Cheng Yang – Post Animation and Editing is my thing!

Hello everyone… I am simply an artist… purest sense!
I was born and raised in a wonderful metropolis called Shenyang, China. The city is a vast and beautiful example of the typical Chinese charm that can be found within the Liaoning province. Our majestic city is filled with smiling, docile, polite citizens who greet our tourists with larger-than-life personalities. No one locks the door and there are few police officers due to almost non-existent crime. Do you like Chinese food? Well, that is what we are all about. I like the shrimp-fried rice the most!
Even though our city is one of the most beautiful in the world, I grew up in a very poor family. My mother was an artist, and my father was a laborer who was paid at the poverty limit, causing us to suffer greatly. Hunger was part of our daily lives. Despite struggles with poverty, my mother and father were like fairy tale parents. They were kind, gentle, and lovely. They worked incredibly hard to get me through school including the university and I will be forever thankful. I was also lucky to have a wonderful older sister who encouraged and loved me more than I ever imagined. I wouldn’t trade her to be the wealthiest person in China. I don’t know what I would have done without her.

My mother saw how artistic-minded my sister and I were and worried that we would pursue careers in the world of art. She was clear that was a bad idea, that a paycheck came first. However, she told us that art was demanded important to our natures, shaping our inner selves, developing our characters, creating our appealing charm, and diversifying our personalities. “But” my mother rather forcibly demanded, “my two girls are going to learn how to put food on the table with real jobs!”
My dad was a little more empathetic to artistic endeavors by his two daughters. I think this was because of his ongoing love affair with mom which never really stopped as it tends to with most couples. He thought he was always on a honeymoon with her and always claimed he got the exact woman he had the biggest crush on in life, not a thing most of us can say. I think it was his opinion that it would be wonderful if his two daughters were just like mom as there could be no such thing as “too much of a good thing.” But deep down in, he agreed with mom and went along with her, much to our chagrin.
But for at least my 13-year-old independent self, my career would be in the arts! Defying my adamant mother and making that rebellious decision at thirteen was not as unexpected as one might think since some of my rationales were based on winning several art awards in school among the city’s youth exhibitions. I really liked fine art, which was my early success, but not as much as film art.
Oh my gosh! Wild horses couldn’t drag me out of the movies unless there was popcorn and a Coke in the saddle. Actually, this is my last attempt at humor because I’m kind of a health nut – but that is another blog. What made my mother crazier about my fine decision, was the film art I had planned to entertain with, was in front of a film camera. Yes, I had to tell her I wanted to be a famous, full-blown, red carpet in Pasadena California Movie Star.

So, I set out on my plans beginning with Facebook messaging everyone in West Hollywood soliciting them to put me in their movie. I messaged electricians, beauty solon people, restaurant owners, and everyone who was listed in West Hollywood that would friend me. My thirteen-year-old mind could not fathom that someone who was fortunate enough to live in Tinsel Town was not making their own movie and starring in it. But surprise! No luck! I was sad and dejected; but fortunate to have a mother who came to my rescue. Unbeknownst to me, she was contriving “behind-the-scenes” research and stumbled on a career plan that exactly fit my perfect life’s work. Kindly her and their dad started the difficult task of redirecting their daughter toward Digital Media Arts! They knew that would not be easy. My dad in particular does not like his daughter’s heart getting broke.
“I will not give up!” I sobbed like a baby. I remember my broken heart, after all, I was sure my dream would come true. But both my dad and my mom with certainly more patience than I have ever mustered kept pushing me toward what they thought would be perfect for me. Over time I started to see their vision– that I could create the most awesome movie scenes with a technology called CGI and VFX which are used in post-production by some of the most prestigious animation film studios in the world.

So, turning eighteen and finally graduating from High School with honors, I applied and was accepted into the University of Digital Media Arts, B.A., Suzhou, China. After spending four years and loving every minute of it, I graduated in 2012 and went to work for Beijing Studios. The biggest project I worked on was the movie Hero. In 2018, I decided to make a move to the world of online freelancing because, quite frankly, I can make considerably more wages on my own, than working for the studio. As a freelancer, I have also included as part of my business model, video editing in which there are more opportunities than CGI and VFX, however not quite as lucrative. Since 2018, I have done over 200 projects as a Freelancer. I have on my computer a host of software that I perform my work with that is beyond the scope of this blog –but I will get it to any interested blog members. I would love to tell you the freelance projects I have worked on, but I have letters of proprietary that I have signed, prohibiting my foreclose of customers or the names of the projects. I do have a portfolio I can send to those who are interested. I understand from billy LAx, that he has lots of potential for my freelance business, that I can give him quality service for the right price, and I hope my membership to the Movies by Espresso yields fruit. I also understand that Espresso Films will be implementing a social media and YouTube video plan as part of their company so I will be giving them bids for my wo