Since
I was a child, I have been into Manga and have drawn my own comic series in
which me and my buddies were the main characters. I naturally realized
that this was something I was good at. However, as I entered into high
school, I was forced to study many subjects other than Art. Of course, because I
neglected my drawing skills, I couldn’t get in the top
animation university, so I chose Design as my major at my college.
Unfortunately, 2 years of studying Art wouldn’t get me anything after
graduation, so I quickly decided to go abroad to make myself a bit
more fluent in English.
While I was in Toronto, I found out there was a 1 year
Computer Animation course at Sheridan College, so I jumped in right away.
I believe that was the first important turning point of my life, where I got to
learn 3D software ‘Maya’. It was an intense course, but very worth it. I
learned all aspects of the program. I can model, rig, animate, light and render. These
are the good benefits of working in a small studio where you have to know a
bit of everything 🙂 While in the course many of my
classmates told me that I specifically had potential in animation.
After the program, I got a job as a 3D Artist. It was fun and nice to get to know many great people in the gaming field, but I realized that I really needed to amp up and better myself. Shortly I enrolled in AnimSchool.
And, I gotta say, ‘It was the second most important turning point of my
life’.
Student Sungmin Hong – Class 4 Body Acting from AnimSchool on Vimeo.
saw in the cinema. And, it was a whole new world, from there I started
drawing 🙂
many people in the Art Industry do, I was wondering if Art was a direction for me,
because I couldn’t draw nor paint well enough. But, I trusted that there
must be something other than drawing and painting. I found out I had
a good eye for things, I could observe how things move, how people move, and how to make
it more interesting. After that, I realized it was the Animation Industry I would like
to pursue for my career. And, 3D helps me to overcome my drawing skills.
Although, I still think having good 2D Drawing skills can be very helpful.
I got into animation late, but it’s been a couple of years since I
searched and viewed Glen Keane’s pencil tests and lectures on Youtube. I
couldn’t believe my eyes that he was making magic on paper. Of
course, I love everything he’s made, but I especially love when he uses a
shoulder to express the feeling. I think it was when the Little Mermaid is singing
on the rock and Glen pushes her shoulder all the way up to her face. It was very appealing and expressive. His thought on every single
pencil move has a lesson for me, so I watch his videos when I feel I need
some inspiration.
you’ve completed, which one has been the most challenging and why?
no hesitation I would say the ‘Character Performance’ shot where a
sassy girl argues on the couch. The shot was the most known shot among
mine, but surely was very challenging. It was certainly hard to come up
with the acting, so I decided to study a friend of mine who likely
matches the character in the audio and it worked. We came up with a
great reference and my first blocking was great. But there were 3 major challenges in my blocking and reference.
shot. After the first blocking, I felt a lack of character, even though I
liked the hand and leg movement. After struggling, I got the solution from
instructors that I needed to use her neck, not just to layer the movement,
but to give character. So, I made sure she pushed her neck as she spoke more and it helped in terms of accent and character for the shot.
 |
| Reaction before ‘nah ah’ |
Secondly
at one part, I had the character reacting quickly when the line starts (when she says ‘nah
ah’). It was too fake and unnatural, as if she knew what she was going
to say before hearing what he says. As instructors suggested, I fixed
it so that she reacts (facially) before she says ‘nah ah’. This became a lot more
believable and natural.
issue was the timing and transition between poses. Because in the
reference, I picked 3 favorites from each part and edited those together. So between
the edited parts, I had to figure out a nice way to transition, especially
the last part where she readjusts herself with her legs pulled more inward.
In that part, poses between the cut was too broad, therefore it felt too
fast. I had to spend lots of time getting the right timing and fix the
acting a bit.
Character Performance class, from coming up with the background story,
your video reference, to splining.
I picked two audio clips from the movie ‘Juno’ because I thought her
voice was very unique and had a strong personality, so that I could come
up with the character better.
As I mentioned, I invited my friend and had a little lunch and
conversation with her. As Jeff Gabor did for Linda in the movie ‘Rio’, I studied her
movement, every little detail. I even found out that the way she sits on a
couch was very interesting, so I used it. After the conversation, we
discussed what kind of gestures or acting she would do in this shot. She thankfully
did a few shots for me and it was great. One
thing I was glad about, I didn’t watch the movie. It ultimately
helped me to not limit my thoughts on the character of the shot (in my
shot she seems a lot more active than Juno in the movie).
breakdown and do more breakdowns. All of my instructors (mostly from
Blue Sky) have taught me to do the blocking in stepped mode. At the end of
the blocking stage, I have keyed every 2-3 frames. So, when I do a playblast, I
could see how it feels when it’s splined. (I spend more time in blocking
then in spline).
I focus on facial details and little things like fingers and accent and so
on. This is where I spend a lot of time trying to give extra life to the
character. Example: I
gave more of an accent on the ‘Punk’ part by opening the mouth in 1 frame to give
more ‘Pop’ feeling. This little detail can really fix the spliny feeling of
the shot.
of the challenges you had with this shot? Can you share some of the
feedback you received from your instructor that you found valuable to
the piece.
polish the shot, since I had to move out to a new place 🙂 But yeah, my
instructor ‘Melvin Tan’ helped me so much the achieve the quality I have.
of the transition between poses at ‘you got a’ and ‘Ah.. that’s so
rich’. Because previously in the blocking I made him leaning backward into
the chair and that made his spine straighten up too much so that there was
no space for him to go backward for the ‘that’s so rich’ part. And it
felt too dynamic for the ‘personality’ part, so Melvin’s suggestion was to move his spine a bit closer to the previous pose helping the audience
see other parts like facial and fingers. It’s also more clear to see him
leaning back on the chair in the end.
camera. Then, Melvin suggested to put his legs on a small chair or
something to convey his dominating position in the shot and it worked
out very well. It helped not only the personality of the character, but it also
looks good in terms of the silhouette.
Melvin gave a lot of directions for the mouth shapes, which was great because, I
had been struggling with the facial expressions for the shot. Since the
shot was very sarcastic, he wanted me to push lots of his mouth and
facial poses. A good example is when he says ‘Personality’.
Previously, his mouth shape was small and moved only up and down, but
Melvin told me to use the arc and even the forward and backward of the chin.
I didn’t even realize how much it would give the character by simply
moving his jaw forward and backward. It was literary one of the best
critiques on facial expression I have got through the course.
As I mentioned, it was the best turning point of my life. Without
Animschool, I could not have been here sharing my experience.
What’s your favorite thing you’ve learned so far?
I was really new to this animation world and in every class I learned things I
have never known before. After talking with students from other online
schools, I realized how lucky I am for choosing Animschool over others.
There is one great thing about the school, the
lecture is given from your own instructor from each class. It is not
pre-recorded, which means every instructor has their own style and
things to focus on during the lecture. For example, I have learned how
to use tools and scripts. How to block from
Michael Richard. How to analyze reference from Tony Bonilla. How to give
more expressive character from JP San. Important things to consider in
each stage from Garrett Shikuma. And, briliant acting lesson from Melvin Tan.
importantly, at the school I’m making my own network! Nowadays in the Industry, I believe having a good connection is always helpful. I can’t
emphasize enough how lucky I am to get to know the people in Animschool. 🙂