{"id":93522,"date":"2017-08-14T06:00:41","date_gmt":"2017-08-14T11:00:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.premiumbeat.com\/blog\/?p=93522"},"modified":"2017-08-09T16:27:11","modified_gmt":"2017-08-09T21:27:11","slug":"add-subtext-storylines-miyazaki","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.premiumbeat.com\/blog\/add-subtext-storylines-miyazaki\/","title":{"rendered":"Add Subtext to Your Storylines Like One of the Greats"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2 id=\"hayao-miyazaki-is-a-master-at-adding-subtext-to-his-storylines-by-exploring-issues-of-personal-importance-energize-your-next-project-with-his-technique\">Hayao Miyazaki is a master at adding subtext to his storylines by exploring issues of personal importance. Energize your next project with his technique.<\/h2>\n<p><em>Cover image via <a href=\"http:\/\/www.ghibli.jp\/\" target=\"_blank\" data-wpel-link=\"external\">Studio Ghibli<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Aspiring filmmakers spend many long nights spent <strong>fleshing out new ideas<\/strong>, hoping that they will come together for a significant short or feature project. It\u2019s not uncommon to spend\u00a0those long nights staring at your word processor. If you find that your idea isn\u2019t clicking, try thinking about <strong>incorporating an issue that is important to you<\/strong>. It\u2019s not uncommon for filmmakers,\u00a0writers, and artists to incorporate their ideas and philosophies into their work. Some filmmakers prefer a slight reference; others want to<strong> fill their films with symbolic gestures<\/strong> and build an entire story\u2019s structure around their ideologies. One such filmmaker is Hayao Miyazaki, and he often incorporates <strong>elements of nature<\/strong> in his work.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"youtube-player\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/a3PyVS6W-lE?version=3&#038;rel=1&#038;showsearch=0&#038;showinfo=1&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;fs=1&#038;hl=en-US&#038;autohide=2&#038;wmode=transparent\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" style=\"border:0;\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-presentation allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox\"><\/iframe><\/span><\/p>\n<p>Miyazaki may not be a household name, but for <strong>film and animation lovers<\/strong>, Miyazaki has a creative r\u00e9sum\u00e9 that many directors and writers can only dream of. If, on the off chance you\u2019ve never heard of Hayao Miyazaki, he is the co-founder of award-winning Studio Ghibli, which is an <strong>animation studio<\/strong> behind some of the greatest animation and storytelling of our time \u2014\u00a0<em><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Princess_Mononoke\" data-wpel-link=\"external\" target=\"_blank\">Princess Mononoke<\/a><\/em>,\u00a0<em><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Spirited_Away\" target=\"_blank\" data-wpel-link=\"external\">Spirited Away<\/a><\/em>,\u00a0<em><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Kiki%27s_Delivery_Service\" target=\"_blank\" data-wpel-link=\"external\">Kiki&#8217;s Delivery Service<\/a>,<\/em>\u00a0to name a few.<\/p>\n<p>Miyazaki has a profound love of nature, which is<strong> inherently present in his films<\/strong>. He has the following to say:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>We need courtesy toward water,\u00a0mountains, and air in addition to living things. We should not ask courtesy from these things, but we ourselves should give courtesy to them instead. I do believe the existence of the period when the &#8216;power&#8217; of forests were much stronger\u00a0than our power. There is something missing within our attitude toward nature.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Miyazaki\u2019s love of nature appears in his films without bogging them down, which is important, as so many filmmakers can get so <strong>caught up promoting their beliefs<\/strong> that they forget they have a story to tell. For example, the film <em><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Spirited_Away\" target=\"_blank\" data-wpel-link=\"external\">Spirited Away<\/a><\/em>\u00a0follows Chihiro&#8217;s journey through the spirit world as she\u00a0tries to lift the curse on her parents. At one point in the film, Chihiro is working in a bath house, and a stink spirit enters for a clean (<a href=\"https:\/\/vimeo.com\/170333917\" target=\"_blank\" data-wpel-link=\"external\">scene here<\/a>). \u00a0The stink spirit is a\u00a0grisly brown mud monster that oozes slime as it moves \u2014 along with leaving a terrible smell in its wake. As the spirit moves through the bath house, its presence is too much for other patrons, and it even causes the food in the area to rot. A few moments later, after an intervention from\u00a0Chihiro, we learn that the stink spirit is actually a river spirit that has been corrupted by pollution. While we can <strong>take the scene itself at face value<\/strong> and appreciate it for environmental concerns, there\u00a0is also a subtext: <em>If we don&#8217;t protect our waters, it will deprive us of the food we eat.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.premiumbeat.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/Stink-Spirit.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" data-wpel-link=\"internal\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-93587 size-full\" title=\"Add Subtext to Your Storylines Like One of the Greats \u2014 Stink Spirit\" src=\"https:\/\/www.premiumbeat.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/Stink-Spirit.jpg\" alt=\"Add Subtext to Your Storylines Like One of the Greats \u2014 Stink Spirit\" width=\"755\" height=\"373\" srcset=\"https:\/\/vip-go.premiumbeat.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/Stink-Spirit.jpg 755w, https:\/\/vip-go.premiumbeat.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/Stink-Spirit.jpg?resize=300,148 300w, https:\/\/vip-go.premiumbeat.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/Stink-Spirit.jpg?resize=277,137 277w, https:\/\/vip-go.premiumbeat.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/Stink-Spirit.jpg?resize=359,177 359w, https:\/\/vip-go.premiumbeat.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/Stink-Spirit.jpg?resize=543,268 543w, https:\/\/vip-go.premiumbeat.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/Stink-Spirit.jpg?resize=560,277 560w, https:\/\/vip-go.premiumbeat.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/Stink-Spirit.jpg?resize=150,74 150w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 755px) 100vw, 755px\" \/><br \/>\n<\/a><em>Image via\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.ghibli.jp\/\" target=\"_blank\" data-wpel-link=\"external\">Studio Ghibli<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>In the following video essay,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/vimeo.com\/user16123686\" target=\"_blank\" data-wpel-link=\"external\"><strong>Zackery Ramos-Taylor<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Gacinta\u00a0Moran analyze Miyazaki&#8217;s values and the way he includes them in his films. If you want to work on a project that <strong>reflects your values<\/strong>, then the video is a great way to see how one of the masters does it.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Hayao Miyazaki - Nature, Culture, &amp; Character\" src=\"https:\/\/player.vimeo.com\/video\/115046543?dnt=1&amp;app_id=122963\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"autoplay; fullscreen; picture-in-picture; clipboard-write\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Modern life is so thin and shallow and fake. I look forward to when developers go bankrupt; Japan gets poorer and wild grasses take over.&#8221;\u00a0\u2013 Miyazaki<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Hayao Miyazaki is a master at adding subtext to his storylines by exploring issues of personal importance. Energize your next project with his technique.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":72,"featured_media":93586,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3843,79],"tags":[536,5641,1796,5380],"class_list":["post-class-post-93522","post-class-post","post-class-type-post","post-class-status-publish","post-class-format-standard","post-class-has-post-thumbnail","post-class-hentry","post-class-category-filmmaking-2","post-class-category-inspiration","post-class-tag-filmmaking","post-class-tag-hayao-miyazaki","post-class-tag-ideas","post-class-tag-inspiration"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v18.5 (Yoast SEO v21.5) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Add Subtext to Your Storylines Like One of the Greats<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Hayao Miyazaki is a master at adding subtext to his storylines by exploring issues of personal importance. Energize your next project with his technique.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.premiumbeat.com\/blog\/add-subtext-storylines-miyazaki\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Add Subtext to Your Storylines Like One of the Greats\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Hayao Miyazaki is a master at adding subtext to his storylines by exploring issues of personal importance. Energize your next project with his technique.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.premiumbeat.com\/blog\/add-subtext-storylines-miyazaki\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Beat: A Blog by PremiumBeat\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/premiumbeat\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/uglymcgregor\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2017-08-14T11:00:41+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2017-08-09T21:27:11+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/pbblogassets.s3.amazonaws.com\/uploads\/2017\/07\/02144602\/Hayao-Miyazaki-Nature-Cover1.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"584\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Lewis McGregor\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@lewismcgregor\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Premiumbeat\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Lewis McGregor\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.premiumbeat.com\/blog\/add-subtext-storylines-miyazaki\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.premiumbeat.com\/blog\/add-subtext-storylines-miyazaki\/\",\"name\":\"Add Subtext to Your Storylines Like One of the Greats\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.premiumbeat.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2017-08-14T11:00:41+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2017-08-09T21:27:11+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.premiumbeat.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/7a152cc21e9a209453f30a642d47bf67\"},\"description\":\"Hayao Miyazaki is a master at adding subtext to his storylines by exploring issues of personal importance. Energize your next project with his technique.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.premiumbeat.com\/blog\/add-subtext-storylines-miyazaki\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.premiumbeat.com\/blog\/add-subtext-storylines-miyazaki\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.premiumbeat.com\/blog\/add-subtext-storylines-miyazaki\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.premiumbeat.com\/blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Inspiration\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.premiumbeat.com\/blog\/category\/inspiration\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Add Subtext to Your Storylines Like One of the Greats\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.premiumbeat.com\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.premiumbeat.com\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"The Beat: A Blog by PremiumBeat\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.premiumbeat.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.premiumbeat.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/7a152cc21e9a209453f30a642d47bf67\",\"name\":\"Lewis McGregor\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.premiumbeat.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/de88e7e5980dc53d66134d79f539bfa0ddc177d52f458cce762afcf65fc69ab8?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/de88e7e5980dc53d66134d79f539bfa0ddc177d52f458cce762afcf65fc69ab8?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Lewis McGregor\"},\"description\":\"Lewis McGregor is a freelance filmmaker, a certified DaVinci Resolve trainer, and online content creator from Wales. His interests are firmly rooted in cinematography and the science of color. He first picked up a camera at the age of 15, and he hasn\u2019t put one down since. Along with freelance work, Lewis also runs Indie Tips, a filmmaking website focused towards new filmmakers.\",\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/www.indietips.com\",\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/uglymcgregor\",\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/lewismcgregor\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.premiumbeat.com\/blog\/author\/lewismcgregor\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Add Subtext to Your Storylines Like One of the Greats","description":"Hayao Miyazaki is a master at adding subtext to his storylines by exploring issues of personal importance. Energize your next project with his technique.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.premiumbeat.com\/blog\/add-subtext-storylines-miyazaki\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Add Subtext to Your Storylines Like One of the Greats","og_description":"Hayao Miyazaki is a master at adding subtext to his storylines by exploring issues of personal importance. Energize your next project with his technique.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.premiumbeat.com\/blog\/add-subtext-storylines-miyazaki\/","og_site_name":"The Beat: A Blog by PremiumBeat","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/premiumbeat","article_author":"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/uglymcgregor","article_published_time":"2017-08-14T11:00:41+00:00","article_modified_time":"2017-08-09T21:27:11+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1000,"height":584,"url":"https:\/\/pbblogassets.s3.amazonaws.com\/uploads\/2017\/07\/02144602\/Hayao-Miyazaki-Nature-Cover1.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Lewis McGregor","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@lewismcgregor","twitter_site":"@Premiumbeat","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Lewis McGregor","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.premiumbeat.com\/blog\/add-subtext-storylines-miyazaki\/","url":"https:\/\/www.premiumbeat.com\/blog\/add-subtext-storylines-miyazaki\/","name":"Add Subtext to Your Storylines Like One of the Greats","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.premiumbeat.com\/blog\/#website"},"datePublished":"2017-08-14T11:00:41+00:00","dateModified":"2017-08-09T21:27:11+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.premiumbeat.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/7a152cc21e9a209453f30a642d47bf67"},"description":"Hayao Miyazaki is a master at adding subtext to his storylines by exploring issues of personal importance. Energize your next project with his technique.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.premiumbeat.com\/blog\/add-subtext-storylines-miyazaki\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.premiumbeat.com\/blog\/add-subtext-storylines-miyazaki\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.premiumbeat.com\/blog\/add-subtext-storylines-miyazaki\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.premiumbeat.com\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Inspiration","item":"https:\/\/www.premiumbeat.com\/blog\/category\/inspiration\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Add Subtext to Your Storylines Like One of the Greats"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.premiumbeat.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.premiumbeat.com\/blog\/","name":"The Beat: A Blog by PremiumBeat","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.premiumbeat.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.premiumbeat.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/7a152cc21e9a209453f30a642d47bf67","name":"Lewis McGregor","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.premiumbeat.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/de88e7e5980dc53d66134d79f539bfa0ddc177d52f458cce762afcf65fc69ab8?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/de88e7e5980dc53d66134d79f539bfa0ddc177d52f458cce762afcf65fc69ab8?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Lewis McGregor"},"description":"Lewis McGregor is a freelance filmmaker, a certified DaVinci Resolve trainer, and online content creator from Wales. His interests are firmly rooted in cinematography and the science of color. He first picked up a camera at the age of 15, and he hasn\u2019t put one down since. Along with freelance work, Lewis also runs Indie Tips, a filmmaking website focused towards new filmmakers.","sameAs":["http:\/\/www.indietips.com","http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/uglymcgregor","https:\/\/twitter.com\/lewismcgregor"],"url":"https:\/\/www.premiumbeat.com\/blog\/author\/lewismcgregor\/"}]}},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.premiumbeat.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/Hayao-Miyazaki-Nature-Cover1.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pab9JK-okq","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.premiumbeat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93522","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.premiumbeat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.premiumbeat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.premiumbeat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/72"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.premiumbeat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=93522"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.premiumbeat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93522\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":93590,"href":"https:\/\/www.premiumbeat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93522\/revisions\/93590"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.premiumbeat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/93586"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.premiumbeat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=93522"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.premiumbeat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=93522"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.premiumbeat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=93522"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}