News from SJSU Animation/Illustration

Animation/Illustration Students Preview Pixar’s “Brave.”

Tue, 8 May 2012 08:25:52 -0700

On May 3, Pixar animator Austin Madison spoke to an audience of more than 200 Animation/Illustration students about the studio’s upcoming animated feature, “Brave.” The students got an inside look at making of the film from concept art through scenes from the finished animation. Mr. Madison, who graduated from the Character Animation program at the California Institute of the Arts, also has film credits on Ratatouille, Toy Story 3, and Up. “Brave” will be released in theaters nationwide on June 22.

Shrunkenheadman President Hillary Bradfield with Pixar Animator Austin Madison

May the 4th Be With You: Animation/Illustration students visit Lucasfilm on International Star Wars Day

Tue, 8 May 2012 08:16:57 -0700

On May fourth Professor Courtney Granner’s Visual Development class made a trip to Lucasfilm’s Letterman Digital Arts Center in the San Francisco Presidio. Although Professor Granner schedules the trip each semester, this visit was exceptional as it coincided with International Star Wars Day. University Relations Manager Anita Stokes and University Relations Representative Ryan Howe hosted the tour. After amazing the students with iconic examples of production art, and film props, the group attended a screening of the studio’s show reel featuring work from Lucasfilm, Lucasfilm Animation, and Industrial Light and Magic. After the tour, the class had lunch with Animation/Illustration alumni in the employee’s cafeteria and took advantage of a photo opportunity with their favorite Jedi Master.

A/I Student Kristy Kay with Lucasfilm University Relations Manager Anita Stokes
Lucasfilm University Relations Representative Ryan Howe with A/I Student Eunsoo Jeong

Animation/Illustration Students Mentor High School Magnet Program

Mon, 30 Apr 2012 07:42:07 -0700

On April 23, Animation/Illustration program seniors Nic Rudy, Kevin Yang, Erin Schleupner, and Jung-Han Chang visited Mount Pleasant High School in San Jose to offer encouragement to students in Clark Semple’s Animation Magnet Program. For almost two decades, Animation/Illustration has partnered with Mr. Semple to help students enter the screen arts industry by taking advantage of affordable local educational opportunities at the high school, community college, and university level. Mr. Semple recently expanded his curriculum to include concept art and storyboarding, disciplines which involve skill in painting and drawing. Recognizing that the purchase of traditional art supplies was not in the budget, Mr. Semple invited SJSU Animation/Illustration majors to mentor his students in digital techniques. During their visit, the SJSU students explained their working process and reinforced the notion that hard work trumps talent by sharing their own experiences on the journey from high school through college. The SJSU students plan to return to Mount Pleasant for another in-depth presentation as the high school students prepare for this new addition to their program.

Digital Painting by SJSU senior Erin Schleupner

Master Class With Larry Silverberg

Tue, 24 Apr 2012 08:12:59 -0700

On April 10, more than 100 Animation/Illustration students took part in a three-hour master class with noted director, writer, and acting coach Larry Silverberg. Mr. Silverberg adapted aspects of the Meisner technique of acting to address a question central to Animation/Illustration students; “what’s pushing the pencil?” The answer was complex and surprising as students were guided to begin the search for their own creative voice—a journey that sometimes gets lost in the hard work necessary to reach professional competence. Mr. Silverberg’s class inspired senior Sal Criscione to comment; “the class asked us to think about a deeper meaning—what we could bring to our work as individuals.”

SJSU Wins Top Animation Awards At The New York Society of Illustrators

Thu, 12 Apr 2012 21:59:39 -0700

Animation/Illustration students Brian Kistler and Emily Johnstone share top honors for Animation at the prestigious New York Society of Illustrators Student Scholarship Competition for their short film, “Bloom.” The second place award also went to SJSU for Yung-Han Chang’s entry, “Bye, Bye Bruce.” Both films were produced on campus by teams of Animation/Illustration students who guided the vision of the three student directors from the initial storyboards and concept design through post-production.
Represented in the competition's very competitive Illustration category are SJSU students Jeanie Chang, Cody Gramstad, Annlyn Huang, Rudy Santos Jr., Lauren Zurcher, Alexander Sparks, Ko Tseng Wei, and 2011 graduate Melissa King. Of the 8,119 illustration submissions, only 253 were accepted for the exhibition. The Student Scholarship exhibition will be on view at the Museum of American Illustration in New York from May 9 through June 2. The opening reception and awards ceremony will held on May 18.

Animation/Illustration Visits New York

Tue, 10 Apr 2012 15:09:30 -0700

At the end of March, faculty members David Chai and David Yee led a group of sixteen Animation/Illustration students on a five-day trip to New York City. The tour included visits to BlueSky Studios, Curious Pictures, Titmouse, Plymptoon Studios, UVPhactory, The Society of Illustrators, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Guggenhiem, and The Neue Galerie. The students also saw many local attractions including the Statue of Liberty, the Empire State Building, the 9/11 Memorial, Rockefeller Center, Times Square, Central Park, and St Patrick’s Cathedral. A special highlight was the opportunity to spend time with SJSU Animation/Illustration Alumni Jake Panian, Robert Mackenzie, Aidan Sugano, Cameron Moore, Phil Mamuyac, and Aletta Wenas.

Animation/Illustration Students Earn Accolades from Two Top Critics

Thu, 15 Mar 2012 09:11:09 -0700

During the summer of 2010, YungHan Chang and Kimberly Knoll led a team of more than thirty Animation/Illustration students in the production of “No Robots” a short animated film about an imagined future. At the time, both students had just finished their first animation classes and were looking for a way to use their new skills.

This week, their film garnered national accolades from two top critics. Kasia Cieplak-Mayr von Baldegg, an associate editor for The Atlantic commented, “No Robots” is a beautifully made short animated film about the complicated relationship humans have with their machines.” Roger Ebert, who also took note of “No Robots” wrote, “This one is a treasure…The animation is so well done, so in control of mood, I’d love to see a feature by these two students.”

Chang and Knoll credit their classmates, who worked twelve-hour days on the project, for their success. “We were lucky to have such a devoted team, literally donating their summer,” Knoll comments. Chang also has high praise for his peers insisting that the entire group should share all honors.

Any plans for a feature film will have to wait until both students graduate in May. For now, they are happy with what they have accomplished. “We didn’t expect that so many people would like ‘No Robots,’ ” writes Chang. “We are very, very grateful.” Knoll adds, “YungHan and I didn’t imagine that we would win awards or get into festivals, so all the publicity “No Robots” has received has been a great surprise!”

Photo left to right: YungHan Chang: Director, Kimberly Knoll: Director, Corwin Woo: Production Designer

Visual Development Students Visit Lucasfilm’s Letterman Digital Arts Center

Thu, 2 Feb 2012 22:20:07 -0800

Students in Professor Courtney Granner’s Fall 2011 Visual Development class kicked off the Spring 2012 semester a few days early with a January 20th visit to Lucasfilm’s twenty-three acre campus in the Presidio National Park in San Francisco. University Relations Manager Anita Stokes and University Relations Representative Ryan Howe treated the students to an informative tour of the facilities as well as a screening of show reels from both Lucasfilm and Industrial Light & Magic. After a lunch with Animation/Illustration alumni, students gathered outside the studio for a photo opportunity with renowned Jedi master, Yoda, whose good advice “Do or do not. There is no try,” will inspire the class as they begin the new semester.

Pictured far left: Professor Courtney Granner
Pictured far right: Lucasfilm University Relations Manager Ryan Howe

A/I Goes to the Circus!

Wed, 1 Feb 2012 22:05:04 -0800

On Sunday Nov 6th, an enthusiastic group of 51 A/I students accompanied by three instructors went to San Francisco to see TOTEM, Cirque Du Soleil's latest show. The field trip provided a great opportunity for Animation/Illustration students to observe the beauty, power and magic of live theater as well as Cirque’s trademark blend of live music, heart-stopping stunts, mind-blowing technological feats and gorgeous costumes. The show was worthwhile from every point of view: the movement, the acting, the sets, the make-up and costumes, and the video projections all provided inspiration for future student projects.

Animation/Illustration Program Begins Collaboration with Texas A&M

Wed, 1 Feb 2012 22:01:25 -0800

This fall, the SJSU Animation/Illustration program started an important collaboration with Texas A&M. Lead jointly by SJSU Assistant Professor Raquel Coelho and Texas A&M Associate Professor and Department Head Tim McLaughlin, a team of seven students are working together to create fully rigged 3-D characters. The characters were designed and modeled by SJSU students and are being rigged by a group of graduate students from Texas A&M with input and feedback from the SJSU animators. Classes are taught virtually using Skype, while blogs and Google Docs are used to keep information flowing between all involved. The group makes use of widely available software to connect creative minds with the goal of generating memorable characters for use by animation students at both universities. Professor Coelho notes that this project “is a way to explore a new model of a virtual classroom, which we hope will benefit students across both campuses.”

Pictured: Graduate students at Texas A&M connect with SJSU students with Skype.

SJSU Animation/Illustration Alumni Make Their Mark at Lucas Animation

Tue, 31 Jan 2012 22:23:42 -0800

On a recent visit to LucasFilm’s Big Rock Ranch in Marin County, Animation/Illustration Program Coordinator Alice Carter visited with SJSU alumni working on the popular “Clone Wars” television series as well as new projects scheduled for release in the future. “I was gratified to hear that our graduates are making major contributions and distinguishing themselves with both their work ethic and their positive attitude,” Carter says.

“Our graduates not only boost their own careers with their accomplishments, but also help create internship and employment opportunities for our current students. “Clone Wars” recently garnered five nominations for the 39th annual Annie Awards, the animation industry’s highest honor. After looking at some of the innovative work created for the show, Carter and the Spartan graduates assembled in the Big Rock Studio living room for a photo opportunity.

Pictured (left to right): Front row: Andrea Rhodes, Saul Ruiz, Anthony Ermio, Alice Carter, Cole Higgins, Zack Elsworth, Chris McKane. Back row: Don Ta, John Paul Balmet, Micah Sibert, Paul Nguyen, Martin Kau, Jeff Sangalli, and Cullen Brown. Not pictured: Colin Fix, Elyse Regan Omernick

Animation/Illustration Student Visualizes NASA Discovery

Tue, 31 Jan 2012 22:11:17 -0800

During the 2011-2012 winter break, graduate student Lior Taylor completed a unique illustration assignment visualizing the latest discovery by NASA’s Kepler mission. The Kepler Scientific Mission, lead by SJSU professor and co-investigator Natalie Batalha, uses a $680 million orbiting telescope to search for planets outside our solar system.

San Diego State University professor William Welsh, who made the discovery, invited Lior to create an illustration and a short 3-D animation depicting the two binary-star planetary systems (called circumbinary planets). Designated Kepler 34b and Kepler 35b, the new planets merited worldwide media coverage including an article in this month’s issue of Nature. The new findings indicate that circumbinary planets may be common in our galaxy.

The discovery (and the artwork) were made public during the American Astronomical Society (AAS) meeting in Austin Texas this January and have also been reported by major scientific news outlets around the world.

To read more about the amazing discovery by the Kepler team, visit the NASA AMES Research Center at: http://kepler.nasa.gov/multimedia/artwork/artistsconcepts/?ImageID=206 and San Diego State’s Kepler site at: http://go.sdsu.edu/kepler/

An illustration for the Kepler Discovery and Lior Taylor at work