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Young Malaysian Contributes Talent to Blockbuster Films Avatar & 2012, Malaysia Boleh! Posted: 15 April 2010; Category: Campus
High-flying graduates will always be ready to seize their dreams just like Malaysian born youth, Ng Chun Seong who is a Modeler at Hydraulx; CG studio in Santa Monica, California. His passionate achievement serves as an example to all young aspiring creative talents in Malaysia, helping them to believe they too can reach the same goal.
A local boy from Kuala Lumpur, Chun Seong spent most of his childhood watching cartoons; one could say that that was how his interest in art and creativity was discovered. Growing up, Chun Seong was a big fan of computer graphic arts and was exposed to the Jurassic Park and Star Wars movie era that inspired him to be a Computer Graphic Artist. Together with his father’s support, a self-taught painter, the local KL boy believed in himself and eventually head out to pursue art as his career choice.
During his academic years at The One Academy, Chun Seong studied the art of 3D animation and produced a short animation as his final project. The One Academy equipped him a solid education which allowed him to walk this far to be part of the booming industry. “The One Academy has helped me learned, I felt like a child learning the process for a 3D artists.” Chun Seong recollects. Later on, he graduates in Diploma in Digital Animation at The One Academy. He was passionately exhilarated in 3D Arts and without hesitation, he furthered himself in Masters of Art in Animation at Savannah College of Art & Design, one of the academy’s affiliated universities in the United States.
Nurtured at The One Academy, Chun Seong’s artwork was also selected to win in the field of computer graphics, such as CG Arena, CG Channel.com and CGTantra.com which was categorized as Editor’s Pick to being awarded the Excellence Award. His jaw-dropping portfolio has brought him as far as the international industry. After a skillful training, in 2008 Chun Seong landed a position in a computer graphics studio in Santa Monica, California. From there, he embarked on his creative journey by contributing his skills for special effects Hollywood’s blockbuster films (listed from 2007 to recent) such as; AVPR: Aliens vs. Predator – Requiem, Jumper, Wanted, Meet Dave, The Incredible Hulk, The Day The Earth Stood Still, Bedtime Stories, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Fast & Furious, X-Men Origins: Wolverine, 2012 and Avatar, including a commercial for advertising agency Saatchi & Saatchi, Los Angeles. The results were undeniable, as Chun Seong and the special effects team won Oscar recognition for best achievement in visual effects for the award-winning hit, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.
Serving as Modeler, Chun Seong describes the most crucial part of the art process is the ‘idea’. The core of an idea should be inspiring, motivating and best to be developed if one observes one’s surroundings. His job scope is to model the ‘idea’ based on the studio’s concept, lidar scan and blueprint in order to create solid ‘idea’. Chun Seong would begin sketching the basic form, construct the framing, models it in 3D and then develop it in 3D sculpting package. The local boy enjoys the challenges as sometimes he is required to come up with his own designs or retopologize models made by other studios to fit into their pipeline. This involves him in modeling and texturing the process before the team could hand the assets to the rigger and lighters. “Hydraulx is a fast-paced studio that often requires things to get done really quickly. I’ve learned to manage and readjust my time to work fast to meet crazy deadlines without compromising quality of work as project length varies which takes more than a month or a year.”
“During The One Academy days, my lecturers exposed us to new ideas and choices which pushed me to reach beyond limits. I am grateful to them because I learned that artists have to be unique and creative to stand out from the crowd. There’s no point repeating of what others have created or done. I practiced this; today I view myself as a person with my own thoughts and not a copycat.”
The talented young local boy handles challenging tasks whilst maintaining strong will power and determination. Besides being creative, he believes that this should be the right mindset to bring forth one’s self. “To be successful in the creative art and design field, one must be mentally tough to handle the stress, demands and even failure. With a strong will and determination, anyone can endure the whole art process as it provides you the patience to work things out and the ability to communicate effectively with your teammates and clients.” Chun Seong encourages as he shares that this would be the essential criteria a young designer would need in order to survive in the industry.
In gratitude to his success today, Chun Seong thanked his families and friends for the continuous support; another advice which striving young people should always remember, “The decision to study animation was my idea, but I’ll never be where I am today without my loved ones. Life is already tough; one must always remember to pull through and just keep trying no matter what. We tend to make mistakes which we know we could’ve done things differently to make things better, however, never hold regrets because it’s the past that makes us who we are today.”
It is because of such optimistic approach, youths like Chun Seong who is determined demonstrates not only passion but a good example of the next leading generation in the name of Malaysia, residing in its rich arts and craft culture. This success generates motivation and would be able to lead our country to roll with the changes of vast technology and latest education trend. With the path that Chun Seong and many walk in, it has provided a brand new beginning for Malaysia’s Art industry. Not only opening the doors for the young & rising prominent talents but also creates a bridge to success for those who are ready to seize international standard opportunities.
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