quite well, as the sense of shot flow is quite decent, being able to capture the more dissonant and unnerving subtext of the story. Where I see tendency here to use more level and slightly off centre low angle tilts when it comes to general dialogue and conversation in addition to things such as the general horizontally angular shot and reverse shot patterns. Being that Steins;Gate also has a frequent amount of group dialogue situations, where the sense of shot flow and continuity is often anchored by a general circle of action & the 180 degree rule. Where when another character enters the fray or perhaps the point of interest shifts with the "look" perhaps, the line of action will be broken to create a new set of angles and a circle of action, being that this is more or less what usually happens in any given film or anime.
Another thing I've noticed is the use of fade & dissolve transitions. In that It's actually pretty rare nowadays for directors to actually use the fade as frequently as they do in Steins;Gate. Generally, a lot of people today see it as archaic and an out of date transition effect, where most people prefer the simple cut - Which has pretty much dominated in recent decades. None the less, they are used pretty interestingly, but don't necessarily draw to much attention to themselves when used. As I also find the use of chaotic montages, every time Okabe time leaps pretty interesting, Where they often times invert the colour pallet, and overlay various fields of motion and backgrounds - Pretty neat if you ask me, being that it really adds to the neurotic and the painful psychedelic effect and experiences that Okabe endures while time leaping.
While being something of a mystery, as well as a Sci-Fi thriller, there's a great amount of oblique angular shots, both vertically and horizontally for the more tense and unnerving moments. I also found that the use of reaction shots, unnerving zooms and closeups were intermingled here quite well, as the sense of shot flow is quite decent, being able to capture the more dissonant and unnerving subtext of the story. Where I see tendency here to use more level and slightly off centre low angle tilts when it comes to general dialogue and conversation in addition to things such as the general horizontally angular shot and reverse shot patterns. Being that Steins;Gate also has a frequent amount of group dialogue situations, where the sense of shot flow and continuity is often anchored by a general circle of action & the 180 degree rule. Where when another character enters the fray or perhaps the point of interest shifts with the "look" perhaps, the line of action will be broken to create a new set of angles and a circle of action, being that this is more or less what usually happens in any given film or anime.
Another thing I've noticed is the use of fade & dissolve transitions. In that It's actually pretty rare nowadays for directors to actually use the fade as frequently as they do in Steins;Gate. Generally, a lot of people today see it as archaic and an out of date transition effect, where most people prefer the simple cut - Which has pretty much dominated in recent decades. None the less, they are used pretty interestingly, but don't necessarily draw to much attention to themselves when used. As I also find the use of chaotic montages, every time Okabe time leaps pretty interesting, Where they often times invert the colour pallet, and overlay various fields of motion and backgrounds - Pretty neat if you ask me, being that it really adds to the neurotic and the painful psychedelic effect and experiences that Okabe endures while time leaping.
Though this has more to do with the art direction, I think that being based in the lively city of Japan that Tokyo in the Akihabara district is, I personally think that the directing staff failed to capture the same nuance and atmosphere the place really has, where the lack of detail rendered here puts the city to shame. Along with that, say when Okabe is out on the streets searching frantically for Mayuri, White Fox's depiction of the busy atmosphere of Akihabara really falls short of the real thing, or any city for that matter. I mean while decent, White Fox still has a ways to go. Where I feel both the more lonely as well as the complicated themes and emotions within Steins;Gate could have far better if ran counterpoint to a more realistic visual component & better developed pictorial aspects to enhance the sense of atmosphere that the animation could have had. Such as the melancholy of being in a city, of being excited and overwhelmed, or perhaps isolated or lost... The sense of atmosphere and nuance the city really has, which surely could have enhanced Steins;Gate's more darker and intimate themes.
Animation & Art direction
Just imagine vista's and architecture rendered with more photorealism found in a Kyoto Ani production, or perhaps far more vivid and dynamic lighting applied in post to enhance the sense of spatiality, framed and/or panned with long shot angles and perhaps with lens flares and such.. Personally, I feel Steins;Gate is somewhat a bit too static feeling, too gray, gloomy and boring. I mean for Christ sakes this is Akihabara were talking about! Where In all I think White Fox does quite a lot right, however the visual component could be far better if it the team's visual department was more atmospherically aware of elements and generally more attentive in more carefully rendering more detail within different planes of motion.
Just imagine vista's and architecture rendered with more photorealism found in a Kyoto Ani production, or perhaps far more vivid and dynamic lighting applied in post to enhance the sense of spatiality, framed and/or panned with long shot angles and perhaps with lens flares and such.. Personally, I feel Steins;Gate is somewhat a bit too static feeling, too gray, gloomy and boring. I mean for Christ sakes this is Akihabara were talking about! Where In all I think White Fox does quite a lot right, however the visual component could be far better if it the team's visual department was more atmospherically aware of elements and generally more attentive in more carefully rendering more detail within different planes of motion.
Those being - The background, middle ground as well as the foreground. In general, in terms of pictorial quality, Steins;Gate has a lot of missed potential, where I find that White Fox's visual department really missed the mark on this one. As the person responsible for colour composition is Miyuki Satou, where she did a pretty distasteful job in my opinion, while not terrible and still decent, Steins;Gate could have looked far better than it actually is if someone like Emi Chiba was on colour - Being responsible for the entirety of Kara no Kyoukai and the Fate/Stay Night series by Ufotable. As she's far better at depicting urban city settings, but with Miyuki Satou, I never knew that Tokyo could look so bland and boring.
Miyuki Satou's work as colour designer, as well as others responsible for colour coordination and all outsourced background art, is somewhat hit and miss. Maybe I overreacted a little bit, because generally, there are definitely some stand out scenes within Steins;Gate that have good diversity and a good sense of spatiality, regarding lighting and texturing when it comes to the value and intensity of the hues used. As Miyuki Satou's work definitely shines when given an opportunity to depict scenes with more variety. Though even the best of scenes within Steins;Gate feels somewhat placid and flat in terms of lighting. Where in general Steins;Gate lacks an awful amount of dynamic range contrast, which I feel is incredibly important when depicting a city, especially when your depicting such a well known location that Akihabara is. The astonishing thing however is that the same art director responsible for the Fate/Stay night series as well as Kara no Kyoukai also worked on Steins;Gate. That being Kouji Etou - Also responsible for contributing some background art as well.
While it surprised me a little, in terms of architecture and scenic design, I definitely see the similarities. However, I do think that both Kouji Eto and Miyuki Satou dropped the ball when it came to both colour composition and lighting. As the architectural design was actually pretty great, and principle drawing was nicely complex - However other pictorial aspects definitely left something to desired. I feel if Kouji Eto as well as other contributors gave more headroom and creative opportunities for Miyuki Satou to have more dynamic and versatile colour compositions, it would have breathed so much life into the visual component. For example, they could have included more scenes with more emphasis on the natural growth or gardens within the city, with trees and shrubbery, in addition to more natural & artificial lighting of both the city and it's the skies - Because when they do, it generally looks quite awesome. Although quite occasionally, art department is somewhat guilty of reusing the same background composites a bit to frequently, when they could've substituted them for entirely new ones.
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| Kouji Etou |
It's sad because often times, the backgrounds actually have quite a decent amount of texture and detail rendered in when it comes to different materials and such, it's just a shame that the general colour composition and general lighting wasn't given as much love as other aspects within the production - So much missed opportunity really. As Steins;Gate quite literally pales in comparison to a series such as Hyouka, Fate/Stay night, The Monogatari series, or even a production a year older than Steins;Gate - Katanagatari - Which Whitefox produced a year prior. In short Steins;Gate is somewhat mediocore when it comes to colour composition and lighting. There's just way too many backgrounds with overly vague lighting and dull colour compositions carried out through the entirety of the series.
Oddly enough, the OVA and the movie finally open up in terms of colour composition, variety and dynamic intensity/contrast. Where the movie in particular has much more definitive lighting, as well as better colour composition as well. So I really don't understand the logic behind the main series. As Miyuki Satou, can clearly put together far more compelling and visually attractive scenes, however, why is it that she or perhaps the directing staff have clearly handicapped their ability to do so for the main series is something we'll perhaps never figure out or find out why. This isn't a issue that really pertains to the budget at all, as these are simple decisions they could have made far earlier on. I'm fine with the more gray and perhaps gloomy backgrounds, as they do match the scenario on occasion, but to watch the same boring pallet and general lighting for 8 hours + really had me scratching my head.
Steins;Gate lacks visual sharpness not because of the principle drawing here, it more has to do with the general lighting and colour composition, where it's obvious that in post they opted to use a bit too much diffusion, as the colour grading is too dull. So dull and vague it even makes the most well drawn and textured of scenes to seem boring and nil, which is sad because most backgrounds were rendered quite well, with great texture and spatiality. Although I will say, even despite having a Bluray copy, it does still look like an upscale - In general the resolution of finer lines and gradiant don't really seem as sharp as they could be, where either way the general resolution is somewhat questionable. Story wise the movie and the OVA are quite a lot less significant than main series was, while I'm thankful that they've improved on such things with the movie and OVA, from that point on, it really didn't matter anymore. When I did watch the movie and the OVA, I thought to myself "Like What the Hell" because why in the world didn't they apply the same logic with the main series? It wasn't like the Movie was significantly better animated or anything, to me they just tightened to visuals with better colour composition and lighting - Everything else was principally the same.
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| Kyuuta Sakai |
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| Huke [Supposedly] |
Where I'm only particularly interested in Okabe, Kurisu and Urushibara's designs. As I also take issue with the fact that, like 80% of other animations, they wear the same outfit 24/7 - I mean does it really hurt animation efficiency so much so that you can't even change the colour of someone's T-Shirt for the entire duration of the 8 hour T.v series? Though I still like the nice balance between having appealing designs that also have a sort of simplicity, however not many of the character designs or animation is of any particular interest, as I personally think that more flair is needed regarding characters such as Mayuuri or perhaps Suzuha Amane. Though I did notice however, that at a distance the character animation kinda falls apart upon closer inspection, and there are some hiccups along the way in staying consistent and on model, when it comes to principle animation. Though thankfully, for more up close or medium shots, the character designs are usually quite consistent, clean and on model for the most part. As this is the third of the first three productions Whitefox has ever produced as a unit, so perhaps I'm being a bit to harsh? Maybe, especially since I've seen far worse anime studio debuts, as White Fox has had a very strong start and do a lot right for an up and coming studio.
