Hitoshi Takekiyo talks about his new CGI film
By Yan Qian
If you are a fan of movies with eccentric characters, “After School Midnighters” is a must watch for you. The movie features several gun-toting mafia bunnies and its main character Mr Naked, a human anatomy model that stands in the science room of an elementary school. All hell breaks loose when a naughty kindergarten trio meets him, and thus begins the scariest and craziest midnight adventure.
The director behind this film is none other than Mr Takekiyo Hitoshi who is no stranger in the Japanese animation industry. He has created many films of many genres ranging from commercial films for companies to the opening film for the Olympic games.
His latest endeavor “After School Midnighters” is based on his original award wining short film “After School Midnight” which was purchased by Canal+ a French Broadcast Channel of many famous titles. The decision to make a full length feature film chanced on, after a meeting with his executive producer where they decided to be ambitious and take the leap of faith.
“Making a short film is like running a 100 meter race, whereas making a feature film is like running a marathon.” said Mr Hitoshi. However, the whole process of making a feature film hasn’t been a smooth sailing journey for Mr Hitoshi. One of the biggest difficulties he faced was adjusting his directorial take from short films to feature films. There were so many levels to making a feature film and so many different aspects to take into consideration that Mr Hitoshi admitted to feeling quite inundated at times.
Making an animated film is an extremely tedious process with long gruelling hours. Mr Hitoshi mentioned that animating a character’s expression can take up to an entire week. Thus, it comes as no surprise that the whole production of “After School Midnighters” took 3 full years to complete.
However, all the hard work and efforts of Mr Hitoshi and his production team was not in vain. Apart from being released in Japan, “After School Midnighers” will be simultaneously released in Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan and Hongkong as well!
Before the interview ended, Mr Hitoshi left with a few parting words for all his fans:
“Don’t be afraid of failure and problems. If you fail, people will understand. Just keep trying and keep doing, never give up!”
