What is your name and your current occupation?
My name is Ivan Sarrion Soria and I´m looking for a stop motion animator job, but now I’m doing a little short with Victor Saez (model maker and set builder) and I’m learning some 2d animation.
What are some of the crazier jobs you had before getting into animation?
I used to work in a friends paint company, I was helping them to paint houses and also we did letterings and drawings on the walls (we did commercial graffiti… well, we didn’t do only commercial graffiti), after working we painted graffiti with leftover paint of these works. Sometimes we still do. Here are our “legal” works: http://disyrot.blogspot.com.es/
What are some of your favorite projects you’re proud to have been a part of?
I’m proud of all the projects I have participated, all were good to acquire experience. But I am particularly proud and grateful to worked as Stop Motion animator in two full seasons and also as director for one chapter in the “Clay Kids” series created by Javier Tostado (Clay Animation). It was my first job in the animation world and here I really learned to animate. Here I met great people and participated in their personal projects. I enjoyed participating with “SuKolega prod” a small studio of Stop Motion animation directed by J. Tomas Mira, and I worked side by side with Sergio Moreno, Kecy Salangad and Manuel Rubio, big professionals in the Stop Motion animation sector. A really good experience.  My experience as a stop motion teacher in Clay Animation was very gratifying, I was the substitute for David Caballer, he used to be my teacher, the best I’ve ever had, and with this experience I reaffirmed my animation knowledge and also acquired more experience to lead a group of animators. I love teaching and the people I met there.
Where are you from and how did you get into the animation business?
I´m from a little city of Valencia (Spain) named Alzira. It is one of the cities with more “Fallas” of the world in proportion to her citizens. As my grandfather was fallas artist in my house always breathe an artistic atmosphere. My family always supported me in everything artrelated, I’m very thankful. As I mentioned, I was interested by graffiti, and this help me to find people with my same artistic concerns, with them I experienced lots of different art techniques and I discovered the animation world (at that moment i was only doing little tests with clay in Stop Motion), so I decided to study 3D animation, but soon I went back to Stop Motion animation and when I was nineteen years started working as animator.
What’s a typical day like for you with regards to your job?
When I worked in “Clay Kids” I had entire day to animate, the gears of the “Clay Kids” machine ran very well, all workers worked at once and that facilitated the production labour. Therefore, I was only centrated in animate, I loved it.
Now ,I have many open fronts, as I said, I’m about to start a Stop Motion production with Victor Saez as I’m learning to use 2D animation programs and looking for a Stop Motion animator job. This is my current typical day.
What part of your job do you like best? Why?
All, I love animation! I like when I have to interprete a large and expressive acting, think in an attitude and poses, to climb the frames like a ladder… I like when the characters have to jump, run, fly or any expressive thing in the scene.
Also, as said David Caballer (Stop Motion animator) when we work together in the short “The Cryptozoologist”: -“I never before saw a Mosquiphant”- the mosquiphant is a mixture of elephant with fly and that’s another wonderful thing of animation world, many times we have to invent how to move different creatures and bring them to life.
And see the end result is beautiful too, you can see all the work done in months passing in minutes… But it is awesome!
What part of your job do you like least? Why?
I don’t like when some production requirements limit or subtract the creativity progress, because this still make you enjoy your work, I understand sometimes is necessary.
What kind of technology do you work with on a daily basis, how has technology changed in the last few years in your field and how has that impacted you in your job?
Now I use DragonFrame, and when I started to animate already existed live view in cameras, so with a single camera I could animate things with a good preview. The change from StopMotionDragon to DragonFrame was very good, among many things, I would like to feature the incorporation of a lipsync animation interface and the new control mouths organization as it has it’s brand new little internal app. It’s a very practical program and varies according to the new needings of the sector.
What is the most difficult part for you about being in the business?
When we work in a Stop Motion production, every day we should be inspired but not every day the inspiration comes, so the most difficult part of my work is when I have to find the afflatus by duty. Forcing this sometimes damages the resulting work but if you have a good day at all everything is fabulous. Also we have to consider how hard are all necessary requirements within the scene you’re animating, always respecting the project. That is a important part of the job. And finally having to travel abroad to have the choice of get work continuously, at home I’m really well, my grandmother makes the best paella in the world.
If you could change the way the business works and is run how would you do it?
I’d settle for having more jobs closer to home and not have to get out of my country looking for it. This could be solved with greater support to creators for create a big industry, I think we can. And I would try to provide good communication between animation professionals, locally and internationally, internet makes this function but it can be better. Greater communication would allow a better exchange of professionals and knowledges.
In your travels, have you had any brushes with animation greatness?
Well, I never went to other country for job, fortunately or unfortunately, But I worked with big professionals to animation, people who I admire, like Pablo Llorens (Director/animador: “El enigma del chico croqueta”, “Molecular Zombie”…), David Caballer (animator in “Vicenta”, among others, and director to animation in “Clay Kids”), Vivente Mallols (animator: “Pos Eso”, “Clay Kids”… and director in “The cryptozoologist”), Sergio Lara (animator in “Anomalisa”, “Under The Apple Tree”…), Raul Eguia and Maria Moreira (animators: “Clay Kids”, “Shaun the sheep movie”…), Manuel Rubio (animator: “O Apostolo”, “Clay Kids”, “Anomalisa”…), Fran Deltell (animator in “Clay Kids” and now work in “Amazing World of Gumball”) and more great people and professionals who i could name. I respect them a lot and I enjoyed learning from they.
Describe a tough situation you had in life.
Luckily life gives me strength to overcome difficulties, so aren’t difficulties. But If I or my family don’t work is very hard. Unfortunately, now in Spain this can happen, hopefully soon the situation will change here.
Any side projects you’re working on that you’d like to share details of?
Anything right now, but surely soon I will show personal works in Stop Motion and 2D animation. You can follow me on my vimeo channel: https://vimeo.com/user45528896
Any unusual talents or hobbies like tying a cherry stem with your tongue or metallurgy?
My main hobby is drawing, this is not unusual, the only unusual thing might be when I paint it on the wall. And well, I have the habit of drawing every day, on all surfaces, sometimes I do not know or because I’m drawing only drawing , mainly all kinds of characters… and my girlfriend hates when I draw her magazines.
Is there any advice you can give for an aspiring animation student or artist trying to break into the business?
The first thing I recommend is that fortunately (at least in Stop Motion) the practice you can perform without being hired, this allows you to gain experience from home. Practice is the trick! And also say that the internet is a great ally, that can give us a lot of information and contacts in the industry. Above all things you have to enjoy and learn from the job and all his coworkers, these projects are very nice and sometimes ephemeral.  We have to enjoy and learn!
