1) Analyzing the subject's “essence” from every angle

Pursuing a Legend

Every person has their own distinctive style. Everyone has a set of unique features that defines them. But how do you quantify them? The answer begins with thorough research.

In the case of Freddie Mercury, the first step was isolating key “moments” that defined his live performing style from footage of Queen's 1986 concert at England's Wembley Stadium. From this, we isolated a handful of characteristics -- his shouting face, his trademark poses -- that most screamed “Freddie!”

In addition, we gathered a huge amount of material, ranging from vintage footage and photos to promotional videos and candid shots, for our sculptor and 3D data team to study together. Of course, that was all two dimensional, so they explored a variety of ways that they might translate Freddie's vibrant spirit into a three-dimensional design. The idea of using Tamashii Digital Coloring Technology emerged here, at the earliest stage of the process.

2) Rendering his features accurately

Digital Modeling

The analysis of the research materials was then used as the basis for high-precision digital modeling.

Distinctive personal features such as Freddie's jawline, cheekbones, and eyes, plus surface details such as wrinkles and facial hair, were captured in the exquisite detail that's possible with digital modeling. Some 300 hours were spent creating the digital model.

3) Reproducing realistic skin tones

Digital Coloring

Cutting-edge digital coloring is applied to the completed model's face and head.

Fine details such as skin gradations, wrinkles, and the roots of hair are notoriously difficult to capture in this scale of figure. But our digital coloring data is capable of rendering subtle micro-gradations even on a face part that's just 2cm high, resulting in unprecedented realistic coloration.
The digitized color data is applied as-is during the manufacturing process, resulting little to no “degradation” when seen on the actual products.

The resulting sense of reality is overwhelming, almost as though he leapt right off the screen. Tamashii Digital Coloring Technology brings characters to life.