Yanick
Dusseault
ABOUT
Yanick Dusseault is a familiar name in the vfx world. For over 30 years, he has worked on high-profile projects at ILM, Lucasfilm, and Weta Digital. Yanick has an elite reputation as an Art Director that can effectively realize a director’s vision. His talent is sought after by such directors as Spielberg, George Lucas and Peter Jackson. In 2012, he was handpicked by JJ Abrams to be part of the dedicated, ongoing Star Wars Art Direction Team, and he has continued in that role since Episode VII: The Force Awakens.
Yanick was previously Senior Art Director at ILM which he joined in early 2001 after working as a Senior Matte Painter on the Lord of the Rings trilogy in Wellington, New Zealand. He is the recipient of numerous accolades and awards including the VES award for "Outstanding Created Environment in a Photoreal Feature" on Star Wars: The Force Awakens in 2015 and “Outstanding Matte Painting in a Motion Picture” in 2004 for his work on Pirates of the Caribbean. He was also part of the Oscar winning VFX team for What Dreams May Come in 1999.
Motivated to bring his passion for vfx to a team he could help inspire and take pride in knowing that his input has direct influence on its success, Yanick joined Raynault in early 2018. As Creative Partner, Yanick wears three hats at Raynault: Art Director, Concept Artist, and Digital Matte Painter, adding even more depth to an already accomplished team.
From rough paintings to more photorealistic illustrations, concept art needs to capture the essence of a director’s vision and provide a strong guide for the creative team that is meant to bring that vision to life in film.
If concept art starts the conversation, a digital matte painting completes it by turning the abstract into the authentic. It requires a highly-trained eye to add the photorealistic touches and skillful lighting that integrate the real world of a live action plate with digitally generated elements in a way that is undetectable.
