Today we’d like to introduce you to Bismark Fernandes.
Hi Bismark, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
My animation journey started in India, where I studied Animation Film Design from MIT Institute of Design, Pune India. After completing my undergraduate course there, I worked in a design firm, Bombay Design House, in Mumbai. I worked on multiple projects for television, mostly 2D animation, motion graphics and illustrations. Once in a while, we had the opportunity to really push our boundaries and work in stop motion and other experimental mediums. Most of these projects were made using paper crafts and shot using very basic stop-motion techniques.
The projects at Bombay Design House left me wanting to know more about advanced stop-motion fabrication and filmmaking. This led me to join the Animation Masters program at Savannah College of Art and Design. I was able to focus all my energy on various types of stop-motion techniques while I sharpened my animation skills.
Soon after completing my Master’s program, I moved to New York. There I had the opportunity to work with Hornet, MightyOak Studios and Skypie creating animated commercials for various brands like Amazon Prime, Trader Joes, some spots for Netflix and other exciting brands. While I was working on commercial projects, I was presented with a unique opportunity to teach stop-motion animation to individuals on the autistic spectrum. That was a life-changing experience. The challenge was to come up with fun and interesting ways to keep the students engaged and interested while they learn new concepts to express their ideas.
I was hired on a feature film production at LAIKA in Portland, Oregon. Unlike the advertising and television world, working on this production felt more like a marathon than a sprint. I was exposed to a different side of stop-motion production. I was like a small cog in this extremely complex machine. From my past experiences, I was used to playing multiple roles on every project, for instance, I would be fabricating sets and puppets one week and storyboarding, animating or compositing the next. However, on this production it was a more specialized job and each department focused on what they did best. Here I worked on building miniature props for sets which were crafted in high detail by hand or using 3D printing techniques.
I moved to Los Angeles to join Stoopid Buddy Stoodios. This was my first television series and I was excited to be working with the talented artists at that studio. I got to work on animated shows M.O.D.O.K and Santa Inc. It was a fast-paced production similar to commercials and on a much larger scale. I moved on to working on a show with Bix Pix Entertainment that is yet to be announced.
I continue to work in the stop motion industry thinking, creating, collaborating and sharing what this beautiful medium has to offer.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Starting your career in a new country has definitely been a bumpy road. It felt like I had to start from scratch as an artist. My previous industry experience from India was extremely helpful but tapping into the stop-motion world out here was not easy.
Initially, it took a while to get my work out there and make connections in this tight-knit industry. It forced me to get out of my shell and network with people from various studios, introducing myself and sharing my work. Patience and persistence helped immensely during this process. A factor that made it easier was that the artists in this industry were really kind and were always eager to promote new artists.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I am an Animation filmmaker and I love creating animated content in digital 2D and other experimental mediums. But the closest to my heart is stop-motion animation. The distinct and tangible quality of this form of animation is what draws me toward it. This is achieved by detailed craftsmanship, engineering, magic and love which is not easily attainable with other animation techniques.
In the stop-motion world, I play multiple roles and move from being a generalist and specialist. I mainly specialize in building handcrafted miniature props, sets and puppets. I have been slowly incorporating advanced building techniques like 3D printing into my builds as well. In my opinion, maintaining the right amount of detail while making these backgrounds and knowing the balance between simplification and realism is extremely important. It helps to enhance the visual appeal of the miniature set. The idea is that we want the viewer to perceive the set as an actual world and not a miniature set. Along with building props, I dress sets as well, which involves setting the scene in every animated shot. After the angle of the shot is set, my job is to enhance the background to aid in visual storytelling. My experience as an animator helps with making me a better prop builder and dresser as I can anticipate the needs for a particular shot and help design functional props that work well during animation.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.bismarkfernandes.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bismarkfernandes/
Image Credits
Pic 1: Bismark Fernandes, Still from my film Expend Pic 2: Bismark Fernandes, Still from the film Expend Pic 3: Bismark Fernandes, Behind the Scenes of the Film Expend Pic 4: Bismark Fernandes, Still from the animated clip Knight-n-day Pic 5: Bismark Fernandes, Still from the animated clip Knight-n-day
