Waverly Wang is a second-year graduate student in UCLA’s animation MFA program student redefining what an artist is in the modern day. When she earned her degrees in computer science and media studies from Harvey Mudd College in 2023, Wang merged the art that she loved since two years old and her newfound skills together in order to create meaningful works.
Wang has been conflicted on what path to follow, what inspired her or what came naturally. Wang said herself that 2D animation and illustration are more in her wheelhouse, but her endless curiosity has led her to try different forms of storytelling, such as claymation and comics.
“I feel like I’m always torn between the two battles,” Wang said. “Do I want to pursue something I’m not super amazing at but I’m really inspired by, or do I want to do the thing that I’m more technically good at?”
Before Wang ever touched a keyboard, she said she had a pencil and paper, but gave it up to pursue computer science. After graduating with two degrees from Harvey Mudd College, Wang said she realized some of her classmates were only in it for a professional career. But for Wang, she saw it as the beginning of her artistic career.
“I’m not the same as my classmates who want to pursue this as a career,” Wang said. “The hours you spend making, and then it comes to life on screen. I was like, ‘It’s alive!'”
The transition from coding to animating wasn’t easy, but Wang said it was natural. UCLA professor of animation, Charles Sheetz, said it came naturally. When Wang began experimenting with 2D animation and then stop-motion animation, the animator said she loved the tactility of painstakingly placing each movement. Wang’s first stop-motion film was about a frog professor whom she modeled on her father, which Wang said was the first of many personal touches she makes to her art.
Sheetz said Wang’s personality shines through in all her projects, and she is a committed filmmaker who commits entirely to her ideas and is a genuinely personal director.
Wang said her art speaks from a deep personal place, speaking on mental health. Her film “Harmless Creatures” tackled mature themes, Wang said, including depression and friendship through the employment of science fiction elements, mainly through the usage of an ocean creature that saves the main character’s life. Wang said her intention is for the audience to see parts of themselves within her stories, enduring through their hardships.
Wang’s emotional depth is felt especially by her composer, Sergey Nesterov, who said her ability to express emotionality in her animations.
“What stood out initially was that she was looking for a very specific kind of score,” Nesterov said. “Unlike most other directors I’ve collaborated with, she knew exactly what kind of music she wanted, especially in terms of music.”
Nesterov said his main contributions to Wang’s work were serving as composer for both “Party Boy” and “Shoot Your Shot.” Those films were incredibly reliant on their score and animation, the composer said, rather than being dialogue-based. Nesterov said this is the perfect example of committing to visual storytelling using the “show, don’t tell” approach perfectly.
Nestrov said he was impressed by the influences that Wang’s background as a violin player has on her storytelling. He said that her musical training is evident because she understands rhythm and it only adds to the emotionality of the animation.
“I need a kind of very dynamic humor,” Nestrov said. “Humorous pizzicato strings playing up until here, and maybe then you do something else there for that moment, and then that theme returns.”
Wang said she has concerns about the use of AI in both art and the tech sphere. While she agrees that AI and art are fundamentally incompatible with one another, she can see its applications within medicine and data analysis. Wang sees technology as a tool, but nothing can replace human emotion.
Although her work is made with machines, the core of Wang’s art is human, after all. “I want people to be inspired to create stuff themselves,” Wang said. “My work constantly pulls from my personal life, my family, and interests such as music.”
“Wang’s ambition and emotional bravery set her apart from her classmates. She’s got a really bright future in animation or storytelling, whatever she decides to do,” Sheetz said.
As Wang continues to progress through her graduate program and thesis, she isn’t focused on fame or status but meaning. All she wants to do is make a lasting impact on the world through her art.
“Inspiration can come from anywhere,” Wang said. “Just do it for the plot”.
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Featured Image Photographed by Sapna Drew/BruinLife
