Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1532695
o c t o b e r • n o v e m b e r • d e c e m b e r 2 0 2 2 c g w 1 3 We created a technique where we used Kuwahara shading. This is a technique where it takes normal images and adds a kind of wa- tercolor feel. It soens the edges. It'll preserve certain sharp changes of contrast, but it creates a very nice, so feel. This was great, apart from the fact that if you just applied it to the whole image, it was completely blurred. So what we had to do was work out a system between look dev, shader design, lighting, and comp to have information pass through about the model so that we could keep each piece of marker work just blurry to certain areas of the image—certain areas of skin or cer- tain areas of their clothing, and really have fine art-directable control over every aspect of the image. It was a tough challenge, but we had such a fantastic team at ILM across the whole group that really rose to the challenge. CGW: Can you tell us about bringing Tokyo to life on screen? Hayden Jones: Creating Tokyo was a really interesting challenge. Shannon and John Aoshima, the co-director, really wanted Tokyo to feel authentic. So we actually had a cultural committee on the show, of people who would literally look at every single aspect of our Tokyo model and advise us when road markings weren't quite correct. All the street furniture had to be the street furniture you find in that spe- cific area of Tokyo. Our build team put together this great library of parts that they could build Tokyo streets out of, but then the cultural committee would say, "Ah, yes, but these parts only exist in this part of the city." So we refined our process and we did a lot of communication and we really pushed hard to make something really, truly authentic. Also, my pet peeve in filmmaking is when you know a city and you know a shot has been filmed in two locations, and the filmmaker makes it feel like they've just turned the corner, and you know it's five miles apart. In Ultraman: Rising we tried to have Tokyo as our ground- work for each shot. Every shot is located perfectly in Tokyo. We never cheated where the Tokyo Tower is—it's always in the right place for the shot. So it always feels really quite authentic. Every detail was important to us. CGW: Can you share any career advice you wish you had known when you were starting out? Hayden Jones: I think it's a really exciting time for artists at the mo- ment. I think it's a scary time as well. There's lots of change hap- pening. Keep creating. Really push yourself to be not just trying to emulate what other people are doing. Try and also listen to your inner artist as well, because everyone has a voice and everyone's voice can be heard through art and animation. I think it's really important when you see artists have their style really visualized on screen. I oen say that's one of the hardest things when you're reviewing show reels, is that you're seeing somebody execute someone else's vision. I also like to see not only that, but what their vision's like as well. Even if it's just drawing, painting, or something else creative, showing that they have another creative aspect to their personali- ties is fantastic. A cultural committee verified the accuracy of the Tokyo environments.