{"id":38205,"date":"2024-11-03T20:47:47","date_gmt":"2024-11-04T04:47:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/behindthelensonline.net\/site\/?p=38205"},"modified":"2024-11-03T20:47:47","modified_gmt":"2024-11-04T04:47:47","slug":"director-naoko-yamada-discusses-the-animated-beauty-of-the-colors-within-exclusive-interview","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/behindthelensonline.net\/site\/interviews\/interview-exclusives\/director-naoko-yamada-discusses-the-animated-beauty-of-the-colors-within-exclusive-interview\/","title":{"rendered":"Director NAOKO YAMADA discusses the animated beauty of THE COLORS WITHIN – Exclusive Interview"},"content":{"rendered":"

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I had the privilege to sit down for an in-person exclusive interview with acclaimed director NAOKO YAMADA at the Animation Is Film festival in Los Angeles in October to discuss her new anime film, THE COLORS WITHIN.\u00a0 Conducted through an interpreter (whose joyful personality perfectly matched that of Naoko), the language difference proved inconsequential when it came to Naoko conveying her emotions and passion for this film. I could see the joy on her face and in her movements as she talked about the film, something that comes through in the film itself.\u00a0 The interview has been edited for syntax associated with the verbal translation.<\/p>\n

SYNOPSIS:\u00a0Totsuko is a high school student with the ability to see the \u2018colors\u2019 of others. Colors of bliss, excitement, and serenity, plus a color she treasures as her favorite. Kimi, a classmate at her school, gives off the most beautiful color of all. Although she doesn\u2019t play an instrument, Totsuko forms a band with Kimi and Rui, a quiet music enthusiast they meet at a used bookstore in a far corner of town. As they practice at an old church on a remote island, music brings them together, forming friendships and stirring affections. Will they discover their true \u2018colors\u2019?<\/em><\/p>\n

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This is such a beautiful movie. I fell in love with it at the opening because you’re giving us different kinds of animation from the start. We have crayon\/pastel, pen and ink, watercolor, and it’s done so beautifully with a watercolor wash that the colors kind of lightly run into each other immediately. The film is just beautiful and you want to watch and keep watching and it just gets better as the film goes on.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Thank you.<\/p>\n

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I love how you use color here to define Totsuko\u2019s emotions, what she sees, and how she sees everyone and everything. And the fact that you keep that bright, bright blue just for Kimi is so striking, but it tells us exactly how important Kimi is in this story, in this friendship, in this dynamic. And it makes it very easy to track Tatsuko and the trouble she gets herself into and when Kimi is there to kind of ease her through the rough patches. How did you go about selecting the color palette for this film, and what led you to go with that vibrant, beautiful blue as Kimi\u2019s signature color?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Thank you for your words. You’re so kind, it’s really filling me with emotion. \u00a0I don’t know where to start. I guess, choosing color. Basically, when I first started working on this film, I wanted to depict light or the phenomenon of light. \u00a0\u00a0So with Tatsuko, Kimi and Rui, they represent the three primary colors of light and then they layer on top of each other. The more they layer on top of each other, it turns into white which is what I wanted to go for. \u00a0What was important for me was their existence in relation to light.<\/p>\n

In response to why Kimi is blue and why the blue is so beautiful – For Totsuko, I think blue was the most beautiful color to her, and that’s how Kimi turned up to her. Or it’s a color that Tatsuko thinks is beautiful.\u00a0\u00a0 But on this beautiful blue that you talk about, I think it really comes from when I was doing like location scouting in Japan. THE COLORS WITHIN is based on the town of Nagasaki.\u00a0 I had to go to Nagasaki to take pictures, etc. \u00a0Nagasaki blew me away. It had this beautiful ocean that was this beautiful blue color. I couldn’t even believe that it was actually Japan. In addition to the beautiful ocean, the sky was really beautiful and blue. \u00a0And because of the air, the mountains also look blue. \u00a0The town was just really quiet it really left an impression on me. I think Nagasaki and how the atmosphere was really represents what Kimi came out to be. \u00a0But also, I think passion.\u00a0 Right?\u00a0 When you think of passion, you think of maybe flames. But with Kimi, I think it’s a blue flame, which burns really quietly.\u00a0 I think it’s reflective of her personality and her quiet passions. I think all of this relates to how Kimi turned into this blue.<\/p>\n

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It’s so beautiful.\u00a0 Your use of color speaks so much in this film, and not just color itself, but dance, music and religion.\u00a0 They all meld together, such as in the chapel at the school.\u00a0 Light comes through the window and you can see a pale mint green, a periwinkle or a lilac. \u00a0In the back you have peach; almost the way the sky looks at sunset sometimes. \u00a0Everything is soft and lovely and it says so much.\u00a0 But it\u2019s also so delicate and that feeds into the quietness of the nuns, particularly the one, the one sister who’s young, Sister Hiyoku.\u00a0 [Color] also feeds into with the music because music has color. When you hear music, it has color.\u00a0 Certain instruments, certain sounds, make you think of certain colors. You bring all that together in this film. It\u2019s like liquid color that just goes through. Just gorgeous.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Thank you so much. You saw the movie exactly the way I wanted to showcase it.\u00a0 I have no words.<\/p>\n