Jumbosmart is pleased to interview Jason Stansell. Jason is a Senior Character Animator for Sony Imageworks where he recently finished production on the the Walt Disney feature film “G-Force” and is currently working on Tim Burton’s “Alice in Wonderland” and “Cats & Dogs 2″. He has worked studios such as The Walt Disney Company and Rhythm+Hues Studios, animating characters on feature films and video games including “The Incredible Hulk,” “Alvin and the Chipmunks,” “Bolt” and more.
: INTERVIEW:
Q: Jason, animating characters for a feature film is dream of many animators. What are the best parts of doing this kind of work and what are some of the biggest challenges?
A: The best part of this job is the fact that I wake up every morning excited to go to work. It’s humbling, because animation is what I’ve wanted to do ever since I was a child, and I feel extremely blessed to have a career doing what I truly love. But there definitely are challenges too. Some are good challenges, such as the fact that you’re never finished growing. There is always something new to learn or try in animation. It keeps you from getting bored! But there are also challenges in that in a production based environment there are a lot of deadlines, and you often have to work a lot of long hours. To be honest, it hasn’t been uncommon to have 60-70 hour work weeks. Sometimes even more than that. Fortunately that doesn’t happen all the time, but it does happen.
Q: When did you realize you wanted to be an animator and what inspired you?
A: I knew I wanted to be an animator from a very young age, but for the longest time it truly seemed like a dream. As a kid in northeast Tennessee, I wasn’t sure if I could do it and, even if I could, how I would do it. But, regardless of the fact that I had no idea how to even do animation at the time, I submerged myself in animation in any way I could. I remember waking up every morning, anxious to watch Tom and Jerry before leaving for school and watching all these Disney movies that my parents had on VHS. I remember sitting at the foot of my Grandfather’s recliner and watching Looney Tunes with him, specifically the Road Runner and Wile E. Coyote shorts. Every time Wile E. would fall off a cliff and you would see the inevitable puff of dust from him hitting the ground my Grandfather would literally burst out laughing. It struck me as so interesting that something I loved and was obsessed with watching was also just as entertaining to my 60+ year old grandfather. I wanted to entertain people like that. I was also very fortunate to have extremely supportive parents. Although they could have written off my dreams of doing animation as a silly idea, they instead encouraged me as much as they could. In fact, my parents bought me several Disney animation books including “The Illusion of Life” which really helped fuel my desire. We even had (and I still have to this day) a Fisher Price Movie Viewer and cartridges including shorts such as “The Brave Little Tailor”. You could watch the movies on the screen of the unit or project them on a wall and the best part was that you controlled the speed of the movie by turning a crank on the side. So I could watch these animations frame by frame to see how animation was really done.
Q: What advice do you have for young artists who dream of animating for feature films some day?
A: Don’t give up. I know that sounds cliché, but it’s true. If you want something that badly, you have to really try for it. But just wanting it is also not enough. You need to immerse yourself in whatever it is you want, whether it be animation or not, and try to learn as much as you can. Seek out as many opportunities as possible to try things. If you can find people who are experts in the field that you have a passion for, see if there are ways you can learn from them. But, I would also say on a personal level that on top of all those things, I would recommend praying. Constantly lift up your desires to the Lord. Seek His wisdom and guidance as you pursue your dreams and seek to glorify Him through your passions.
Q: How did you learn animation, what kind of classes did you take, which school/schools did you attend?
A: I learned as much as I could on my own through watching as much animation as possible, through going frame by frame through animations via my Fisher Price Movie Viewer and through reading books like “The Illusion of Life” and “An Animator’s Survival Kit.” I was also fortunate enough to be able to pursue animation once I got to college. I attended East Tennessee State University in Johnson City, TN. The program there really gave me a chance to dive in and learn some techniques, but I knew coming out of the program that I wasn’t ready. I ended up enrolling in Animation Mentor, an online animation school where you have the opportunity to get one on one mentoring with individuals who are actually working in the animation industry. I learned more there than anywhere else.
Q: What types of software and hardware do you work with? Do you have a favorite tools and techniques for animation?
A: Currently at Imageworks, we use a version of Autodesk Maya that has a lot of proprietary tools and functionality built into it. But I have also used software such as Flipbook, 3ds Max and some in-house software at other animation houses. There are so many tools that I love, especially at some of the places that I’ve worked but I would say some of the ones I enjoy the most are ones that take care of a lot of the technical aspects of the job and let me focus more on the art of animation itself.
Q: As a Christian in the film animation industry do you encounter any special challenges or opportunities because of your beliefs?
A: Wow. You know that’s a tough one. I guess the easy answer is yes, but not in the ways that I expected. So far I have been very blessed with the projects that I have worked on. I haven’t been put in a situation where I’ve been asked to do animation that would compromise my values or beliefs. But I do know others who have been in that situation and that’s a tough place to be. I try to live my faith through my daily walk and I have had the opportunity to share my beliefs with others in the workplace.
Q: Is there any thing else you would like to pass on to the young people out there seeking to develop their God-given talents in the art and animation?
A: There’s a verse that I have always kept close to my heart regarding what I do for a living, and not only in relation to doing animation. Colossians 3:23, “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men” — There’s some amazing wisdom there. Whatever you pursue, it’s important not only what you are doing, but why you are doing it. The Lord wants us to do what is right, and to do so out of love for Him and to glorify Him.
Tags: Alvin and the Chipmunks, animator, Cats, Character Animator, christian animator, dogs, G force, incredible hulk, jason, sony image works, stansell
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