Thread by @AlphaJarmel

Trigger is currently comprised of a core 80 staff. The space of the studio is about 8 times the lecture hall we were in, which was somewhat small. Most of their animators still use paper/pencil.
Gradual shift to digital animation.
Fukuoka branch specializes in digital animation.

In the attached image are the main 7 points for the studio to survive going forward. Goal is to get past the 2020 Olympics (not sure why the Tokyo Olympics). The first point is about promoting the studio as a brand so they insist on using the studio logo whenever possible.

Attached are images from Kill La Kill’s sales pitch to Aniplex.

There’s no template for a project pitch.
Mainly want to convey how the project will be profitable. Two main points for KLK’s pitch was staff listings and the designs.

These are the ideal production standards but the reality is they’re generally working with a budget of $150,000. They would like more to pay animators more but isn’t happening. 2.5 months can fluctuate for pivotal episodes or just running out of time (KLK finale 5 weeks).

After project approval, they have to come up with a scenario/script. Rule of thumb is there’s specific format of a script but no rule about the actual content. After the script is finished, then storyboarding begins.
60-70% of how an episode turns depends on the storyboard.

Storyboarding takes 1-3 months(which is way longer than I thought). Masumoto-san really emphasized how important storyboards are as they dictate layouts, tone of the episode, how production intensive it’ll be, and just overall quality. Then the layout process starts.

There’s character design work still happening at this time, so it matches the story and not just what’s appealing.
There are also background reference sheets being made concurrently (art setting?). If fantasy/anime original title, much harder to produce, especially backgrounds.

Animators will come up with layouts based off the storyboards, they are a more refined version of the storyboards. Once the layout is approved then keyframe animation begins.

After keyframing, they start recording. Takes about four hours to record all voices for a 20 minute episode. Depending on the scene, more time might be allocated for important moments.

For KLK due to the intensity of the show VAs had to match that intensity all throughout so it was impressive they managed it all in four hours. After sound effects are complete then work on BGM. BGM work starts after first episode storyboards are done.

The episode director will be provided a set of songs from the composer and apply the song that best fits scene.
A regular anime will have a set list of about 30 songs but a 2 cour might have 40-50. Process will take about two to three months after storyboard is provided.

After that, they provide the work to the production committee.

This was Little Witch Academia’s preproduction broken into four areas. The difficulty arises in balancing and interconnecting all four groups and why show productions take so long.

At least for Trigger, the director is the ‘main tree’ from which everybody branches off from. In the attached image are the four key ideas that drove the production of the respective work.

Trigger brainstorming sessions with main staff takes 6-8 hours. They say they value it a bit more than other studios(might do it for a little over a year). They feel staff can’t be only good at drawing but must have ideas as well.

Masumoto strongly believes that those ideas are why people find their titles interesting. He feels those meetings are the key to Trigger’s success.

That was pretty much it for the main lecture. Q&A Part:

For storyboard, they would like multiple people working on storyboards but due to budget, only have one person.

Hypothetically might interview an outside expert, probably case for multiple series and studios.

Trigger has five lines of production. Might be able produce five episodes at a time.

Takes about 3 months for them to deliver an episode (I guess after storyboarding is finished).

Thank you to @kenji2413 for an awesome lecture. Would love to hear more about storyboarding.

Addendum 1:

If a production committee interferes, it’s usually about the script. After that, they will generally leave the production alone until they receive a product back from the studio and then stuff like retakes might happen.

Attached are more images from the sales pitch.

Addendum 2:

Otsuka-san prioritizes clarity/understandability in the storyboards.

Still some confusion about the 2020 date.

More images from the KLK sales pitch.