CG Artist Chris Yao in Hollywood

Chris Yao does not look like an artist at all in front of me. He looks like a boy living next door and the way he dresses himself does not suggest trendy Hollywood. Wearing a coffee-color sweater, a pair of jeans, a pair of slippers, Yao lounges comfortably in a couch at home in Kunming, the capital of southwestern China’s Yunnan Province. He is on holiday at home with his parents.

But Chris Yao is indeed a computer graphic wizard who served as the texture painter in the making of “2012”, a Hollywood blockbuster screened over the world. In addition to this latest credit, Yao has also had his name in a number of other blockbusters such as “Star Trek”, “Australia”, “Red Cliff”, “Wedding Crasher”, and “Spartacus”.

His parents had known their son was a computer graphic artist, but they had had no idea how his work would show on the screen. Back home, the family went to movie together. Of course, they watched “2010”.

Computer graphics makes spectacular movies possible. Hollywood directors and artists have pioneered in this art and have made history by turning out epoch-making blockbusters. Chris Yao is one of the numerous artists who make these films possible, he is one of the few Asian CG artists in Hollywood.

Chris Yao looks every inch a CG artist when he begins demonstrating his art on the computer. All of a sudden, he presents a totally different persona. His eyes shining and his face beaming, he speaks passionately and profusely.

In 1995 Yao Qi (his Chinese name) gave up his study of photography at a film academy and went with his parents to America. In America, he studied computer graphics at a private academy for four years. In retrospect, Yao thinks the cash that went into the studies of computer graphics are worthwhile.

When Stargate Digital was recruiting technicians, Chris Yao signed up and he was employed. In the fierce competition, one of every 60 applicants was employed. His magic life thus started.

The first case assigned to him included special effects such as a bullet going through or an environment in which someone died. As a novice CG artist at the lowest rung of the company ladder, he earned a poor salary, just enough to cover his home rental. It was even less than the pay he could have made at a supermarket. But he survived thanks to his hard work and thanks to free meals offered to those working overtime after eight o’clock in the evening. More often than not, he worked overtime in order to have that free meal.

His efforts paid off. He was noticed and he became better known. He worked special effects of “Spartacus” and “Las Vegas”. In 2003, he worked the visual effects for “The Matrix Revolution” by ESC Entertainment. He was very nervous and didn’t give an impressive interview. He thought he was out. Unexpectedly, however, he got a call a week later from the company, asking him to fly over to have another interview. This time, he got the job. Working with the best team of special effects, Yao further improved his expertise.

As a computer graphic artist, Yao traveled and worked with a team. After a heavy workload and a lot of travel across America, he became wearied of the feeling on the road. He switched to video games. While working at NCsoft with Richard Garriott on Tabula Rasa, the movie world moved on without Chris Yao working his magic on any of the big movies during that time.

His two-year work experience with video games was great. But the company where he had been working went down, giving him an opportunity to reexamine his career path and make new choices. He declined an attractive offer for a job in another video game giant and came back to movies again. He rediscovered happiness in creating and perfecting special effects.

One morning 2008 in Texas while he was just out of door on his way to work, his mobile phone rang and it was a number he did not recognize. When the caller said it was John Woo, Yao did not connect the name with the big-time Chinese director from Hong Kong. Well finally the young artist realized who the caller was and became excited when realized what had been just offered. He was invited to make special effects for “Red Cliff I”, a blockbuster that John Woo was directing. Yao made the special effects of the background for the famous battle at Red Cliff about 1,800 years ago. In one moment of the epic film, the Yangtze River abounded with ships ready to cross and General Cao’s army was ready to overwhelm the southern part of China. In this spectacular scene, only two ships were real. All the rest were special visual effects created by Yao on computer.

In the summer of 2008, Yao began to work on 2012. He had accepted the offer partly because the disaster film was being directed by Roland Emmerich whose “The Day After Tomorrow” convinced Yao. Yao worked 13 hours a day for a good eight months. He played a significant role in helping creating effects of the Noah’s Ark made in China.

Talking about all the movies he has helped make, Yao comments that 2012 gave him the greatest joy and gave his colleagues a great sense of success.

After 10 years engaged in special effects, Chris Yao is now looking forward to a bright career. He says he has a few offers from big-name directors. His big dream is to create an art work of his own.