The NHK experience: leadership of the animators

This Wednesday, I went to a video contest hosted by NHK. It was held within the main NHK building right next to the yoyogi gymnasium. Although we had arrived very early to avoid being caught up in the commuting traffic, Moe and I was late due to the weird geographic location from shibuya station. This session was a part of our Education course called "Digital Video Production". It was hosted by a guest lecturer from NHK, and he had wanted us to join the award ceremony for learning. We had three talk sessions during the award; one on science education, one on the possibilities of animation, and one on  preparation for disaster. 

I found the second talk session the most interesting. We first watched a 90-minute animation film which won last year's award. It was called "Wrinkles", or "シワ". I was really surprised to hear that this film was made in Spain, since the story was about a retired bank manager entering an elderly home. But as the movie continued, I saw that people in spain carried the same problems that we do in Japan.   The elderly homes were blank and uninteresting, far from an ideal place to spend the last time of your life. "Wrinkles" depicts the hardships of an elderly man struggling in a fight against alzheimer. 

After the film, the director of "Wrinkles" came on stage and discussed the possibilities of animation along with Yoshio Usui, the creator of Japanese animation, "Crayon Shin-chan". They saw animation as a world where anything is possible, opposing to real-world filming, where there are limits to what a director can create. 

After the session, there was a question and answer time for the audience. So I raised my hand, and asked them "You mentioned in the beginning of the session that animation was teamwork, but how do you guys manage to keep your team facing the same direction when dealing with a controversial topic where each member of the team has various opinions?". Mr. Yoshio answered, "There is a way of suppressing other team members and just going with your opinion, but I personally try to integrate the ideas of others when I feel that it would benefit the animation as a whole. But in reality, I'm not such a benevolent being, and it is important to be able to ultimately make that final decision." 

The director of "Wrinkles" added, "Yes, I don't think animation is a decocratic environment, but I do feel that we have to be able to listen to ones teammates. The most important to thing is for the director to make the ultimate decision." He also said in the end jokingly, "That way we know whose fault it is!".

I agree with the two directors, and feel that a benevolent dictator is better for the society than a mere democratic rule. In our age of democracy, it is difficult for a charismatic leader to appear and lead the way. I oath that when I become a leader I will be a listening yet deciseful dictator.