Meet Skai Chow | Gameplay Animator

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

Hi Skai, what led you to pursuing a creative path professionally?
As an animator, I’ve got the ability to excite and empower my audiences with the animations that I create, and to contribute to something larger than myself whether it’s in gameplay, cinematic, feature or TV animation.

I hope that by doing so, others will enjoy viewing and be inspired by my vibrant animations, and hopefully I will be able to inspire the next generation of animators some day. With animation, stories can be told in a dynamic way that pushes the boundaries of what live action can be. Some of these aspects include some of the principles in animation such as exaggerating the body proportions of a real life character can do, or being able to push the facial performance of a character during an emotional scene, to really take the time to push it to its maximum potential.

This artistic career feeds the audience’s souls and minds, it can appeal and empower audiences to become better versions of themselves. Which is what I aim to do.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
What sets me apart as a young creative professional is that I was fortunate enough to have earned professional experiences this early in my animation career. And many of it isn’t easy, it’s a lot of hard work and sacrifice behind the scenes.

During my gap year in university due to the COVID-19 pandemic, I got my first professional job as a TV series junior animator and worked on 2 DreamWorks’s TV series called “Doug Unplugs” and “Gabby’s Dollhouse”. Because of how fast paced the rate of work is, my speed for animating increased exponentially in that one year, while maintaining the quality and client expectations they were looking for. I worked 5-6 days a week, everyday would be about 10-12 hours of animating, with no overtime pay included, and it was for sure a struggle in that year. But what kept me going was my love for animation and understanding that I could afford to do this while I’m young and still learning and training my skills.

I went back to school after to complete my degree, and after taking an Animation for Games class, I found out that I loved this style of animation and switched my goal of becoming a gameplay animator. As an international student, I always had my end goal in sight, which was to find a job after graduation, and I knew that the odds were against me as I know that in order to find one among the saturated sea of talented local animators,

I had to push myself out way out of my comfort zone and go above and beyond what a student would do in school, and personally pushed my personal expectations of what the professors are expecting from students in school, and aimed for what the industry professionals were looking for when hiring new employees.

I ALWAYS kept my eye on my final goal, which was to get that first job out of school as an international student. I took up collaborative game projects with students from different majors, initiated and gathered a group of students to take a motion capture class that is only offered if students request for it, pitched an ambitious, daring, and unconventional idea for my senior capstone film that I know would stand out, and together with Rebecca we opted to learn a rendering software that we know has been and still is becoming increasingly popular and inevitable in our industry.

All these risks that we took we felt would pay off when we started our job hunt, and we were both fortunate enough to be noticed and taken in as XBOX Summer Apprentices at 343 Industries, the AAA game studio that works on the “Halo” franchise. In there, we have learned so much more about the industry and what their expectations are, and brought that knowledge back to school with us to share with our team extensively and as much as we can. We wanted our team to succeed and we shared whatever knowledge we could to empower them as much as we can to work towards those industry standards we learned about.

As international students, we cannot afford to make as many chances and mistakes that locals can. The risks and gambles we have taken are concise and calculated, like a game of chess. We take the route that may not always seem popular or comfortable, but what is needed and necessary for us to survive. By sowing the seeds and working hard to grow them, the rewards we reap after will be worth. And as this is early in our career, I have no doubt we will continue to keep practicing this.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
I’m currently residing in Washington state for work, but I understand this article is for Atlanta, Georgia, therefore I can give a little itinerary for both.

For Savannah, Georgia where my school was at, I recommend visiting River Street and Broughton Street. It’s a nice small tourist and historical town with historical buildings that have been around since the 18th century. The old brick roads and Victorian era buildings bring about a sense of rich history to the place, knowing that there are many stories that exist there. Some parks to visit would be Forsyth Park and Colonial Park Cemetery.

And Some of my favorite restaurants/cafe would be Foxy Loxy Cafe, Quinn’s Breakfast and Lunch (Used to be called Henry’s), Zunzi’s, Tequilla’s Town Mexican Restaurant, Jalapeno’s Mexican Grill, and Blue Door Coffee (I loved this place so much. It closed for a period of time but it looks like it has reopened and is now located at Wormhole!)

There are also plenty of bars to go drinking at, but unfortunately I’m not a drinker so I won’t have much to recommend here!

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I would like to give a shoutout to Rebecca, my significant other. We have supported one another since we started our animation journey in school until our animation career. She has been a talented Technical Artist in our field and has been a quick learner within a short span of a few years.

We complement one another in life and in our career, and I’ll give a quick example of that. As an animator I am a puppeteer, I make the puppet move, express itself, tell stories, take actions, while Rebecca as a Technical Artist is the person who creates the bones, skeleton, and controls for the puppet, giving me the animator the ability to bring life to that puppet.

Together we have braved through tough times that not many may be able to understand. And I am grateful that she has been beside me supporting me to be a better person and animator as we grow alongside one another in our early lives and career.

Website: https://www.skaichow.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/skaichow.art/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/skaichow/