Animation Guild

Spring 2018

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14 KEYFRAME O N T H E J O B THOMAS PERKINS / WARNER BROS. ANIMATION Perkins studied Studio Art at California State University, Long Beach, where the focus provided a more general and classical approach to the arts. A longtime comics and animation enthusiast, he got his first job in 1997 as a Prop Designer on Sony Television Animation's Extreme Ghostbusters. When the Character Design department needed help, Perkins was brought over to assist by designing mouth charts. He's been a character designer ever since. DESCRIBE YOUR JOB. My job is to help in populating the world of each story. Whether it is for a small town in the middle of nowhere or a far-flung space station rife with alien life, that task is great fun for me. WHAT'S YOUR TYPICAL DAY? On any given day, I work to coordinate my efforts with the team to be certain that I am working to best support their efforts. This is done by being well versed in the scripts and breakdown lists, as well as talking to other departments to make certain the characters I am drawing work with the world and other assets being created for the show. WHAT'S THE BEST PART OF THE JOB? Apart from getting to draw every day, the fact that I am constantly learning new things. Whether it is a new art style or art tool or approach, there is always something to add to your bag of tricks. It is all a part of striving to create new things each day. WHAT ARE SOME CHALLENGES? The most important challenge for any designer is to be an asset to your team and to be certain your work best serves the story and the style of the show. If you fail that challenge, things become much more difficult. It is also important to keep an eye out for opportunities to learn new skills. One must be constantly prepared to stretch as an artist, especially as the landscape is constantly changing. DESCRIBE YOUR PROCESS FOR DESIGNING A CHARACTER. In most cases it begins with trying to visualize the written concept. To determine the salient points about that character's physical and mental description that can be used to give an interesting visual representation. WHAT DETERMINES A SUCCESSFUL CHARACTER DESIGN? As artists, we all have things that we feel work for our particular design sense. One should keep an eye to distinct silhouettes and strong shapes and contrasting forms and how those give insight into the characters that we are creating. We can employ color to help tell more about the personality of the character. The success of your designs will ultimately be dictated by the satisfaction of your client. DO YOU HAVE A FAVORITE CHARACTER THAT YOU'VE DESIGNED? In heavy competition for first place there would be two shows I deeply enjoyed working on. Firstly, there was Green Lantern the Animated Series. I have had a lifelong love of the character, the Green Lantern, so to be able to contribute to that venture was fantastic. It was an opportunity to create odd aliens and beasts to roam the cosmos, as well as to work with a truly talented crew. Secondly, there was the Cartoon Network film, Firebreather, based upon the Image Comics property created by Phil Hester and Andy Kuhn. There was an opportunity in this to design giant kaiju beasts. There were quite a few monsters and the design process to arrive at the final designs was great fun. THE TASK OF THE CHARACTER DESIGNER IS TO BREATHE LIFE INTO A CHARACTER, WHO MAY INITIALLY EXIST ONLY AS WORDS ON A PAGE. WE SPOKE TO THREE CHARACTER DESIGNERS ABOUT THEIR INDIVIDUAL APPROACHES, AS WELL AS THE SECRETS TO GOOD DESIGN. IN CHARACTER By Karen Briner

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