Around the age of 12, it became clear to Henry that animation would be a pretty fun career after he discovered Blender, a free 3D package, and began experimenting around with it for many years as a hobby.
Henry's love for films and animation eventually led him to enroll in a Bachelor of Art and Design at Media Design School, where he spent three years further perfecting his craft and cementing his love of character animation.
The project that Henry was proudest of during his time at Media Design School was being a part of the production of the school's most ambitious film project, Over The Moon.
Over The Moon was created by 15 Bachelor of Art and Design students, who worked for 23 weeks and 18,000 hours to complete the film.
“It was a huge four month team effort to get the film done," says Henry. “I'm really happy with how it came out and response it's received from peers and festivals, including the New Zealand Film Festival."
Since recently finishing his degree, Henry has been working at Flux as a character animator and rigging artist, which he enjoys because he gets to “… combine the artistic sides of animation with the more technical approach of rigging, as well as jumping into other fields to help out on projects as need be."
“I love being creative and putting life into characters on the screen. It's fun to mix the artistic side of animation with the technical aspects of rigging."
“My passion lies in character animation but I like to mix it up and work at all stages of the production pipeline."
Developing the skills to be able to work across all aspects of the production pipeline is one of the major pieces of advice that Henry would give to aspiring animators.
“Due to the small size of most studios in New Zealand, it's a real benefit to have a broad skill set. For myself, my primary skill is in character animation, but the more I know about other aspects of the industry, the better."
Although Henry concedes that the industry can be demanding at times, it's a career path that he's never regretted pursuing: “It's a tough industry to be in, you have to work hard and put yourself out there, but one that has so far proved to be very rewarding."
We're sure Henry's five-year-old self would be pretty impressed with what he's achieved so far!
