Memory Alpha
Memory Alpha
m (frm.)
mNo edit summary
Line 2: Line 2:
 
{{Sidebar crew|
 
{{Sidebar crew|
 
| Name = Koji Kuramura
 
| Name = Koji Kuramura
| image =
+
| image = Koji Kuramura.jpg
 
| imagecap = ...with (l) JPL's Zareh Gorjian in 2007 at a presentation
 
| Birth name =
 
| Birth name =
 
| Gender = Male
 
| Gender = Male
Line 9: Line 10:
 
| Date of death =
 
| Date of death =
 
| Place of death =
 
| Place of death =
| Awards for Trek = [[Emmy Award|3 Emmy Award nominations]]<br/>[[Emmy Award#VES Awards|1 Visual Effects Society Award]]
+
| Awards for Trek = [[Emmy Award|3 Emmy Award nominations]]<br/>[[VES Award|1 Visual Effects Society Award]]
 
| Roles = [[:Category:Special and Visual effects staff|Digital Effects Artist]]
 
| Roles = [[:Category:Special and Visual effects staff|Digital Effects Artist]]
 
| image2 = Foundation Imaging employees.jpg
 
| image2 = Foundation Imaging employees.jpg
 
| imagecap2 = ...with (top right) the staff of Foundation Imaging
 
| imagecap2 = ...with (top right) the staff of Foundation Imaging
| image3 = Koji Kuramura.jpg
 
| imagecap3 = ...with (l) JPL's Zareh Gorjian in 2007 at a presentation
 
 
}}
 
}}
  +
__NOTOC__
 
'''Koji "Fred" Kuramura''' ('''Fred''' being the nickname given to him by his boss at Foundation, [[Ron Thornton]]) was a [[CGI]] artist for [[Foundation Imaging]] and subsequently at [[EdenFX]], after the former went out of business in 2002. He worked on numerous episodes of ''[[Star Trek: Deep Space Nine]]'', ''[[Star Trek: Voyager]]'', and ''[[Star Trek: Enterprise]]'', as well as the tenth feature film {{film|10}} and the ''[[w:c:stexpanded:Star Trek: New Voyages|Star Trek: New Voyages]]'' [[Trekkie|fan]] films.
 
'''Koji "Fred" Kuramura''' ('''Fred''' being the nickname given to him by his boss at Foundation, [[Ron Thornton]]) was a [[CGI]] artist for [[Foundation Imaging]] and subsequently at [[EdenFX]], after the former went out of business in 2002. He worked on numerous episodes of ''[[Star Trek: Deep Space Nine]]'', ''[[Star Trek: Voyager]]'', and ''[[Star Trek: Enterprise]]'', as well as the tenth feature film {{film|10}} and the ''[[w:c:stexpanded:Star Trek: New Voyages|Star Trek: New Voyages]]'' [[Trekkie|fan]] films.
   
Line 24: Line 24:
 
Kuramura has counted his ''Enterprise'' builds of the the [[Romulan Bird-of-Prey (22nd century)]] {{DrexFiles|2009/04/30/starship-columbia-nx-02-construction-pictorial/}} and the abandoned [[D4 class (concept)|prime-universe D4-class]] {{DrexFiles|2009/07/10/eyecandy-23/#comment-16829}} among his personal favorites.
 
Kuramura has counted his ''Enterprise'' builds of the the [[Romulan Bird-of-Prey (22nd century)]] {{DrexFiles|2009/04/30/starship-columbia-nx-02-construction-pictorial/}} and the abandoned [[D4 class (concept)|prime-universe D4-class]] {{DrexFiles|2009/07/10/eyecandy-23/#comment-16829}} among his personal favorites.
   
==Career outside ''Star Trek''==
+
== Career outside ''Star Trek'' ==
 
Outside ''Star Trek'' Kuramura worked as a special effects crew member on the short film ''The Blair Witch Mountain Project'' in 2002, directed and produced by, as well as starring [[Ike Eisenmann]]. Another film as digital artists is the horror thriller ''Dominion: Prequel to the Exorcist'' in 2005, being employed at [[Eden FX]] alongside former Foundation co-worker [[John Teska]]. Kuramura has also contributed to the Electronic Arts, Inc. [[video game]] ''Command & Conquer: Tiberian Sun - Firestorm'' (2000). [http://www.mobygames.com/developer/sheet/view/developerId,15548/]
 
Outside ''Star Trek'' Kuramura worked as a special effects crew member on the short film ''The Blair Witch Mountain Project'' in 2002, directed and produced by, as well as starring [[Ike Eisenmann]]. Another film as digital artists is the horror thriller ''Dominion: Prequel to the Exorcist'' in 2005, being employed at [[Eden FX]] alongside former Foundation co-worker [[John Teska]]. Kuramura has also contributed to the Electronic Arts, Inc. [[video game]] ''Command & Conquer: Tiberian Sun - Firestorm'' (2000). [http://www.mobygames.com/developer/sheet/view/developerId,15548/]
   
Line 38: Line 38:
 
* {{y|2004}} for the episode {{e|The Council}}, shared with Arthur Codron, Dan Curry, Pierre Drolet, Steve Fong, Sean Jackson, John Teska, Greg Rainoff, and [[Mike Stetson]]
 
* {{y|2004}} for the episode {{e|The Council}}, shared with Arthur Codron, Dan Curry, Pierre Drolet, Steve Fong, Sean Jackson, John Teska, Greg Rainoff, and [[Mike Stetson]]
   
=== Visual Effects Society Awards ===
+
=== Visual Effects Society Award ===
 
* {{y|2003}} [[VES Award]] win in the category Best Models and Miniatures in a Televised Program for the episode {{e|Dead Stop}}, shared with John Teska, Pierre Drolet and Sean M. Scott
 
* {{y|2003}} [[VES Award]] win in the category Best Models and Miniatures in a Televised Program for the episode {{e|Dead Stop}}, shared with John Teska, Pierre Drolet and Sean M. Scott
   

Revision as of 21:26, 14 February 2014

Template:Realworld

Koji "Fred" Kuramura (Fred being the nickname given to him by his boss at Foundation, Ron Thornton) was a CGI artist for Foundation Imaging and subsequently at EdenFX, after the former went out of business in 2002. He worked on numerous episodes of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Star Trek: Voyager, and Star Trek: Enterprise, as well as the tenth feature film Star Trek Nemesis and the Star Trek: New Voyages fan films.

Kuramura's work on Deep Space Nine entailed among others the Defiant-class launch bay [1](X), and animating the Fire Caves sequence in "What You Leave Behind". For Voyager, his work included among others, constructing the warp nacelle interior for the USS Voyager crash sequence in "Timeless", the severely damaged USS Voyager in "Year of Hell, Part II", and the Unicomplex and the damaged Borg sphere in "Dark Frontier". (Star Trek Monthly issue 58)

For Enterprise, by then in the employ of Eden FX, noticeable contributions were the CGI models of the NX-class under construction Columbia NX-02 and the ISS Enterprise, as well as his CGI build of the USS Defiant. [2] His work earned Kuramura three Emmy Award nominations, one for the Voyager episode "Year of Hell, Part II", and two for the Enterprise episodes "Dead Stop" (that did win him a Visual Effects Society Award) and "The Council".

Kuramura has counted his Enterprise builds of the the Romulan Bird-of-Prey (22nd century) [3](X) and the abandoned prime-universe D4-class [4](X) among his personal favorites.

Career outside Star Trek

Outside Star Trek Kuramura worked as a special effects crew member on the short film The Blair Witch Mountain Project in 2002, directed and produced by, as well as starring Ike Eisenmann. Another film as digital artists is the horror thriller Dominion: Prequel to the Exorcist in 2005, being employed at Eden FX alongside former Foundation co-worker John Teska. Kuramura has also contributed to the Electronic Arts, Inc. video game Command & Conquer: Tiberian Sun - Firestorm (2000). [5]

In 2006, Kuramura was hired by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in order to create visualizations, for which his prior experiences on Star Trek were singularly well suited, of space exploration, or as Kuramura himself has put it, "Our job is to bring some Hollywood pizazz, the wow factor, to everything we do". [6] Former Foundation and Star Trek colleague Michael Stetson joined him at JPL. [7](X)

After a long absence, Kuramura returned to the motion picture industry, having recently worked as digital modeler on Iron Sky (2012, along with former Foundation Imaging colleague Lee Stringer).

Star Trek awards

Emmy Awards

Kuramura received the following Emmy Award nominations in the category Outstanding Special Visual Effects for a Series:

Visual Effects Society Award

  • 2003 VES Award win in the category Best Models and Miniatures in a Televised Program for the episode "Dead Stop", shared with John Teska, Pierre Drolet and Sean M. Scott

External link

  • Template:IMDb-link