The Team Behind The Magic - Thiago Feitosa

The Team Behind the Magic is a space to share the spotlight with our talented team members and give our audience a sneak peek into the creative minds behind our work.?

For this week’s article series, we sat down with Thiago Feitosa and discussed his role as an animator.

Where a concept artist is responsible for creating the visual designs of a project, the animator's way of expression is creating the illusion of movement. From small and simple geometric shapes, phrases with unique typographies, to cool transitions and complex characters. Good animators should have a technical understanding of the way things move, and apply those principles in every piece they work. You might have heard that animators are the ones bringing things to life and Feitosa is the master of doing that!

We hope you enjoy this interview with Feitosa!

What inspired you to be an artist? Or was there a moment when you realized you wanted to become an animator?

As the son of a single mother, I had to give up going to university because we didn’t have the financial means to pay for it. Fortunately, my mother worked as a make-up artist in film and TV. In 2007 I had the opportunity to intern at one of the largest audio-visual companies in my state, where I got to learn about all the functions of audio-visual production. However, post-production was more interesting to me. I spent a week watching an editor work in a dark room full of screens and multiple machines, and I thought: Man, this is really hard. I don’t think I’ll ever learn how to do this.

Eventually, I found myself doing things I thought impossible, even getting job offers within a few months. Over the years, I learned to do a little bit of everything; editing, sound design, color correction, and post-production. But it was animation that made my eyes shine. After eight years of hard work, I became a freelancer, working exclusively in animation, which was always my true passion and continues to be today.?

As a professional in animation, how do you define yourself?

I’ve always been cautious with everything I do, and the same goes with my work. I consider myself a strong animator because I have a good sense of timing. I always try to practice the principles I learned in Richard Williams’ book in my daily work.

Mention 3 tools, apps, or programs that you use when working.

I use more than a dozen apps, from work management to platforms, chats, etc…?

But creatively, the leading app in my workflow is definitely After Effects. Photoshop and Illustrator are also crucial for preparing and organizing the design files for AE. But in terms of animation, I’m currently studying Animate. I’m also thinking about learning animation software for games because it’s a growing market looking for more and more professionals.

What project would you highlight in your entire career and why?

This answer is very easy: Stories To Be Remembered. At the beginning of my career, this was the type of project I dreamed of collaborating on. (Link of To be Rememdered.)

But it’s worth an honorable mention for a project that happened in my third year as a freelancer. I received an invitation from a Brazilian online school with good visibility and relevance. I was able to create an entire course focused on character animation in After Effects for beginners and intermediate users. I’m aware that this project propelled my career in a national way that allowed me to work for well-known studios in Brazil and eventually worldwide.

What part of the creative process do you enjoy the most and why?

I really love all the processes and stages of a job. Maybe I’m biased, but surely animation is the most fun part of the process. No one can deny it. jajaja…

Mention 3 artists that give you inspiration. What do they inspire you?

Vladimir Marchukov always made kickass videos and made me realize there was a market for teaching animations.

Markus Magnusson impressed me with his character animations. The timing was so incredible, with projects created in After Effects looking like traditional animation.

But the first professional that inspired me was Manuel Neto, both for having a fantastic job and for being from a small town in the northeast of Brazil like me. It made me believe that it doesn’t matter where we come from but how hard we are willing to work to get where we want to be.?

What advice would you give to those animators who are starting?

Choose an area of expertise, whether it be character animation, traditional animation, 3d, game, etc.… and then focus all your efforts and energy on it. It took me a while to understand it until I decided to focus my energies only on character animation; things went much better! From my own experience, the job market values specialists much more. Mainly studios with a more extensive pipeline.

What is the most challenging part of your creative process, and what strategies do you use to overcome those difficulties?

Home office work has its difficulties, of course. In animation work, focus and attention are extremely important, and having two small children, can make it harder to stay focused. Still, the positive experiences it gives me, like sharing every meal with my family, not having to drive every day, and being a present father in my children’s childhood, are worth all the challenges!

What are some of your hobbies?

Being Brazilian, for sure, my favorite hobby is soccer. (I’m a goalkeeper)

What TV show are you watching right now?

Ozark is a great series. It managed to hook me with the excellent drama involving the characters. With each season, I was more anxious to see the final outcome.

Fav Band: O Rappa

Fav Song: Anjos pra quem tem fé

Fav food: I love Sushi.

Fav Movie: Hacksaw Ridge.

Thanks Feitosa for your time. Animation is no easy work. You guys sit on their desks for hours, tweaking the smallest details to perfect their craft. Animagic is so lucky to have such skillful animators. We hope you enjoyed our conversation with Feitosa and are inspired to pursue your passion no matter what stage in life you’re in!

Thank you for sticking around and following our journey, and we’ll see you in our next Team Showcase article series.