Studio Ghibli/Analysis

There's many things that make Studio Ghibli films stand out, from the detailed animation, awesome soundtracks, and compelling worlds. This page examines some of these details, common to most if not all Ghibli productions.

Immersive Realism
It's no secret that animation is a very different medium than live action. Unlike live action, where actions such as standing and running come naturally, in animation nothing is done for free. Everything that's on screen is something that a person has to manually put in. A person cannot just stand, someone must rig or draw them to stand, and that process is expensive and costs a lot. You'll definitely see running and standing in animation, because they are inherently human actions; it is difficult to create a work without them.

But what about the minute details, such as dewdrops on a blade of grass, or a plastic bottle floating in the nearby stream? They don't matter that much, but is still essential in creating a realistic experience.

Or what about a girl tapping the heels of her shoe to make sure it's on tight? Or Cast of Snowflakes style unique background characters going around their daily businesses?

Or realistic refraction in a pair of glasses?

Or accurate violin and piano playing?

Almost every single animation studio leaves these details out, because without them, you can still have a coherent story. It doesn't matter if someone in a band is hitting the right keys, what matters is that they physically stand on the stage itself. A large chunk of the plot will be missing if the characters somehow cannot stand on the stage, but if their piano sounds a 'E' when they hit a 'C#', most audience members won't notice. Because animation is so expensive, only the bare necessitated details are drawn, with the occasional Animation Bump for intense fight scenes when the studio wants to impress the audience. There's no point impressing audience members via these details, as most will simply miss them. It's easy to sit in awe at a well animated fight, but to pick up on these sublime details require a conscious effort to look for them.

As with all things, there is an exception to this. Can you guess what it is? You're on their page! It's Studio Ghibli, in case you can't be bothered to look at the page title.

Part of what makes Studio Ghibli so special is their careful attention to detail. See all the blue links above? Those reference the films which incorporate those details. These details create an immersive, realistic feeling world. They signify to the audience that this is their world the film inhibits, that these details mean the film takes part in the real world, instead of a constructed reality. It's hard to get invested in a media with no solid or tangible rules, as Deus Ex Machinas can run rampant, but establishing rules make the world much more immersive. These details establish rules of the world. Most of all, they establish physical details of the world, details that every audience member is already used to. Thus, although the audience may not consciously realise it, subconsciously they are being pulled into the film, and being immersed in the wonderful world of a Ghibli film.