INMOTION ——— Chat with Industry

Today（11/10/2024）, I attended an animation event organized by INMOTION, listened to a talk by a creative director and had the opportunity to talk with several animation studio heads.

The first lecture was given by a special effects props designer, who shared his experience of designing props for movies like Star Trek. What surprised me most in this talk was realizing that many of the special effects that I had always thought were made with computer graphics were actually made with physical objects! His work is also not limited to visual design, but also includes areas such as motion programming.

However, the most exciting part of the day was listening to Nina’s talk and seeing her puppets up close. This gave me a clear understanding of the production process of commercial stop-motion animation. For example, when showing the moment when a bottle breaks, each piece of glass is supported on a stand and then carefully moved frame by frame according to the pattern of movement. When showing a fire scene, she uses wool felt and places a lamp behind the felt to simulate the effect of flames. After understanding the complex process of stop-motion animation, I became more interested in it and decided to make it my future goal.

In my conversations with animation studio heads, I asked them several questions about student employment in the animation industry. One of the first questions I asked was how animators balance their personal style with the demands of commercial work. The studio heads explained that they prioritize animators’ abilities in acting and storytelling. When assigning projects, they try to match the animator’s style with the aesthetic of the project. However, it is also seen as an asset if the animator has a unique personal style, as this will bring more variety to the studio’s work. Therefore, their advice to students is to focus on developing basic animation skills, such as acting and storytelling, while maintaining their own style. These are considered to be the basic duties of an animator.

Next, I inquired about the main responsibilities of a stop-motion animator in a studio environment. They emphasized that stop-motion animation requires strong teamwork because it is a highly collaborative process. During stop-motion animation production, animators usually work together on almost every frame. For example, some shots require several people to control different elements at the same time, which requires teamwork and coordination. This kind of collaboration really tests an animator’s ability to work with others.

INMOTION was my first time to come into close contact with so many animators and companies in the industry, which made me feel the passion of the animation industry. Nina’s lecture made me want to get deeper into the stop-motion animation industry and become a stop-motion animator or director.