Surf's Up main animator is Pinoy

Armand Serrano

A Filipino graphic artist is one of the key persons behind Sony Pictures' latest animation movie “Surf's Up.”

Armand Serrano is the Visual Development artist and Environmental Designer for the Warner Bros. production "Surf's Up."

Since a Pinoy is on board "Surf's Up's" visual art team, global viewers should not be surprised of familiar tropical elements seen on the movie. Among Serrano's ideas that crossed concretely to "Surf's Up" are those inspired by Philippine paradise setting. "The beaches in the Pacific, the jungles in the Philippines, the underground river in Palawan, the white sand beaches in the Gulf Coast of Florida, the Easter Island statues, and the Polynesian culture" all made the cut from the artist's mind into the dream-big world of "Surf's Up."

Armand Serrano confessed that's he's no surfer dude but, has worked the waves for the past three years as only geeks can — he studied and researched on the principles of water. It was necessary because he had to know how water moved and flowed so he could draw it accurately.

“I also had to study foliage of a tropical forest because there was a scene in the movie where a character called Geek took in the hero Cody into his secret home,” he said.

For the interiors of the forest, he drew inspiration from photographs he took while hiking in Palawan in 1992.

“I would add Filipino flavor to my work anytime there is an opportunity. The Palawan inspiration was almost a default since ‘Surf's Up' required a tropical island. It could have been any of the other exotic islands in the Philippines,” he said.

He added that being able to design the settings enabled him to add something personal in the films.

Serrano, who started his career in animation in 1990, said that the world of visual artists in Hollywood is an open and friendly field where Filipino cartoon essayers are free from any discrimination from other foreign artists. "In fact, animation is probably one of the most diverse businesses you can find. Our team is composed of American, Filipino, French, Argentinean, Spanish, Brazilian, Irish, Mexican, Chinese, British, Thai, Korean and Canadian artists to name a few. But the extremely valuable tool that we have and should keep is the English language. We have a lot of talented artists and having English as our second language and the main language in education certainly gave the Filipinos an edge in this business."

As far as his personal lessons learned from a career that has crossed achievements and time zones since he graduated with a degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Sto. Tomas in 1989, Serrano has the following tips to those who wish to trace his professional path: "Always discipline yourself to have a consistent amount of practice and be very observant. Do not think too highly of yourself and always be willing to learn. Compete with yourself, not with others and lastly, never let anybody tell you that your goal is impossible — go for it one step at a time."

Filipino and proud, Serrano tolod of Pinoy artists: "I'm proud that we've been competing in the international art marketplace since the time of Juan Luna when his Spolarium won the top prize at the Madrid Exposition in the 1880's to Fernando Amorsolo, Nestor Redondo, Alex Nino, and the rest of Filipino animation professionals today. I describe them as very talented, fun and flexible artists."

Serrano left the country for California in 1996 to work in a small animation company. A few months later, the company folded up but Walt Disney Feature Animation happily took him in.

When Sony Pictures ventured into animation in 2004, he was one of the first few artists who took a leap of faith to join their roster. “Surf's Up” is their first film.

He lives in Culver City, California, with his wife and three kids. It's nice to note that even if he's been living in the States for the past 10 years, he still speaks Filipino sans the American accent.

"Surf's Up" will be released in Manila on Aug. 15. For more of Armand Serrano, visit www.armandserrano.com.