Art and animation are powerful forms of communication that can leave a significant impact on people. And when done right it has the power to make the most radical changes in society.
Randy Chriz Perera is an award winning visual director, artist and animator who has a world-wide following and is putting Sri Lanka on the map in the global entertainment industry.
Art in his blood
As a child growing up in the late 80s through the 90s, his inspiration came from cartoons on TV and comic books he gathered. His love for animation materialized through the creation of his own flip-book animations and cut-out animations. Randy lived a very imaginative childhood. “I shared my passion with my brother Shayne. He and I would create cardboard cutouts and have whole sets of characters that we would play and tell stories with.”
Background
Fifteen years ago, when pursuing a career related to art was not promising, Randy’s family encouraged him to pursue his passion. But Randy was refused jobs at advertising agencies because he couldn’t draw digitally.
He then takes an internship at a private TV channel as an AV library assistant. “I loved the job because I got to go through all those movies and songs, and it was heaven. I sat down and passionately categorized hundreds of Beta-tapes. In every beta-tape there is a preview sheet which contains the timecodes and content in the tape. And I would sometimes draw things on these preview sheets. The producers at the channel loved what I did and this got my artistic skills noticed,” added Randy.
“They still use some of the graphics I did back in the day”.
For 15 years Randy had been working his soul out with every project he took on. Randy says that he is still far from where he actually wishes to be. “I always feel that I’m battling with time. So, I work 18 hours a day, every day. Though it doesn’t sound like the best advice, that’s how I got here. And here, is far from my end goal.”
Randy pointed out the dire need for Sri Lanka to focus on exporting creative talent rather than sending out maids and labourers. “Since ancient times we have been known for our creativity, for our literature, design and architecture. We are skilled at creating. I strongly believe we should focus on this as a country.”
Creative process
“The toughest part in the process is the brainstorming stage. My mind is a thick maze of a zillion ideas, so narrowing it all down to a single concept and visual style is the toughest. I am a difficult customer when it comes to this stage of any project. I’ve set myself demands I need to meet. This is where Portia does her magic to create a framework that meets my demands and allows me to settle in. Beyond this point I am no longer stressed. Drawing and animating is the easy part.”
Education
Randy is one of those people who has proved that if there is a will there’s a way. While his paper qualifications are in marketing, Randy says he is entirely self-taught when it comes to art and animation. When asked to describe the technicalities of his work he said, “I produce digital illustrations and 2D and 2.5D animations. I use Adobe Photoshop and Adobe After Effects, for everything I do. These two software are now as easy as pen and paper to me”.
Influence on society
Randy believes that the responsibility of a career in visual communication is immense, as it has a great capacity to influence human behaviour and thinking. Randy is one of those artists who has used his creativity and talent to make a positive impact on people.
One of his CSR projects includes the video he did post-2019 Easter Sunday attacks. The video was titled ‘Punchi Dupathe Kathawa’ (The Story of the Little Island) and was scripted and voiced by Block and Dino Productions. Randy and the team that produced this video were awarded the SLIM Gold Award recently and the SLIM Digital Brand Bravery Award in recognition of this video.
Randy wishes to create more positive messages and put it out there. He also said that there is an overload of visuals and videos that shouldn’t be out there despite the demand for them. “The capacity to influence society as an individual is getting less by the day. Hopefully things will change and I am willing to do my part for it.”
Significant projects
‘Punchi Dupathe Kathaawa’ is a special one for sure. It actually did some good to maintain the mood of the country during that period,” says Randy.
Randy’s international breakthrough came with the release of his fan-made music video for Eminem’s Godzilla track. “I didn’t expect it to blow-up like that. It was just a passion-project,” Randy added.
Recently Randy collaborated with one of the leading brands in the country and it was Sri Lanka’s first 2D animated commercial for a food product. “That project gave me the opportunity to show the industry what 2D animation can still do.”
Randy says he is currently working on the most important project of his entire career. “It’s top secret for now, but I am looking forward to its release and to hear what the world has to say about it.”
Compliments
Randy receives a lot of attention internationally post-Godzilla and his sign up with Universal Music Group. He said he finds immense strength and motivation in the comments and compliments he receives from around the world.
“It’s encouraging to hear people from around the world say things like, “I should win a Grammy for my videos!” An article published in the US on a video Randy made, says, “DAX & Tech nine give marvel a run for their money in new video game-style visual ‘FASTER.”
Randy says, “I know I am far away from Marvel standards, but as a single guy producing animation, I am humbly flattered to be mentioned this way”.
Sri Lankan context
Voicing his thoughts on the Sri Lankan context pertaining to his field, Randy says that despite having more than a few extremely talented artists, Sri Lanka doesn’t exactly have avenues paved out for such artists to make a decent living out of their art.
“On the one hand, we have really creative guys who cannot afford an education in the field and on the other, we have others come out of art schools with degrees but hardly have the talent for it. Having a degree doesn’t mean you are a designer, being a designer means you have a portfolio that people can look at and see a commercial value in it. I think young artists coming to the field with or without a formal education on the subject should take a job in a place where they can polish their skills, before putting themselves out there as freelancers or calling themselves professionals.”