Today we’d like to introduce you to Donghoe Kim.
Hi Donghoe, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
I was born in South Korea and came to the States in 2018 to study animation at Ringling College. I’ve wanted to study animation and work in the industry since I was in middle school; when I first saw films like Toy Story, Wall-E, and Inside Out, I fell in love with it! I want to be able to bring people joy through my work just like those movies did for me when I was younger. So, I tried to make a fun animated short film that everyone can enjoy watching during my senior year at Ringling. It’s called “Octopus Ninja”. I am sorry to tell you that I am not allowed to share it yet since I’ve been submitting my work to lots of film festivals, and they require exclusivity.
Also, I was fortunate enough to be able to intern at both Lucasfilm, and Sony Pictures Imageworks during my school years. I learned a ton from a lot of really amazing directors and animators. I worked on Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (2023), Star Wars: The Bad Batch season 2 (2023), and Star Wars: Tales of the Jedi (2022). After graduation, I came to San Francisco to do an animation internship at Pixar, which was an amazing experience. Right now, I’ve been working on the YouTube TV series “MechWest” at AnimSchool Studio.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Honestly, it hasn’t been a smooth road. I would say it was a rollercoaster so far. For me, being an animator means that you have to push yourself every time you animate. You can do this in a lot of ways, but I’ve been trying to push the story, character appeal, and acting performance every time I get assigned to a shot. To make the audience feel what the director wants them to feel through the character’s performance, you have to create good acting performances that are believable but also pleasant to watch. I learn something new every time I finish a shot and try to remember those lessons for the next ones. Also, there are lots of ways to animate. It can be 2D blocking, layered method, or reference-driven. So, depending on which shots I get assigned to, I try to use different ways to animate more effectively as well as push my own boundaries. I believe that struggling means growing and learning, so I will always be willing to do that.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I am a character animator and director. As a character animator, basically whenever you watch CG characters talking and moving around from TV shows, movies, and commercials, that’s what I make behind the scenes. Sometimes I have to act out the scenes just like the character you see on the screen, so that I can see how the body works and I can feel for myself what the most believable performance would be. It’s pretty similar to a puppeteer, but there are more controls and a better range of movement. This year, I wrote and directed the animated short film “Octopus Ninja”. It was a blast. After I wrote a script, I modeled, rigged, textured, animated, lit, and rendered the movie. Also, I was able to work with amazing voice actors, music composers, and sound designers for my film. And I learned a lot in terms of how this industry pipeline works. Also, while I was giving feedback to those professionals, I learned about communication skills and making decisions. I feel very lucky that I could learn some things from them too. Learning and getting familiar with their workflows and work ethics was always fun for me, and it helped motivate the whole team. I can’t wait to share this film with the public in the future. I hope that my work shows a unique and memorable spark that stays with the viewer.
Are there any apps, books, podcasts, blogs or other resources you think our readers should check out?
I usually check out the Rise Up Animation podcast. RUA (Rise Up Animation) helped me to get my first internship from Lucasfilm. When I was at college, RUA invited the Lucasfilm team to do a podcast about two years ago, and I really enjoyed watching them talk about their shows and workflow. I thought about working with them while I was watching it, but I never expected that it was actually going to happen pretty soon after that. In 2021, RUA emailed students who were subscribed to their newsletter and told us that Lucasfilm was looking for interns during the summer break, so I applied! And fortunately, I got the animation internship. I learned a lot and met so many amazing, nice people. Also, that was my first career experience in this industry. So, I would recommend RUA to other animation students because they collaborate with lots of artists and help students for free. I also think networking with professionals in the industry is really valuable to broaden your perspective.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://dkim381.wixsite.com/donghoekim/about
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/donghoe__kim/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100080622168365
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/donghoe-kim-379265174/
