I had the opportunity to intern as a graphic designer for the past four semesters at the Office of Early College Programs. Each day working there was different, and I was able to work on a range of projects. I got to do everything from web content creation, poster designs, social media content, and much more. I learned many new skills and gained experience in a field I love. I leave this internship as a more confident designer, passionate about my work and ready for the real world.

Freebird is about a Bird held captive by a Man. She spends her days watching him attempt to write and sings for him. Although their relationship appears loving at first, it quickly becomes more complicated. As the Man becomes more frustrated with his work, his behavior becomes conditional, toxic, and cruel. In the end, the Bird is given a chance to escape, but will she?

Over the past few years I have been very interested in the topic of domestic violence and abusive relationships. As a woman in college, both the statistics about what women my age face and the experiences I witnessed by people around me, hit close to home. Because it is such a sensitive topic, I decided to focus on portraying the control that one person can have over another and how difficult it can be to break that cycle.

The story follows an injured bird and her caretaker, but also acts as a more complex metaphor for abusive relationships. While Freebird is the first realization of my original script, I see this project progressing into a purer realization of the original story I wrote, in the future.

Overall, I am very happy with my film’s message. Freebird is about the blurred lines between love and control, and I hope that those who watch will be able to take away a new perspective on the cycle of abusive relationships.

A peaceful day at home is interrupted by the presence of an enormous house fly. As the homeowners attempt to get the fly off of their property, they have to figure out whether they want to save the fly, or have it exterminated.

While primarily a digital artist, I’ve always admired traditional, hand-drawn 2D animation. So, for my senior thesis project, I approached the process from a more traditional angle, as opposed to relying heavily on Adobe After Effects, to animate. Everything in the piece was drawn by hand, frame by frame, in Clip Studio Paint software. Certain scenes were then compiled together in After Effects.

For the subject matter, I chose a giant fly, and came up with really simple scenarios of how one would try to get rid of an annoying bug. Throughout the piece, each scenario expands into increased absurdity. I also wanted one of the characters to struggle with whether or not to actually exterminate the fly, as I know a lot of people who struggle with whether or not to kill a bug if they find it in their home. I also chose to forego any dialogue in order to place greater emphasis on the sound track, using different sound effects, emulating the older Disney and Looney Tunes animations from the 1930’s.

Serum 64 shows the convergence and interactions of the organic and analog world with the artificial and digital landscape of the future. This animated film follows the pace and mood of an original soundtrack and simply provides a visual accompaniment to the music.

I seek to explore interactions of various forms of animation within one convergent piece of media. Audio and visual worlds collide in my mind, and I seek to represent their relationship in this piece.

As part of the Digital Media & Design BFA program, students have the option to do an internship in place of a senior project. My internship, working on a National Science Foundation-funded educational game, helped me to discover the kinds of projects I want to work on in the future. It taught me skills that have helped me in other projects and will continue to be vital in my life after graduation.

raenzie.com

The Clocksmith is an animated short that follows a young boy named Levi through a post-apocalyptic universe as he struggles with the decision between tradition/sentimentality and survival. Levi has been left alone in a broken, overgrown, and abandoned city. As he treks throughout the city in search of life and food, it becomes increasingly more difficult for him to upkeep, formerly his father's job, the old clock tower that looms over the city. With the city empty, the maintenance of this clock has become obsolete, but the boy still continues the job that he feels he owes to his father to continue. The clock chimes throughout the empty city, warning Levi everyday of his duty to the clock, which forces him to retreat from his searches. In the end, Levi discovers a sign that gives him a reason to leave the clock behind, but he has to ultimately decide between the clocktower and survival.

We wanted to explore the inherent difficulties in trying to live up to people’s expectations while striving towards their own goals. When Levi looks out into the city and sees a ray of light, it is a literal glimmer of hope, and promise of a future worth living. Most of the big goals in life require people to leave their comfort zones if they want any possible hope of reaching those goals. Levi struggles with many of the things that we struggle with in choosing our own path and what holds us back. Obligation, family, our own personal anxiety of the unknown: these are all things that we must overcome, or compromise for, in our future. Our ending for Levi, however, is as open ended as our own futures. We don’t know whether Levi will accomplish his goals or journey, but if our future consists of us overcoming our own hurdles, then we think it's safe to say that Levi overcomes his.

Space Surfers: Theme Song is a 45-second to one-minute long theme song that acts as a pitch for a future kids’ show that I would like to realize. After noticing that my little brother really enjoyed simply-designed cartoon characters and the music that was typically paired with them, I decided to make that my priority. Then, observing that my college friends had many posters of surfers and astronauts, and looking within myself and, knowing that math was never my strong suit, I developed the idea for Space Surfers. I wish that I had the opportunity as a child to watch cartoons that taught math, then maybe I would have been really good at math. I hope that Space Surfers can help future children love math.

Prototyping is imperative when making creative projects. The characters are designed to be friendly and are simply designed in order to attract a very young audience (3-6 years old), while the addition of surfboards will attract a slightly older audience (7-10). Therefore, the ideal age range will be 4-9. The environments are designed to be simple so that the actions in each scene are easily comprehensible to a young audience.

Peaches + Cream is an animated web comic that tells the story of Peaches, a farm-boy with the ability to hear the thoughts of others, and Cream, the humble owner of a city ice-cream shop whose thoughts are the only ones in the world that even Peaches cannot hear.

These thoughts, though a nuisance on their own, act as a metaphor for anxiety, a mental disorder that is often taken too lightly in our society today, despite its often detrimental effects on a person’s health and well-being. My goal with this project was to mirror the effects of anxiety and highlight why those without it should care. Thus, in order to better showcase this idea, I took a different approach when it came to the style of the comic by visually representing and animating the thoughts that Peaches hears. This gave each page, as well as the story itself, a flow I would not have been able to achieve with a static image.

As an avid storyteller, this comic was a passion project that I was able to bring to life through hundreds of hours of planning and work. Throughout the exhibition, I plan to continue the story, so please visit the link below to keep up with the comic, new pages are added every Wednesday!

Peaches + Cream

nicolemarieharvey.com

In place of a senior project, I interned for two semesters under my Game Design professor, Ken Thompson, on a National Science Foundation funded game. I was given the opportunity to work on many different aspects of the project. This included concept art, UI design, basic 3D modeling for in-game props, and various visual effects. This experience was invaluable for me in terms of developing professionally and as an artist.

The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is a floating mass of plastic and debris swirling in the currents of the Pacific Ocean. It is estimated that its size is between 270,000 and 5,800,000 square miles, comparable to the size of Alaska (663,300 square miles). Found in the middle of an ocean, spread wide and not necessarily condensed, much of this environmental plague, caused by humans, is difficult to see other than on research vessels or in pictures.

Similarly, depression and anxiety are mental conditions that are often hidden from plain sight. These detrimental emotions float just below the surface and can take years to break down, much like plastic in the ocean. These feelings can weigh a person down like a boulder the size of Alaska.

Through this animated film, and original acoustic song of the same title, I provide a strong, relatable metaphor that also provides a glimmer of hope to those struggling with depression and anxiety. I also wish to raise a criticism of how we as a society deal with issues; often finding ourselves too late to the game when all seems beyond repair.

For my senior project, I created a Google Chrome extension that saves the current tab on your browser and lets you reopen it later. Its logic is written in Javascript, with layout and styling in HTML and CSS. I decided to make Fannypack to solve a problem. I often have trouble managing my own web browser, but existing tab management apps are too in-depth for my taste. My goal was to create a simple, easily-accessible app designed with the ability to visually see a thumbnail of what you’re working on, rather than a long list of often meaningless webpage titles. I focused on keeping the core of the app within the same space, hopefully to make a better user experience that lessens the chance of the user becoming overwhelmed with too many options.

Fannypack has been submitted for inclusion in the Google Chrome Web Store, and if approved, will be available for download by the general public.

davidmarcuskerr.com

A spunky mouse meanders along his way collecting seeds while a mischievous bee meddles. Butterscotch and Beetle is a story about the rivalry and friendship that takes place in a tucked away, grassy corner underneath a willow tree. This simple, fun story shows that anything can be solved with a little bit of kindness, love, and most importantly, honey.

For this project I wanted to use my digital animation skills to mimic a style that combines the three-dimensionality that comes naturally to 3D computer graphic designs and a more stylized, painterly look that more closely resembles traditional, drawn animation. After many alterations to the story and pre-production, I focused on creating believable animations, strong layout designs, and cute, storybook-inspired characters.

A car is being built from the unibody up, until it can be driven as intended.

I believe that art can bring out the life in everything, even something as stiff and mechanical as building a car. Through animation, the car parts and tools are given character. The soundtrack, improvised by Michael Dozois, was also inspired by the motion and personality of the animation, enhancing the feeling.

In 75 to 100 years, skiing could be non-existent. As an outdoor enthusiast and artist, I wanted to create a project on a topic that is close to my heart: climate change and how it is affecting the ski industry. I started skiing at the age of two and grew up 20 minutes from a ski resort, so I spent every weekend, vacation, and after school at the mountain. This sport has become an important part of my identity. The idea behind the project is to motivate people to take action through their passion rather than instilling fear. It is three short animations designed for distribution on social media, incorporating live action footage, motion graphics, voice overs and kinetic typography to portray the message. I want the viewers to remember why they love the sport and want it to be around for years to come.

Stand is a 3D animation about finding your worth, regardless of outside influences and things that hold you back. It’s about being your own hero, finding confidence, and being brave. In the piece, a drawing mannequin sees and attempts to emulate the posters around a bedroom, feeling discouraged by the fact that it’s confined on its stand and cannot touch the ground. After falling off the desk while attempting to fly like Superman, it realizes that it’s been the model for these superhero sketches and has been a true hero the whole time.

Stand serves as a final challenge in storytelling for me. I had the idea for this piece for nearly two years, when it popped into my head as a very chaotic and vague story concept. After many revisions, I was able to bring my ideas together into one central theme. The mannequin has no facial features and makes no noise, so all the acting must be communicated via body movements. I was challenged by multiple experiments to develop the character’s sense of motion. Ultimately, I believe I succeeded. It has been an amazing experience bringing this character and story to life, from the scribbly storyboards all the way to the final renders.

On one quiet night, an unknown person attempts to get a good night’s sleep. Brain cells work diligently to create the most wonderful dreams in a fantastical nightscape world. A dog suddenly breaks the silence with a piercing, unrelenting bark. How will the brain cells combat the intrusive noise and let our star sleep peacefully?

Neuron Sleep combines my fascination with the psychology of sleep with my passion for cinematography and 3D animation. Live action footage is used to stage the premise and conflict of the story. Then the 3D animation, taking the center stage of the story, shows a cartoon representation of brain cells working to produce dreams in a nighttime world. I filmed live action shots at a friend’s house, using said friend and friend’s dog as the actors. All of the 3D animation is created in Cinema 4D. Then I composited the live action footage and animation in Adobe Premiere.

I have been really fortunate to have multiple internships while at UConn. The internship opportunities are one of the unique aspects of Digital Media & Design. I had a variety of different tasks and roles for each position, and looking back, I can see how each internship built upon the next as my skills expanded. Surprisingly, through my DMD coursework at UConn and these four internships, I found a new interest in combining art and science.

Two rival high school mascots fall in love. Shenanigans ensue.

As a student of a small magnet technical school, I never had the traditional high school sports fan experience. We had no athletic teams, and our mascot was a bit of an inside joke (the cyber RAM). In the animated short film Mascots, I was able to draw the roaring crowds and goofy animal mascot costumes that were absent from my high school career. Through hand-drawn, frame-by-frame animation, I retain the imperfections and oddities that come with my own artistic skills and communicate what I remember to be an essentially imperfect, organic high school experience.

Mascots is an exploration of public personas and the difference between one’s outward identity and their inner self. I have always been intrigued, yet put off, by the concept of a completely different person existing inside the shell of a smiling animal or cartoon character. The people under the mask live a double life, and I wanted to explore what they might choose to do outside of their mascot duties. In this case, it can sometimes be as funny and serendipitous as falling in love with your rival high school’s mascot.

Imaginate is an interactive artist’s book that compiles my unique ideas for innovations centered around a common theme of “good alternatives.” For my senior project, I used my skills in graphic design, 2D animation, motion graphics, 3D modeling, sound design, research, storytelling, and design thinking across a variety of software including Adobe Illustrator, Procreate, and 3D Coat. The reason why it involves so many different elements, aside from displaying my personal growth, is that each innovation requires a different media to best tell its individual story and use. This project takes everyday items and infrastructure and applies thought of how to make it not just good for people, but for the environment it exists in as well. This betterment is established through changes such as sustainable material swaps, increasing safety, enhancing convenience, and in many cases, all of the above. I am not a scientist, but with research I have worked to make the unbelievable more plausible and the possibilities more endless by sometimes believing in imagination over reality.

Poker Night is a coming-of-age story about a college senior who is put in a situation he never imagined would occur. Looking for a way out, he plans to swindle his friends in a game of poker.

Poker Night handles a very relatable and sensitive topic. It hones in on relationships and decision making, while suggesting that there are two ways to look at every situation. The subject matter caught my eye immediately when my fellow Digital Media & Design student asked me for feedback on this script in the fall. What started with me giving him plot and dialogue revisions turned into me being director on this 15-minute-long short film.

This journey started by assembling a team of other DMD students to fill roles like director of photography, producer, set designer, sound technician, and so on. From there our DP, assistant director, and I spent countless hours in the pre-production stage going over the storyboard and shot list. The next step was holding auditions, locking in the cast, and rehearsing with the actors to find what performances worked best. We had three lengthy shoot days. We are now in the editing stages and will not be finished until April 25th.

Every bit of free time, creative energy, and motivation I had from the fall until now has gone into the making of Poker Night. This has been the hardest, yet most fulfilling project I have created thus far. I learned that I can lead and carry a team to creative completion on a large project, while also having the pleasure of working with so many talented students.

The official screening will be held May 4th in the Student Union theatre at 2PM.

The Clocksmith is an animated short that follows a young boy named Levi through a post-apocalyptic universe as he struggles with the decision between tradition/sentimentality and survival. Levi has been left alone in a broken, overgrown, and abandoned city. As he treks throughout the city in search of life and food, it becomes increasingly more difficult for him to upkeep, formerly his father's job, the old clock tower that looms over the city. With the city empty, the maintenance of this clock has become obsolete, but the boy still continues the job that he feels he owes to his father to continue. The clock chimes throughout the empty city, warning Levi everyday of his duty to the clock, which forces him to retreat from his searches. In the end, Levi discovers a sign that gives him a reason to leave the clock behind, but he has to ultimately decide between the clocktower and survival.

We wanted to explore the inherent difficulties in trying to live up to people’s expectations while striving towards their own goals. When Levi looks out into the city and sees a ray of light, it is a literal glimmer of hope, and promise of a future worth living. Most of the big goals in life require people to leave their comfort zones if they want any possible hope of reaching those goals. Levi struggles with many of the things that we struggle with in choosing our own path and what holds us back. Obligation, family, our own personal anxiety of the unknown: these are all things that we must overcome, or compromise for, in our future. Our ending for Levi, however, is as open ended as our own futures. We don’t know whether Levi will accomplish his goals or journey, but if our future consists of us overcoming our own hurdles, then we think it's safe to say that Levi overcomes his.