A Studio Ghibli Film
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0347149/
Howls Moving Castle is a Studio Ghibli film ‘based on Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones. Howl's Moving Castle follows the story of young Sophie Hatter, a bookworm, the eldest of three daughters, a girl doomed to an uninteresting life as a hat maker. Sophie resigns herself to her boring fate, but fate has other plans for her. Cursed by the Witch of the Waste with the body of a 90-year-old woman, she finds her way to the moving castle inhabited by the wizard Howl, said by all to eat the souls of young girls. Howl has been cursed by the Witch as well, and is seeking the love of young girl to help him break the curse. The book has enchanted readers of all ages for nearly 20 years, and the film was released on November 20, 2004 in Toho theaters across Japan.’(http://www.nausicaa.net/miyazaki/howl/ ) Containing a beautiful art style of watercolours and digital techniques, Howl’s moving castle portrays a Victorian-looking setting, with cobbled streets, tall houses and long dresses. The city was actually modeled after Colmar, in France as can be seen below.
Howl’s moving Castle is the style of setting we want to create, using a mixture of modern and old-fashioned styles. The use of characters and costumes, as well as old fashioned buildings and a steam-punk style to the setting, Howl’s moving castle encompasses many of the attributes we want in our game.
Narrative
The narrative of Howl’s Moving Castle is very unique and magical. The reason why this narrative inspired me is because of its themes presented throughout. There is struggle, in both society and in the main character however the strongest themes through the film are magic and love.
The story follows the main character, Sophie. This character has the perfect personality for a main character as she is self-conscious of her appearance, quiet and reclusive and imperfect. This way of creating a character is extremely powerful as many people can relate to her, and therefore have an instant connection with the character and feel empathy for her. Sophie’s story begins as a hat maker, however she is turned into an old woman by the witch of the wastes. Her journey then takes her away from her quiet town into the outside world known as the wastes to find a cure from her curse. The background story of this world is one built on magic. Witches and wizards roam the land and help the citizens of the world as well as participate in wars. Also, alongside Sophie’s story there is a war raging on between two countries because of a missing prince. Howl, is a powerful wizard who lives in the wastes in his moving castle powered by a fire demon. It is Howl who takes Sophie in as an old woman, and breaks her curse as well as his own. This is very brief, the whole story can be found on this link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0347149/synopsis?ref_=ttpl_ql_3
This narrative captures the essence of love in a world at war, as well as creating a magical world full of wonder. This narrative will influence our game idea greatly as we want to create a similar magical world for our characters to experience struggle in as well as magic and love.
Character Design
First of all, the characters and their costumes are an important feature to any Studio Ghibli film, as with all Japanese anime also. In Howls Moving Castle the costumes are designed in a Victorian way, with a very British feel. The characters themselves also have a British feel, supporting the theme and setting. The main character, Sophie, has very plain outfits, however she still stands out among the other characters. Her dress is very plain, but has a very Victorian look to it. The reasoning for making Sophie very plain is to give the feel of her being an ordinary girl, who is nothing special. This way, people can relate to her story and feel empathy for her. In comparison to Howl, Sophie’s character design is very colourful. Howl’s character is very bright and flamboyant. He wears bright clothes and has blonde hair and blue eyes. His costume, however is quite simple and old fashioned. He wears a plain shirt and trousers with smart shoes, it is only his jacket which gives an air of magic about his character as well as his jewelery containing colourful stones. Howl’s costume is used to portray a handsome character, with a mysterious and magical side to him. All of Howls outfits during the movie are bright, making him the centre of attention, and also portraying his self-confidence. Other side characters in the film are all very similarly dressed. All of the women wear long Victorian style dresses with hats, and the men wear Victorian style military clothes, or the simple shirt and trousers. This all supports the setting and theme of the film, giving a portrayal of a Victorian style world at war.
Environments - The Town
Like all Studio Ghibli films, all the environments in Howl’s moving castle are vast and beautiful as well as unique. The main reason I want to study this film for references into environments is because the main town is very similar to what we want to create in our game. The Victorian style houses feature tiled roofs, as well as wooden patterns on the fronts of the houses. The beautiful colouring of the houses gives a lot of character to the town and this is what I want to capture in my work as well. The detail in the town, such as towers, bridges as well as extras such as lampposts and trains create the polished look of a beautiful English looking town. The different heights of each building give levels to the town, to create a unique picture, with each roof in show with the different colours giving a bright colourful image.
Looking closely at the hat shop, the detail used creates a finished image but also gives clues to the narrative and setting. The use of two colours on the hat shop makes it stand apart from the other buildings around it, making it unique and the focal point on the image. The placement in lighting is also key, as it draws the viewers eye to the important building. The use of detail is key here, to set the scene of the film and convey the narrative which will also be important in our game. The whole style of the building gives a British feel, as well as the use of large shop windows, similar to those in Victorian times. The use of the old fashioned doors also support this. The flag is also key as it conveys a political power in control in this town. It gives connotations of political conflict, which is a key theme in the narrative of the film. It is small details like this which are used to give clues to the background of the world. It is also the interior of the hat shop which I am interested in, as it is very bright and colourful, and creates an elegant feel to the shop as well as the film and town. The use of detail is so important here, as to give a Victorian feel to it, it needed to be refined and elegant. This is noticeable in the image above, with their use of extremely detailed, beautiful furniture.
Environments - Wastes
Another part of Howl’s Moving Castle which has inspired me is the environments surrounding the town. These massive colourful expanses of land capture the beauty of this world, with the use of colour and lighting being extremely important. As you can see in the image above, the image is created to give the feel of a painting, and each scene in the film looks this way. The use of different natural colours gives mystery and clarity to this world, with the lighting used to create a focal point in the image. The use of a Victorian style throughout the town gives a colourful image, however is not a bright and beautiful as the outside world, creating a strong contrast between these two areas.
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