2020 Animation Festival
Animation Festival Celebrates Next Generation of Creators
June 2020
Jackie Swan
The Department of Art is crafting the next generation of creators specializing in animation, meaning the future is in for a treat. These artists do more than produce entertainment, as animation can be used to develop advertising, training simulations, and even 2-D or 3-D models that aid in scientific research. SHSU’s Animation program has ranked third in Texas. It has also ranked within the Top 30 percent nationally and made the Top 10 list in the Southwest.
The Animation Festival is a showcase of the valuable learning process undergone by SHSU students. “I had decided to take the courses as soon as possible because I had wanted to get professional feedback from professors as early as I could,” says soon-to-be senior Anjel Davis. “I thought it would be beneficial to get introduced to these skills, so by the time I graduate, I could develop them for as long as I could.”
Professors have played a key role in the development of skills and self-confidence, including Edward Morin and Melissa Glasscock. “I was excited to learn from Ms. Glasscock who I heard is an expert. Through her teaching I learned to gain a much [more] accurate eye for flaws and mistakes in my animations.” says student Paul Nieto Jr. “She is very detail oriented, which is good! It improves my work dramatically with every small tweak.”
Inspiration can be found just about anywhere, even from artists with a different concentration. Anjel Davis advises peers not to overthink an idea. “The specific video I had used for rotoscoping was a dance video from a choreography company. I thought, with the strong movements of my reference, I could make an animation that took what was already cool movement and make it [even] cooler.” As for my other projects, many were the very first ideas that came to mind. Usually, the first idea is the best idea, because you did not have time to over-edit”
Each project can take hours upon hours to complete, depending on time spent developing an idea, finding references, and of course editing the actual result. Nieto Jr. enjoys being an animation major, although it requires a lot of schedule balancing. “I have a full-time job and it sometimes interferes with my schoolwork. I really enjoyed this semester even though it was my busiest yet. I still had a lot of fun and learned so much.”
View the 2020 SHSU Animation Festival.