Apart from nominations in Annecy International Animation Film Festival, Another World took home multiple honours, such as the Golden Horse Award for Best Animated Feature. Hilary Tang Yin-ting, a 2020 HKMU graduate in Bachelor of Fine Arts with Honours in Animation and Visual Effects, participated as a key animator in the blockbuster. She confessed that she was gobsmacked by the stunning movie performance. Looking back on the creation journey, Hilary admitted it was tough, but in a good way, showing her absolute devotion to the project. “Yes, I felt tired, but the challenges of animation work anchored my steps to keep going.”
For the love of illustrating, Hilary studied HKMU's programme to build a deep understanding of animation production. She then volunteered to enter the industry and climbed her way up from foundational positions to key animator. She explained the procedures: when the layout is ready, she would pass it to the background and animation units. It is the key animators who decide the characters’ movements and the interpretations of key gestures in the animation.
The production of vibrant animation visuals relied on the unsung work of the key animators. Upon entering the office door, Hilary often dug her head into the sea of animation until the sun went down. “It took a bunch of time just to create a blink of a product, which is tiring.” What is created in weeks, even a month, would only be converted to a dozen seconds of screentime. Another World, a 7-year body of work, brought Hilary into a swamp of craftsmanship, but she tasted the sense of success in it. “With an 'Artisan Spirit', I meticulously checked the draft frame by frame before submission, which audiences couldn't see. The happiness of working in secret just to blast the audience with surprises kept me going. I can't wait to do long projects.”
Partaking in long-term creation takes up one's mind, stamina and body. The everyday drawing work by holding a pen had strained Hilary's wrist. “Have my 'three gems' ready — eye drops, pain relief patches, and wristband — to protect myself.” Pressures were physical and mental. A newbie like her in a team full of top-notch members with exquisite drafts must bring up something shiny before turning into a burden. She was lucky to team up with them, and to exchange ways to solve and enhance efficiency, which brought her new insights into teamwork. “A friendly reminder can actually tackle the difficulty. Share more, care more, solutions are right in front of us. Sincere communications do help.”
The human-like gestures of the animation characters hinged on a tip, as Hilary mentioned, “practice once”. She added, “animations are by drawings, but originated from life.” Animators would mirror or record the movements to replay as a drawing reference. “The produce will be more agile, like an authentic movement rather than imagination.” Being handy at graphic scenes, Hilary agreed Another World gave her opportunities, in which running, limb-chopping scenes were by her.
In the movie, Goran fled after her family had broken up. To capture the sense of losing control when dashing, Hilary filmed herself running on a treadmill, losing balance and falling, as a drawing reference. For whimsical scenes like soaring in the air or reversed gravity, she would use different methods to reintegrate and restore the movements. She lay down and reverse-recorded herself to review the changes, “it's a must to have observation and some imagination.”
While Artificial Intelligence (AI) is a thing now, she still clung to manual drawings to create human craftsmanship. “Now that AI is still a tool. When it comes to fine-tuning, manual modifications are still needed.” She certified that the uniqueness of human effort, as well as the character and traits of a work, were reflected by the creator who utilised the tools. She added, “we would think to proceed with the aesthetic and judgment process. The aesthetic and the decision-making are what decide how high a body of work can place.” She was glad to have that foundation secured during HKMU curriculum, “the lecturers explained numerous rules, involving things like movie story logics, camera language, to distinguish the good ones and bad ones, and choose the best frame.”
Hilary found HKMU's programme comprehensive, enabling her to understand animation creation from the part to the whole. She particularly enjoyed the “Drawing and Life-drawing” course, where she literally held a charcoal to draw, “it's a tough challenge capturing the motions and putting that onto paper immediately in a place where you do quick sketches and the model changes posture every five minutes.” Other courses, such as “Motion Graphics Design” and “2-D Animation Production”, were tremendously beneficial to her current job.
In 2018, Hilary partook in the animation of the exhibits from Ink Global: Motion•Ink, matching the right dynamic scenes by learning the background of the ink paintings. From which she knew a lot about the actual animation industry. “It's more than just a pursuit of artistry. Rather, more factors have to be considered, like clients' requests. This was something rare to learn during study.”
Turning knowledge into practice, Hilary was thrilled to be back at her alma mater to interact with the audience and took home some insights. “It's usually hard to put myself into their shoes, but their questions gave me new perspectives on my work.” She hopes for the ongoing development of Hong Kong animation and left some words to juniors who are passionate to the industry. “Stay healthy, and never give up. Of course, it's the “pretty or not” thing reviewed by the audience to decide how far the animation could go, but this is not all. The learning we gained and the experiences we accumulated are the things that matter. Successes or failures do not make or break anything. Keep forging ahead with our own preferences.”
