Animations produced at experimenta.l.
Collaborative animations
American Idiot (2022)
By Martin Cho, Hayden Staples, Grace Burns, Brody O’Brien, Katherine Norris, Abigail Bargas, and Vincent Chow
Project Supervisor: Christine Veras and Chris Trevino
Synopsis: Original animations created to feature on the stage during the American Idiot play produced at the University Theater at UTDallas in October 2022.
A collaboration between experimental animation and the theater and performance groups on campus.
A Lasting Image (2022)
By Kirstin Stevens Schmidt, Ana Villarreal, Scott Huddleston, and Christine Veras
Project Supervisors: Christine Veras and Nils Roemer
Synopsis: Animated documentary based on the testimony of Zsuzsanna Ozsváth, a Holocaust survivor and scholar. Using experimental animation techniques a segment of Dr. Ozsváth’s story is animated considering the impact bystanders had on victims of the Holocaust.
Horse Power (2021)
Directed and Edited by: Christine Veras
Synopsis: Collaborative experimental animation exploring the possibilities of the frame and the continuation of perceptual motion.
Animators: Elham Doust-Haghighi, Emily Banditrat, Sara Mcclanahan, Naznin Sultana, Mayson Gunnar Bray, Kirstin Stevens Schmidt, Martin Namwook Cho, Austin Maddux Sewell, Gina Rattanakone, Rachael Kathleen Drury, Neda Ghassemi, Philip Carl Martin, Jacob William Reeder, Zack Nguyen.
Halloween Sand Animation Project (2021)
Directed and Edited by: Christine Veras
Synopsis: Inspired by Halloween and using the aesthetics of sand animation this project presents a stream of consciousness bonded together as an exquisite corpse with more than 20 participants.
Animators (in order of collaboration): Christine Veras, Danny Laboda, Bryce Sheehan, Gizem Oktay, Arianna Meisetschlaeger, Eesha Muddasani, Zack Nguyen, Martin Cho, Hamida Khatri, Benjamin Wu, Philip Martin, Norm Cox, Elham Doust-Haghighi, Hong-An Wu, Kirstin Stevens-Schmidt, Poppy Smith, Sterling Whitaker, Emily Hersker, Marcelo Rocha, Anabela Castaño De Los Santos, Gerardo Reyes.
The Collaborative Clay Animation Project (2021)
Project Supervisors: SV Randall and Christine Veras
Edited by: Christine Veras
Synopsis: Selection of the best clay animation shorts created in collaboration between students from A&H and ATEC courses: “Sculpture: Masks, Models, and Monsters (ARTS 3375) taught by Assistant Professor SV Randall and “Topics in Animation: Experimental Animation (ATCM 4319) taught by Assistant Professor Christine Veras.
Selected student work
A Story in Layers (2022)
Interactive illustration created by: Vincent Chow
Synopsis: The short series of images follows a protagonist who goes on a journey trying to reunite with their inner child.
Technique: 2D digital drawings, Mental Canvas
Developed during their Capstone Project, Fall 22.
Death Did Us Part (2022)
Created and animated by: Poppy Smith
Synopsis: A ghost haunting a house is infatuated with the psychic residing there. The psychic misconstrues the ghost’s attempts to court her.
Technique: Digital cutouts, 2D animation
Developed during their Capstone Project, Fall 22.
made of many parts (2022)
Created and animated by: Grace Burns
Synopsis: Animated short film about procrastination, the creative process, and the celebration of your inspirations.
Technique: Paper cutouts, 2D traditional animation
Developed during the Experimental Animation Course, Fall 22.
A Succesful Path (2022)
Created and animated by: Martin Cho
Synopsis: A college student desperately seeks to achieve a more positive and successful path in life. Animated short based on the creator’s experience from 2015 through 2022.
Developed during the Experimental Animation Course, Fall 22.
Siempre (2021)
Created and animated by: Ana Villarreal
Synopsis: Visual exploration of the idea of motherhood and the loss of a child. Animation of the process of grievance and healing.
Technique: Clay on glass
Developed during the Experimental Animation Course, Fall 21.
Changing Identity (2021)
Created and animated by: Kirstin Stevens-Schmidt
Synopsis: Visualization of the experience of a changing sense of self through grief, following a tremendous loss.
Technique: Mixed-media animation.
Developed during the Experimental Animation Course, Fall 21.
It is Not Perfect (2021/2022)
Created and animated by: Scott Huddleston
Synopsis: A 2D traditional animation exploration of neurodiversity and the struggles with ‘normal’ day-to-day tasks as someone diagnosed with ADHD.
Technique: 2D traditional animation
Developed during the Experimental Animation Course, Fall 21.
Dear Younger Me (2021)
Created and animated by: Cross Thomas
Synopsis: Animation showcasing the deeper feelings of a Transgender individual and what it feels like to experience body dysphoria.
Technique: Paper cutouts
Developed during the Experimental Animation Course, Fall 21.
Wolf (2021)
Created and animated by: Poppy Smith
Synopsis: A girl struggling with nightmares combats a wolf who keeps her awake.
Technique: Mixed-media animation.
Developed during the Experimental Animation Course, Fall 21.
País (2021)
Created and animated by: Marcelo Rocha
Synopsis: Short animation about the civil war of El Salvador and the destruction of one’s home country.
Technique: Paint on glass
Developed during the Experimental Animation Course, Fall 21.
Vermiform (2021)
Created and animated by: Jared Beltran and Kelci Ammerman
Synopsis: Vermiform is the start of a series presenting the process of post-apocalyptic birth. To produce the next generation of survivors Flora and Human DNA merged for the best offspring results.
Technique: Stop-motion animation
Developed during the Experimental Animation Course, taught by Assistant Professor Christine Veras, in collaboration with students from Sculpture: Masks, Models, and Monsters Course, taught by Assistant Professor SV Randall, Fall 21.
Covid Habit (2021)
Created and animated by: Elham Doust-Haghighi, Sara McClanahan, and Benjamin Wu
Synopsis: In the light of the COVID-19 pandemic an humanoid figure mutates to adapt to the new normal, trapped in its routine.
Technique: Stop-motion
Developed during the Animation Studio II Graduate Course taught by Associate Professor of Practice Nelson Lim and produced at experimental.l.
Virtual Exchange selected animations
One of the activities in the Experimental Animation Course taught by Assistant Professor Christine Veras in the experimenta.l. lab was a virtual exchange.
In 2022, we did a virtual exchange with animation students from LUCA Arts School in Brussels in collaboration with Professor Guido Devadder. The result of this collaboration was put together into one animated piece called “Roundtrip Animation.”
In 2021, students from Brazil studying food technology and the fermentation process at UNESP, under the supervision of Associate Professor Pricila Veiga collaborated with my students. Here are a few selected results of this unusual collaboration between animators and agronomic science students.
Abstract Fermentation (2021)
Created and animated by: Donte Castillo in partnership with Maria Gabriela de Albuquerque Santiago
Technique: Paper cutouts
Developed during the Experimental Animation Course in collaboration with students from UNESP in Brazil, Fall 21.
Wine Fermentation (2021)
Created and animated by: Ana Villarreal in partnership with Maria Clara Sarti and Gustavo Menegazzi Franco
Technique: Clay on glass
Developed during the Experimental Animation Course in collaboration with students from UNESP in Brazil, Fall 21.
Pineapple Wine (2021)
Created and animated by: Kirstin Stevens-Schmidt in partnership with Letícia Toloto da Silva and João Pedro Maia Santos
Technique: Mixed media
Developed during the Experimental Animation Course in collaboration with students from UNESP in Brazil, Fall 21.