The Strengths and Weaknesses of Animating Action - Yoshimichi Kameda

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I watched Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood from April 5th, 2009 to July 4th, 2010. It was a weekly ritual: every Sunday a new episode would be out, and since I’d read the original story beforehand I would practice my Japanese listening skills by watching episodes without subtitles the first time around (afterwards, I’d wait for an official subtitle version by Funimation to see what I’d missed). If there were a few things I looked for in each episode, they were directing, pacing, music selection, and animation quality. And if there was one animator that stood out the most, it had to be Yoshimichi Kameda. 

Kameda’s style is instantly distinct from the rest of the production’s animators for a few reasons: 

• Multiple angles/perspectives

• Generous use of close ups

• Frequently dutched/diagonal horizons

• Pencil-like line art in the finished animation

• Quick cuts that created a lot of dynamic within the scene

• Follow/tracking shots of movement (often paired with close ups)

Unsurprisingly, Kameda’s most noticeable work involves action sequences. In a video compilation, you can see why his style can be simultaneously enthralling and dizzying. Here are some screenshots of his work as seen in the linked video: 

Greed/Ling vs Wrath/Bradley

Alex Louis Armstrong

Original Greed

Envy disguised as Maes Hughes

Roy Mustang

Lust

Roy Mustang

Riza Hawkeye

Hobo man Scar

Jerso (sp?)

Envy vs Ed

Ling vs Envy

Ed, Envy, and Ling (left to right)

Roy Mustang blowing up Envy

Roy Mustang still blowing up Envy, with Riza Hawkeye in the foreground (right side of the screenshot)

The above screenshots are excellent examples of Kameda’s strength and weaknesses in animation, especially with regards to conveying action. I’ve talked before about framing a fight/action scene and how you could storyboard movement to create differing effects. With animation, you can push boundaries even more since your characters aren’t bogged down by the physics that govern live action actors. Because of this, animators like Kameda can experiment even more with close ups, tracking shots, dutch angles, skewed expressions, shaky cam, artistic renditions of the environment - anything you can come up with. 

However, there are moments when auteurs of animation may go too far with these kinds of experiments. Technical skill is one thing, but making sure what’s happening on screen is cohesive is another trick: if no one knows what’s going on for long periods of time, an animator’s attempt to be original may fall short of anything artistically effective. 

With Kameda, his greatest asset and problem is the use of tracking close ups (at multiple angles) but forgetting (or choosing not to) establish the horizon, respectively. This style creates a lot of visual movement, and is best when there’s at least some sort of establishing shot – even for a second – to put everything into context. One of Kameda’s best examples is the scene where Envy reveals his true form to Ed and Ling, as seen here (Kameda’s work ends at 1:30, and afterwards a different animator/director takes over): 

I like this particular sequence of Kameda’s because while there are a lot of close ups and movement happening on screen, there’s always something establishing the characters into context and location. In this case, Envy’s massive size puts Ed and Ling into context by default: when the camera tilts up from our heroes to Envy stretching himself after the transformation, we instantly get a feeling for how small both Ed and Ling are as compared to the massive homunculus. Also, in almost every scene there is a horizon established, if even for a second before the camera cuts away to different angle and occurring action. The horizon is defined by the sea of blood that all three characters stand upon, and since there are no walls or major objects in the background (and the “sky” is pitch black) Kameda can get away with multiple tracking/close ups because the viewer will see the horizon (sea) of blood somehow (the infinite sea of blood (“ground”) is like a physicist’s wet dream of infinite planes and infinite dimensions - an animator can pull almost anything and it’s unlikely the viewer will get disoriented during the entire action sequence). Kameda and the director do a nice of job of creating lots of camera movement with close ups, tracking shots and cutting while maintaining a sense of cohesion of the entire fight sequence. 

Conversely, Kameda’s excess use of close ups and tracking shots loses its edge when he forgets (or chooses not to) establish a distinct horizon within each cut, as seen here when Greed/Ling fights Wrath/Bradley in the Fuhrer’s office (the fight begins around 17 seconds, where I assume Kameda takes over): 

The main problem in this fight scene is that Kameda doesn’t establish the horizon very well in most of the cuts. The horizon is defined by the floor that Greed and Wrath walk/run upon, not by the walls or ceiling. When we don’t see the floor between multiple cuts, the grounded physicality of the two sparring characters seems less apparent (they could be floating on air and we wouldn’t even notice). This becomes problematic over longer periods of time (“time” as in seconds and number of cuts) because the viewer starts losing a sense of relativity with regards to the ground. Compared to the Envy vs. Ed and Ling scene, where the environment was immense and primarily defined by the sea of blood that all three characters stood upon, in this scene with Greed and Wrath the environment is much more detailed and constrained comparatively (the Fuhrer’s office is a defined room and space), so it’s even more important to establish a sense of horizon more frequently so the viewer doesn’t become disoriented. 

The few times that we actually do see the floor help reestablish what’s going on, but the part where it matters the most - when Wrath pins Greed on the floor - is the most lackluster of the entire sequence: there’s no unique angle, no dutch, no skewing – just a plain old linear horizon and framing that places both characters dead center – the hell hole of the Thirds Rule. 

If there’s one thing you should avoid almost entirely, it’s placing the characters dead center screen at a un-angled horizon during any climax of an action sequence, and especially in animation. With live action, you could possibly get away with this since the actors are always breathing and twitching and their clothes are always ruffling, regardless if they stand dead still; with animation (especially on lower/tight budgets) the artists can’t spend precious extra minutes drawing these characteristics, so the characters on screen will look especially flat and boring if you don’t frame or angle them in an interesting way. 

As a last reiteration, it is always the ground that defines the horizon – not the sky, not the ceiling, not the walls, not even a cat. To maintain any sense of cohesiveness during an action scene, establishing shots are a absolute must (without them, kiss your chances of cohesiveness good-bye) and are the most effective when you incorporate the horizon upon which the characters stand. Cuts, multiple angles and perspectives, tracking shots, and dutch angles are friendly tools you can use, but overusing them without establishing a horizon is cohesiveness suicide. 

Kameda does good work throughout the series, but he’s not without his faults and demonstrates some prime examples of the strengths and weaknesses when animating action and characters. His work is a great reference for any aspiring animator and for anyone looking for different ways to frame action sequences. To see the episodes of Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood, please visit the official Funimation website (or search Hulu or YouTube for full episodes as well). 

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Additional Links/Readings

Yoshimichi Kameda profile on Anime News Network – shows a list of credits that Kameda has worked on. 

Talented Up-and-Coming Animators: Yoshimichi Kameda – a more comprehensive overview of Kameda’s work and the notice he’s received in his career so far. 

Scene Dissection - Thirds and 180º Rule (Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood, Episode 15)

The following screenshots are from the series 鋼の錬金術師 Fullmetal Alchemist, episode 15 – 東方の使者, Emissary from the East. 

In this episode, there are two scenes I believe to be examples of poor storyboarding. There is a general lack of creativity stemming from lackluster framing that creates little movement or aesthetic weight, thus resulting in unimpressive scene overall. Specifically, the storyboard artist greatly fails to understand how to create a focal point/point of focus for the audience, likely stemming from little/no concrete knowledge of the Thirds Rule: 

The black lines divide the vertical into thirds, the blue lines divide the horizontal into thirds, and the red dots are the points of intersection of both black and blue lines. The red dots are, respectively, where the focal point of any framing/composition should be – whether it be photography, cinematography or animation, this general rule applies if one wishes to create an effective point of focus in any scene. 

Additionally, in framing multiple bodies in any scene, it is important to maintain a sense of visual movement even if there isn’t any immediate action occurring per say. Thus, understanding the 180º Rule is quite pertinent in this respect: 

Note that the subjects and camera are depicted from an aerial point of view. 

For instance, in the above diagram, the camera position (indicated by the blue line) establishes that subject 1 (purple) is on the left and that subject 2 (yellow) is on the right. The camera can move along this 180 degree axis (indicated by the blue dotted line) without violating the established positions of either subjects – that is, subject 1 will always be on the left and subject 2 on the right. However, should the camera be placed beyond this 180º axis (indicated by the red arrows), the subjects’ respective positions will be switched, thus violating the 180º rule. 

Taking these two basic ideas into mind, it is now easy to see what the storyboard artist did wrong in two separate scenes, and perhaps how one may remedy/redraw the scenes to create a more effective depiction. 

Ling, Ed, and Lanfan are all in frame, yet it is only Ling and Ed who are speaking – thus, Lanfan does not need to be in frame. This three body framing has no focal point – based off a screenshot alone, it’s difficult to tell who the storyboard artist intended to have the audience focus on – and is instead clustered, claustrophobic even. Instead, one might opt for a framing like this: 

The scribble above no longer involves Lanfan, and her presence is only hinted by her hand holding the kunai on the bottom right. Ed is now the focal point of the scene as he intersects a focal point (blue) that correlates to the thirds rule (lines scribbled in red). Ling is now in the background, but is still very much a part of the scene since the viewer’s eye will naturally traverse back and forth between Ed and Ling when they converse. Also note that Ling and Ed are still in their respective positions – Ling on the left, Ed on the right – so the 180º rule is not broken. 

Here is another scene, this time with Lanfan, Ling and Fu in frame. Again, the storyboard artist mistakenly incorporates a full-body shot of Lanfan while she conversationally contributes nothing to the scene. The thirds rule obviously mis- (or not at all) understood by the storyboard artist, it is again difficult to pinpoint a specific focal point or focus in the scene. Ultimately, the framing is lackluster, uncreative, and boring. Alternatively, one could visualize the scene like so: 

In this depiction, there are two points of intersection – Ling and Fu. However, both points of intersections are at a diagonal, so the viewers eyes will naturally flow initially from Fu to Ling (as depicted by the blue lines). Lanfan is also included, but she is a secondary subject and is only seen in the background, away from the focal convergence on Ling (note that she too is also near a focal point, an intersection of the lines depicted by the thirds rule). Had I drawn this better it could be presumed that Ling is in between Fu and Lanfan, but otherwise no distinct position has been changed – Fu on the far right, Lanfan on the far left with respect to the original camera position – so the 180º rule still holds true. 

What I’ve drawn is far from perfect: both scribbles are only two possible examples as to how one may redraw/reframe any scene that is particularly weak in conveying narrative and visual aesthetics. It must be noted that above all, understanding fundamentals like the thirds and 180º rules are crucial should one wish to artistically and competently frame subjects in any medium. 

Note: this series is a prime excuse to exercise my hobby of doodling/drawing and utilizing a tablet.

Fun times!

(Visit the official Funimation website or Hulu for full episodes. Copyright © Hiromu Arakawa, Studio Bones, Square Enix, Sony Music, Bandai and Aniplex)