Cebas' Exclusive interview: Kei Yoneoka - Up Close and Personal

[MKabesh]

In an exclusive interview, Pixomondo's Kei Yoneoka shares with us his talent, previous experiences and being part of the Pixomondo team in Berlin - the International VFX company with its global network and limitless creativity.

 

Here is a sneak preview:

 

Over the past 9 years, Kei Yoneoka has been working in Tokyo on high-end CG projects related to feature films, TV commercials and game cinematics among others.

 

Originally from Japan, he started his career as a VFX generalist broadening his spectrum to -not only- effects but also modeling, texturing, lighting and compositing.

He has been focusing on effects, however, for the past few years now and is part of PIXOMONDO team in Berlin as a FX TD since April 2011.

 

 

cebas: It seems that “Space Battleship YAMATO” was an important project for you (and

your company). Can you tell us how you were involved?

 

“Space Battleship YAMATO” is one of the most famous and popular animation-series in Japan made in the 70’s. In 2010, “Space Battleship YAMATO” was recreated as a live action feature film. It was the first challenge to work on, expressing realistic space battles in Japan.

 

When the director Takashi Yamazaki of Shirogumi Inc – the main VFX Production Company of this project - started “Space Battleship YAMATO”, he began looking for partners who were able to work on and create heavy and complex effects. He accidently stumbled upon my work and that was how I initially got in contact with him. During that time, I was working with my previous employer – a company called OXYBOT - but I’ve always had such respect for him, ever since I was a student, and was so excited when he approached me with an offer where I was put in charge of some difficult and complex VFX shots for the project.

 

“Space Battleship YAMATO” is a very memorable project for me, as I was able to work with director Takashi Yamazaki for the first time ever!

 

 

cebas: Which shots/images/sequences in particular were you involved in?

 

I was responsible for 90% of “the mother ship destruction” effects as a FX supervisor at OXYBOT. This scene was so complex, I remember the director explaining the scenario to me: “YAMATO shoots the enemy’s mother ship engine. The engine is driven by a special energy so when it explodes, a small black hole is created breaking the whole mother ship into pieces and sucking everything up. The energy is then reversed and a huge explosion occurs.”

 

I thought about how difficult my task was and that completing it successfully required better tools than those I was used to like PFlow or Reactor.

 

 

Check out our webpage for the full article and some amazing behind-the-scene footages... You don't want to miss it!

 

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Regards,

Cebas Team