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Veggie Tales Animator Offers Peek Behind the Scenes
By Craig Pinley
LOMBARD, IL (December 11, 2002) - Nathan Tungseth, a graduate of Covenant Bible
College-Canada and North Park University, was one of nine animators for
Jonah - A Veggie Tales Movie, a Christian animated version telling
the Old Testament story of the prophet Jonah.
Big Idea Productions, Inc., based in the Chicago suburb of Lombard,
produced the 83-minute, G-rated Jonah film (www.JonahMovie.com), earning
$6.5 million during its opening weekend in October. The company is also
known for its 16 Veggie Tales Christian videos, which have sold more than
21 million copies since the company was founded in 1989.
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Tungseth grew up in Minnesota and came to Christ at an early age. He
attended Elim (now Crosstown) Covenant Church in Minneapolis and later
attended nearby Excelsior Covenant Church. Tungseth said positive camping
experiences at two Minnesota summer camps were integral in his faith
development. He currently attends an Evangelical Free
congregation near work. Both of Tungseth's parents, Clarke and Iris,
attended CBC and North Park and have begun work for Project Brazil
(www.projectbrazil.com), an organization started by a Covenant pastor in
California that seeks to connect the Evangelical Covenant Church to Brazil.
Tungseth also has two sisters, Heidi and Angie.
"Although I'm not attending a Covenant church currently, it's still fun to
think of myself as a Covenanter, and I appreciate all the ways that the
Covenant church is being used by God to further His kingdom here on earth,"
Tungseth said. "I know that Covenant people have been very helpful in my
life, encouraging me and helping me grow closer to God."
I asked Tungseth about his start in animation and his career with Big Idea,
along with
questions about the Jonah film project:
Pinley: How did you get interested in animation and who influenced
your career?
Tungseth: "I've studied animation since I was a kid, reading books
on the subject and trying things with my dad's video camera. My biggest
influences in animation were Disney and Warner cartoons I saw as a kid. I
remember when Disney shorts were aired on Sunday nights and being
mesmerized by Pluto sniffing around a magic top hat. I wondered how it was
done and thought, "That's what I want to do." Another huge
influence was the great Chuck Jones creation- "Wile E. Coyote and the Road
Runner." I loved all the creative stuff they did with the teeter-totters
and boulders. I would go up to my room and try coming up with my own
ideas. I would draw all the time, and sometimes made flipbooks. Although
North Park didn't have any classes on the subject, I
chose animation as my senior project in art. This involved much more work
and time than I could have imagined."
Pinley: What caused you to choose Big Idea to work for and not some
other
animation organization?
Tungseth: Early on, my dream was to use animation for God. If I
hadn't
found Big Idea, I would have tried creating an animation studio with a very
similar mission statement. When (a senior in college) I began looking for
a school internship in animation, Big Idea happened to be located just
south of Foster Avenue about two miles away from North Park.
When my sister's friend (Karen Durche) suggested Big Idea, it was the first
I'd heard of them. I bought "Rack, Shack and Benny" and found it creative
and amusing . . . but it didn't contain any contact information. Later, I
printed a web page of local studios, which included Big Idea.
After visiting an advertising agency downtown, my friend So-Jung Kim (who
came with me) said, "I want to work for a Christian company." 'Me, too,' I
remembered. So we called Big Idea from a pay phone and took the "L"
(elevated) train to visit the studio. The two night-shift animators, Ron
Smith and Tom Danen, showed us around. They were working on "The Toy That
Saved Christmas" at the time. I submitted my demo reel (a video work
sample) and Danen and Ken Greene saw promise in me, even though I didn't
have experience with computer animation. Danen volunteered to train me on
the computer after-hours. By the time the director had time to consider me
for an internship, I already had some computer training.
Pinley: What's the most enjoyable thing about what you do?
Tungseth: Animation is most enjoyable when I can really get into
character - as an actor - and get the real emotion across in the animation.
Doing that involves both the mind and the heart. It's a major challenge,
but it's worth it. Comical stuff is also really fun. There have been times
when the work made me laugh while I was working on it. I'm sure it looks
ridiculous to see me laughing at my computer when no one else is in on the
joke (and it's not finished yet). Successful humor is very rewarding.
Also, I really enjoy the technical stuff that makes computer animation
possible. I've worked on controls for the Veggie eyes and mouths and some
other animation tools to help make our work easier. I tend to dream big,
just in case the best idea turns out to be possible.
Pinley: What exactly was your role for the Jonah movie? Did it
differ from your regular work?
Tungseth: My main role in the studio has been to do character
animation
(making the characters act). In the movie Jonah, I animated the scene
where Jonah confesses to the pirates on the ship; I also animated Jonah and
Khalil sitting on the cliff, when they are just waiting. I did some of the
stuff at the beginning of the film, when the kids are singing in the van,
Bob struggles with the map and dodges the guitar and dad also plays the
harmonica. Besides animation, I also got to sing in the choir for the
song, "A Message From The Lord." I love breaking up the day with things
like that.
Pinley: How long did this movie production take and how did the
process affect you and the company?
Tungseth: I think Jonah took just about three years to make. We
started it, put it on hold and came back to it later, so that's really just
a guess. Animation took about eight months of that time with only nine
character animators. I'm amazed at what nine animators were able to do . .
. Making a feature film is a lot harder than making a half-hour video,
(but) I really like the finished product. At first, I had some concerns
about the story structure, but these were alleviated by all the
improvements made during production. I really like the climax scene
in Nineveh, which was a later addition. Now when I watch the film, I get
chills. I love how believable Jonah's relationship with God is.
Editor's note: To learn more about Jonah - A Veggie Tales Movie,
read the
December issue of The Covenant Companion or visit the home page of
the Covenant web site at www.covchurch.org and select the Companion
cover image.
Copyright © 2008 The Evangelical Covenant Church. |
