Today@Sam Article
Animation Festival Showcases Moving Art
June 17, 2020
SHSU Media Contact: Jackie Swan
Story by: 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. Animation is used to develop advertising, training simulations, and even 2-D or 3-D models that aid in scientific research. Sam Houston State University’s Animation program ranks 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 decided to take the courses as soon as possible because I wanted to get early professional feedback from my professors,” senior Anjel Davis said. “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.”
Animation 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,” student Paul Nieto Jr. said. “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 different concentrations. Davis advises peers not to overthink an idea.
“The specific video I 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 a cool movement and make it even cooler,” Davis said. “As for my other projects, many were the very first ideas that came to mind. Usually, the first idea is the best idea, because I did not have time to over-edit.”
Each project can take hours to complete, depending on the time spent developing an idea, finding references, and 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,” Nieto Jr. said. “I really enjoyed this past 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 online here.
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