iAnimate Student Spotlight - Katee Kim

Katee Kim is an inspiring character animator living in NJ. She loves all content (especially animated) that tugs at the heartstrings, and she gives 100% effort into all that she does.

She decided to enroll in iAnimate because she loves animation and was so honored to pursue it as a career, but Katee realized that she needed to grow in mechanics and storytelling.

“iAnimate was a perfect place to grow technically more than I ever have in my life and push my creative choices.”

Katee took the following Feature Animation workshops at iAnimate

• Feature Animation 1 with Stephen Melagrano - Steamroller Animation
• Feature Animation 2 with Jim van der Keyl - VDK Animation
• Feature Animation 3 with Mike Walling - Bungie
• Feature Animation 4 with Tal Shwarzman - Pixar
• Feature Animation 5 with Angie Jones -  Spicy Cricket
• Feature Animation 6 with Tal Shwarzman - Pixar

iAnimate students learned the way of having creative processes for their assignments. It is one of the essential characteristics that professional animators do in an actual setup. Katee learned that it's all about taking the time to plan before you even get started on a shot. She runs thru the following processes Before she even opens up Maya:

• Think about what's happening in the scene
• What's the context
• What is the character feeling
• What is the character's personality
• Is there anything from real life or your life that you can draw from?
• Is there a nuance or a quirk that can add more life and depth to a character?

Katee has learned a lot of mechanics and technical skills, but learning about acting choices is what she values. A shot can be beautifully done, but the shot isn't impactful if the acting options are wrong. She learned to push herself when it comes to comedic timing and conveying emotions without over-the-top acting. She has a unique perspective and voice; putting that into her acting choices makes her unique.

Katee's student demo reel

You can reach Katee via:

Q&A with Katee Kim

iAnimate: What do you think of your Instructor(s), and how did they help you?

Katee: I appreciated and learned so much from all of my instructors. My instructors came from studios like Pixar, Dreamworks, Blue Sky, Sony, and more. And they worked on movies that I have admired and loved for a long time. So I got to learn from the best. They taught me so much about approaching shots workflows and precious information about how to survive and navigate the animation industry.

iAnimate: How did iAnimate help you to evolve as an animator?

Katee: I started at iAnimate with maybe a little less than basic knowledge of Maya.

“But I ended iAnimate as an animator able to tackle and finish shots independently. I am an animator that now knows how to plan my shots, use reference as a tool, and follow through on a shot from blocking to polish.”

iAnimate: What kind of animator do you consider yourself after taking your workshop?

Katee: After taking these workshops, I consider myself a passionate animator who is now equipped to take on projects and an animator who is excited to continue learning and growing as I work in the industry and alongside other professionals.

iAnimate: What kind of project do you want to work on?

Katee: A dream project would be a feature film or a TV show with tons of unique character performances and emotions. Animation is such a great medium because nothing is impossible, and yet it has the power to connect and move audiences with their stories. I'd love to be able to create unique performances that would drive people to laugh, smile, or cry.