Peter Parker as a very greasy Spider-Man. Image : Sony Pictures

Sometimes, an animator’s best model is themselves.

Emma Shih is one of the many, many brilliant animators responsible for bringing Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse to life. Recently, she shared a short video, not of her animation work, exactly, but of her reference work: the live-action materials she used to properly create her scenes. Her reference, li ke it is for many artists, was herself, and it makes for a delightful video.


Watch as Shih acts out both sides of the iconic diner scene, and as she pulls off a pretty compelling Gwen Stacy. If there’s one thing about to learn about animation from this, it’s that most of your favorites start with someone doing something strange, alone, in a room for good reference material. If that doesn’t heighten your enjoyment, I don’t know what will.




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