Impressing clip… so beautiful … Andy Huang is a student? Looks like he should be the teacher. Somebody hire him, quick! His animation is perfectly convincing, the sound effects are first-rate, the editing and compositing are smoother than a baby’s butt, and the social commentary is ironic bordering on profound. Outstanding work.
Interviewed by Sam Chen, SDAFF Artistic Programmer
What do you find most challenging about making “Doll Face?”
Finding the determination to finish it. Also, embarking on a project when I was not sure how I would go about executing the visual effects. I almost quit the project about three times before I even started it because I did not have confidence I would be able to pull off the imagery that I had in my head.
Tell us whether the use of animation made it easier or harder to tell your story.
I don’t think it would have been possible to do my film without animation. The film was originally conceived from a group of paintings I did in high school. I think the only other media outside of animation that could have told this story would have been an art piece like an illustration. So, I guess the answer to your question is that animation sure made it harder, but having still surrealist imagery alone without the addition of time would not have been the most effective way to convey my idea.
How do you fund your films?
I create my films from my own personal funds, but only if I know that the film will be of little financial cost to me. The reason I did this project is because I knew I had the means to produce it very cheaply. The only large cost to me would be time essentially. The software I used to make this film I had purchased with my own personal savings. The most money spent specifically for this film went to sound and music equipment. As for the production cost of filming the bluescreen live action footage, I had my friend Christina Frenzel volunteer to be the actress, and a non-profit community computer technology center, Palos Verdes on the Net (PVNET), provided me their lights, cameras and studio to film “Doll Face” free of charge. In a sense, it’s really my friends, family, and career relationships I have made over my past short years as a filmmaker that really funded the creation of this film.
What tools (software, hardware) did you use in the production of your film?
Maya 6.0, Adobe After Effects 6.5, Adobe Premiere Pro 1.5, Adobe Photoshop, Reason 3.0, Windows XP Pro, Canon XL1
What was the single biggest lesson you learned from making “Doll Face?”
I learned that filmmaking is not just about time and money; it costs a lot physically and emotionally both during and after the film is finished. I set out to create this film to in order to test the limits of my own artistic capabilities, as well as the limits of my own personal ability to commit to this film and get it done. If anything, I came away from this project with a better knowledge of what I can handle and what I can’t, and how much I can handle from living off my computer for months until I begin suffering from vitamin D deficiency. Since the film has been finished, something I’m still learning is the financial and personal costs of seeing your product take on a life of its own. Sending it to festivals and letting it travel the internet takes some tougher skin to handle the brutality of the public eye. So, I’ve learned that there are costs that go beyond financial, even long after a project is completed.
Who are some of your heroes and influences in animation?
I’ve been influenced a lot by Michel Gondry and Chris Cunningham, as well as older artists such as Norman McClaren, Jordan Belson, and Jan Svankmajer. As a kid, I think the most significant pop influence was Jim Henson’s Muppets. Seeing what he did by combining puppets and film taught me that you can do anything with a camera and create alternate realities that can really inspire and change people for the better.
If you could pick one single animation to take with you to a desert island for the rest of your life, what film would this be?
Probably one of James and John Whitney’s mandala pieces, so I can contemplate eternity as I die slowly from malnutrition and dehydration.
What would be your ultimate achievement in animation?
I think as long as I produce something that inspires someone else or makes them see differently, I’ll be happy. Art is about sharing, so if I can share something with someone that gets us both pumped, then that means a lot to me.
Andy Huang, creator of “Doll Face”
What project are you working on next?
None right now…just living and enjoying my senior year at USC. Finding a job and developing marketable skills so that I can pay my bills is scary and stressful, but I only get college once, and I’ll be filmmaking for the rest of my life hopefully. Though, I do have some ideas buzzing in my head. I’d like to do more abstract experimental work with video and pixelation. I’ve been very inspired by the works of video artists Takeshi Murata, Tony Oursler, and Andreas Nilsson and I’d like to explore the use of more of the abstract visual digital vocabulary that we see daily that some artists have yet to consciously take advantage of.
Any plans to work for a Hollywood animation studio or do you plan to stay independent?
Ultimately I think I’d like to be independent, but I am open to working at a large company, at least for a period of time. Even though I’ll have less flexibility at a large visual effects studio, I’ll be in the company of amazing, talented people, and I’d want to learn as much from them as I could.
What do film festivals like SDAFF mean for independent filmmakers such as yourself?
SDAFF means a lot to me because it allows me to share my film with the Southern California Asian American community. Sharing my film with the community I’ve been brought up in is important to me, and I do feel a conviction as an Asian American to increase Asian American visibility in entertainment.
Does being an Asian American help or hinder your pursuit of filmmaking?
I think being Asian American helps or hinders my filmmaking as much as it would help or hinder anything else in my life. As a young kid noticing the scarce amount of famous Asian American actors, actresses, directors or entertainment people who were widely recognized and appreciated, it was hard at 12 years old to imagine myself as an Asian American in entertainment. But I knew at the time that there were Asian Americans in the business still trying, and I had a passion for what I wanted to do. So, it’d be silly for me to count my Asian American identity as an obstacle that keeps me from doing what I need to do.
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