Spotlight on // Richard Van As
MFA Visual Effects
When Richard Van As came to DMAC to study in the Visual Effects Animation graduate program, he wasn't just new to the state; he was new to the country. Having received his BA in Animation at the University of Westminster in London, England, Richard was considering his next step. "My parents had always had the American dream," he says, "To come and retire in Florida and spend their autumn years fishing, so when I completed my undergrad they suggested I look at the USA to do a Masters. Once I had found the DMAC website I knew that this would be the place that could take me to that next level I was looking to get to."
Richard reminisces, “My earliest artistic inspiration was in 1993 when Jurassic Park came out and I thought that I would make dinosaurs for my career." Later, his interest in animation was piqued the same way countless other animators had set upon their careers over the generations—by turning his school books into giant flip books in class. "Nothing can quite compare to the thrill of seeing your first stick-man getting smooshed by a 10 tonne anvil", recalls Richard.
Since those early aspirations, Richard has gone on to study animation on two different continents. "I have always really been interested in movement and performance, so I focused mainly on character animation", he explains, "For my thesis in particular, I tried to make sure that the characters shone through over any other aspect. At times it was really hard to make a decision and say 'I would love to spend another day on this texture or that model, but those hours need to go into the animation.' It was a fine balance."
Richard recently produced an animated television spot for Pediatric Sleepsolvers currently airing in the Palm Beach area, and has since moved on to a much larger project with Atlantis Studios. "I was required to produce six different animations to be used in an infomercial for the client's product", he says, "That project was more technically challenging but was rewarding in that I gained a lot of knowledge in a very short space of time."
When asked to look ahead to the future of his industry, Richard enthuses, "The next really big change will come with 3DTV. People will be able to watch game shows in 3D or play video games in 3D; that will be a huge game-changer for the way we look at home entertainment, but that still doesn't change those core principles. If anything, artists should be incredibly excited to be in this industry right now."
He also offers this advice for students looking to differentiate themselves from the rest of the pack, "No matter what the goal laid down for you, always try and go a little beyond it. If you put the work in, then the rewards will present themselves. Take pride in every piece you produce, irrespective of what the project's label is. If you take that approach to every project you tackle, you will be spoiled for choices when it comes to putting a show reel together at the end of your degree, and then its just a short leap into the industry."