Conversations with Abraham Mast

Today we’d like to introduce you to Abraham Mast.  

Hi Abraham, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstories.
Like many things in life, my introduction to animation was entirely by accident. LEGOs were my life when I was young. One day I was taking pictures of my newly built creation with a point-and-shoot digital camera. A balanced figure fell while I was taking pictures. At that moment I was annoyed, but upon clicking through the pictures it created the illusion of motion. In my kid brain, I thought I had invented something new, but that was how I discovered stop-motion animation. 

After several years of stop-motion animation, I began teaching myself 3D animation. Many hours were spent on YouTube watching as many Blender 3D tutorials as I could. Early freelancing years were spent making gamer intros and avatars. Those were the days! Dubstep-neon-Impact-font intros. 

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Over the years I have run into fewer and fewer issues as I spent more time in the business world. The larger the corporation the easier it is to talk money since those on top know time is money; value is more easily traded. In those early days, I would forget to mention something in an invoice, forget to cover my bases, and other rookie mistakes. Obviously, I never make mistakes now and you will never catch me slipping up … but if I do, I will certainly learn from my mistakes these days. The hottest water I’ve been in were copyright-related issues on YouTube. Any YouTube creator would understand. I once got death threats from a moderately sized YouTuber who re-uploaded my animations. But that’s a story for another day. 

Even though I’ve been an animator for a while now, I am more experienced with diabetes. I was diagnosed with type-1 diabetes when I was only 2 years old. Thankfully medical technology has improved over the years, but it has shaped my life. My diet and exercise reflect my needs to manage my diabetes. (And yes, I was one of those track and field kids). Picking animation, a job where you sit all day, was maybe not the best option. 

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
My favorite kind of work to produce is character-based animations. I can be very obsessive over body language. Everyone walks differently just like everyone talks differently. Body language is a major part of the formula of communication. My favorite shots to animate are those where the character doesn’t even speak, just pure body emotion. I am particularly obsessed with hands and shoulders and how those two points can express so much. 

The work I tend to gravitate towards is that with the mature themes. I enjoy the fun as well as the somber tones. The area I am most interested in is the mix between film and animation. Animation is often placed in a box of cartoons for kids or over-the-top “adult” humor. We see two extreme camps with very few animated works in the middle. 

What was you like growing up?
I am very thankful to have both of my parents who are very supportive. They may not have been able to help me figure out a 3D problem, but they always encouraged me. My parents are also self-employed, so they helped me get on the same path of being freelance/self-employed. 

For better or for worse I am the oldest of four. I always had a knack for storytelling and would make up stories for my younger siblings. Storytelling is a useful skill to have in the world of animation. Even a still image needs a story. When I design or lay out a scene, I envision the environment as if it were alive. For example, if I place a towel over a chair, I am imagining someone who was in a hurry and didn’t put the towel back in the bathroom. These little details add up to a world in the story. 

Contact Info:

• Email: [email protected]
• Website: https://abrahammast.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/abrahammast/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/abrahammast
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/abrahammast
• Other: https://pylonanimations.com/

Image Credits
Jami-lyn Fehr Hall
Abraham Mast