Academy Award winning Okinawan CGI artist delivers lecture in his hometown

Academy Award winning Okinawan CGI artist delivers lecture in his hometown

The attendees listened eagerly to Itokazu's story at IF Information Plaza in Kumejima Town on September 26.


October 5, 2014 Tetsuya Nakajima, correspondent of Ryukyu Shimpo

Los Angeles resident and CGI(Computer-Generated Image) artist Hiroki Itokazu, from Kumejima, took part in creating Disney’s animated film Frozen, which won the Academy Award for the best animated feature film at the 86th Annual Academy Awards. The CGI modeller delivered a lecture at IF Information Plaza in Kumejima Town on September 26. About 50 residents attended Itokazu’s lecture.
After graduating from the University of the Ryukyus, Itokazu moved to the United States to study industrial design. During his speech, he talked about how impressed he was by the students at the school he attended. He said they dedicated themselves to creating 3D computer-animated works, even giving up holidays to continue their work. Itokazu also spoke about what led him to work at the Walt Disney Animation Studios.

Itokazu said, “Making 3D CGI models is a job which requires quiet dedication. We create 3D models based on two-dimensional sketches.” He explained, “In Frozen, we created models based on photographs of the scenery in Norway, where we actually traveled to as part of the making of film.”

The members of the Walt Disney Animation Studios complete their projects after many discussions, in which all the members take part. Although that process takes time, they eventually manage to create excellent movies. Itokazu stressed that they see stories, designs and characters as important.

Itokazu carries out online teaching for 3d modeling to students at Kumejima High School in his hometown every week. He advised, “The number of CGI artists is very high now. Those who want to be 3D artists, need to study hard at high school and college.”

In the question and answer session with the attendees, Itokazu said, “Every time I watch movies, I always analyze the character designs from the view point of a CGI artist. So, I cannot get into the stories.”

(English translation by T&CT)

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