There is no sense in making something without a soul
I've been listening to Joe Hisaishi's music for Studio Ghibli and I have to say it's quite inspiring! Even if I can't place many of the songs, they're still a nice thing to listen to while working.
Yesterday I noticed there's been an idea floating around my mind ever since I saw the third (or maybe the second) episode of 10 Years with Hayao Miyazaki, and is something that really comes to life in Hisaishi's music.
The episode in question covers the creation of From Up on Poppy Hill, a movie that Miyazaki's own son (Goro Miyazaki) was directing, something to which the elder Miyazaki was opposed, saying his son didn't have the determination to be a movie director.
Anyway, at one point he was reviewing some concept art that one of the animators was doing for his son and, after starting at the drawing for a bit, declared that it had no soul, no vigor, no life. He said (paraphrasing because I couldn't find the quote online and I'm too lazy to rewatch the episode):
There is no reason in making something without a soul, you might as well not do it.
The poor animator, of course, didn't know where to hide. But it wasn't really his fault, the movie's character had no soul at that point, it's true. It's only after this scathing comment that Goro re-envisioned the character to become it's final form.
This short critique has been pretty impactful to me as I'm thinking about what to do, where to head to if I were to live a more creative life. There is no sense in making anything that doesn't have a soul, not if you aspire to inspire others, to bring them joy and entertain.
The lesson is, I think, to dig deep, and then dig deeper. Characters / stories should have dreams of their own, sometimes unbeknownst to the writer. Still, they have the responsibility of giving them space to come forth and guide their pen.
Thinking back on Miyazaki's films, I can see this idea permeating everything from the characters to the environments. It's so pervasive that it's hard to point out, but it is definitely one (if not THE one) quality that sets it apart from every other kind of film. It's this that makes his stories feel so alive, so relatable, so easy to get lost into, no matter how magical and impossible are the things they portray.
With all of this I don't mean to criticize my past work, nor my future one, nor any other person's creative work. I think that one needs to take care to not do the inverse, of worrying so much about things having a soul that we end up not creating anything. It's better to create, freely, and in so doing we shed light on those dark corners, and get ever closer and closer to being able to create with a soul.
Whenever someone creates something with all of their heart, then that creation is given a soul. — Hayao Miyazaki