Final Fantasy Movie - Aki Ross

[SupaCh1nk]

Any FF fans here? I'm trying to find out who is the real life model (if one exists) that Aki Ross represents in the movie Final Fantasy The Spirits Within.

Some say she's based on Ming-Na (Dr Deb Chen from ER), but I highly doubt that because they share very little physical resemblance. My guess is that Ming-Na was the model only for voice and mouth movement (as it shows in DVD) after Aki was created. So, why is the Aki real life counterpart never mentioned? I would love to know.

Here are some goodies for you:

Wall Paper - She placed #87 on Maxim's Hot 100 2001, beating 13 real women.
Screen Saver - More on the movie's site above.

 

[Ameesh]

i like the movie but not that much, you need to get out some.

 

[AaronP]

She placed #87 on Maxim's Hot 100 2001, beating 13 real women

so much for the journalistic intergrity of Maxim! I wonder how much they were paid to do that.

 

[SupaCh1nk]

paid or not she's hot

 

[Elledan]

Who the heck needs real women!?

 

[apoppin]

<< Any FF fans here? >>


Not of the movie! Graphics were awesome . . . WHAT story?

 

[ThaGrandCow]

Aki Ross was completely modeled from the artists imagination. There was no human reference.

 

[apoppin]

Not Ming-Na, the voice of Aki



<< While Ming-Na did not perform any motion-capture for her character, her voice acting and the videotapes of her given to the animators did infuse her character with some of her own personality.
"...when they videotape me while I'm doing the voice work, I notice certain gestures ? certain subtle expressions. I think the animators really take those videos very seriously and it inspires them to manipulate the facial expressions of their characters to sort of fit the actors. The very first scene that they showed me, she was in this space ship and had just awakened from a dream, and she kind of touches her forehead, and I do that all the time when I'm doing my voice work, because I'm constantly trying to imagine this world that I'm living in, as Aki Ross." >>

 

[SupaCh1nk]

<< Aki Ross was completely modeled from the artists imagination. There was no human reference. >>



how did you know that?

 

[SupaCh1nk]

apoppin that's exactly what I'm saying, Ming-Na was trying to mimic Aki's character, not the other way around.

 

[apoppin]

<< Hironobu SakaguchiFinal Fantasy is Hironobu Sakaguchi's brainchild. He joined Square Co. Ltd. In 1986 where he produced more than 30 million units of computer game software worldwide, with his smash hit Final Fantasy Series selling more than 17 million. >>



Interesting tidbits about the movie:



<< The name of Sakaguchi-san's mother was Aki.

Aki and Dr. Sid were originally planned to be granddaughter and grandfather, but they changed it later in production.

Aki's original last name was originally Shishido, but they changed it to Ross to make it more consistent to the story.

Sakaguchi-san made a cameo appearance in the High Council meeting scene.

The date at the opening sequence is the birthday of Sakaguchi-san's wife. >>



Personal stuff from the producer's lives in the movie. It looks like we'll never know for sure . . .

 

[GooberPHX420]

Man if anyone could make her face look more real, that would be one fcukable cartoon

 

[ThaGrandCow]

<<

<< Aki Ross was completely modeled from the artists imagination. There was no human reference. >>



how did you know that? >>

Because I love the FF series and I followed the movie from when the first bit of info was put out about it.

 

[apoppin]

<< There was no human reference >>


Nonsense. Obviously there was a human reference since Aki was designed by a human (or humans). They were certainly thinking of someone at least from their memories or imagination. No doubt - from reading the tidbits about this movie - someONE did inspire the artist to "create" Aki.

It is also obvious we aren't going to come by this personal bit of info very easily.

 

[ThaGrandCow]

<<

<< There was no human reference >>


Nonsense. Obviously there was a human reference since Aki was designed by a human (or humans). They were certainly thinking of someone at least from their memories or imagination. No doubt - from reading the tidbits about this movie - someONE did inspire the artist to "create" Aki.

It is also obvious we aren't going to come by this personal bit of info very easily. >>

True. By that thinking there were probably many actual influences. The artist just combined traits of women he knew into one very good looking female of his creation. What I meant was that the artist did not just adapt a specific woman to a computer and call her Aki Ross.

 

[illusion88]

There has to be a model for the charecter. A designer cant just pull out human like movemnets out of his head. No one can do that. You have to constantly efert back to a real person. And why would the modeler want a guy model to do it? dah, I would have used a hott women as well....

 

[SupaCh1nk]

<< True. By that thinking there were probably many actual influences. The artist just combined traits of women he knew into one very good looking female of his creation. What I meant was that the artist did not just adapt a specific woman to a computer and call her Aki Ross. >>



so where can we find info on that?

combining traits of different persons into one is a very difficult and confusing task. why would the artist do that while he could just copy from one?

 

[apoppin]

<< What I meant was that the artist did not just adapt a specific woman to a computer and call her Aki Ross >>


We do NOT know that!

When we read that the FF creator's mother was named Aki and the opening date in the movie is his wife's BD, I am inclined to believe it could be based on a real-life person from Hironobu Sakaguchi's life. (Maybe an old photo of his grandmother as a young lady or a GF his wife doesn't know about.)

 

[SupaCh1nk]

ok we're getting somewhere after some pretty extensive review of DVD disc 2 and net research...



<< As the head animator for Aki, what inspired you to create her the way you did? Was it based on a personal vision, a team effort, or were you just following the directions of the movie's producers?

Aki's original design was created by the director, Hironobu Sakaguchi. He worked with sketch artists to get a visual version of her for the character modelers to work off of. Our character modelers then worked with those sketches and "built" Aki in 3D.

I really had no input on her looks, but her personality and they way she moved was under my direction. Early on, I sat with Sakaguchi-san and discussed her personality down to the detail. I'd follow Sakaguchi-san's guidelines, but also input my own vision of what I'd imagine Aki would do in a lot of situations. Though just because I animated her a certain way, it wasn't always a guaranteed approval. Andy Jones, our animation director, and Sakaguchi-san always reviewed my work. >>



from this site.

 

[apoppin]

<< Aki's original design was created by the director, Hironobu Sakaguchi. >>


That IS what I am trying to say. And since he isn't telling "who", I suspect it is an old GF.

 

[SupaCh1nk]

oh wait, there's more,



<< Roy Sato, senior animator, was in charge of the movie's central character, Aki.
Aki looks like a bit of Agent Scully, a bit of Princess Leia, and a bit of something intangible in between. What is Aki's origin?

Sato: She is half Asian, half Caucasian; that was one of the criteria from [director] Sakaguchi-san. She's about 25, 26 years old, and her personality is very strong-minded, strong-willed. I don't use any exaggerated emotions, so you don't see her laughing really loud or anything. I use a lot of subtle emotions, which the director preferred.
>>



from this site.

maybe he had a caucasian gf and aki was their daughter.