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20 video sessions
Techniques of story, world-building & more
Director’s scene analyses
What makes this course special
当講座ならではの特徴
Características especiales de este curso
Fabled director of science fiction anime classics like Ghost in the Shell and Innocence teaches anime and creative storytelling, with: scene analysis, world-building, and creativity tips.
Join 1000+ anime directing students on a journey with the legend!
"I’d recommend it – very interesting personal philosophies that I definitely wasn’t expecting. Not to give anything away, but the wisdom stems from a more logical approach compared to a “intuitive creative” mindset. Copious notes for the hungry mind!"「I’d recommend it – very interesting personal philosophies that I definitely wasn’t expecting. Not to give anything away, but the wisdom stems from a more logical approach compared to a “intuitive creative” mindset. Copious notes for the hungry mind!」"I’d recommend it – very interesting personal philosophies that I definitely wasn’t expecting. Not to give anything away, but the wisdom stems from a more logical approach compared to a “intuitive creative” mindset. Copious notes for the hungry mind!"
—kuroha128⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
Anime fans, cinephiles, filmmakers and creators are loving the journey deep into the mind of one of Japan’s most legendary creators: Director Mamoru Oshii, known for the classic original Ghost in the Shell. Oshii lays out his entire approach to filmmaking - with Director’s Analyses of legendary scenes from his science fiction masterpieces Ghost in the Shell, Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence, and The Sky Crawlers.
Oshii’s 4.5+ hour, 20-video series will speed you & sustain you in your quest to achieve your own visions of tomorrow.
Meet the master
講師のご紹介
Presentación del maestro
Meet the master
講師のご紹介
Presentación del maestro
Mamoru Oshii
Legendary Japanese anime & film director known for Ghost in the Shell, Urusei Yatsura, Angel’s Egg and many more.
Legendary Japanese anime & film director known for Ghost in the Shell, Urusei Yatsura, Angel’s Egg and many more. His multiple award-winning works have defined a generation of global popular culture and influenced everyone from the Wachowskis’ (The Matrix), Steven Spielberg (AI), and James Cameron (Avatar).
Oshii is an absolute legend – for good reason. Learn his techniques on storytelling, world-building, character development, and more in 20 videos totaling 4.5+ hours. He breaks down his creative formulas, development methods, and tales from his life as a director in the pop culture industry that has given Japan another claim to global soft power dominance.
The acclaimed director of science fiction anime classics never watched anime in his youth! How does one go from newbie to revered director in such a competitive field? Our journey with Director Oshii begins here.
02. Bad Movies Change Lives9 min
Professional directors are skilled at diagnosing problems in their work. So it’s no surprise that problematic films can sharpen our diagnostic skills. How does watching the bad help us get good?
03. Director’s Analysis: Invisible Choreography in Ghost in the Shell7 min
The Director talks through his favorite challenges in creating the cyberpunk classic that launched him to global fame in the 1990s. Hear about creating the pan-Asian version of futuristic Hong Kong, and choreographing the animation in the “thermoptic camouflage” scenes where one fighter fades in and out of visibility.
04. The Right Way to Lie9 min
Filmmaking is based on intentional “delusion” (as Oshii later discusses in Lecture 01). This means lying can be a great creative driver – as long as you learn how to turn your lies into the right kind of reality.
05. A Katamari of Details10 min
What do people take away from a film? Turns out it’s pretty random, and never the whole thing. Director Oshii talks about his approach to filmmaking as creating a katamari (cluster, or accumulation) of rich, memorable details – the fun is seeing what bits stick in people’s memories.
06. Director’s Analysis: Learning from Limitations in Ghost in the Shell8 min
Animation may be a medium where anything is theoretically possible, but knowing the limits of the mechanics and physics involved is crucial. Director Oshii shares some of the challenges he faced in the concluding scenes of the original Ghost in the Shell.
07. Film is War8 min
The processes of anime and filmmaking overlap, but require different expertise, literacies, and skills from their directors. What they have in common: reaching the finish line is a battle.
08. Sustainable Work9 min
To some, Director Oshii has the reputation of being a sloth, showing up to work for 3 hours a day max – yet to others he’s known as the hardest-working person in the studio.… Hear what’s behind this duality and get the truth about how to create a sustainable path through the sometimes grueling creative world.
09. Director’s Analysis: Humans & Dolls in Innocence7 min
The sequel to Ghost in the Shell, titled simply “Innocence” in Japanese, features classic SF tropes (such as the time loop reminiscent of La Jetée) that emphasize artificiality and the mechanization of reality and further complicate one of Oshii’s team’s biggest challenges: animating human and dolls while blurring the distinction between the two.
10. One Film, One Director7 min
Collaboration between great minds often yields amazing innovation, but in the realm of film and anime directing, two is a crowd. Hear why a director’s voice is so crucial and why high-level collaboration can be a death trap.
11. Anime is Physical7 min
Oshii’s anime is known for its intellectual depth, but in this session he highlights its physical nature, with the world and characters coming from the physical labor of artists, out through their hands, and eventually to the screen.
12. Director’s Analysis: Animism in The Sky Crawlers8 min
Dogs, birds, people, and everything living within the anime world can be said to be a form of animism – Oshii discusses how they put life and emotions into animated characters, human, non-human, or post-human.
13. Don’t Become a Director5 min
Directing is a marathon – racing past obstacles and imitators – and anime directing means there are many parts you must run alone. Why endure all this to become a director? The question is only half rhetorical….
14. Fish, Dogs, Birds, Delusion19 min
Categorizing knowledge and memories is the first step toward imagination – but to succeed, a director has to go beyond categorization and into the realm of complete delusion (mōsō).
15. The Cinematic Triangle23 min
Director Oshii, also a prolific screenwriter and author of narrative fiction, explains the balance and ordering of how to conceptualize world, character, and story.
16. Character Essentials1 hr 39 min
Explanation of the 8 essential aspects for creating a roster of characters for a film or anime – including the all-important “absent character.”
17. The Absence of Action20 min
The classical technique of spending more time on character and world development has yielded to rapid plot development and action. Oshii discusses reserving action and being judicious about motion, even as technologies and viewing cultures evolve.
18. World Building29 min
Oshii explains his approach to world-building through the distinction between Japanese terms fūkei and jōkei, the former signifying background scenery, and the latter signifying the scene, which includes background, character, and the emotional balance created by adding and subtracting elements.
19. The Importance of Layout22 min
Oshii covers the complex processes at play in considering how to actualize jōkei through effective location hunting and strategic use of layout, a process resembling architecture as much as filmmaking.
20. Finding Your Scene1 hr 30 min
Film and anime require different ways of working with different specialists – from costume designers to cinematographers. All these workings require the director to navigate the path of creating art while wrestling with the everyday and sometimes even the uninspired. Every director must find their scene.