“Toemarok,” also known as “Exorcism Chronicles: The Beginning,” was released on February 21. It's a K-occult animation produced by LOCUS Animation, the studio behind popular animations like “Yumi's Cells: The Movie” and “Red Shoes and the Seven Dwarfs.” Based on the book series “Toemarok” by Lee Woo-hyeok (1993-2001), the animation quickly captured the hearts of viewers after its debut. 

The story centers on Father Park, a doctor-turned-priest excommunicated for conducting exorcisms. Joined by a monk and a young shaman, they strive to protect a powerful child from dark forces. 

The animation was screened at various film festivals in Europe including the Annecy International Animation Film Festival in France, the Imagine Fantastic Film Festival in Amsterdam, and the Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival in Estonia, all in 2024. 

Amabel Emillavta is an Indonesian visual development artist currently working at LOCUS Animation in Seoul, Korea. She moved to Korea seven years ago as an AMA+ scholarship recipient to study animation at the Korea National University of Arts. She is also the creator of the webtoon ‘’Tweening’’ on Webtoon Indonesia. 

The following are excerpts from an email interview with Amabel Emillavta from Feb 25 to Mar 13.

1. How did you become involved in the "Toemarok" animation project?

I've been interested in working at LOCUS ever since I was an animation student. I was hoping to work at a studio with a dedicated visual development team, especially since I thought it would be a great learning experience for a junior designer such as myself. LOCUS fit the bill perfectly, and I was excited to find out that LOCUS was searching for a visual development staff member right as I was graduating from KARTS. Getting the job was an even bigger excitement. Although, I didn't know LOCUS was working on ‘’Toemarok,’’ it happened to be my first project at LOCUS, and I’m grateful for the experience. 

2. What were your responsibilities in the animation production?

I work in pre-production as a visual development artist, helping to develop and design the visuals for the show. At LOCUS, our visual development team is divided into two groups: environment design and character design. Once the story, scenario, and animatics are decided, the visual development team is tasked with designing the necessary visual assets. These can range from crucial elements like the main character's design to seemingly minor but equally important details, such as dirt. Focusing on the environment, I primarily work on background and set design, prop design, textures, and some matte painting. Occasionally, I assist with character design as well; essentially, whatever the production needs. While most of our work is in pre-production, my team members and I often remain involved throughout the production process, by closely collaborating with the modeling team, lookDev team, and lighting team on our visual assets. 

3. What’s it like to work at LOCUS animation studios?

Working at LOCUS has been a wonderful experience, almost like going to school every day. I start my day by greeting my teammates, grabbing coffee together, receiving assignments, working on tasks, revising past work, chatting with coworkers, and learning something new every day. My teammates are incredibly nice, and we always try to help each other out despite having different assignments on various projects. Everyone is kind; we eat lunch together, I crochet with coworkers during breaks, and sometimes we share fruits or snacks. It's lovely. 

4. Can you talk about the concept art and visual development process for this animation?

“Toemarok” is based on a popular novel of the same title. The great thing about adapting a novel is the creative freedom we have, as character and environment designs aren’t visually set beyond text descriptions. I joined the team later, so the main characters and environment pieces were already designed when I arrived. My tasks included additional elements like textures, color scripts, matte paintings, and prop designs. I did a lot of texturing, including painting the traditional murals (taenghwa), textures for the GS25 shop and traditional buildings, designing the cathedral interior and the bunny charm on Father Park's rosary. 

One of the most enjoyable assignments was painting the textures for a GS25 store. My art director recommended visiting nearby GS25 shops for research, taking photos, and comparing them with online images. With support from the story, modeling, animation, lighting, VFX, and technical teams, everything came together beautifully in the end. 

5. Were there any major revisions or unexpected changes made during the production process?

“Toemarok” was originally planned as a limited series of four episodes, but was later set to become a feature film. Many scenes were rearranged for better narrative flow, and some scenes unfortunately didn't make the final cut. One revision I worked on was on the cathedral's interior. After the design for the cathedral's exterior had been finalized, it turned out that the cathedral's interior needed major redesigning to adjust to the unique shape and placement of doors and windows shown in the exterior. Despite creating an imaginary environment, we had to solve this logical design puzzle to ensure that the visuals aligned with the story. Revisions like this can happen during production as new ideas emerge or the story evolves. As designers, our role is not only to create but also to find visual solutions that enhance the narrative. 

6. What did you learn from working on "Toemarok?"

“Toemarok” has been a challenging yet rewarding experience for me, as a junior designer and as a foreigner. Considering the fact that the film is based on a popular novel read by millions and deeply inspired by Korean culture, I had to pay a lot of attention to my work to develop unique, intriguing visuals that still had a Korean edge. My Art Director, Park Yong-Keon, was extremely patient and helpful. He taught me everything from set design to matte painting, color scripting to layout. 

During my probation period, he offered me the momentous opportunity to paint the traditional mural of the cultists' temple. While I knew it would be my most challenging task yet, I couldn't pass on the chance. I worked every day for about one and a half months on the mural. Many people were involved in the process because it was such a significant and intricate asset in the show. While I'm not Korean and wasn't familiar with Korean Buddhist murals, I had excellent guidelines and great supervisors to help me. Through this task, I learned a lot about the nuances of Korean traditional art. I'm very honored to have been given this opportunity. Seeing the asset make the cut and being used in many scenes, even in the ending credits and for promotional purposes, really boosted my confidence. The entire process; from submitting the design asset to seeing it modeled and then having characters interact with it under the beautifully crafted lighting setup by the lighting and VFX team, using the color guide painted by my art director; truly showcased our team's effort.

7. What was your experience working alongside the rest of the team, including animators, designers, and others?

It was a fantastic experience. Although the language barrier can be challenging, everyone was so attentive, meticulous, and hardworking. Our visual development team consists of 7-8 people, and we often work on 2-3 different projects simultaneously. Despite this, if any of us had difficulties with our assignments, everyone was always ready to help out. At some point, almost everyone chipped in here and there. Even though we were busy, everyone stayed pretty relaxed and tried to make the work experience as stress-free as possible. There were days when our producers brought us ice cream or Bungeo-ppang for snacks. Sometimes, we even had office raffle events for free coffee or coupons. Before the film was screened for the public, we had an office screening day together. Everyone involved with the project was invited, and it felt great and touching to see everyone's names come up in the credits. 

8. Do you believe that blending 2D and 3D techniques is the future of animated storytelling?

I believe there is no limit to animation. There have been so many experimental animations over the years, and I think the 2D/3D mix style has been working really well in the market these past years. This current trend is opening the door to freedom of visual expression. Maybe one day, stop-motion/2D/3D mix will be the next trend, or we'll return to classic 2D pencil animation. Who knows? I'm just happy that studios these days are experimenting and taking risks to find new ideas and deliver new visual experiences.