Live action (or live-action) is a form of cinematography or videography that uses photography instead of animation. Some works combine live-action with animation to create a live-action animated film. Live-action is used to define film, video games or similar visual media. According to the Cambridge English Dictionary, live action "[involves] real people or animals, not models, or images that are drawn, or produced by computer."
Live action can also mean that a film or a television show is adapted from comics. Adaptations from comics include live-action film versions of Marvel Comics' Spider-Man and X-Men, DC Comics' Superman and Batman, or manga such as Death Note, Detective Conan and Great Teacher Onizuka.
Live-action vs. animation[]
In producing a movie or series, both live-action and animation (or anime) present their own pros and cons. Unlike animation, live-action involves the photography of actors and actresses, as well as sets and props making the movie or series seems personal and as close to reality as possible (for non-fantastical elements, at least). The only drawback being one's budget. On the other hand, animation works well in conveying abstract ideas and it generally takes much longer to produce, at least with traditional, mostly hand-drawn animation. Computer animation is speeding up the animation production process, but not usually enough to overcome the time to create the original elements that can quickly be captured with photographic methods.
For example, many typical live-action movies can take around 2 to 3 months of principal photography plus pickups. Those with extensive special effects (CGI, compositing, rendering, rotoscoping, etc.) will take more time based on how complex, integrated, and realistic the effects need to be. On the other hand a typical 1.5 hour animated movie can take from 8 to 9 months to over 3 years to complete.
Live-action adaptations of anime, manga, etc.[]
Japanese[]
- Movies
- NANA / NANA 2 (2005/2006)
- Death Note (2006)
- From Me to You (2010)
- Ace Attorney (2012)
- Bunny Drop (2012)
- Rurouni Kenshin (2012)
- Rurouni Kenshin: Kyoto Inferno (2014)
- Rurouni Kenshin: The Legend Ends (2014)
- Rurouni Kenshin: The Final (2021)
- Rurouni Kenshin: The Beginning (2021)
- My Love Story!! (2015)
- Assassination Classroom / Assassination Classroom: Graduation (2015/2016)
- ERASED (2016)
- Blade of the Immortal (2017)
- Fullmetal Alchemist (2017)
- Fullmetal Alchemist: Final Transmutation (2022)
- Fullmetal Alchemist: Revenge Scar (2022)
- Movies (cont.)
- Gintama / Gintama 2: Rules Are Meant To Be Broken (2017/2018)
- Inuyashiki (2018)
- After the Rain (2018)
- BLEACH (2018)
- Kingdom (2019)
- From Today, It's My Turn!!: The Movie (2020)
- Homunculus (2021)
- A Man Who Defies the World of BL / A Man Who Defies the World of BL 2 (2021 / 2022)
- Tokyo Revengers (2021)
- Noise (2022)
- Radiation House: The Movie (2022)
- The Way of the Househusband: The Movie (2022)
- BL Metamorphosis (2022)
- TV dramas
- ERASED (2017) - 12 episodes of 30 min each
- Takane & Hana (2018) - 8 episodes of 25 min each
- From Today On, It's My Turn!! (2018) - 10 episodes of 46 min each
- Radiation House (2019, Special 2019) - 11 episodes of 50 min each, special 1 hr 48 min
- Radiation House 2 (S2 2021, S2 Special 2021) - 11 episodes of 54 min each, special 54 min
- An Incurable Case of Love (2021) - 10 episodes of 51 min each
- The Way of the Househusband (2020) - 10 episodes of 46 min each
- Alice in Borderland / Alice in Borderland 2 (2020 / 2022) - 8 episodes of 48 min each
- Sweet Revenge (2021) - 6 episodes of 25 min each
- Takane no Hana-san (2021) - 12 episodes of 30 min each
- Given (2021) - 6 episodes of 24 min each
- Packed Up: A Police Box Woman's Counterattack (2021) - 9 episodes of 60 min each
- Silver Plan to Redo From JK (2021) - 8 episodes of 30 min each
- Sengoku: The Great Reversal of the Leader Who Failed (2022) - special, ? min
Other[]
- Movies
- Death Note (2017)
- Alita: Battle Angel (2019)
- TV dramas
- 49 Days With a Merman (2022) - Taiwan, 14 episodes of 24 min each
References[]
