www.korea.net

Q How did you end up working overseas?
A Jung Byung-gun After graduating from Hongik University with a
degree in Department of Art Studies, I enrolled at the Academy of
Art University (AAU) in San Francisco in 1996. I then worked on
three feature films and one short animation at the Walt Disney
Studios before landing a job at Weta Digital. In the past, I’ve also
worked for Paramount Studios and Sony Computer Entertainment,
the maker of the Sony PlayStation. Early on in my career I spent
three or four years in the field of game cinematics, working for
companies like SNK, Activision and Sony.
Park Jee-young In character animation at the California Institute of
the Arts (CalArts), I started work at an indie movie production
company as a 2D key animator. At the time, many 2D animators
were transitioning into 3D, and I was no exception. Three years
ago, I saw an announcement saying James Cameron’s Avatar was
going into preproduction, and, of course, that’s when I applied to
join Weta’s animation team.
20 th Century Fox Korea
Q What exactly did you do on Avatar?
A Jung In November 2008, for the first eight months of production,
I worked as a texture artist, developing colors and textures for
CG character backgrounds and objects, and then for the last four
months I worked as a lighting technical director, designing the
lighting for scenes to create the final images. This transition
between departments enabled me to experience a wider range of
the movie’s production process.
Park I worked on Avatar as a senior animator. All of these creatures,
none of which exist in the real world, were created from
scratch through nothing but animation.
Q What did you think was special when you first saw how
Hollywood productions were made and became a part of it?
A Park The first things that come to mind are the massive amounts
of capital investment, the systematic production pipeline in place,
and the abundance of trained professionals. A particular focus is
placed on preproduction and planning, during which an efficient
production plan is drawn up, while developing the necessary software
and technologies and creating a coherent storyline at the
same time. Such thorough preparation, combined with an efficient
work environment, saves a lot of time. During the preproduction of
Avatar, which lasted several years, James Cameron and 20 th
Century Fox developed a new camera technology called the Pace
Fusion 3D camera system. Another strength of the Hollywood VFX
industry is that there are so many artists who know how to use all
these new technologies really well.
Q How do you think Korea’s VFX technology is coming along?
A Park Thanks to Korea’s soaring interest in VFX and how it’s revitalizing
the entertainment industry, investment in VFX movies is
growing every year and movies out there are becoming more and
more expressive. The use of VFX is only going to increase in Korea
in the future. It’s also noteworthy that there are a growing number
of professionals who are well-versed in this field.
Q What do you think about Korea’s intention to take its VFX
overseas?
A Jung It’s great that Korean VFX companies are collaborating on
overseas projects and making inroads in other markets, and they
should definitely keep up with this. It’s difficult to expect the
Korean VFX industry to grow if companies just target the limited
domestic market with its small number of moviegoers. Producers
in Hollywood are turning their attention outside the country to cut
costs. So as long as you have solid qualifications and a good command
of English, there’s a good chance you can sign some kind of
a deal with an overseas company for VFX or animation production.
We have to figure out what our strengths and weaknesses are, and
deal with the particular problems we face. Korea has a domestic
movie and game market base, and a professional workforce. On the
other hand, there is a lack of experts with high-end production
experience and a language barrier in place. You also have to keep
in mind that most of the countries doing VFX and animation work
for the US right now are English-speaking ones like Canada, India,
New Zealand, Singapore, India and the UK.
KOREA
FEBRUARY
2010
13