Making the amazing believable

The Amazing Spiderman 2 hits Indian television this Sunday. Animation Supervisor David Schaub shares his thoughts on the movie

The Amazing Spiderman 2 poster.

For CGI special effects artiste and American animator David Schaub, who has worked on films such as Alice in Wonderland , The Amazing SpiderMan and I am Legend , his most passionate desire is to bring the physicality of the character alive onscreen.

Sharing his thoughts ahead of the premiere of The Amazing Spiderman 2 on Indian television, the animation supervisor of the movie says his most favourite moments working on the film was making Spiderman do his thing. “That’s the fun part. Him being a superhero, it’s so easy to go beyond what’s believable. The challenge was to make him grounded and believable and not go too far with doing something physical for someone like Spiderman.”

On the challenges he faced making the Andrew Garfield-Emma Stone film different from the Tobey Maguire- Kirsten Dunst

Spiderman series, David says it was a fresh start for all of them. “We intentionally made sure none of the original players were here and the story was different. Director Mark Webb was so in-tune with all that. We put a whole different take on the character.”

Was this his favourite line of work? David says he’s done animated features and cartoons and all of them have been different. “We try to make the latest movie the best. But they’ve all been different from each other and unique. I can’t necessarily say one thing was the highlight of any work of mine. We put our best foot forward and do it. The challenge in this movie was not repeat some of the moves. All the action is reminiscent from the comic book artwork. Aside from the poses we try to show something the audience haven’t seen.”

When asked how much he relates to Spiderman, David points out that personally he wasn’t a big comic book guy as a kid. “I’ve been asked who my superhero is and what was really big for me as a kid was James Bond. These were real actors and real stunt people doing real stunts. I carried that all through the years and it gave me the sense of making all the stunts I design now possible getting the physics right. Capture the idea that this kind of physicality is possible. It’s so key to me especially since The Amazing Spiderman is my first superhero movie.”

Kicking off with

The Craft in 1996, the 55-year-old has had a long journey. “It has been an experience. The theme is to make the most of every opportunity that comes along. Working on

The Craft was fun since we were working on PCs. It was the first film with shots output straight from the PC.”

Did he always want to be an animator? David says he was always inspired by films as a kid. “But I ended up doing engineering and joined the aerospace department. As technology became more applicable, I started doing visual animation for my projects. It was around that time that Jurassic Park brought in the element of computer graphics. That’s when I felt I was ready for a change and it inspired me to get back to my roots. In 1993, the transformation took place and in a couple of years I was on the sets of The Craft . And 20 years later here I am.”

On the future of animation, he says it never fails to surprise him. “There will be more developments in the field. We can do anything now with technology. But ultimately, it comes done to good storytelling.”

David shares this message to upcoming animators. “Make sure you love doing it. That’s what inspired me all along. It’s not an easy business but what keeps me going is the passion and that will keep you going all the way as well as sustain you through the hard times.”

The Amazing Spiderman 2 will be telecast on SONY PIX on March 1 at 1 p.m with a repeat telecast at 9 p.m.