Matte painter Mr. Uesugi Yuyo talks about "Analog Mind necessary for digital and how I fulfilled my dream" Star Wars "etc

Prior to digitizing to Mr. Yuzo Uesugi who is a digital matte artist in the "Star Wars" series, before the digitization, we will have the opportunity to hear the change of the technology of the subsequent video production and the thought on thatCEDEC 2012It was able to get in. In order to obtain the funds for going to the United States of America "Costume Grand PrizeI was able to hear valuable stories such as experience stories I entered in "

Analog Mind in Digital Production Environment
http://cedec.cesa.or.jp/2012/program/KN/C12_I0281.html

Naohiro Saito (Saito):
Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. I am Saito, who is the steering chair of CEDEC 2012. I will advance the host today. Thank you.


Yusuke Uesugi (Uesugi):
Thank you.


Matte paintingThere is a role, but this is a technique that is used in special effects of movies that has been established since quite old times and is cost effective technology.

Star Wars Episode 3's super high quality matte paint - GIGAZINE


I will explain about this technology and about both I started and now. "INDUTRIAL LIGHT & MAGIC (ILM)"Is directed by a film directorGeorge Lucas"But"Star WarsIt is a studio launched to make special effects for. I was furiously longing for the third work of "Star Wars", but this is a work of the era when I think that it is ILM's golden age.

Although I was watching this movie with some extraordinary skill knowledge at that time I did not notice at all but I was very surprised when I saw the making photo collection later. I thought, "It would be hard for hundreds of people to make costumes," but in reality they were painting this number. If you think so, it's a cost-effective trick anyway.


Further going back to the era, "Peter Ellen showThere was a time when individual genius-like people before the appearance of hundreds of large studios such as ILM, like ILM, was active. First, one craftsman draws a graphic picture, designs the total with light, shadow, what you want to show. Then, according to the live-action picture, we draw a realistic picture with the same tone, but this requires a special skill that makes it unknown where the boundaries are. Needless to say, there are two vectors that work progresses before digital work. One is to complete a graphic picture and the other is to blend until you do not know the boundary. This work, especially blending work can be done in 5 to 10 minutes if it is the current digital technology. However, before taking pictures with a color around, taking a picture, the result will not come unless you wait until the next day. It is a very persistent work in capturing the best part, developing it, shooting it and seeing the results the next day. Continue to complete it for 1 week, 2 weeks. I was doing it because it is commonplace at the time, but when I looked back on the old days as I started doing similar work in the digital, I admire "I was doing such work well."


In addition, there was also the aspect that this technology can not escape from 2 dimensions. Among such restrictions, there are various techniques concerning how to bring the live-action part into the picture in the way of synthesis, for example, there are some methodologies that can be done with camera work to some extent. However, it is impossible to say subjective movement, only panning, tilting, rolling, its combination, adding a zoom, or swinging the neck in a state where the viewpoint of the camera does not move.

I worked at ILM in 1989, but since the first half of the 1990's the digitalization has gradually progressed, our work has finally become full digital. At that stage, it was as much as possible how to do what we were doing in a new way, and pursuit of other possibilities was still too much. However, in my mind I thought that I could do three dimensional representation on this occasion.

Although it is around the time, the production was in 1995, the publication was the work in 1997, the first three dimensional representation was made. At this time, what kind of stage CG was said is "Jurassic ParkIt is the latest.

Jurassic Park Trilogy Blu-Ray Trailer 1080p HD Oct. 25 2011 - YouTube


I was aware that it will be involved in "enter into ILM = Star Wars", but I joined in 1989 and finally got involved in practice in 1998. It was a special edition that started off in "Star Wars" relationship. I think that this was the right choice now. The reason is that digitization happened in the days when George Lucas was away from special effects, and the technology had developed very well beyond his knowledge. From his producer's point of view it was necessary to realize what we could do with new technology. On the other hand, we did not try so much new things everyday in the schedule, but at that time I knew the stance of George Lucas so we made various suggestions from here, for example, when we got a storyboard we zoomed in a bit It was designed as much as I suggested, "If this is 3D representation it will be shown effectively."

The camera map is a common technique now, not by creating a world in the computer, lighting the object with the light, illuminating things with the light, and simulating the light shining part and the shadow to create a picture, so calledTexture MappingIt extends the texture to the exact same concept as the camera. It projects with a certain width from the point in space like a camera. There is a viewpoint movement against it, it is only that, so the part of computing is light.

Saito:
Is not it calculating every frame?

Uesugi:
Every frame is calculated, but what I am doing is eventually 3D workingPerthIt is just changing things. Why I took such a choice is because I am a matte painter. At that time, we were able to represent so-called individual substances graphically at the cutting edge. In other words, we were able to express dinosaurs that were said to be impossible for CG for the first time in the world, so there was topicality. However, I could not express a big landscape with CG. For example, a place like a laboratory of a leading general contractor was a feeling of CG because the aerial photograph "The ancient ruins of the past were like this" is seen. That's why I simulated the world inside the computer honestly and simulated sunlight and simulated light and shadows. On the other hand, since I am a matte painter, it is not so difficult to make a realistic picture. It is more intuitive to create a shape to make it from a space and map it and change the idea for each camera frame. If the point of view changes, we can see the part of the texture not covered and how we solve it, I tried and errored.


Recent things are "Transformers / Darkside MoonThere is a broken nuclear reactor of Chernobyl which was used in the movie.

Transformers 3 - Dark of the Moon | OFFICIAL trailer # 1 US (2011) - YouTube


It was a coincidence, but a big earthquake of "3.11" occurred when I was taking this shot. That's why I understand exactly what nuclear reactors are like in news videos. What was produced at this time is a kind of nuclear reactor before "3.11", which is a nuclear reactor envisioned that everyone "is not this?" After that I found out that it was not such a thing at all (laugh).

The cameraman put on camera work with his imagination, but based on this, the timing of the bread was not ideal and the scale became smaller, so I had to mess around with it. It may be a bit confusing, but since you have to use live-action photos just to say, by forcing the camera to tilt and forcibly make yourself convenient, the soldiers will try to be inside the frame as much as possible It is supposed to be able to get it. I am also changing the sense of distance. Although it is a very steady work, minor adjustments are necessary to complete individual shots.

Saito:
You are pretty close to you.


Uesugi:
I am fluent in practice. What I do not like the most in this shot is the set rock. It is good as a craft and it is relatively good at writing, but there is a theme given to me that there are 20 times, 100 times, 2000 times the spread of the surface of the moon that makes the surface of the moon I feel a sense of incongruity when I think about it. So, I am doing the work of erasing what was in the live-action picture as much as possible. However, I can not do it by my own judgment. Since there is a part which must be common in order to establish as the whole flow and sequence, if you pursue only this shot, I would like to reduce more colors, but because there are also other shots from different angles , Considering that, I could not do it thoroughly.

When it gets old for a while, "Star TrekThere is also. Be an enemyBalkanIt was important to reflect the scale feeling anyway because there was a desire to bring a different cultural taste to the civilization of civilization.

Star Trek - Trailer - YouTube


Although I forgot at the time of explanation of mat paint, when entering the movie world of special effects, I did all 8 mm movies, high school, university and everything (laugh). In order to work at a high level you have to consolidate your own field. So matte paint was attractive when I thought of narrowing where. Because, considering organizations that model ILM at the time, only one painting involves one artist from the beginning to the end to finish the shot. People in model shots make elaborate models, but as models can be created they have to hand it to the shoot. I do not know how cooked things made by myself will be cooked when I say bad phrases. In order to be established as special effects without discomfort on the screen of the movie, the place where I can not control functions and the shot is established and compared with it is said to be the work which is completed in Matt Departmentment I also had a shot design, I also attended photography, I also painted realistic pictures, I thought that there was a responsibility until the final shot was completed.

Saito:
How do you make up thinking about where to put your hands, where you focus on, and where you are going to be out of hand?

Uesugi:
I think that judgment there is important. Making things in the long production period does not finish in the same way everything. If there are other means that will be made possible by switching, do not hesitate to switch. Assuming that there is a big pipeline in the company, the part that significantly raises funds and schedule in ILM is a character, asset. "Transformers" is a good example. Repeating design revisions, interacting with the director, deciding the shape, spending time in modeling, craftsmen paint a lot of high resolution textures anyway at what angle and what parts can endure the screen full of screens anyway, While writing improves data every day while reproducing ambient light called turntablerenderingI am going to continue until I become a quality with presence as if I am inside the place I shot without any discomfort. It will take quality over several months and will start mass production only after it is completed. When all the robots have progressed to the same work level, the animator wears animation, and if physical simulation is necessary, it adds physical simulation and renders itCompositeTo do. The reason why the methodology holds is that when the same robot appears 200 shots in one movie, the cost can be dispersed. On the other hand, what we are doing is the same as the Chernobyl nuclear reactor just before, but that angle, that place has only one shot. It is very wasteful to model the robot over the same time there. So, the work we do may be a methodology with one shot and one shot different, but with the same setting 1SequenceThere may be 4 or 5 shots in some cases, so we will explore some common methodology, but independence and uniqueness are higher than characters etc.

Saito:
If it takes time, take a different method ......


Uesugi:
I agree. I will render primitive primitive. At that time yetGlobal IlluminationIt is not even thought or idea, it takes a year to render. Even if you finish work at a place like CG, you can retit from there and do it realistically, so you choose that one.

This is a recent work but "Battle ShipThere was a movie called "I had a last help relationship, but there is a shot that I liked. As every shot enters 3D elements without necessity of a two-dimensional shot that is established only with composites, based on live-action photography, the department of the layout has a camera angle, the structure of the world, and what units exist in units We decided each rule about whether we were going to work at the stage we were able to do it, but the layout there was very good.

Battleship Final Trailer 2012 [HD] - Official Movie Trailer - YouTube


"Star Wars Episode 1I will talk about the shot of. Just as I was on a Christmas holiday I was late working, so when I thought that there were no jobs that I could take home with, there were parts to synthesize people walking on the platform. This shot is tremendously important in the sequence, where the main characters coming out in "episode 2" and "episode 3" afterwards from three places later meet together, the child's "Anakin"Landing while turning on a ship, although there are supplements in serifs like" There are people there over there "and" everyone is standing over there " , You must be able to recognize who you are. Also, the shot I was in charge was very wide, and there were materials that took this live-action shoot, but I had to synthesize it to make it look like walking without slipping on the surface.

The shots we do are many wide lenses. It is an expansion that I want to see a wide landscape, and I feel that I am drawn. This long lens feeling, documentary feeling is fresh, there is a feeling that this can go, and George Lucas advised me to actually establish a shot. Today's theme is "analog mind", but in this case very analog mind is demonstrated. I am making a human with CG now and people like Cape are depriving the realism in physics simulation and keeping other depictions well. In that sense, conversely it is easy to make it now. At that time it was not such a level yet. For example, taking pictures one by one, shadows, reflections and so on had to be carried out in composites, so we are shooting them apart. Because it is better to adjust individually. Also, in order to reproduce Perth, the walking route is straight, but if the camera were over there, I will walk this way.

Saito:
It is not straight, is not it?

Uesugi:
This is a very analog way.

Saito:
The result is invisible, is not it?

Uesugi:
It took quite some time so far, but it seems to have covered up until recently until I entered.

Saito:
Uesugi-san is now using a big success, what kind of things did you do in your school days as a matter of course when you were young?

Uesugi:
In the age of students I made 8mm movies for about 7 colleagues and a cultural festival. It was really fun to make one thing with a bunch of students. But since I do not have money, I operated around the school around the school and I was doing how about 5 thousand yen a piece, if I make a 30 second commercial (laugh).

Saito:
Did you collect sponsors? (Laugh).

Uesugi:
Three minutes is included in the magazine for 8 mm film, it is bought and developed and it is around 2,000 yen. So if you plan to make a 30 minute movie, it costs 20,000 yen even if you make it without waste. However, it is difficult to use without waste, and if you double it, it costs 40,000 yen. Then the cost will not be stupid. So it's easier to fund with the money we have gathered from the shopping district ... ....

Saito:
Did funds gather?

Uesugi:
More than half of the money we collected is right. This is a story when I was a senior in high school, this time I was a high school third grader and I thought about "I do not have anything I do not do this fun one more time". As a result, I could not make it by dissolving, but what I had been thinking from the second year high school student to the third year high school student is very connected to the present. What I was thinking to recall now was just the methodology of how to establish special effects. While thinking about such a thing, I entered Musashino Art University where I met a person called "Sakakibara." 'Sakakibara kimi' is 'Sakakibara kun' It seemed that when I was in high school apparently I was doing the same thing as myself. Then two people were dancing. I am not so difficult in the oil painting course, but "Sakakibara Kimi" was involved in my hobby just like me, painting a rather heavy task in the Department of Architecture. I was aiming for "mini ILM", a very primitive camera and ILM modeled "take material separatelyOptical synthesisIt was an idea of ​​"I wonder what it is", soOptical printerAlso made. By saying "What is an optical process?"Blue screenFromTraveling matI made a trial and error how to make. About 95% of it was a failure, and it was everyday that I continued to move forward by connecting the remaining 5%.

When I was doing that, "Tokyo International Film Festival"There was a thing called Rocco · Joffre, who was a founding member of a studio named Dream Quest at the time that became my teacher later, I have nothing to show at that time, but after that Please tell me the address as you want the work to be seen, so afterwards I tried to make something to be shown to him as a job hunting activity. And from Rocco, I got a promise to "Come home when I graduate" and rolled into him.

Saito:
Have you kept sending images all the time?

Uesugi:
I have not sent so much. I sent a detailed report on activities of several months. When choosing the camera I was using at the time I chose "Sakakibara kimi" as we examine it, but I am sticking to how broken it is (laugh). I will destroy it anyway. Why break, it is to replace the motor.Stepping motorBy changing to a different format, the same as the motion control panel ILM uses in principle can be the same in principle.

I gathered my friends, baked it, shot with a bonfire, and made such shorts (laugh).


Venue:
(Lol)

Uesugi:
It will be taken before the melting any longer once snow falls. Because I will keep this snow for only 2 hours, draw a rough storyboard and photograph it for the time being, I'll think about it later in detail (laugh). Draw a picture and synthesize it. It fucks the child ... ...


Venue:
(Lol)

Uesugi:
Tell me that I will be on the evening news (lol)

Venue:
(Lol)

Uesugi:
Indeed, "Mount RushmoreThere is a monument engraved with the presidents 'face, but since I was a collection of works sent to Rocco, I wanted to make one of the President' s faces a rookie, with the meaning of sesame (laugh) . But, since Rocco's materials were not enough, I had my father with no relation at all show up (laugh). I was sending this kind of report to Rocco. I went to him in 1987, but then he quit the dream quest and was setting up his own studio.

This is a stop motion of the dinosaur movie which was produced independently by Mark Sullivan. I also helped. There are towels that are yellow and flowers made with tissues.


Uesugi:
As a result, I was able to work in ILM in 1989, but at the beginning I did not think such a thing at first. I thought about going back to my career and hoping to go someday. Conversely, I was tremendously aware of the place called Hollywood and I wanted to do a lot. But it is not a place to go soon. I was listening often cases of failure at that time. If illegal stay begins it is not good anymore. I did not want to be absolutely in that state, because I wanted to go back and forth in America for a long time. However, at first I understood that I could not get a working visa, I raised it once and brought it to a state that I can do matting painting with a long term strategy.

A little time has gone. There is an epoch making video for crossing to the USA, so please give us a picture of the Japanese TV.

21 times Kabuto vs. Quaggata 25 - Daily Motion Video

※ Kin's Disposable Awards No. 25 of the 21st

Saito:
You chose this as a means of financing (to raise funds) to make your dreams come true (to the United States).

Venue:
(Lol)

Uesugi:
The result is 1 million yen.

Saito:
When we heard a little bit before, Matt Painting is said to be composed of exquisite balances of art, technology and illustration ......

Uesugi:
I agree. There are many things that are prominent, but I think that it is one of the few fields that will not be established if it is not balanced. Since early I knew from the early days that my qualities were not of the type to make a big picture with a big vision over the long term since I was making movies at 8 mm. I made it with friends and thought about what kind of gag we caught in the ending role (laugh) at the very beginning, it is one kind of input type. Although concentrating is sustained, it is concentration focusing on small parts, and if it is not something to pour into a large part somehow I understood my qualities.

Saito:
I think that I wanted to become a supervisor when entering ILM.

Uesugi:
I agree. It was an era in which special skill director was a flower former a long time ago, individual skills such as taking an academy award and effect award at that time appear on the table. Currently, there is ILM 's team in the entire movie, there is a supervisor directly under the studio there, there is a supervisor representing ILM under it. Of course it is also important to be a creative decision-maker, but in recent years the more important role is the ability to smoothly turn through an enormous number of crews with 450 people, between the client and their own men, And it can be a hub of communication between departments. In other words, it is a communication skill. Also, it is being liked by anyone and not being aversion to it, shifting to the way of encouraging skills that people working under it can be positive, this is not where my characteristic is going a bit I came to feel that.

Saito:
Recently computer entertainment is big when it comes to business as outsourcing. How about that point?

Uesugi
I am also very conscious of that. That's because ILM is a company that is lagging behind outsourcing. For example "Sony Pictures Image Works"And other studios have built a big studio in India etc. where labor cost is cheap and doing the work that can do that there. I personally understand the fact that directional efforts can not be ignored to survive, if it enters price competition personally, the place where it finally arrives is that the ordering side can only manage quality. That is not my job I want to do, so there is a part I do not want to proceed like that. Also, I believe that outsourcing is only seen in short eyes. In the long run, eventually you will nurture a human with a skill set that will become a competitor afterwards. In addition, I think that outsourcing has been established, because now there are economic disparities, China now, Vietnam because China has become higher this time, after all, I think that it is only a temporary option. It is turning round and tormenting ourselves. Therefore, rather than escaping to a rapidly approaching means of outsourcing, we believe that it will be a value added difference, or that if you pursue that one you will survive for a long time.

Saito:
What choices should I make while manufacturing in the future? One last word to a young creator please.

Uesugi:
If you have a mind to want to explore what you like, you can run through. So, as a first step I think thinking carefully what I like. And as long as you find it, you can enjoy yourself at all like what people say "No, I have such a hard time", which is the most important thing.

Saito:
I hope everyone will digest this word in myself. that's all.

Venue:
(applause)