Takeover Tuesday with Stephen Ong
Q&A with Stephen Ong: an animation director with a penchant for crafting loops and short films
Q&A with Stephen Ong
Read time: 5min
Madison Caprara:
Hey there, Stephen! Tell us a bit about yourself. How would you describe your current work and what did it take to get you where you are now?
Stephen Ong:
I’m Stephen Ong, I’m an animator & director from the UK.
My current work often involves short looping animations, featuring bouncy playful objects, scenes, and deconstructed characters. I also create short films and work on commercial animation projects.
Madison Caprara:
Nice!
What was it about this field that initially attracted you?
Created by Stephen Ong
Stephen Ong:
I believe play is so important in life, even as an adult. For me, working in animation feels like a big toy box to keep exploring and having fun with. You can create a different world every day without rules or restrictions. This was the main reason I chose to study animation and illustration.
Madison Caprara:
I love that outlook on life. That’s probably one of the most interesting ways I’ve heard animation described yet.
So, you had started your studio, Make It Move, with your partner, Mark Fuller, correct? How exactly did that come about? What was that dynamic like?
Stellar - Directed by Stephen Ong & Mark Fuller, Sound Design by Drew Simmons, Produced by Make it Move Productions
Stephen Ong:
Our studio is no longer operating. Mark and I are both independently working now and we are repped by the lovely people at MATHS in the U.S. for commercial work.
Having the studio was fun, but it made me realize that I don’t want to run full-service production. I found working too much with the client-side took some of my love out of animating, fortunately, I have a good balance now.
Madison Caprara:
That’s great to hear! Finding that balance is always a bit of a journey.
Speaking on balance, we’re in the midst of an extraordinarily challenging time, especially for professional creatives. What gives you hope these days? How’re you keeping your mental health intact?
Stephen Ong:
I’m an introvert so initially, I really enjoyed the isolation. I was creating a lot of animations to keep my mind busy. However, a lot of our inspiration comes from being in the world; culture, meeting people, and experiences. It takes more than just looking at things on a screen. So winter this year was hard, the main thing that keeps me going is to make plans for when we can do things again.
Madison Caprara:
I tend to lean a little towards introversion too, I was really surprised by how difficult it was to adjust to not being able to just hang around people socially.
Pivoting over to the professional world, has the pandemic radically affected your access to work, or maybe even, your creative process in its entirety?
Created by Stephen Ong
Stephen Ong:
I have mainly been making shorter pieces of animation during the pandemic, animated loops have really helped me get things finished. My work in 2020 feels like a lot of studies, exploring how I make work, testing out ideas and techniques. It’s felt very explorative, which has been fun.
Madison Caprara:
I see that you are pretty active on your social media - particularly Instagram. How important do you think these digital outlets are for the success of professional creatives?
Stephen Ong:
This came about from wanting to explore and find out if something, a particular style or subject, worked. I like seeing how an audience responds to things, and it helped me to find a direction and curate things. I’m not good at curating my own work, so social media has helped a bit.
The importance of social media is outside of what you see on the feeds though. I’ve had conversations and connections with people in DM’s or on Discord/Slack that have led to opportunities and me making new friends in the industry. I guess that is the cool part about it, everyone is so connected and people are just up for talking and sharing experiences and support.
Madison Caprara:
That’s the biggest thing I love about social media, the ability to connect. It’s partly why I’ve made it into a career, but there can be some downsides. Are there any cons that you personally perceive?
Stephen Ong:
Just looking at your phone too much, look up at the real stuff!
Madison Caprara:
Fair, very fair!
So then, where do you find yourself going for inspiration? Any advice to those stuck in a creative rut?
Stephen Ong:
Ha! This follows the last question well. Just being in the world, exploring and experiences. Not Google Images or social media, all my ideas come from life.
Madison Caprara:
What is one of your favorite pieces that you’ve worked on? What about one of your favorite pieces in general - can be from someone you admire!
Stephen Ong:
I did a really fun piece for RSA last year, but it’s been so delayed due to COVID...it’s not even published yet. My favorite short film I’ve worked on is probably Stellar which is about a space-traveling eyeball. I made it a few years ago. It was just such a simple production, I storyboarded it and animated it in two weeks. Visually it’s simplistic but I like the story.
Work that I admire…I really like music videos, most of the stuff directed by Canada or Michel Gondry. Or any Ok Go videos, I don't think you can NOT like them. I also love Geoff McFetridge's paintings.
Created by Stephen Ong
Madison Caprara:
Is there anything in particular you try, or would like to try, to address or explore through the animations you create?
Stephen Ong:
I’d love to try painting on a large scale. There are quite a few legal walls where I live, so I would love to paint some sort of sequence on those with my characters or something.
Madison Caprara:
Interesting, going from the digital to the physical. I’d love to see it!
Are there any particular apps, software, or other technology you would recommend getting familiar with to someone just getting into animation?
Stephen Ong:
I would recommend picking up something like rough animator on an iPad and playing around with fbf animation. They just get you in tune with timing for animation.
Madison Caprara:
Good to know!
Do you have any closing advice or points you would like to share?
Stephen Ong:
Keep having fun!
Light - Illustration & Animation by Stephen Ong, Music composition by Josh Alport