[Herald Design Forum] VFX expert says creativity is key to bringing characters to life

Hwang Jung-rock, a senior facial modeler at Weta FX, one of the world's leading visual effects companies, emphasized the importance of artists' creativity in facial modeling during a lecture at the Herald Design Forum 2024, held at the Floating Island Convention Center on the Han River, Seoul, Tuesday.

Hwang explained that his role involves creating a digital "puppet" of a character's face for films, designed to capture even the smallest nuances of an actor's performance, from subtle eye movements to slight lip twitches.

He emphasized that this process requires creativity from the designer to truly bring the character to life on screen.

To illustrate the creative process behind his work, Hwang used examples from his work on "Avatar 2: The Way of Water." He discussed creating digital versions of major characters Kiri and Jake, portrayed by Sigourney Weaver and Sam Worthington, respectively.

“When Kiri scrunches her nose in anger, I referenced cat's expression to make her appear cute, as she’s a 14-year-old girl,” Hwang explained.

For Jake, Hwang studied lion expressions to make him appear powerful, adding wrinkles around his forehead and nose.

“I reinterpreted their expressions to fit the Na’vi tribe, using my own intuitions. Like this, when an artist creatively reinterprets the actors' data, the characters come to life with vibrant realism,” he said.

Hwang emphasized that although technology is advancing rapidly, successful outcomes are achieved when such technology is combined with individual creativity.

“Technology is like a finely polished knife ... but not everyone can create a masterpiece with it," he said.

"Ultimately, technology is just a tool, and what truly matters is how you use it,” said Hwang.