Today we’d like to introduce you to Edwin Schaap
Edwin, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
Growing up in the Netherlands, as a kid I felt very passionate about movies and VFX, watching behind the scenes on DVD’s and such. I started working on farmfields when I was 12, to save up money to buy my first camera. When I was 14 I started making shortfilms in the backyard and when showing these videos to my friends and neighbours, the positive reactions of them really ignited my passion for film making. I was also interested in 3D animation but in that time it wasn’t as easy to get started with.
I went to school to study that and in my second year I made a shortfilm called Robby which, in the early days of Youtube went Viral and made it into newspapers. During those schoolyears I also learned a lot during internships, of which the last one, at Framestore London, I was able to return after graduation to start working on movies.
I worked on movies such as Paddington, Mowgli and The Martian. I have been living in LA for a while now, working for the same company. And in my sparetime I have started recreating my old backyard videos with my improved skills and I love sharing the knowledge through my Youtube channel and masterclasses.
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?
It’s been a pretty smooth road because my passion often leads me to what I wanted by itself.
I try to not force myself too much, let things happen how they go, and if things take a little longer, it often has benefitted me. There’s no point being hard on yourself and stress too much. When you know you do your best, then that’s all you can do!
One thing I always have had, and still deal with, is social anxiety, it sometimes challenges me to get out of my comfortzone to interact with people, so that’s something I battle with.
For example when I make live action shortfilms it takes me a lot of energy to take the reigns and feel comfortable with telling people what to do. But it’s something I have accepted about myself but I don’t
let it control my life. I just setup meetings or say yes to things to force myself, and just deal with the anxiety later. This way I can get better at it and won’t let it make me regret opportunities. I actually have a video about it on Youtube later this year!
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I specialize in Character and Creature animation and I am working as a Senior Animator at Framestore LA.
But on Youtube I’m probably best known for my shortfilms like Rooted (22Mviews) and this year I’ve started uploading videos
in which I show my knowledge of how I approach animations for visual effects. I give those videos a personal touch by improving my old backyard videos, like Spiderman, King kong and most recently I improved my old “the Mask” video, which went pretty Viral! Asside the Youtube channel, I offer more in-depth Animation Masterclasses as well. For beginners I have a principles masterclass to learn the basics. And for people with a bit more experience I have a VFX Animation and Shortfilm Masterclass.
People commend me mostly on my speed and ask often how I get so much things done. but I’m proud I work very time-effecient and I know where to put the efforts. This effeciency is one of the things I teach during my masterclasses. I am very proud of my masterclass, it took years of work, but I’m maybe even more proud of the great testimonials I got from it!
What matters most to you?
To me, since the beginning I have been making videos as a kid, until now, what matters most is that People feel entertained. That they have a laugh or cry, feel touched, and hopefully also learned a little bit by the end of the video. I love making my inner-child, the Edwin from 20 years ago happy, if the 14year old kid who made an amateur mask-video in the backyard knew that later he would do it again and have over twenty thousand people watching it on youtube, he’d be happy! I hope to keep making things like that with a true passion.
Pricing:
- Animation Mentorship 5 Reviews $250
- Animation Principles Masterclass $399
- Shortfilm Masterclass $399
- VFX Animation Masterclass $430
- Masterclass bundle $1000
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.edwinschaap.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/edwinschaapofficial/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/edwinschaapanimation
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/edwinschaap
- Other: https://www.edwinschaap.com/home/masterclasses/
