HIS name has been featured in the closing credits of several major Hollywood films, and by the look of things Chun Seong Ng will soon be associated with more than CG work in the near future.
Based in Vancouver where he lives with his wife and twin daughters, Ng has recently branched out into producing a children’s programme called Fruities.
Together with his close friends (Emmy nominated - Alex Young and VFX Veteran Nikhil Patil), Ng set up an indie company named Talesque Studios.
“After brainstorming with my children, I thought that doing a kid’s show would be interesting. Throughout my career I have done horror shows, I have done disaster movies and superhero movies, but I have not done a kid’s show. They would tell me ‘Daddy I cannot watch anything that you have done’. My kids are very creative. We also make up stories together.
“One day while on holiday we came up with a story called Fruities, which is based on them. We created a universe based on that,” said Ng.
The trailer for the pilot of Fruities (a short film) was released in September 2019 and got very good feedback.
“Our team at Talesque Studios are developing it further. We are currently finalizing the pilot, working on scripts for the first season - total of eight episodes, we are doing more concept art, and developing more characters. Our goal is to launch this idea to a network as a sci-fi TV children series. ”
During our interview, Ng said things have been challenging for the movie business since March.
“A lot of productions have been shut down or pushed. It has been quiet. The company I am working with right now, Barnstorm VFX, the Owners - Cory Jamieson and Lawson Deming have been very supportive and is keeping us around to do some R&D for future work.”
“We are slowly picking up some work. There has been some filming going on in Vancouver and in Los Angeles.”
Reflecting on his journey so far, Ng said that when he was growing up, he wanted to do something in the arts, either as an artist or something associated with computers. He also grew up loving watching movies and playing games.
“At that time the first Toy Story came out. It was cool. It was a taste of what visual effects would eventually become. The most important movie was Jurassic Park where they brought dinosaurs to life,” he said.
He enrolled in a local college where he took up a 3D animation course.
“From there, I had my first taste of what computer graphics looked like. I also realised that the ceiling I wanted to achieve was really high, and I knew I could not achieve it in Malaysia.”
After three months with a company called POV in Cyberjaya as an animator for three or four months, he knew he wanted to go one step higher.
So he left for the US and attended the Savannah College of Art and Design.
It was an uphill climb as he had to move to California where the studios were, and he found it difficult to get a job with no prior experience.
He finally landed his first job as a junior modeller with Hydraulx in Santa Monica in 2007.
He took the opportunity to learn more on the job, and among the first movies he worked on was AVPR: Aliens vs Predator – Requiem where he helped do the model work for the spacecraft.
“I was so excited. I remember going to watch the movie two or three times just to see my name in the end credits. It was unbelievable. My family and friends were really proud and happy for me.”
With Hydraulx he also worked on Academy Award winning films such as The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Avatar, Skyline, X-Men Origins: Wolverine, The Incredible Hulk and 2012.
He saw a shift in the industry with more and more companies moving outside of California. In 2010 he moved to Vancouver, and started working at Moving Picture Company.
He had no qualms moving to a new city, and took it as a new adventure. He was hired as a senior modeller, and worked on The Life of Pi and Sherlock Holmes: Game of Shadows. He was promoted to lead modeller when he started working on Man of Steel.
“If you asked me 10 years ago where I would end up, I would have no idea. I don’t even know what my next 10 years looks like.
“The one thing that changed is that I am married and I have twin daughters. That makes travelling harder because they are going to school and have friends here.”
Several television shows have also used ‘movie magic’ to give the impression their stars are in a particular foreign location.
“It is hard to get a lot of people on a movie set nowadays due to Covid restrictions. One new thing is that they are shooting with LED.
“One example is The Mandalorian. Basically they built this LED wall. They work on all the CG first and then they project it on the screen.
“Instead of green screen, you have footage projection on the wall and you (the actor) feel like you are there.
“They still build sets for the foreground, but the director and all those on set can see what the final shot will look like, on the set itself. It is mindblowing. It is very expensive, but I can see that as the future of production.
“Sometimes when CG is done well it suspends your belief, but when CG is done badly it distracts you.”
