MANILA – “Go out there and absorb the world so you could find inspiration.” said Walt Disney Animator, Benson Shum at the recent Graphika Manila conference, held at the SMX convention center in Pasay.
In his talk, Shum tackled animation, getting accepted at Walt Disney Animation Studios.
Shum was born and raised in Vancouver, Canada. According to him, he had already been drawing and sketching since he was a kid but he never really thought that he would animate for a living until he saw behind-the-scenes of cartoons on television and got hooked on it.
He is a graduate of Sheridan College and Capilano University. He has been juggling his school and work life for years until he landed his first job at a local animation studio where he mastered 2D animation, character design, editing and even directing web shows for 2 years. In his free time, he would try to practice his ability in drawing to improve his creative portfolio. He also found an opportunity to work in England and he stated, “I took the chance to experience a different kind of life and to also see the world in a different perspective.”
After that, he got contacted by The Moving-Picture Company wherein he worked as a visual effects artist for Harry Potter and The Goblet of Fire. After his visa expired, he went back to Vancouver and decided to find a work in 3D animation. When Sony Pictures Imageworks opened up a studio in Vancouver, he applied and joined the team in their first film, The Smurfs followed by Hotel Transylvania.
During those times, he attended a conference on animation and he saw a Walt Disney booth and he applied.
He said that they turned him down countless times because his portfolio are not that great. “I applied at Disney probably 20 times and I always got rejected but somehow they saw something in me and I got in.”
His journey to Disney is no joke. When he got accepted, he was immediately assigned to work for Wreck-It-Ralph. Because of his potential, he was then assigned to work on Frozen and Big Hero 6 which challenged him a lot as an animator because of the diversity of the characters he dealt with. For instance, with Frozen, they used real people as reference as to how Anna and Elsa’s body movements differed, and with Big Hero 6, they worked on six characters that were nothing like each other.
Being an animator requires a lot of knowledge, competence and great work ethic, Shum said.
According to Shum, paying attention to the details of creating a certain character is very important. Working on different shapes, sizes and visual movements would take you a lot of patience to do. He stated that if you are animating a cartoon, you should stay true to what you are doing and make your characters realistic.
More than the ideas he shared, what was most inspiring was when he talked about the importance of pushing one’s co-workers to tell a better story. Every single person plays a big role in every film and that’s what makes them unique as animators. According to Shum, a dedicated team who could execute a great concept would of course lead to success.
He also announced that Disney will be releasing two animated films for 2016: Zootopia and Moana.
Shum ended his talk with one great piece of advice: “Stop relying on computers ‘cause your ideas will stay the same, travel and hangout with your friends to get ideas!”
Words: Mark Hipolito
