Evangelion creator Hideaki Anno has a history that goes way back with Studio Ghibli—before it was even founded. One of the first big jobs he got in the industry was working on Hayao Miyazaki’s 1984 classic Nausicaä.
Evangelion: 3.0+1.0 Thrice Upon a Time was made on computers, but when Anno needed to do some analog animation for a sequence, he knew just who to call.
Anno studio has gone digital, but as Hachima Kiko (via SoraNews and SC Cafe) points out, at Studio Ghibli they still have an old-school shooting table. Individual animation cells are placed on the table, and then photographed one by one.
Khara’s Twitter introduced the process, showing how much attention goes into keeping the shots dust-free.
The overhead camera snaps images of each cell.
All this should be familiar to fans of analog animation, but it sure is great to see techniques like this get used in a digital world and a brand new movie. Not surprising that Studio Ghibli is helping to keep the tradition alive.
DISCUSSION
Did they help make Evangelion actually good? :D