While the industry at this point in time was still in it's transitional period, Kyo Ani was still a relatively inexperienced studio only having begun their own productions independently 5 years prior, asides from the minor work contracted from other well established studios, as they first got their feet wet with productions such as Full Metal Panic & Air. Really it's only until 3 years into the process around 2006 where I found that Kyo Ani started to find it's groove, having very solid principle animation in addition to the quality rendering regarding background composites.The one production that strongly comes to mind here is The Meloncholy of Haruhi Suzumiya & how Kyo Ani's staff basically brought over the same core design to shows such as Kanon & Clannad. In that like most perennial animation studios today such as Ufotable & Shaft, Kyoto animation were also early adopters of incorporating digital related processes and adobe workflows into their productions. Which of course is another reason why their works (From a production standpoint) aged so well, being that unlike classics from the likes of Gonzo or Madhouse such as NHK ni Youkoso or perhaps Claymore, they also we're early adopters of Bluray in the midst of the format wars in the mid 2000's, so you'll always get the true high fidelity/lossless experience Kyo Ani productions as opposed to the widespread use of blatant dvd upscales.
However Kyoto Animation also hit their stride from an artistic standpoint as well, being that their in house staff and standards for animation were continuously evolving with productions such as The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya and how Kyo Ani had really begun incorporating more advanced post production techniques in incorporating programs such as Adobe After Effects and where their Digipaint process and CG design in general really had begun to forge Kyo Ani's signature look and visual identity. Having backgrounds that looked lush and easy on the eyes, in addition to having a respectable standard for consistency regarding how layered & detailed each of their composites we're in terms of how lighting was rendered, in addition to the refinement in their textures and pigments. As they also begun applying the use of on point photography techniques applied later in post to strengthen the cinematic quality of their shows, such as artificial lighting & the bokeh effect found traditionally on a telephoto lens. |
| Tatsuya Ishihara [Series Director] |
As they also continued to foster their directing talent such as Tatsuya Ishihara & Yasuhiro Takemoto, and soon after Naoko Yamada with the advent of K On!! . Which completely revolutionized design standards regarding the balance between animation efficiency and appealing design, being that the industry from that point on came in droves to emulate and milk the slice of life/moe genre that Kyo Ani had perfected, while also deriving from the aesthetic standards that Yukiko Horiguchi had established and popularized. In that Kyo Ani would continue to use that same visual IPO and foundation for design for years to come, which they've only recently have begun to continue the process of improving their design standards and modernizing it with the likes of Free! & Violet Evergarden.Though Clannad was the last of it's generation production wise, as K On! would begin to air just 5 months after Clannad: After Story, in that post K On! (2009) there seemingly was no turning back from that point on to the visual identity that was shared by the likes of Clannad, Kanon & Suzumiya Haruhi.
Cinematography | Perspective & Delivery
Being a Drama/Slice of Life story Tatsuya Ishihara's team of story boarders/episode directors presented Clannad's story in a fashion that was mostly biased and subjective with Tomoya as the central actor, however there's also a clear mix between more observational film grammar presentation as well. In that while the entirety of series services quite a bit of soliloquy in addition to the non diegetic use of materials such as music and the deliberate fluctuations regarding the animation style, Clannad also establishes a multitude of sequences that are far more observational and sometimes omniscient feeling, where there's a clear correlation that's established in how Tomoya and friends are deeply connected with their environment & surroundings. Though again the corporeality of it is often times broken thanks to the comedic nature of the series, which goes hand in hand with the kind of fluctuating animation style, archetypal of the exaggerated and comedic animation style that often draws attention to itself (such as the comical facial emotes commonly present in the exaggerated reality of a manga or perhaps cartoon)
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| Fumihiko Shimo [Screenplay Writer] |
Whether it's Nagisa grasping inwards at something with her hand when she's nervous, or when Tomoya lashes out in anger and frustration when flailing his arms, Tatsuya's directing team and screenplay writer Fumihiko Shimo have an impeccable sense of humanity, as they're excellent at supplementing much of the story's emotional context through the smallest and most ordinary of details. As Tatsuya's team is great at not only telling a story, but showing it as well. Be it on the macro regarding presentation and composition, or on the micro scale of how their subjects physically and/or aurally act out scenes or behave. Perhaps not the most noticeable aspect of the series, but it just adds to how much contextual depth the show actually has.Context & Presentation | Staging, Composition & Framing
The flow of the shot and general selection of coverage regarding angles is generally straightforward and by the book following compositional & sequential norms. Clannad generally follows the temporal pattern of sequences that happen throughout the day, as Tatsuya's team generally have cuts that are medium in length to suit the more lax tone of the series and due to the lack of camera movement they often result to multiple cuts and coverages like any other anime. Being that since Clannad is a drama there's a conscious amount of dialogue scenes throughout the series, and in these scenario's medium shots take precedent here, whilst utilizing establishing long shots for group/inclusionary reasons in addition to close up reaction shots used reflexively to establish important lines. As the selection for angles are also quite broad as well, being that Tatsuya Ishihara's team is usually more frontal in their staging patterns.
Being that as a moe anime, Clannad relies somewhat upon stimulative/sensuous subject matter to entertain it's audience, such as utilizing cute characters in relatable and ordinary situations to rouse a sort of reaction and/or sensation, from both the subject(s) and/or viewer, whether it'd be feelings of humour or cuteness (Definition of Porn basically - Not in the sexual context). In that the show utilizes more frontal staging patterns to showcase the reactive nature of it's characters and the corresponding character emotes their subjects have thanks to the animation department, which of course is very characteristic of the animation medium in general.
Though reoccurring patterns that I found are that establishing shots are used quite frequently when two subjects are conversing or when the director wants the plurality of subjects to be in the shot for inclusionary reasons. Being that it's sometimes more effective to correlate the occupation and correlation of space relative to the subjects and the ongoing dialogue that's taking place, since this also opens up the opportunity for the causality between the action and the reaction, without having to resort the plural sequence of a CU (Close UP) Action/reaction shots and/or Shot/Reverse Shot patterns for the same purpose. Often times these shots can be quite pulled out, also varying with the vertical level, though generally speaking the framing is rather frontal for these establishing shots. As Ishihara's team uses theses shot/reverse shot sequences somewhat moderately due to the frontal staging patterns they generally prefer to use, in that they only sparingly utilize a "circle of action" regarding the "triangle system" regarding coverages or what have you for group scenarios. As the line of action is rarely broken to ever be reestablished in the first place, unless it's some sort of shot reverse shot situation.
Though the 180 degree rule is adhered to none the less being that they seemingly much rather play with angles on the horizontal plane that are moderate and slightly off center in addition to a simple selection and use of distances to define the level of intimacy the shot has. As it's also quite common for a cut to occur from an initial establishing or two shot and transition into a profile telephoto shot when the given subject is being questioned, deferring the focus of the given scenario, in that this can also occur for reaction shots as well to serve the same purpose. The difference however being is that the rule of thirds is used more so for telephoto profile shot then the latter, whereas reaction shots are quite a bit more head on and flat in terms of composition. As Tatsuya's team & Mutsuo Shinohara do a solid job in staging subjects relative to the set geometry and design of a scene, regarding adjacent linework, negative space and how a scene is pictorial composed regarding lighting and colour.
Staging patterns however can still be basic but on principle and by the book, often utilized with shot reverse shot patterns with the golden ratio in mind. As Ishihara's team also uses zoom cuts to create the right dynamic for the shows more comedic slapstick scenarios that are so common. However I also really like the use of outward & inward zooms regarding reaction shots, as I find outward zooms are very distinctly used when either isolating a character or perhaps used to reveal more as it entirely depends on the context of the situation. Whether the character seemingly shrinks in the moment in for the more oblique situations having to do with some sort of character defeat or perhaps used in a more positive light where more scenery or perhaps other subjects are naturally revealed in the frame, being a more inclusionary use of the outward zoom. However the inward zoom is more exclusively used in a more negative context where it's often used to build tension, as the point of interest is brought closer & closer into focus. Though no there's no multi layered and complex visual compositions with advanced correlations between the foreground and background planes of motion with advanced blocking techniques and such, since Ishihara's storyboarding & directing team would rather keep the series more grounded and down to earth.
As I also like how the Ishihara's team omits facial details for certain scenarios with clever framing and the Italian shot. Often omitting a character's mouth and every thing under the eyes for when they are curios, or just the eyes for more oblique situations to perhaps to build tension by focusing on their body language instead, where the conscious omission of the said details become a tension point alluding to the unknown variables of a given scene. This type of negative film grammar is also commonly coupled with off balance dutch angles, more extreme acute angles on the vertical level and starker lighting as you might imagine. Though the majority of the high angles are obtuse and used in context to more neutral and lax shots, however low angled shots are occasionally also used in a positive manner. Particularly with the use of upwards panning towards the sky offering the vastness of negative space it has to offer and when no particular subject or point of interest is being framed. As the scenery usually opens up when deeper threads for conversation occur with a cutaway shot, which somehow mimics a larger perspective on the matter subconsciously. Where nothing in the actual scene is particularly of any focus because of the collective meaning that a scenic montage can carry to any particular string of conversation.The Camera & Film | Verisimilitude & Momentum
Ishihara's team is also quite on point in terms of how movement is used relative to the sequence of cuts, and while actual camera movement is limited his team is great at using movement within a scene to cue the next cut or perhaps key shifts in focus with visual information such as cutting on "The look", even going so far as to use cues within the dialogue/text help gel these shots together. While Clannad is not necessarily striking visually speaking, his team's sense of punctuality, timing and visual momentum is very well executed and by the book in terms of textbook cinematography. As each shot transitions well into another and how the visual & audio runs counterpoint to ongoing scene & one another. Though the actual range of motion regarding camera movement is limited, though when used it's generally speaking in the more basic forms of linear tracking/dolly shots or perhaps panning motions. However on occasion due to the abundance of comedically violent high action scene regarding the series slapstick comedy aspects, more perverse tracking and camera movement can be utilized here, if not exclusively actually.
However as you can imagine Clannad really isn't the most fancy nor clever when it comes to using particular transitions or effects as they most often stick to the fundamentals and very well at that. So asides from the predominant use of the Standard & Telephoto lens, the Wide angle only gets use in the more oblique or inquisitive scenario's, and perhaps in conjunction with an establishing shot. As the use of transitions are similarly basic, often really not opting to use the more interesting ones such as match cuts (There are on or two I could think of) or overlays dissolves and sticking to basic cuts or perhaps the fade transition at the end of a given scene or episode - Though there are a few select scenes such techniques are saved for however. Though occasionally Directors of photography Ryuuta Nakagami & Rin Yamamoto (For S2) mix it up with blurred lens technique (Not to be confused with Bokeh), the application of film grain and/or perhaps subverting the colour spectrum with a monochrome palette and other visual effects such as tints & vignettes for the more other worldly/heavily emotional foreshadowing/dream sequences that the story can have.Segment Conclusion -
In all while Ishihara's storyboarding & directing team are quite conventional regarding their use of textbook cinematography and don't actually break any new ground, it doesn't take away from how sensitive and emotionally on point Ishihara's team can be regarding how to present and compose each given scene. Whether it's the solid understanding of spatial relationships in how to use the angles and the tried and true compositional techniques regarding the rule of thirds and the golden ratio, and having correlating set geometry to use as a framing devices in staging a subject, or perhaps sequentially with good editing on how to create and compose momentum when utilizing movement or auditory cues - Clannad serves to be a very solid and purposeful experience regarding it's film grammar, that's not only appealing just because of it's flash but it's functionality and purity of intent. As Tatsuya Ishihara's style on Clannad was a mix of subtle textbook cinematography and film grammar, in addition to offering the instantaneous abrupt editing and staging style that defines just about any typical slice of life series with comedic aspects.
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Article Contents - Comments Section
- Plot & Narrative Aspects
- Character Analysis
- Production Aspects [A History Overlook | Cinematography]
- Animation & Art Direction
- Voice Actor Choreography & Direction
- Sound Direction | OST & Addendum
