Today we’d like to introduce you to Victor Acuña.
Hi Victor, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
I’ve always been a fan of animation. It must have started with my dad, introducing me to cel animated artwork and classic Saturday morning cartoons. Getting to see him recreate some of his favorite characters and scenes gave me a glimpse into how animated shows were made. When I was a kid, there was still quite a few 2D animation houses animating by hand, and painting cels the traditional way. One side would get inked with the details of the drawing, and then the transparent sheet of acetate would be flipped over to the backside and that’s where the paint would go.
I was naturally artistic even as a child, so this fed my creativity and interest in how it was actually done.
Another impactful memory was going to see Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas for the first time at the El Capitan Theater in Hollywood. This was beyond significant to me. My favorite holiday growing up has always been Christmas, but my birthday falls on Halloween. Having these two parts of my life collide made me feel like the stars had aligned and someone out there really understood me. After the show I was mesmerized! In awe still, my dad explained to me how it was made, frame by frame via stopmotion animation with actual puppets and real life sets. And the best part was, they were right downstairs on display. This wasn’t just a drawing or paint on a sheet of plastic. This was more than that. It was movie magic right before my eyes. I felt the world I had just witnessed on the big screen, still existed right here and I was in it. Surrounded by actual puppets, props, detailed sets and conceptual artwork, I knew this was what I wanted to do.
I studied Media Art & Animation at the Art Institute of Santa Monica. There I was introduced to the principles of animation, storytelling, character design, cinematography and various forms of 2D and 3D animation. Upon graduating and the demands of the industry at the time I focused more on CGI character modeling and 3D animation.
But that wouldn’t be the end, CGI has come a long way and the fidelity has jumped lightyears since I graduated college. I can appreciate the complexity and beauty of CG animated films. Yet, I feel they cannot satisfy my appreciation of the hand-crafted details complete with all of the perfect imperfections seen in Stopmotion.
Which brings us to the present. The culmination of those experiences has brought me the opportunity to create a story of my own that, of course, revolves around Halloween. I have created original characters I hope will one day inspire the same sense of nostalgic wonder I experienced as a child. I have been very fortunate to have some industry legends and very talented people join my project. I’m grateful to each and every one of them, and look forward to creating an additional chapter of movie magic together.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
It’s definitely a journey, finding the path has been the most difficult. Knowing where and how to start was something that scared me away for a long time. I finally built the courage and found the motivation to just start. It’s been step by step towards the finish line, but having met many supportive people along the way encourage me to realize my dream.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
My father and I work together, we founded Unwrapped Art. A small business where we can express creativity focusing on our own strengths and utilizing our own mediums. But I think our strongest works have been those that we can tackle together. I’m most proud of the commission requests we get, it’s usually things that have never been made before. Fans across the film and horror community (our target audience) get creative in their artistic requests and we get to deliver on that. Hopefully realizing their dreams.
Before we go, is there anything else you can share with us?
My kids, I have two little boys 6 and 4. They love watching their grandpa and dad work together to make artistic things. Naturally they love animation and spooky things too. I know that something is really interesting when they put down their toys to come take a look at what i’m making. Their natural curiosity and sincere comments let me know when I’m doing something right. They inspire me, and in turn I hope I’m doing the same for them.
My creative partners pictured together: (Writer,Producer,Director) Matthew Hersh and (Actress,Producer) Gigi Gustin
Contact Info:
- Website: https://Unwrappedart.shop
- Instagram: @unwrappedart
