A Couple with Animated Aspirations

FIFTEEN months – that’s how long it took Tang Boqing and his wife Zeng Xiaolan to produce a seven-minute and 23-second-long 3D animated film. But it seems these long months of hard work have been worth it； the short film titled Entrance Exam became an instant hit among Chinese netizens after being uploaded to video websites. Featuring exquisite animation， fluid motion and many distinctive Chinese elements， Entrance Exam has been viewed on Youku， a popular Chinese online video channel， over 1.16 million times.

Creation of Entrance Exam

Entrance Exam tells the story of three mice that are participating in a trial to become students of a taichi master. The story takes place in the kitchen of a Taoist temple. Three mice， one tall， one short and one fat， are tasked with stealing eggs from a basket without being discovered by the abbot. The sage-like taichi master stands by， closely judging their efforts. After several failed attempts， the little mice finally overcome their troubles and get the eggs. The film has no dialogue， as actions， facial expressions and music tell the story. The mice’s thrilling and funny adventures have earned high praise from netizens， including the commendation that the production quality is comparable to DreamWorks’Kung Fu Panda.

According to Zeng， the film is the first work independently produced by her and her husband. “The cartoons we made before were commissioned， rather than coming from our own ideas. Entrance Exam is our experiment. We wanted to see if we could make a good cartoon so we decided to give it a try，”said Zeng.

The couple shares the work. Tang is responsible for the script， storyboard and post-production， while Zeng works on the design of the characters and actions. When asked why they wanted to make an animated film， Zeng answered，“Neither of us received professional training in cartoon production， but we really wanted to gain an opportunity to study it. Early in 2012 we started to create the film and had planned to finish it in six to eight months； but it eventually took 15 months. We hope the film will give us the chance to study abroad.”

After its release， the production not only became popular among netizens， but was also awarded numerous prizes. The film was nominated for the Tenth Golden Dragon Awards， and won Best Chinese Short Film at the Tenth Golden Dinosaur International Original Animation Competition and the silver award for Best Short Cartoon Film at the Sixth Golden Dolphin Animation Competition. It was also featured at the SIGGRAPH （Special Interest Group on Computer Graphics） Asia 2013， widely known as one of the most authoritative international computer animation festivals with a great influence and big scale.

If at First You Don’t Succeed…

The couple’s modest studio， a 50-square-meter room， is located in Wuhou District of Chengdu City， Sichuan Province. This is also their home. On one side is a bed and on the other， a sizable table on which there are three computers placed side by side. There are another three computers set up on the balcony because of the limited space indoors. Tang and Zeng also have a furry friend – a fat cat named Bai Xiaoma that the couple jokingly refers to as their “supervisor.”

Tang was born in 1978 and Zeng， in 1977. Classmates at middle school， their teacher sat them together in an effort to restrain chatty Tang through reserved Zeng. The two “deskmates”soon discovered their common interest– comic books. Tang has been keen on cartoons since childhood and enjoyed recreating comic book pages， imitating their style. Zeng excelled in painting. With just a few strokes， she could bring a cartoon character to life on the page.

It was a great shame for the two animation enthusiasts that in 1996， when they left school for higher education， there was no such thing as a major in animation in Chinese institutes. Tang went to study chemistry at Peking University while Zeng learned clinical medicine at West China University of Medical Sciences （now West China Center of Medical Sciences， Sichuan University）.

During his second year， Tang took on some design work at a games company. He missed so many classes because of his commitment to his job that he was eventually advised to quit his course. Zeng spent her spare time learning about digital painting software and one summer， took an internship at an animation company. In 2001， Tang went back to Chengdu and established an advertising company. At that time， Zeng， who still had two more years left of her master’s degree， decided to graduate early and join Tang’s company.

In 2007， the Chinese animation industry entered a stage of rapid development. Some investors thought highly of the industry and were willing to invest in budding animators， and Tang was one such lucky recipient. With the funds he received， he set up an animation company. He hit the ground running， recruiting employees and starting work on producing a 26-episode animated television series on Beijing folklore. In its heyday， the company had a 400-square-meter office and over 70 employees.

The animation industry demands high investment but produces little in the way of immediate returns. After several rounds of investment， the in-vestors still could not see much profit， so they decided to withdraw the funds five years later. Tang had no choice but to dismiss his team. He and Zeng were left unemployed.

“After five years of hard work， we had failed. We went back home， but we still wanted to try to succeed in the field we loved. That was how Entrance Exam came about，” said Zeng. The funny story and lovable characters mask any hint of pessimism experienced by the couple because of their setback. Zeng said， “For over a year， I was doing the thing I love with the person I love. That’s the definition of happiness.”

In Pursuit of Happiness

Zeng said they first got the idea for Entrance Exam in 2008. The little mice were their company logo and the concept started out as a short adver- tisement feature for them. In 2012， after the company was closed down， the couple re-imagined the mice as the characters of their new animation film.

During the 15-month production process， the biggest problem they encountered was with the software.“Sometimes the computer just would not work，” Zeng recalled. At those times， she would imagine shouting at the computers， “Work， slaves！” while she pictured the computers feeling wronged and crying， “Sorry， Master！ We’ve done our best.”

Whenever they were at a low ebb， they would watch an animation film for encouragement. However， watching the impressive work of masters in the field， they couldn’t help feeling desperate about the yawning gap between them. They worried they could never catch up. Nonetheless， the couple still had the will to fight and believed that even if they never fully caught up， just aspiring to reach the level of their gurus was a good thing.

During the film’s production days the couple worked for at least 10 hours every day without stopping for a holiday or even the weekend. “We had to take on some part-time work to earn a living as well，” said Zeng. “Although the process could be tedious and， at times， painful， we were still upbeat and felt a huge sense of achievement whenever we viewed the results of our endeavors. Happiness accounted for a larger proportion of our life in the days of producing the film.”

The post-production stage of filmmaking is mainly about adjusting colors and light， and that was Tang’s domain. Zeng， therefore， was freed up to work on her comic book， Little Doctor’s Diary， which is based on reflections of her time at medical school. The little doctor’s stories of experiences with patients are light-hearted and humorous， and have captivated over 50，000 online fans. A print version of the book is soon to be released.

Tang and Zeng are happy but， equally， surprised that Entrance Exam has turned out to be so popular. They are developing a one-minute “behind the scenes” feature and thinking about scripting a sequel. Some animation companies have expressed their interest in cooperation， but the couple has turned them down. “We’re sending applications to study at universities overseas and are waiting for offers. We want to receive professional education in this field and hope that one day we can make a world first-rate animation film. I think that is our ultimate goal，”Zeng said.