Focus
Posted on 12:24 PM, July 02, 2015
By Nickky Faustine P. de Guzman
From Hanna-Barbera to Walt Disney: An animator’s journey
DID YOU KNOW that a Filipino artist was one of the brains behind Big Hero 6, this year’s Oscar award-winning animated film?
Armand Serrano -- who has worked for major Hollywood studios like Sony Pictures and Walt Disney Animation -- was in charge in designing the San Fransokyo Institute of Technology, one of the key settings of Big Hero 6. As an animation environment designer and visual developer, he works on the ambiance. Backgrounds usually don’t get much attention because the audience is focused on the foreground and the characters. But this doesn’t matter to Mr. Serrano who, like any visualist, knows that setting and the characters complement each other.
This is one of the most important lessons in making it big and bold in the art scene: no detail is insignificant. (But then again, drawing the background is no easy feat. Case in point: the animated film Hotel Transylvania, which Mr. Serrano took seven years to finish.)
An artist needs what we can call for our purposes “survival kits” to be successful in his craft. Mr. Serrano shared these survival kits at the recently concluded ICON Manila 2015 International Entertainment Design Conference held at the De La Salle Saint Benilde, which was attended by art students and other art masters in film and game industries.
SURVIVAL KIT 1: ACKNOWLEDGE THE TALENTNot a few art lovers who grew up in the 1970s until the ’90s will affirm that parents discouraged their kids to pursue a career in the arts because they thought it irrelevant, unprofitable, and pointless. Mr. Serrano’s parents belonged to that kind of traditional family. He said he was advised to take up medicine or engineering. He chose the latter. But in between his classes, he was doodling and drawing, and he knew he could paint.
“I went [into] engineering and finished it,” he said, “but I never really enjoyed it.”
The pull of the canvas and the brush had always been stronger than the ruler and the calculator. After college, Mr. Serrano pursued his first love and applied in an animation studio. He was accepted and he took off from there.
He started his career as an assistant animator at Fil-Cartoons, a Manila-based Hanna-Barbera studio that was behind some of the Saturday morning cartoon shows like Yogi Bear. Mr. Serrano said his parents were happy for him, because they only wanted him to finish his college degree and he was free to do anything after that.
But it turned out his civil engineering degree was a blessing in disguise. Mr. Serrano said it gave him an edge over the other artists because there’s math in the arts, as demonstrated by the legacy of the Renaissance, for example.
“There’s a lot of logical thinking, mathematics, and algebra in animation. We deal with camera panning, layout, and design. In camera, we create formula, like calculating the move of the camera. [My civil engineering background] gave me the edge. It made my life easier. I got the sensibilities of an engineer,” he said.
It also helped that Mr. Serrano had big dreams. After his stint in the Philippines, he applied for a job at an international game developer studio, which opened bigger opportunities for him in the United States. The company gave Mr. Serrano and his family the opportunity to migrate in California. Then Walt Disney hired him and this led further to his thriving career at present.
“There’s no big dream. When I was little, I knew that I could draw. You have to assess yourself realistically. Know your capacities. Don’t be afraid to set the goals high, but sacrifice and work hard. Aim high and walk toward your goal,” he said.
SURVIVAL KIT 2: THINK LIKE A KIDCreative jobs are fun but they are also meant to be taken seriously -- though not too seriously. “If you lose the fun, creativity won’t come,” said Mr. Serrano. He advised young artists to stay young and to always think like a child. According to the artist behind the animated films Mulan, Tarzan, Lilo and Stitch, Surf’s Up, and Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, some artists can be misled by the false notion that the more complicated an artwork is, the better.
Mr. Serrano has developed a pyramid about the foundations of a design. He said the most important factor is the idea, which is the base of the pyramid. Part of his job as a visual development artist is to jump-start the inspiration. He reads the script and translates the words into artworks. Then, the director will approve his ideas.
“Before thinking outside the box, think inside the box first,” he said. He mentioned the importance of “dynamic research,” meaning doodling while googling. “If something grabs your attention while doing your research, pause and start to draw it. You never know what will happen,” he said. Just don’t forget to add your signature style and don’t just copy. Mr. Serrano said it’s okay to copy styles when you’re just starting -- nothing is original after all. But find your voice along the journey, he also said.
After conceptualizing the idea, make it work -- this is the second level of the pyramid. After execution, technique comes last. This should be the tip of the pyramid. “Some artists invert the pyramid,” he said. “It shouldn’t be the case.”
SURVIVAL KIT 3: KNOW THE BASICS
Behind the intricacies of famous computer games like “World of Warcraft,” “Starcraft 2: Void of Legacy,” and “God of War ”is the most simple school of thought: knowing the basics. According to Charles Lee, one of the speakers in the event and the cinematic concept artist behind today’s popular games, it is important to commit to heart and memory the basics of black and white before mastering other colors. Mr. Lee studied illustration and entertainment in California but apart from his formal lessons, he studied on his own. He practiced shadowing and coloring black and white every day. “Don’t slack on learning the foundations like basic shapes and colors. They are the keys to success,” he said.
For Mr. Serrano, meanwhile, the three most important components of a good animation is a compelling story, a believable world, and appealing characters. He is currently working on Zootopia, which is scheduled to be released in March next year.
SURVIVAL KIT 4: BEEF UP YOUR PORTFOLIO
Portfolio makes or breaks one’s career. So what and how many should be included in a portfolio? According to John Nevarez, the animator behind Monsters University, Cars 2, Astro Boy, Kim Possible, and Tinker Bell, at least 10-12 pages are enough. “Remember that recruiters see portfolios day in and out. Place your best work in front, the second best at the last page, and the third best in the middle.”
Portfolio preparation should cater to the recruiter, said Mr. Lee. If you’re applying for character design, put in strong personalities with strong features. For layout design, obviously, put design location templates. Mr. Lee said artists should showcase their techniques while remembering the basics.
SURVIVAL KIT 5: WORK HARD AND KNOW YOUR WORTH
Everyone can draw but not everybody can do it well. “You are special. Do not work for free,” he said when asked if it’s okay to scrimp your talent fee. According to art students who attended the conference, studios would often offer the smallest possible fee. Most studios also want to see the artwork first before paying them. “If that’s the case, tell them to do it themselves,” said Mr. Serrano. His friends, Messrs. Lee and Nevarez couldn’t agree more. “Negotiate well. If they really like your work, they will run after you,” added Mr. Nevarez.
But don’t let your talent get into your head. It all boils down to “patience, hard work, discipline, and consistency,” said Mr. Lee, who cited as an example a friend who is talented and kept working every day until he got better and better.
What’s the best motivation to work hard? “I think about my bills,” Mr. Serrano said, laughing. “That’s the reality. Like writers who have writer’s block, we have ‘creative rut.’” But he said whenever he thinks about the bills, then boom, his creative juices begin to flow. Besides the extra cash, he looks at the works of personal inspirations like Alex Nino and N.C. Wyeth for added motivation. “Whenever I check their works my hands are already itching to draw,” he said.
For Mr. Nevarez, it also helps to develop a thick skin. “Pretend you didn’t hear the rejection, the ‘no.’ Or be your own Pixar” -- or Walt Disney or Marvel.
