PROCESS

CONCEPT

A 2D animation inspired by the extracts from the Kamikaze pilot manual from WWII : it will explore the devastation created by war and its absurdity.

I extracted 10 instructions directly from the manual to build up a count-down sequence, organised in a way so that the audience will be lead into a false sense of security where they imagine the pilot being on an ordinary patrol, whilst focusing on the boy’s joyous dream of flight. When the brutal reality is revealed towards the end, I would like them to be hit with an abrupt realization of what they had just witnessed. Perhaps think about that fact that such darkness in humanity exists even now in the 21st century.

CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT

Yukio Araki was 17 years old when he took off on his Kamikaze mission. He showed love for planes since childhood and had even won paper plane competitions where contestants competes to see who can keep their plane afloat for the longest. He also achieved a great level of success both academically and practically during his time in aviation school, becoming one of their brightest students.

Research

Prior to the actual making of the animation, background information on the time period where Kamikaze pilots were active are collected so I could better understand the matter and make the correct decisions. Their uniforms, the planes they flew, the stories of different pilots, the letters they sent home before the mission are especially important in order for me to build up an interesting and realistic story.

I came across a photograph of a group of pilots holding a puppy whilst smiling brightly, and no way could I believe that it was taken a day before they took off on the one-way mission. Corporal Yukio Araki (see picture on the right), the boy in the centre later becomes the centre of my short film.