Lost Planet

For this week’s interview, I talked art, visuals and design with Takahiro Kawano, the Art Director on Lost Planet. Director Kenji Oguro was also there and he shared some insightful comments as well.

They also provided a TON of exclusive concept and design artwork that you will only be able to see here.

Since the interview went so well and they had such great answers, I’m breaking the interview into three parts. Part 1 covers Kawano-san’s art background and gets into some of the concept art for Lost Planet. Part 2 covers more design work and gets into the visual effects. And Part 3 covers Vital Suit and Akrid design.

Click to read the full Part 1 of the interview and see exclusive concept art.

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PART 1

[Brian] What is your name and what is your role in the development of Lost Planet?

[Takahiro Kawano] My name is Takahiro Kawano. Im the Art Director for Lost Planet. I lead the art department and review all created assets to make sure that everything that appears on the screen fits in with the vision for the Lost Planet world.

[Kenji Oguro] I was the director of the game, and supervised the game and the gameplay, while as the art director he supervised the visual aspect of the game.

Kawano has a lot more say in what the look of Lost Planet looks like than even I do. He decided the look for everything, from how the air looks and how the cold is represented, to the density of the fog, and everything that appears in the game. He also had the final say in the designs for the Vital Suits and all the enemies.

[Brian] How did you get to be Art Director on Lost Planet?

[Kawano] I started off studying oil painting at art school. After I graduated, I went from the world of oil painting and jumped head-first into the world of CG when I got a job at Capcom. The first title I worked on was Onimusha. I have always loved games, but I didnt go to a special game design school or anything.

When I started on Onimusha 1, I was in charge of designing the main character, Samanosuke, and the enemies. I did the same thing on Onimusha 3. After that, I was chosen to work on Lost Planet.

Speaking with Sonoko Nakano, CG Artist

[Brian] Are there any games, Capcom or other, that stick out in your mind as far as art direction goes? Any favorite movies, Japanese or otherwise, for art direction and visuals?

[Kawano] One I really admire is Squares Vagrant Story, the PS1 game. I think they focused on the visuals and the art for that game more than any other game Ive seen.

The visuals in that game are all very manga-like. The whole game looks like a series of illustrations. Its all very consistent, with no flashy colors. Big, popular titles tend to use a lot of bright, flashy colors. But this game had a great look to it, like the art director had a vision for the game and didnt compromise just to flash it up. It makes me a little jealous (haha). Looking at the game from the point of view of another game developer, it was a very well-received game.

In the movie realm, one movie I thought was visually stunning was Chicago. I also liked the movie itself. Speaking about just the beauty, the look of the visuals, I think Chicago was really well done. I love the rich colors.

I also really like Alfred Hitchcock films, both their look and style, and the content of the films.

For Japanese films, I was really into Akira Kurosawa during college. I love movies with a unique style, where each shot is done so well it looks like a painting. And his movies are all like that.

One movie that has really influenced me, as far as taking a film and filtering it to give it a unique look, is Gladiator. When I saw it I immediately loved what they did with it, visually speaking. Right after I saw Gladiator for the first time, the proposal for Lost Planet came up. So I was excited about designing this frozen world and putting blue filters over everything to give it a unique look.

I also like all of the Studio Ghibli and Hayao Miyazaki films. They have been a huge influence on me.


[Brian] What was the vision or theme for the visual art style in Lost Planet?

[Oguro] My initial concept for the visual style was a planet covered in snow. Takeuchi (the producer) and I both wanted to make the game feel cold and frozen down to the air, and after a lot of trial and error, Kawano pulled it off.

[Kawano] After talking to the producer and director and exchanging opinions, I worked on concept art to fit what we talked about. A world of white and blue, high contrast between light and shadow, scenery fading into white from the thick fog. All of these concepts were constant throughout.

[Oguro] Actually, heres some of the concept art Kawano came up with. This was our original jumping-off point, and everything everyone created for the game was based on this.

That’s it for Part 1 of this exclusive interview.

As promised, here is the first batch of exclusive concept “Image Board” art from the game. (Click to enlarge)

Jump to Part 2 to continue reading!

—Brian