JOAQUIN BALDWIN
2008 Aniboom Awards Grand Winner
SEBASTIAN'S VOODOO
3D Animation
HOMETOWN: Paraguay/California
Watch Sebastian's Voodoo NOW!
BEGINNINGS
I started by playing around at home with a classmate from high-school, we would just try out different programs and try to do fun graphics. Most of the learning happened online, doing tutorials or going through forums like cgsociety.org. I went to do my undergrad studies at CCAD after I already knew some 3d softwares, and now I'm going for my MFA at UCLA.
WHAT HE LIKES ABOUT ANIMATION
I like to be able to create something from nothing at all, to have complete control because you have to create every single detail, or else it will not be there. I think that it allows for infinite story ideas since it's not limited by any laws like the real world is.
INFLUENCES?
To list a few:
Guillermo del Toro, Pedro Almodovar, Hayao Miyasaki, Brad Bird, Andrew Stanton, John Lasseter, Coen Brothers, Fernando Meirelles, Stanley Kubrick, Charlie Kaufman, Neil Gaiman, Dave McKean, J.R.R. Tolkien, Ray Bradbury, Douglas Hofstadter, Carl Sagan
ABOUT "SEBASTIAN'S VOODOO":
TECHNIQUES
It's all done in Maya, with custom rigs and materials. Rendered in passes and composited in After Effects.
TIME REQUIRED
10 months from the idea to the finished render.
CHALLENGES
The time was a big problem, I knew precisely when my deadline was (the UCLA end of the year show), and I had to make decisions on what effects to drop out in order to meet them. That's why I did not do particle effects, nCloth, or other dynamics simulations, it would've added too much production time.
INSPIRATION
Nothing specific at all, I just thought it'd be funny to see voodoo dolls fighting each other and they could pin themselves rather than the other dolls. I thought it could make a good film to use that concept but using a different story idea.
ENTERING THE AWARDS
Way back I got contacted by someone at aniBoom, and I put some videos there. When I finished Sebastian's Voodoo, I think it was when the RadioHead Contest was going on and I already was more familiar with the site and did not hesitate to enter it when the new contest started.
It's been fun, I got a lot of good comments there, and it was great to see the real-time top 10 results move around daily. It definitely pushes you to promote the film and get people to vote for it.
WINNING
I'm really honored and excited, the news spread out so fast that it's been pretty crazy on my end trying to reply to everyone. It's really an amazing prize and a lot of exposure.
Watch SEBASTIAN'S VOODOO
Go to the aniBoom Awards 2008 page