The newest anime to be released is called The Glassworker, and it’s not from Japan. The Glassworker is actually from Pakistan. Pakistan hasn’t been known for its movies or anime, but judging from the preview, The Glassworker is going to be a groundbreaking anime that combines a couple of different styles in its artwork style. Anime simply means “animated.” The history of anime is fascinating and is not just from Japan. All animated featured- films could technically be called anime, but we so often refer it back to Japanese animation. In this article, we will explore the techniques of how The Glassworker was made and how it’s doing in comparison to other animation studios.
The Glassworker: Groundbreaking Anime for Pakistan
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Pakistan was not known for making films, especially not for producing 2D animation, but in the recent past, they have produced other films with titles such as Joyland and In Flames. The Glassworker has been co-founded and co-directed by Usman Riaz. The Glassworker was created by Mano Animation Studios and presented by Geo Films. This will be Pakistan’s first hand-drawn 2D animated movie and will World Premiere in early June at a prestigious film festival in Cannes called Annecy International Film Festival.
What an exciting time for Pakistan and the movie industry! The Glassworker is also scheduled to premiere in Pakistan on July 26 after being shown at the Cannes Film Festival. In an interview with Riaz he mentioned that Studio Ghibli was one of his major inspirations for the artwork style in The Glassworker.
“Pakistan really has no hand-drawn animation industry. With this film and studio, we hope to lay the foundation and support a new generation of artists,” Usman told The Express Tribune. The venture will be produced under the banner of his brainchild business, Mano Animation Studio.”
The Glassworker is also scheduled to premiere in Pakistan on July 26 after being shown at the Cannes Film Festival. A synopsis of the new anime is:
“Young Vincent and his father, Tomas, run the finest glass workshop in the country and find their lives upended by an impending war in which they want no part. The arrival in their town of an army colonel and his young, talented violinist daughter, Alliz, shakes their reality and tests the relationship between father and son.”
The Glasswoker has taken quite a long time to be in development. Starting in 2016, the film idea was first crowdfunded on Kickstart. It was able to raise double its goal amount. Then the screenplay also needed completing which wasn’t finished until 2018. The full-scale production then was ready to begin in 2019.
The Glassworker: How and Who
Along with an extensive time in production, The Glassworker was a labor of love for Raiz. Raiz opted to go for hand-drawn instead of Computer Generated Images (CGI) because hand-drawn never look old. It makes The Glassworker special and is a part of the magic to be hand-drawn. For example, in the original Pixar’s Toy Story, some of the roads, for instance, can look a little pixelated, but hand-drawn will not look old or pixelated.
With this new film, Razi also hopes to nurture a new generation of artists in Pakistan being that there has not been a hand-drawn animation industry. The artwork is a rather ambitious one for a company so young. It is a combination of Japanese and Disney animation. Ambitious but smart and innovative. Their hard work has paid off. It is considered in competition with Hollywood and Japanese movies, an enormous honor for The Glassworker to be sure.
The Glassworker composed an animation team from around the world. Animators came from Malaysia, South, Africa, as well as Pakistan. The animators come from an assortment of backgrounds. Animators Sofia Abdullah and Amir Riffat have both worked with PewDiePie, the highest subscribed artist on YouTube. Animator Rachel Wan, who is the environment designer for the video game Metal Gear Solid joined the team as well as producer Apoorvah Bakshi who is known for his work in Delhi Crime.
The Glassworker: A Brief History of Anime
In the West, Anime is short for animation. However, in Japan, “Anime” stands for any kind of animation that is made, including those made outside of Japan. Japanese anime’s roots go back to the early 1900s. However, much of their history has been lost due to natural disasters and wars such as earthquakes and WWII. Then, we also have our greatest enemy, time, which may have disintegrated the film reels, or they might have been used as ads and then disassembled after use.
However, even though we have lost some of their earliest history, we garnered some information. The earliest film that Japan released was in 1917. In fact, 1917 was the magic number for several films to come out. The films were short- five minutes long- and were silent films, but some may have had live storytellers talk about the story or live music played. Animation was done with chalk and lines had to be erased and redrawn after every frame. Today’s animation is called cel animation.
Three people who were the foundations for Japanese animation as it is today and are considered the “Fathers of Anime” from 1917 are Ōten Shimokawa, Junichi Kōuchi, and Seitaro Kitayama. The making of Toei’s animation department led anime to what it is today. Today, Riaz gives credit to two recognizable artists of the day: directors Hayao Miyazaki, My Friend Totoro and Princess Mononoke, and Isao Takahata, Castle in the Sky and Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind. Riaz is quick to point out, though, that they are masters of the craft, and he isn’t there yet.
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