Interview with Inhaeng Lee

Among the various fields, I decided to create a portfolio focused on dynamics. At first, I came up with several different story ideas and went through a lot of trial and error. However, since my goal was to pursue FX, I eventually realized that a simple story with visually impressive and effective effects would work better, which led me to develop the portfolio I have now.

The story is about a barn being destroyed by the explosion of a bomb planted inside it. As the explosion occurs, numerous fragments scatter in all directions and the fire gradually grows larger.

The production process followed this order: background filming → tracking → barn modeling → texturing → lighting → particles → dynamic simulation → rendering → compositing.

Beyond the advice that others have already given, the first thing I would like to recommend is deciding which field you want to pursue before creating your storyboard. Of course, developing a good storyboard is important, but I think it is even more important to first decide whether you want to focus on modeling, animation, dynamics, or another specific field.

Rather than simply creating a visually impressive VFX story, I think it is better to create a story that clearly fits your chosen field so that you can showcase your strengths more effectively.

In my case, the production period ended up being quite long. Since I was working on dynamics, I became too ambitious and tried to include as many different dynamic effects as possible. The biggest reason, however, was that I eventually scrapped the entire portfolio and started over from the beginning.ㅠㅠ

I originally tried to incorporate character-based dynamics, but I eventually realized that it was beyond what I could realistically accomplish within the time I had. So I started over. I could have focused simply on dynamics, but I tried to add animation as well, which made things much more complicated.

When planning a portfolio, I think it is important to set a clear and realistic goal based on your own abilities and commit to it from the beginning. When working on a portfolio, you need to be decisive about every aspect. If you leave things vague, the production process will only take longer.

Once you enter the lab, having the right mindset is important, but I think being consistent and diligent is even more important. Working steadily is much more efficient than trying to do everything at once. Rather than working through the weekends, I recommend working hard during the week and using the weekends to rest, have fun, and relieve stress.

Also, regardless of what you are working on, you will naturally tend to follow the methods you learned in class. However, don't assume that those methods are the only correct answers. Discussing different approaches with the people around you and experimenting together can help you work more efficiently and quickly.

Having set working hours helped me stay disciplined and prevented me from becoming lazy. It was also great being able to ask questions whenever I needed help. I probably bothered the instructors a little by asking so many questions~ haha. Anyway, I had a lot of fun and learned a great deal.

SFFilm Workshop is an essential part of SFFS. Fighting!