By Lawrence Casiraya
HOLLYWOOD , USA – The announcement of Up as this year’s Oscar Best Animated Picture Film is not only a victory for Pixar but serves as inspiration for Filipino animators all over.
He may not have delivered an acceptance speech – it was director Pete Docter who appeared onstage – but Ronnie Del Carmen deserves his fair share of credit as the film’s story board supervisor.
He was actually there at the Kodak Theater where the awarding ceremony was held and tweeted about the whole experience, including walking the red carpet and “celeb sightings overload”. Want more evidence? Here’s a photo of him wearing a tux and holding the invite while inside a limo.
Another Filipino, Ricky Nierva, was part of Up’s production design team. However, it was Del Carmen who had more responsibilities supervising a team of animators that gave life to the story of an old man and a precocious kid flying a balloon-powered house.
Del Carmen is probably the most recognizable Filipino animator working at Pixar right now. Prior to Up, he worked as a story supervisor for Finding Nemo, which I’m guessing is a more popular movie for kids in the Philippines. (Filipino animators also worked in the latter film, which explains the bahay kubo in the aquarium.)
What is more inspiring about Del Carmen’s success story is that he was originally from the Philippines. He started as an advertising director before moving to the US to venture into a new career in animation. Slowly but surely, he’s getting recognized even by industry insiders in Hollywood.
In 2007, he was invited as a guest speaker in a local animation festival and even gave lectures as far as Naga City. He also tells his role as story supervisor for Up in a series of videos – uploaded on Youtube – that’s a must-see for aspiring animators.
Meanwhile, local artist Joel Chua shares in detail the things he learned after attending a presentation by Del Carmen, which could give a peek into Pixar’s formula for making successful animated films.
In his blog, Del Carmen introduced himself as someone who watches a lot of cartoons and movies and brings a sketchbook with him anywhere. He has self-published a comic titled Paper Biscuit, which he uses in his Twitter account.
I’ve seen young people who fit into that profile, whiling away their time in coffeeshops or even in the MRT with a little sketchbook in hand. With a little luck, they might also be responsible for producing an Oscar-winning film someday.
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