After studying in China, Europe and US and getting her bachelor's degree in architecture, Zero (Zirao) worked briefly for CallisonRTKL, an architecture design firm. With the ideal of combining cinema art and architecture design, She moved to LA to attend the AFI production design program, honing her skills in story- driven environment design. As she started working for film/tv production design, she quickly realized her strengths and interest fall on concept illustration and set design. So far, she's worked on HARRY POTTER: HOGWARTS TOURNAMENT OF HOUSES (TBS, concept illustrator), THE ACTIVIST (CBS, assistant art director), BEEF (A24/Netflix, concept illustrator), MODERN LOVE JAPAN (Amazon) and BOO, BITCH (Netflix) and various commercials and music videos.
Can you tell us about your motivation to work in the film industry and how do you like it so far?
Ever since I was still an architecture student years ago, I've dreamed about designing story-driven space that could interact with people in a dramatic way. It didn't take me long to realize that it's easier to realize that goal in a virtual environment like film, tv or games rather than in reality. I was thrilled learning about production design and started diving in almost instantly. While working in films as a production designer, I would read the script and start visioning the story vaguely in my head. Those initial visions remain very subtle and obscure for a while, they could be shapes, colors, or some feelings that other places have left to me in my head. That whole process of dancing with the visions in my head is always enjoyable to me.
I've worked as a production designer on indie short films and shows, as well as in the art departments of union shows. Both are really fast paced and very demanding, though it's also been a lot of fun. I wake up to challenges everyday and find myself thinking about solutions and grabbing inspirations from life experience constantly. This job has provided me a new way of looking at the daily appearance of life and another point of view towards films, tv shows, etc. I whole-heartedly appreciate the broadness it's been offering.
What kind of projects have you been working on, and what's your favorite?
I've worked on various productions, bigger or smaller, union or non-union.
As an example for non-union productions, I production designed a music video named CAKE (Super Sako & Offset) and everything was really fast paced, we prepared everything in about a week and the actual shooting took one day. During this time, I developed a visual presentation based on the overall tone and story generated by the director, took part in the location scouting, and came up with a set dressing plan that would work with the location. I took care of budgeting and outsourcing on my own, and then a few days before shooting, I had an art director and an art assistant coming on board to help me manage the pick up from prop house and actual set preparation on set. I stayed on set with my colleagues by the monitor as onset dressers to provide everything they needed and made sure everything looked perfect each frame. What I like about this kind of projects is that you really need to take full responsibility and make creative decisions, and your ways of thinking will eventually be reflected through the final outcome.
On union projects, generally you get longer preparation time, but also a much bigger picture to consider. I worked as a concept illustrator on a A24/Netflix show named BEEF, and sculpted a series of special props, vases actually, as a few of the main characters in the show are artists and a big part of the story happens around these special art pieces they make. That was a very special and fun job to work on, I got about 6 weeks to generate a form language of the vases and created about 50 variations, to a point that they started to feel like belonging to a visual system that an actual artist would create. On union shows, everyone in the art department have assigned tasks to deal with, while we need to constantly communicate and keep the bigger picture in mind to stay on the same page. It's very collaborative and enjoyable, especially working with nice people who share same visions with you. Eventually it's really satisfying to see your small part of work in the whole picture. So far I'm trying to move on more like a concept illustrator, it's a really challenging and competitive job, I found myself more excited and involved doing it.
What's your plan on achieving your goal and remain competitive in the industry?
Keep looking for jobs and honing my artistic skills are my major approaches. I really enjoy seeing my work being built and shot, working in the film industry is such a collaborative art that you simply feel involved and accomplished serving your purpose in a large system. It also feels like you have a way to talk to the audience. Speaking of opportunities, connections are very important, thus I've been constantly building my illustrator's portfolio and reaching out to professionals in the industry.
The other thing I really like about being a concept artist is that you're almost compelled to become a lifetime learner and keep absorbing new stuff. I started with using SketchUp and Rhino, and picked up Blender, Photoshop, Unreal Engine and Substance Painter ever since. Each tool inspires me in different ways and evoke different artistic approaches. Eventually I found myself using a combination of softwares to achieve a final design or concept art; in the process I would keep experimenting. Sometimes you get unexpected results, that's even more fun. So learning new techniques and developing my own pipeline is another area I'll be working on constantly.
