Real Talk with Jackie Bae
TFK Kid Reporter Disha Rai spoke with Jackie Bae, a storyboard artist living in Los Angeles, California. As a storyboard artist, Bae helps visually outline animated TV shows, turning text into images that tell a story. She’s worked for various companies on numerous animation projects, including TV shows such as Let’s Go Luna!, Central Park, and Rugrats.
Read the transcript below to learn about Bae’s career in animation, in her own words.
How did you get into animation?
Growing up, I loved drawing and cartoons. I never grew out of doodling on the back of my homework. So that was where it started. I went to ArtCenter College of Design, in Pasadena, California, and graduated with an illustration and entertainment arts degree. In school, I didn’t really know what I wanted to do. I just knew that I really liked to draw comics and cartoons, but I had a professor kind of late in school who encouraged me to pursue storyboarding, which is actually the closest you can get to comic-book drawing. And that’s how I started. I graduated, and then I landed my first job at Nickelodeon.
When did art go from a passion to a potential career for you?
In high school, I realized that art was such a passion for me. I knew it was the only thing that I could do for the rest of my life as a career. I didn’t really know much about animation until I entered college. I was taking painting classes, figure drawing classes—things like that. But within the [illustration] major, we had different subcategories. One of the categories was entertainment and arts, and they’d teach everything about animation—like working in feature films, designing characters, writing a story. All different facets of working in animation, which is really cool. I decided that I really liked drawing sequential cartoons. I wanted to tell a story, and I really wanted to give life to my characters.
What are some of your favorite art mediums?
At the beginning, it was a lot of pen and pencil on paper. But the more you enter professional life, you realize that [many] people prefer digital drawing. Now, my favorite thing is a tablet. In my first job, I was actually a background painter. And this was a really special job, because we actually got to paint on traditional paper instead of on the computer. We got to paint with actual paintbrushes, inks, and watercolors. It was really nice, and I love painting watercolor, but I would have to say my tablet is my favorite medium.
How does storyboarding work?
A writer will write up a script or an outline of a script, and then they will hand it off to the storyboard director, which is my current job. Then the director will go over the overarching story—like the important character moments that we need to hit. Then the storyboard artist takes that script, which is essentially the skeleton of the story, and pairs it with visual storytelling. We draw what’s going to happen in the episode, which is really cool. We decide how the characters are going to act, what expressions they’re going to make. We get to choose every single camera shot. Once we do that, we hand it off to the next person in the pipeline. It goes on until it becomes a finished episode on television.
What are some of your favorite subjects to draw?
I love drawing people, because I think you can get the most comedy and humor out of drawing characters. If you want to draw them with a funny face or a funny expression, you can. You have a lot of freedom. I’m really interested in how people convey their emotions, and all the subtle intricacies and the differences in how people can act.
Which one of your animation projects do you think made the biggest impact on you?
I would say my first job at Nickelodeon, when I was a painter. I knew animation wasn’t as glitzy as Hollywood live-action. I just thought I was going to draw comics in my little cave and not really talk to anybody or see anybody. But my first job was with this company that every kid knows: Nickelodeon Animation Studios. It was amazing. I felt like I was entering into a completely new world and meeting all these like-minded people who also drew cartoons—who were also really interested and passionate about animation. For me, it was the most impactful, because there was a lot of camaraderie in the animation industry, which was really, really nice. It was a really rewarding experience.
What are some skills that you’ve learned through your career?
Getting your work done on time, and meeting your deadlines. A lot of it is being able to understand the style of a show, and adhering to [that style]. That comes with knowing better color theory, understanding things like effective camera movements, and drawing an accurate expression that properly conveys what a character is feeling. There were a lot of art-specific skills that I had to learn. But other skills I learned involved being able to work with your coworkers. Collaborating is really important in animation. There’s a lot of back and forth—like, “Oh, I think this color choice might be better for the sky, because I think it makes it more moody.” Once I started working in a studio, I realized that it wasn’t all about technical skills.
What advice do you have for kids who want to be artists or animators when they grow up?
Do not give up. Stay passionate, and love what you do. You’re your own worst critic. To everybody who's out there just drawing, you should just keep doing what you love. There are going to be days where it’s really hard to get something. Maybe you don’t know how to draw a certain thing, but just keep at it. And I know parents might not want to hear this, but watch a lot of TV. Watch a lot of cartoons, read a lot of comic books, and watch a lot of movies. A lot of people think that [animation] is just fun, but it’s actually real work. A lot of my sensibilities as an artist and as a writer and a storyteller come from the content that I watched growing up. It really shaped who I am as a person. Another important thing about being a storyteller is that you can derive inspiration from anywhere. So always be curious. Read a lot of books. Draw every day, even if it's just a little.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
