The first takes up the majority of the run-time (more than 12 minutes).
It is a presentation of Animatics ("Pilot Animation") integrated with new techniques in CGI & Computer Assisted Workflows (employed in the production of Ghost In The Shell, and applied to Anime)* for a Concept that Mamoru Oshii wanted to develop, originally under the title G.R.M. The Record of Garm War.
It is a concept "pitch," developed with Bandai and Studio I.G, and completed in 1996.
The techniques carried over, and proceeding from ground-breaking work on Ghost In The Shell (1995), include:
"[a] process called 'digitally generated animation' (DGA), which is a combination of cel animation, computer graphics (CG), and audio that is entered as digital data.
In 1995, DGA was thought to be the future of animation, as it allowed traditional animation to be combined with computer graphics and digital cel work with visual displays.
Editing was performed on an AVID system of Avid Technology, which was chosen because it was more versatile and less limiting than other methods and worked with the different
The second "reel" takes up less than the last two minutes.
It is a 1998 update on the live action techniques development,
and supplement to the 1996 "Pilot Animation."
The intention for G.R.M. was the development and integration of "live action," among other things (e.g. digital layering, computer controlled/assisted pixelation, physical and digital filter combinations, incorporation of 3D technologies & software being developed for video games, digital cinematography, applied physical, film, cell, and digital animation techniques for "special effects," digitally combining physically constructed miniatures and models with real life actors, action and special effects).
Following the 1998 update, the development of these techniques and planning of a full-feature test was begun.
It was released in January of 2001, and screened in March, out of competition at the 2001 Cannes Film Festival, awarded "Best Cinematography" at the Catalan International Film Festival in Spain (2001), and in the United Kingdom, it won the "Best Film" award at Sci-Fi-London (2002).
