Meet Donghoe Kim | Character Animator

We had the good fortune of connecting with Donghoe Kim and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Donghoe, why did you pursue a creative career?
I believe that, through animation, I can make people happy. I think we all experience hard times throughout our lives, and I’ve definitely been through some things too. When I was younger, I suffered from depression and no matter how hard I tried I thought it was impossible to go back to normal life. But I remember watching an animated movie one day and feeling like the character in the movie was alive and that I could feel how they felt and I could relate to them. That was an amazing experience for me. That movie made me feel happy and gave me hope. At that moment, I realized that I want to be able to do things like that too. Just like I experienced, I want to make animations that can make people who are having a hard time feel the same hope that I did. I think that’s why I decided to pursue this path.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
In my work specifically, I always try to create animations that feel like they have genuine emotion. I think there are so many different kinds of styles of animation and it’s really easy for things to become over exaggerated. Exaggeration helps to convey the character’s performance and improve the style of animation, but I think too much exaggeration might make the story and the character’s personality sort of vague or unrealistic, in my opinion. I always try to think about the genuine emotions the character would feel in specific circumstances so the audience can feel the same way and understand the character more. I am currently attending Ringling College Art and Design and majoring in Computer animation. After my Junior year, I was able to work on Star Wars: The Bad Batch Season 2, and Star Wars: Tales of the Jedi as an animation intern at Lucasfilm Animation. It was an amazing opportunity for me to learn even more about animation, how the animation industry actually works, and how they would create a huge animated TV series. I was really excited to be a part of an animated show that many people love to watch. It made me feel like I was one step closer to my dream. Making people laugh and happy through animation is the number one goal in my life and I feel so much joy from pursuing that goal. This summer, I will also be interning at Sony Pictures Imageworks and I’m so excited to study and grow more!

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
Shout-out to my family, my girlfriend Cheyanne, and to my mentors, friends, and teachers at Ringling College. I couldn’t do anything without their help and love. Whenever I get stuck in any problem, I ask them for advice and support. They are always there for me.

Website: https://dkim381.wixsite.com/donghoekim

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/donghoe__kim/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/donghoe-kim-379265174/