Event – experimenta.l.

IAD 2023

INTERNATIONAL ANIMATION DAY CELEBRATION

Check the Comet Calendar for this event

For the 4th year, we celebrate the International Animation Day at UTD. This year the celebration happens earlier: One month before the established date. In 2012, ASIFA, the Association Internationale du Film d’Animation, has created the International Animation Day, a celebration of animation worldwide. The date is October 28, in reference to Émile Reynaud’s earliest performances of animation using his Théâtre Optique / Optical Theatre in 1892.

To mark the date this year, our celebration will last two days with screenings of the Best Shorts awarded at the Annecy International Animation Festival 2023. To bring the best of the Annecy Festival to you, we partnered with New York’s French Institute Alliance Française (FIAF) to present Animation First: On Tour.

In 2023, the country spotlighted by the Annecy Festival was Mexico, with a beautiful images created by Jorge R. Gutierrez.

The experimenta.l. lab is proud to bring to Texas the Best of Annecy 2023 to celebrate international animation in all its glory. The poster for International Animation Day this year was created by the Swiss animator Georges Schwizgebel. Georges Scwizgebel was born in 1944 in Switzerland. 1960-65 School of Fine Arts and Decorative Arts. In 1970, he founded Studio GDS and began producing and directing animated shorts. From The Flight of Icarus (1974) to Darwin’s Notebook (2020), he has directed around twenty films, almost all of which have won international awards. Two appear on the list of the 100 most outstanding animated films established in 2006 at the Annecy Festival, 78 Tours (1985) and The Ride to the Abyss (1992).

INTERNATIONAL ANIMATION DAY PROGRAM Sept/27

Wednesday, September 27, at 4:30 p.m. in the Jonsson Performance Hall JO 2.604. This program is not suitable for kids. Parent guidance is advised.

Program total duration: 75 minutes.

This selection of shorts combines mainly winning films from the latest Annecy Festival with two tailor-made opening sequences by second-year students from the GOBELINS PARIS.

Nahualli, Gobelins Paris

Directors: William BURGER, Nina GLAVASKI, Zoé PALASIE, Lila GINGUENE , Garance MONDAMERT, Elisa SOUCANH

An Aztec priest prepares for a ceremony in honor of Quetzalcoatl. The statuettes around him come to life to help him embody this deity.

La Notte (Italy), by Martina GENERALI, Simone PRATOLA, and Francesca ROSSO

Based on the concert “La Notte” by A. Vivaldi. Carnival in Venice: Pulcinella attempts to slip into a VIP party without too much success.
Watch an interview with the directors.

La saison pourpre (France), by Clémence BOURCHEREAU

On the edge of a mangrove, a group of girls live to the rhythm of the climate and the wild geese around them. As time passes, tensions arise, and rivalries develop.
Watch the trailer

Nun or Never! (Finland), by Heta JÄÄLINOJA

A nun’s discovery of a strange but beguiling newcomer threatens to upset the rhythm and harmony she enjoys among her sisters.
Watch the trailer

Our Uniform (Iran), by Yegane MOGHADDAM

An Iranian girl unfolds her school memories by going through the folds and fabrics of her old uniform.
Watch the interview

Mano (Denmark), by Toke MADSEN

Trapped in a neglectful family situation, a protective older brother takes care of his younger sibling.

Drijf (Belgium), by Levi STOOPS

Two people adrift at sea are fighting a bloody battle for both their survival and their relationship.

Watch the interview

Havnesjefen (Norway), by Mia L. HENRIKSEN et Konrad HJEMLI

“The Harbourmaster” tells the true story of its titular swan and of how he went from a beloved small-town icon to a wanted criminal.

27 (France/Hungary), by Flóra Anna BUDA

Alice is 27 years old today. She spends her time daydreaming to escape her dreary everyday life.
Watch the interview

Clavel gris, GOBELINS PARIS

Directors: Antoine DAHAN, Clément DELABY, Rayan TAKHEDMIT

A Mexican little boy discovers the Aztec mythological journey of the soul toward the afterlife.

INTERNATIONAL ANIMATION DAY PROGRAM Sept/28

Thursday, September 28, at 4:30 p.m. in the Jonsson Performance Hall JO 2.604. Special program for kids.

The “Best of Annecy Kids 2023” assembles funny, touching, poetic short films that children will adore. Films from the Official Selection as well as a tailor-made 2023 Annecy opening sequence by the students of GOBELINS Paris, will make up the program designed to enchant children from the age of 6 and upwards.

Program total duration: 65 minutes.

Jineteo de Yegua, GOBELINS Paris

Directors: Dorozhinskaia Angelina, Guisset O. Anne, Wang Zishu, Pirotais Charlotte, Hinh Wilson, Capodagli Elisa, Gaspard Héry.

A charro is struggling to stay on the back of a mare. The wild crowd supports him in his fight against the beast.

To Be Sisters (France), by Clément CÉARD
and Anne-Sophie GOUSSET

Being sisters means sharing a special bond, laughing together and being driven by love. But these particular sisters share an extra something else, and that’s just fine.

The Goose (France/Czech Republic), by Jan MÍKA

A boy fantasizes about becoming a famous footballer, playing in big stadiums, but first he has to win a match in a small backyard playing against a goose.

Prinzessin Aubergine (Germany), by Dina VELIKOVSKAYA

A king and a queen have almost everything. They search for the perfect seed to grow a child, but the only thing flourishing is their garden.

Pete (USA), by Bret PARKER

Based on a true story about gender identity, Little League Baseball, the people who inspire change, and the superheroes who allow that change to happen.

Wat zit er in die kist? / What’s in That Crate? (Belgium), by Bram ALGOED

“What’s in That Crate?” wondered the captain, bus driver and postman as they transported their cargo. The journey takes them overland, across the sea and in the air before the secret is revealed.

Paperplanes (India), by Arvind Singh JEENA

A noisy, hyper-mischievous classroom of 4th graders are caught off-guard as the teacher walks in unannounced.

Colocation Sauvage / Wild Housemates (France), by Armelle MERCAT-JUNOT

A starry-eyed goat decides to build a cabin in the jungle to live there, but this means she’ll be sharing with some dangerous neighbors.

Animation First: On Tour is presented by New York’s French Institute Alliance Française (FIAF).

Collaborative Projects, Event, Featured

Building a Dinosaur

During summer 2023, the experimenta.l. lab was part of the soft launch of a new initiative on campus: The Short-term Working Group (SWG), developed by Dr. Salena Brody in collaboration with the Center for Teaching and Learning. According to Dr. Brody, “the Short-term Working Group (SWG) initiative is designed to help close the gap between the number of students wanting to develop professional relationships with faculty and the number of opportunities currently available.” As criteria, the SWG presented project ideas that could be completed over four sessions with small cohorts of students.

During Dr. Christine Veras’ SWG, a group of seven student volunteers committed to making from scratch a 12-foot-high dinosaur. But not any dinosaur, specifically Gertie the dinosaur, the cartoon dinosaur created by Winsor McCay in 1914. Gertie is part of the promotion material for the play “Winsor & Gertie” to be performed at the university theater on September 8 and 9, 2023.

Meeting once a week for four weeks, two hours per meeting, the group had clear and specific goals for each meeting. The students involved in the project included undergraduates from Arts, Animation, Psychology, Pre-Med, and one Graduate student in Animation & Games.

Here are a few photos of the experience. They planned, sanded, painted, touch-up, and the students learned how to use a jigsaw to cut the wood while helping and collaborating with one another.

Video timelapse of the construction of Gertie the Dinosaur:

Installation on the UTD Theatre façade

Gertie is now on the UTD Theatre façade. Have you seen her? If so, send us pictures. Here are a few photos of her installation. Our cartoon dinosaur friend seems to be attracting lots of attention:

Acknowledgments

Thanks to Dr. Salena Brody, whose SWG initiative made this project a reality.
This project was developed at ROW thanks to the kind support of SV Randall.
Extra special thanks to Philip Martin, who helped to train the students on how to use the equipment, providing creative and safe guidelines for the project.

About the Play

Winsor & Gertie will premiere in Texas at the UTD Theatre on September 8 and 9, at 7 pm. More information and tickets here: https://calendar.utdallas.edu/event/winsor_gertie_play

abstract animation, Collaborative Projects, Collaborators, cutouts, Event, sound experiments

American Idiot Collab

Students in the Experimental Animation Course created in our lab original animations that will feature on the stage during the American Idiot play produced at the University Theater at UTDallas. The play première is on Thursday, October 27, 2022. Tickets can be purchased here.

Play synopsis:

“Slinging razor guitars, thundering drums, and an anti-hero named Johnny. Not the prelude of typical entries in the canon of musical theatre. But these elements herald a groundbreaking American musical all the same: with the burning passion of characters who yearn for something more, songs bursting with emotion, and a story that dares you to feel and celebrate and hope.

The music of Green Day and the lyrics of lead singer Billie Joe Armstrong captured the zeitgeist of a generation with its Grammy® Award-winning multi-platinum album. American Idiot puts those raw emotions front and center in a highly theatrical and thoroughly satisfying rock opera that burns up the stage.

Monster hits like Boulevard of Broken Dreams, 21 Guns, Wake Me Up When September Ends, Holiday, and the title track soar like they were written for the stage under the direction of Tony Award® winner Michael Mayer (Spring Awakening), choreography by Olivier Award winner Steven Hoggett (Black Watch) and music supervision, orchestrations and arrangements by Pulitzer Prize winner Tom Kitt (Next to Normal).”

In the project, the animation students met with the play director Christopher Treviño and the projections designer, Safwan Chowdhury. Segments of three songs were chosen, and the students started to animate them. See below the credits of the animations for each song:

See below a few behind-the-scenes images of the students while animating:

Once the play is over, we will make all the animations available for viewing on the lab’s YouTube channel. See below for a sneak peek of the work and get your tickets to see the animations on stage with the amazing performers.

Watch here the completed animation pieces:

Collaborative Projects, Event, Featured

IAD 2022

Each year on October 28, ASIFA (Association International du Film d’Animation) celebrates the birth of animation, recognized as the first public performance of projected moving images: Émile Reynaud’s Theatre Optique in Paris, on October 28, 1892.

This year, we return as an in-person event with a collection of international shorts especially curated to celebrate the art and craft of animation.

The event starts at 2 p.m. in the AHT lobby, with different student organizations dedicated to the art of animation, film, and games showcasing their work.

At 3 p.m., the screening starts in the ATC Lecture Hall.

The program features a mix of winner shorts from the 10th O!PLA Animation festival in Poland + ASIFA Central selection + Special Guest Shorts curated for this event by Dr. Christine Veras. See the complete list below in order of appearance in our program:

Countdown Opening Title by ASIFA Central

Morning Coffee (2015) by Tracy Miller-Robbins

Peering into one’s coffee, time moves in a different way. Part dream, part daydream while one gains consciousness.

O!PLA Festival Opening 2022 by Polsk Animacja

Airborne (2021) by Andrej Jobczyk

Surreal animation concerning the world of flying machines with the kingdom of flora and fauna. The tragedy that seems to be the end opens a new stage in history.

Breath (2019) by Aneta Siurnicka

A moment of respite or agitation? Letting the mind free or fighting with thoughts. Painted under the camera.

Three Little Stories (2021) by Zuzanna Michalska

Three little stories told through movement. A painterly visualization of the music of the banc KWASNY DESZCZ (Sour Rain).

A Lasting Image (2022) by Kirstin Stevens Schmidt, Scott Huddleston, Ana Villarreal, and Christine Veras

The animation is inspired by the testimony of Holocaust Survivor Dr. Zsuzsanna Ozsváth, narrating her experience in a recorded interview for the Shoah Foundation in 1996.

Ukraine Commentary (2022) by Gary Schwartz

Students at the Flint Institute School of Art created this animated film in solidarity with Ukraine. A large Soviet 35mm anamorphic projection lens was adapted for the project.

Pure – Virtual Agony (2021) by Olga Przytula

A mysterious land changes as soon as we try to get a closer look at it, inviting us to go deeper. It is a nod to sensitivities.

Despera (2021) by Alicja Liss

The film is a reflection of loneliness, isolation, and powerlessness. The author began working on it during the lockdown, during the subsequent strikes of women in Poland, in early 2021.

Distance (2021) by Katarzyna Orlowska

Two people stare at the flashing lights outside their windows, thinking about walking the distance between themselves.

Island Hopping (2021) by Michael Long

A character learns that the only way to survive in an island world is to keep hopping (and hoping) from one island to the next.

On Time (2021) by Zbigniew Czapla

An intensive travel experience that has become almost impossible. Japanese trains. Random meetings. From Matsuo Basho’s haiku to the pictures of the dying world created by Hokusai in the Manga catalogs.

I Dreamed Of (2021) by Piotr Tokarz.

Since the dawn of time, dreams have been an inspiration for reflections on the subconscious and work as a gateway to the world of abstract images created based on our thoughts, feelings, and experiences.

Elevator Alone (2021) by Anastasia Papadopoulou

Four people and the time they spend in an elevator. Inspired by everyday life and by the difference in people’s behavior when they are alone, in contrast to the socially acceptable behavior that individuals adopt when in public space.

Toddler Talks (2021) by Diana Reichenbach

A documentary animated short based on audio recordings of a toddler-aged boy named Henry. The film is animated in a way that mimics the development of language and emotions—which aren’t always clear and articulated at first.

Ten Degrees of Strange (2021) by Lynn Tomlinson

Ten Degrees of Strange is a song about trying to outrun anxiety, seeking joy and strength in landscape and movement.

An Ostrich Told Me the World is Fake and I Think I Believe It (2021) by Lachlan Pendragon

A young office worker uncovers the flaws in his stop-motion universe with the help of a mysterious talking ostrich.

Beyond Noh (2020) by Patrick Smith

“Beyond Noh” rhythmically animates 3,475 individual masks from all over the world, beginning with the distinctive masks of the Japanese Noh theater and continuing on a cultural journey through ritual, utility, deviance, and politics.

TOTAL Program time: 76 minutes

This year’s poster was designed by the Czech animator Michaela Pavlátová. You can read an interview with her here: https://iadasifa.net/2022/09/16/2022-iad-poster/

This program was made possible by the International Animation Day Coordination at ASIFA International by Briana Yarhouse, Jim Middleton at ASIFA Central, Piotr Kardas at Animation Across Borders Poland, and through the courtesy of the animators Tracy Miller-Robbins, Michael Long, Diana Reichenbach, and Patrick Smith. All films are screened for a day only during our in-person event.

The official International Animation Day schedule listing our event is available at: https://iadasifa.net/2022/10/11/times-and-showings-around-the-world/

Collaborative Projects, Collaborators, Event, Experimental Animation, Lab activities

A Lasting Image

Our research project is shaping up, and we presented our work in progress during the 52nd Annual Scholars’ Conference on the Holocaust and the Churches, organized by the Ackerman Center for Holocaust Studies, at the University of Texas at Dallas, from 5-7 March 2022. Our talk was titled “A Lasting Image (work in progress): The Challenges of Documenting the Holocaust Through Animation.” The animation is produced at the experimenta.l. lab in partnership with the Ackerman Center. The story is based on the testimony of Dr. Zsuzsanna Ozsváth, a Holocaust scholar and survivor who founded the Ackerman Center for Holocaust Studies.

The work in progress animation was showcased at the Conference on Sunday, March 6, 2022. The work was presented by Dr. Christine Veras and the undergraduate students Scott Huddleston, Kirstin Stevens Schmidt, and Ana Villarreal in a panel moderated by Dr. Nils Roemer.

During our research phase, Dr. Roemer introduced us to Dr. Ozsváth’s book “When the Danube Ran Red,” where she tells her personal story. Chapter 23, “Witches’ Shabbat,” was particularly visual when she recounted when she and her brother were separated from their parents and taken to the ghetto in Budapest in December 1944. Inspired by her story, I discovered Dr. Ozsváth’s testimony to the SHOAH Foundation. She was 64 years old when she gave this testimony. When listening to the four tapes of recordings, one particular segment stood out when she experienced a defining moment in her life.

Inspired by Dr. Ozsváth’s writing and testimony, Dr. Veras created the script used as a guide for the storyboard, and the visuals were created by the students working on the project. From the start, students had creative freedom to interpret and participate in different phases of the project, exchanging ideas, critiquing, and proposing visual and technical solutions for what the story needed.

See below a few images of the ongoing production.

“A Lasting Image” has been part of the official selection of four international animation festivals so far, including a festival in Ukraine, and it was awarded at a festival in Italy. The film is also part of the ASIFA International selection and has been screened in multiple places in Poland, India, and the United States. Full program available here: https://iadasifa.net/2022/10/11/times-and-showings-around-the-world/

In the news, the UTDallas Magazine published an article about the production of the short that can be accessed here: https://magazine.utdallas.edu/2022/10/24/labs-holocaust-film-moves-audiences-draws-upon-unique-collaboration/

Watch the full film here:

Collaborators, Event, Experimental Animation

Animated Perspectives

Animated Perspectives on Violence Against Women
March 1st, 2022
From 4 to 6 pm
At the Davidson Auditorium at UTDallas
IN-PERSON EVENT

Our lab’s director, Dr. Christine Veras, in partnership with WiA, the Student Club Women in Animation UTDallas, and the Ackerman Center for Holocaust Studies, have put together the event: Animated Perspectives on Violence Against Women.

Originally planned as part of the commemoration of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, the event grew into a screening and panel of discussion around the topic. Instead of taking place on November 25, as established by the United Nations, our event happened on March 1st to kick off the celebration of Women’s History Month.

With a program specially curated around the topic, each animation uses experimental techniques that were all created by women, displaying different takes on violence against women. The animations screened were:

Awakening the Goddess (2020) by Debjani Mukherjee

Granny’s Sexual Life (2021) by Urška Djukić and Emilie Pigeard

Each animation portrays different types of violence against women, using a wide range of experimental animation techniques to invite the public to reflect upon the situation and sometimes even offering a way out. In raising awareness of these issues while also celebrating the female body, these films help to empower women to accept and love themselves.

The screening of the animations was followed by a panel discussion between the public and our guest panelists: the President of the Wia UTDallas Jennifer Garcia, WiA officer Eliana Nark, Assistant Professor and Director of experimenta.l. lab Dr. Christine Veras, Associate Dean of Graduate Studies at the School of Arts and Humanities Dr. Shilyh Warren, and the Interim Dean of ATEc and A&H, and Director of the Ackerman Center for Holocaust Studies Dr. Nils Roemer.

Acknowledgments

We thank our collaborators at WiA UTDallas, the Ackerman Center for Holocaust Studies, the School of Arts and Humanities, as well as the filmmakers Zeynep Akcay, Debjani Mukherjee, Camila Kater, and the distributors at Feel Sales Documentary & Short Films and IKKI Films for their support in making this event happen and allowing us to screen their films. A special thanks to the support team at the School of Arts, Technology, and Emerging Communication, UTD Facilities, and JSOM for all their logistic support.

3D Printing, Event, Featured, Guest Speaker

Time (Un)Framed Talk

Talk: Time (Un)Framed: Re-animating the Advent of Cinema
Friday, February 25, 2022
From 1 pm to 2:30 pm (US CST)
Guest Speaker: Guido Devadder

Critique Session
Friday, March 4, 2022
From 1 pm to 2:30 pm (US CST)
Guest: Guido Devadder

Link to attend the Critique Session: https://teams.microsoft.com/l/meetup-join/19%3ameeting_ZGI3MmM4NmEtNDNhNC00NWE0LThiNTgtODg4NzIyNjhlODM5%40thread.v2/0?context=%7b%22Tid%22%3a%228d281d1d-9c4d-4bf7-b16e-032d15de9f6c%22%2c%22Oid%22%3a%22d355c463-4c90-442f-a39f-676ac3b33e63%22%7d

Guido Devadder is an experimental animator from Belgium. He holds a MA in Literature (KU Leuven) and Visual Arts – Graphic Storytelling (LUCA School of Arts). He co-founded graphic narrative anthology Ink (Oogachtend Publishing) and published in numerous other magazines and comics anthologies in Belgium and the Netherlands. Gradually, his focus shifted to experimental animation, where he investigates hybrids of old and new media. Besides working with analog film, his practice concentrates mostly on combinations between pre-cinema and digital animation. His short film Status Quontinuum won the Audience Favorite Award at the ESMoA Video Art + Film Festival in 2021.

Devadder is affiliated with the Animation department at LUCA School of Arts (Campus Sint-Lukas Brussels) since 2001. He currently teaches Image Research and Drawing and is working on a practice-based Ph.D. entitled From Post-cinema to Pre-cinema and Back: Media Archaeology of Loop Animation.

In this talk, Devadder will introduce two complementary perspectives: the evolution of the shutter in the 19th and early 20th century (framing time) and on the other hand the contemporary approaches, which make it possible to transgress the limitations of the frame in prototypical film (unframing time). He will address the animated machines and also talk about direct/drawn-on-film animation.

You can check his work on Vimeo: vimeo.com/guidodevadder

Check below to access the recording of Guido Devadder’s talk on Feb/25/2022:

Decoration, Event, Halloween

Spooktacular 2021

Editor’s note: In 2021, ATEC organized a Halloween Decoration contest around the theme “Spooky and Funny.” Our lab participated and won second place, thanks to Kirstin’s vision, creativity, and effort to make it happen. Hopefully, this is the start of a Halloween tradition at the lab.

The text contribution below was written by: Kirstin Stevens-Schmidt

Going into this project initially was a bit of a challenge, especially when it came to drafting ideas. With the theme being “spooky and funny” you’d think there’d be a lot of opportunities for real winning ideas there, and there are, but my sense of humor is a little more immature than most. There was also the issue of working around the space we had. There is the door to the lab itself which is a fairly decent amount of space to work with, but there’s also the window next to it. It’s tall and narrow- only a foot or so wide- so any designs in that space would have to either continue into the design on the door or would have to look good by themselves in a space that narrow.

Quite literally the first idea in my head was doing monsters in fishnets, or just generally making classic Halloween monsters sexy. An invisible man on a stripping pole seemed like a funny idea; a way to be promiscuous without breaking any rules. From that stemmed the idea of making our decorations an interactive peep show, giving the window next to the door a functional purpose. In theory, we’d cover both the door and the window to the lab in black paper, cut out holes for viewers to look through, and on the inside we could have a scene of classic monsters putting on a little provocative show.

I settled on doing simple neon-inspired signage for the exterior- which, upon needing approval I was told to make it more PG. “Less ‘peep show’ and more Halloween” as some put it. The original design has a couple of “XXX”s and said “LIVE PEEP SHOW” instead of “LIVE CREEP SHOW” which was honestly a change I wasn’t upset about making. I appreciate the pun. For the interior, I decided to craft three different scenes for viewers to peep into, each with different monsters, and one dedicated to showing off the Halloween animation the experimenta.l. lab had done.

To make the project happen, I spent nearly one full day working on the boxes, pulled an all-nighter cutting out the paper lettering for the exterior, and spent another full day assembling everything with the help of Dr. Veras, making for a total of almost 30 hours of pure work.

I had to take some shortcuts here and there when it came to the construction of the boxes, like the monster figures lacking decent detail and the stage assembly in the burlesque box looking slightly sloppy. In hindsight, had I had more hands to help work on this the finishing on everything would have been way better than it was. But regardless, this was an overall enjoyable experience. Having been the only person to work on this in the span of two days (with some much-appreciated help), I’m pleased our decorations did as well as they did in the contest.

^{Video documentation of the complete decoration}