Trace the history of sumo, and explore how the sport was designed and modified to reflect ancient Japan’s culture and traditions.
Client: Ted-Ed Animation
Director and animator: Masayoshi Nakamura
Writer: Lee Thompson
Producers: Abdallah Ewis, Gerta Xhelo
Sound designer: Zak Engel
process
The first step again was to write down scripts, and draw small thumbnails, visuals that go along with the words.the first question that i had to face was how to make the big naked men look cute/appealing. As I draw more and more, I started recognizing the shapes to build the body: ovals and circles stacking on top of each other, I add legs and arms, and that makes a pretty cute sumo wrestler. The second question was what the world looked like back then because there are no photos to draw reference from. How should they dress in the 900s compared to the 1500s. I kept copying ukiyo-e and manga until I found my own.
