[4Tran]

Originally Posted by Reckoner

So what if they were nominated? Life of Pi for example, is one phenomenal book. Of course the director did a lot with cinematography and other things that accentuated the book's greatness, but make no mistake... In the end the story is the author's vision more so than the directors, no matter how the director spins it or adds to it.

Do you agree that the visuals of a film impart meaning? If so, then isn't it natural that a film will present its story differently than a book will? The original source of an adaptation is only the starting point, and can often play just a small role in the success of the adaptation.

Originally Posted by totoum

I admit I've only skimmed through it but at first glance to me that link provides nothing 4tran is looking for, if anything it perfectly illustrates 4tran's point about how blogs tend to treat animes as literature works.

Pretty much. Lots of blogs and anime reviewers talk about what the words in an anime tell us, but it's really rare for one to talk about what the pictures tell us.

There is the odd blog that really does manage to be valuable though. This series is a good example: http://animekritik.wordpress.com/201...r-episode-one/

There's tons of stuff that you'd miss if you're not really familiar with Japan in the '80s.

Originally Posted by Reckoner

This is my bad. I skimmed his article too much. Then if 4tran is SPECIFICALLY focusing on cinematography, then yes, we don't have a terrible amount of that in the anime world. I can agree with that much. The most people do is complement the visuals and talk about how they accentuate certain scenes. There are of course the rare exceptions.

So probably what would help me understand his point better, is what exactly he thinks anime reviewers/bloggers don't talk a whole lot about. Cinematography and what else?

Cinematography is a part of what I'm discussing, but there are other parts that make up the language of film. If you're not familiar with the language of film, here's a nice primer: http://www.kenstone.net/fcp_homepage...e_of_film.html

I'd say that it's even more important in anime than in regular film-making because anime directors are so much more likely to botch it. My earlier example of Chuuni is a good example of that.