Meet Yingdan Lai

Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Yingdan Lai. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Yingdan, thank you so much for joining us. You are such a positive person and it’s something we really admire and so we wanted to start by asking you where you think your optimism comes from?

I am an optimistic person. In my animations, I often depict challenging or unhappy situations, but there’s always a sense of optimism and a hope for the future. This reflects my own attitude towards life.

A big part of my optimism comes from my own way to kill boredom. I truly value the time I spent alone, which is closely tied to my family and childhood experiences. My parents were often busy with work when I was young, so they didn’t have much time to spend with me. Outside of school, I had much free time to entertain myself. To deal with boredom, I discovered various ways to entertain myself, sometimes even acting out little plays by talking to myself. These moments of solitude allowed me to cultivate a positive outlook and creativity, shaping the optimistic person I am today.

Another aspect of my optimism is related to my work ethic and attitude towards life: commitment to my passion, no matter which environment I am in. When faced with challenges, I always believe there’s a solution. When I was in China with my college degree, experimental animation was relatively niche, and the resources were not as abundant as in the US. However, this motivated me to work even harder in the field. I experimented with techniques like the Weaving-Loop on my own, without instruction, through countless failed attempts. I created an animation with 30 layers using TVPaint, which was both a success and somewhat insane. Later, at CalArts, I was formally introduced to Weaving-Loop technique and learned a way to do it with only one layer of drawing. That is why I feel a sense of accomplishment because I essentially achieved a new animation technique through my own experimentation. This sense of accomplishment has made me look forward to new challenges in future animation creation.

Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?

I am an animation director originally from China, now based in California. I recently graduated from the CalArts MFA Experimental Animation program. My focus is on creating experimental narrative animated films, along with series of GIFs and comics. My work centers on portraying subtle emotions and capturing the essence of stories. I am obsessed with the early 2000s generation that I grew up with. My childhood experiences from that era have become a major source of inspiration for my animation. Through the ordinary and mundane moments of my childhood, I gained insights into profound truths. I continue to “converse” with my past self and incorporate these reflections into my artwork.
My films have been featured in festivals such as Insomnia International Animation Film Festival, La Guarimba Film Festival, and Beijing Feinaki Animation Week. I am currently focusing on making series of GIFs with one character, which I will update on my website and Instagram. Additionally, my film “Fish,” exploring a complex love-hate relationship between a girl and her pet fish, is in festivals now and will be available online next year.

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?

I think passion, empathy, and imagination were the most impactful.
Firstly, passion is the best teacher. I used to have a short attention span as a child. There’s a tiny unfinished embroidery piece of my name at home because I couldn’t even complete that simple task. But when I started learning animation, I was completely captivated by it. Seeing drawings come together and become vivid, moving images excited me. I realized that my thoughts, imaginations, and observations could be expressed through animation, which felt more vivid than words. Thus, my journey into animation began, and I haven’t tired of it since. Passion has a powerful magic that keeps you going. To find something you are passionate about, immerse yourself in different areas, and you will discover your interest.

Empathy is crucial in artistic creation. It’s not just about having strong empathy, but immersing yourself in moments in your life or in films and sensing emotions that move you deeply. Reflecting on these emotional moments helps you understand what you want to express most and what might be delivered to audiences. By enhancing your sensitivity to the world, you can create work that resonates. I keep a habit of documenting my life with words in my memo. Words are my quickest way to record observations, feelings, and thoughts. If something or someone impresses me, there must be a reason, making it a memorable moment. I try to reflect on these moments and document them with words.

For creating narrative animations, imagination is vital. Writing a good story to serve as a script for a film requires imagination. It is not random but often related to people’s experiences. For example, a good story is a combination of various experiences. Imagination can be developed through writing down your own life experiences and watching films or reading books to explore other people’s lives. Set rules/prompts for yourself and create a story under those constraints. Carry a tiny notebook with you to document your ideas with words or sketches. Sometimes imagination in our brain lacks detail, but by pushing yourself to depict it on paper, you make it more concrete. You never know when these ideas might become the seed for your next project.

How can folks who want to work with you connect?

Yes! I’m eager to collaborate with various types of musicians.
I am looking for composer for my short series of animation: Recently, I plan to create a series of short animations, drawing inspiration from past experiences to express a dreamcore essence. I’m looking for musicians, both composers and sound designers who would like to work with me on those projects.
Besides, I hope to work with musicians who need Music Video: I have a great admiration for music videos and envision creating them. When I listen to music, I often find myself immersed in a particular emotion, leading to thoughts of stories and visuals. I hope for an opportunity to bring these ideas to life. My portfolio is on my website and Instagram.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://yingdanlai.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/yingdanlaii/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/yingdan-lai-367b91287/

Image Credits

Yingdan Lai
Haoge Liu