Jorge Gutierrez: a superhero in animation, and an absolute inspiration 🇲🇽

PERSONAL THOUGHTS:

I absolutely loved Jorge’s lecture about incorporating his Mexican heritage into his work. I really appreciated his openness about being on the neurologic spectrum and having ADHD, and how he ‘hacked’ his brain to make his characteristics his superpower. I was really inspired by his work ethic and constant striving to learn rather than capitulate to the frustrations of cancellations and industry politics. I absolutely LOVED “The Book of Life”, and it was such a privilege to see Jorge’s presentation and hear his journey. He is a huge inspiration of mine, and I can’t thank Lisa enough for having him as a lecture.

BIO: 

Emmy-winning Jorge R. Gutierrez is a Mexican animator, painter, voice actor, writer and director. A CalArts Experimental Animation BFA & MFA graduate, Gutierrez has completed various films, cartoons, and paintings exploring his love affair with Mexican pop and folk culture.

Gutierrez was Director & Co-Writer of the Guillermo del Toro produced animated feature The Book of Life (2014), which earned him a 2014 Golden Globe Award nomination. 

Along with his wife and muse, Sandra Equihua, they created the multiple Emmy Award-winning animated series El Tigre: The Adventures of Manny Rivera (2007) for Nickelodeon. Gutierrez most recently created, wrote, and directed the event series Maya and the Three (2021) for Netflix which won four Emmys. Gutierrez is currently writing/directing a Netflix animated feature named I, Chihuahua with Gabriel "Fluffy" Iglesias.

website: x.com/mexopolis

imdb

NOTES FROM LECTURE

Josh Shaffner: pushing the boundaries of cerebralism and existentialism

PERSONAL THOUGHTS:

I was really, REALLY impressed with how original and creative Josh’s work is, and how patient he is in creating his short films. I am especially drawn to cerebral short films that deal with existentialism, reality, dreams and nightmares, especially in the context of 21st neoliberalism and late-stage capitalism. I found his technical aptitude for oil painting and CGI animation especially inspiring. I will likely rewatch all of his films again, and have already rewatched “The Rehabilitation of Sleep” multiple times since this class lecture.

BIO:

Josh Shaffner is a film maker and visual artist. He received his BFA in Painting and Drawing from the University of Montana in 2005 and his MFA in Experimental Animation from CalArts in 2015. He is the author and animator of several short films including The Rehabilitation of Sleep (2012), Flaws (2014), Service (2015), and his latest work In Dreams (2023) which is currently touring festivals.

Splitting time between Missoula, Montana and Los Angeles,  Josh works as an educator and freelance artist.

Website: https://www.joshshaffnerart.com/

Vimeo site: https://vimeo.com/joshshaffner

NOTES FROM LECTURE

Sibi Naayagam: engineering new pipelines and industry standards

PERSONAL THOUGHTS:

I initially thought Sibi was a graduate student, and it became very clear that he is an incredibly talented VFX artist. I was really impressed with the VFX pipeline he created while studying at USC, and it was inspiring to see how his engineering background played into his filmmaking process. I really enjoyed seeing his USC VFX short, and especially with how he created the film in practicum and in post. I appreciated his thoughts on creating an effective pipeline and communicating clearly with creatives who are unfamiliar with VFX.

BIO:

Sibi Naayagam is a VES Inducted Virtual Production Lead who specializes in motion capture and Unreal Engine. Sibi is currently building a virtual production pipeline in Unreal Engine for AGBO, a Russo Brother's company.

Sibi began his film career nine years ago, as an assistant director to Dir. Sudha Kongara in Chennai, India. He was also part of the writer's room for her feature film Soorari Pottru, which won five national awards including best screenplay and best film.

He left India and came to Los Angeles to get his masters degree at USC School of Cinematic Arts in film production, specifically directing and writing. While at USC, he specialized in virtual production technology. Since graduating, he has worked for the last four years in the virtual production industry and recently wrapped Mufasa: The Lion King and Snow White. 

Sibi is also co-teaching the CTPR 524 Virtual Production class at USC with John Brennan.

NOTES FROM LECTURE

Mark Osborne: the expanded animation inspo for dark times

PERSONAL THOUGHTS:

This was really the lecture I needed in lieu of the 2024 election results. I was especially moved by Mark’s journey in creating “The Little Prince”, and how he had to balance his family/personal life while creating the film. As much as I enjoyed “Kung Fu Panda”, I was particularly affected by “The Little Prince”. It was definitely eye opening to learn more about the politics of distribution, which is incredibly disheartening. Mark is a really kind person and I’m so glad he came on this particular day.

BIO:

Mark Osborne is a two-time Academy Award-nominated filmmaker, a Guggenheim Fellow, and a recipient of the Chevalier of l’Order des Arts et Letters for his artistic work on behalf of the country of France. He directed the first-ever animated feature film adaptation of Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s beloved classic, “The Little Prince.” Mixing stop-motion animation and CGI, the film premiered Out of Competition at the Cannes Film Festival. It grossed over 100 million dollars at the global box office while garnering worldwide acclaim.

Osborne’s breakout was DreamWorks’ critically acclaimed animated blockbuster, “Kung Fu Panda,” which received an Academy Award nomination for Best Animated Feature. Osborne’s other credits include the stop-motion animation short film “MORE,” which received an Academy Award nomination for Best Animated Short Film in 1999. Osborne has also worked in live-action, directing sequences for the first “SpongeBob Squarepants Movie,” as well as live-action sequences in the first three seasons of the popular TV series.

Osborne graduated from the California Institute of the Arts with a degree in Experimental Animation. Previous to that, he attended Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, NY. Currently, he is developing new feature film projects while mentoring animation short filmmakers and students.

NOTES FROM THE LECTURE

Melissa Ferrari: magical lanterns and mythology (I love her)

PERSONAL THOUGHTS:

I’ve been a huge fan of Melissa’s work after seeing her guest lecture in Sam Gurry’s class earlier in the semester. I loved hearing about her thought processes and experiences with zoology, mythology, science, mysticism ad documentary work which all led to her becoming a modern magic lanternist. Magic lanterns require such attention that any other distractions - phones, conversations, etc. - would otherwise take away from it. I especially liked the historical aspects of magic lanterns as it related to politics and social constructs during its peak. I loved the retelling of Alice in Wonderland, and I just want to relive it again. What a great way to start Halloween season!

BIO:

The magic lanternist, animator, and filmmaker Melissa Ferrari will stage a theatrical performance inspired by the phantasmagoria—a 19th-century visual technique featuring fantastical and dreamlike imagery that shaped early movies, animation, and entertainment culture. 

Using original magic lantern glass slides of Alice in Wonderland along with new slides created in collaboration with historian of science and USC Libraries inaugural Carrollian Fellow Franziska E. Kohlt, Ferrari will transform the iconic Los Angeles Times Reference Room into an immersive, surreal fantasia of hallucinatory imagery inspired by Victorian spiritualism, the Alice story, and visual techniques employed by the magic lantern device.  

Attendees will also learn about the history of magic lantern shows and get a firsthand view of original projecting devices and glass slides. 

Before the show, we walk across the library hall to visit the concurrent exhibition, Spectral Science: Visions of the World Beyond, which features photographs, rare books, magic lantern glass slides, and other evidence drawn from the collections of the USC Libraries, that blurs the line between the logical and illogical, the natural and supernatural.

These events events explore the surprising intersections of science, illusion, and spiritualism.

CLICK here for Melissa Ferrari's  website

Melissa Ferrari is an experimental animator, nonfiction filmmaker, magic lanternist and educator who seeks to acquaint folklores of the past with contemporary culture. In exposing peripheral histories, she aims to unveil the wonder that lies in the shadow of nonfiction, rather than fiction. Her practice engages with the mythification of science and pseudoscience, the preternatural, and histories of phantasmagoria and documentary.  Melissa also creates commissioned animation for documentaries, specializing in handmade animation for films addressing social issues.

Originally from Virginia, Melissa is now based in Los Angeles where she received an Experimental Animation M.F.A. from CalArts. Her films and magic lantern performances have been shown internationally in venues such as Hot Docs, The Exploratorium, UnionDocs, Hauser & Wirth LA, Ottawa International Animation Festival, Ann Arbor Film Festival, and the Harvard History of Science Dept.  Melissa is a 2024 Contributing Artist at the Philosophical Research Society in LA.  In 2022-2023, she was an Artist in Residence at the Camera Obscura Arts Lab in Santa Monica, CA, the Larry Spring Museum of Common Sense Physics in Fort Bragg, CA, and the REDCAT NOW Festival Residency in LA.  Recent awards include the 2023 Dick Balzer Award, the 2022 Damer E. Waddington Red Cabbage Award, and the 2020 Science Sandbox Symbiosis Award at the Imagine Science Film Festival.

Melissa teaches animation courses and workshops, specializing in nonfiction and experimental animation, as well as expanded cinema.  Previously, she was a lecturer at CalArts, Whittier College, Queens College, Cal State LA, and LACHSA, and taught a course in partnership with The Nature Conservancy at CalArts.  Melissa’s research focuses on the ethics and research methodologies of animated nonfiction.  She presented her research on animated documentary at the Ecstatic Truth Symposium in Lisbon and several Society for Animation Studies conferences.

As a documentary animator, Melissa's recent commissions include animations for the 2022 feature documentary The Voice of Dust & Ash, including animations for the original song Dust & Ash, which was shortlisted for the Academy Awards Best Original Song Oscar.  Her commissioned work has appeared on PBS, the BBC, & CNN.  Previously, Melissa worked as an animation artist at Dusty Studio in New York City, where her work was featured in The New York Times Op-Docs, The MoMA, Nautilus, & TED.

Carole Kim: caregiving, tactility, and participation

PERSONAL THOUGHTS:

I really loved the interactive nature of Carole’s work, and especially how her work is projected into public spaces. I was particularly moved by her personal experiences with caregiving, which has been on my mind as both my parents and my husband’s parents age. Her lecture gave me a lot to ruminate about incorporating personal experiences into the tactility of art and animation. I really loved her display in LA public spaces.

BIO:

Carole Kim is an interdisciplinary artist with a focus on video projection for multi-media installation, performance and photography. She has presented her work in diverse contexts including experimental art, music, dance, theater and site-specific installation. 

She most recently performed her multidisciplinary piece, "Chronicles of Touch: HOWDOESYOURMEMORYWORK" at Luminex 3.0 in Downtown LA.

Earlier this summer at an LA Freewaves event, feMMMES: An Art Happening, in the LA State Historic Park, she performed "/ˈkəvən/" a multimedia, site-specific installation/performance.

As someone who works extensively with technology, it is where technology meets up with the human, physical, tangible world that interests her most. She is fascinated by the merging of physical space, the body and the illusionistic world of the moving image.  Through this juxtaposition she plays with relative scale, dimensionality and how matter can appear to commingle.  New composite worlds unfold where one is left to contemplate, “What is this new world I am observing?” “How does it make me think differently about my relationship to the physical world?”

At the onset of the pandemic, Carole Kim compressed her installations to fit beneath her kitchen table.  This intimate “venue” has proven to be an ideal site for live connection from remote locations for collaborative performance. Live performances within these micro-projection installations have been presented by NowNet Arts Lab, Montalvo Art Center, echoreaume-Vienna, Optosonic [e] Lab, Earth Day Art Model Festival, SEAMUS Festival, CURRENTS New Media Festival, New Music Gathering Festival, Australasian Computer Music Conference 2021. The audio-visual ensemble that Kim founded called Dilate Ensemble was selected for a funded residency with ThoughtWorks and CounterPulse Theater in San Francisco for 2021-22. 

Her work has been supported by the Irvine Foundation, National Endowment for the Arts, Center for Cultural Innovation, MAP fund, City of Los Angeles, Pasadena Arts Council, The Music Center, Durfee Foundation, REDCAT, University of California Institute for Research in the Arts (UCIRA), The Getty Center, Society for the Activation of Social Space through Art and Sound (SASSAS), Dublab, Newtown, Turbulence.org, CalArts, and The Center for Experiments in Art, Information, and Technology. She was selected as a recipient of a 2013 COLA Fellowship, 2014 CCI Investing in Artists Grant, 2015 Metabolic Studio Chora Council Grant and a 2015 CHIME Grant. In 2019, she was awarded a residency at the Headlands Center for the Arts. She was also the first artist-in-residence (March 2018- October 2019) at Descanso Gardens working on a year-long project that culminated in a solo exhibition and site-specific performances in the gardens from July-October 2019.

She received an MFA from CalArts (Integrated Media/Film/Video), an MFA from Cranbrook Academy of Art (Printmaking), and a BA from Brown University (Studio Art). 

NOTES ON HER LECTURE

Tyree Dillihay: an absolute inspiration and the #GOAT

PERSONAL THOUGHTS:

I really loved this lecture from Tyree, especially about hiw background in South L.A. and how important it is to have a community when going into the creative industry. As the first person in my family to attend grad school (twice as of writing this), it’s always been a bit difficult to tell my parents the end goal of getting a MFA. Hearing Tyree’s thoughts and experiences was particularly encouraging, and I really enjoyed seeing his work on Bob’s Burgers.

BIO:

Tyree Dillihay is a director at Sony Pictures Animation.  This summer, he was listed along with two fellow SPA directors as #56 on Cartoon Brew magazine's  2024 U.S. Animation Power List. 

Currently, he is directing the upcoming 2026 Sony Pictures Animation sports comedy television series, “GOAT,” produced by Golden State Warriors and Olympic Gold medalist basketball star, Stephen Curry, in partnership with the NBA. 

“If you told an eight-year old Dillihay that one day America would have a black president, Spider-Man™ would be black, and that he would be directing animated projects, he would have yelled “Stranger danger!,” kicked you in the shin, and ran home to his mommy. But alas, it’s true! The kid from Inglewood, California became a 6’5” cool nerd who makes cartoons for a living in Hollywood.” ~ Tyree Dillihay

Previously, Dillihay spent eight years as a director on Fox’s animated hit sitcom, “Bob’s Burgers,” with 32 episodes and two consecutive Primetime Emmy® nominations to his credit.

Some of his past director credits include a wide variety of animated television series such as Netflix’s “Da Jammies,” Fox’s “Allen Gregory,” and MTV’s “Good Vibes.”

Outside of animation, you can find Dillihay on Instagram (@sneadsbyree) where he’s built a niche social media following combining his love of cartoons, fashion, sneakers, and sports working as a content producer for brands such as Nike, Converse, Redbull, Rebook and Foot Locker.

Dillihay graduated from California State University, Northridge with a Bachelor of Arts in English.

LINK FOR MY NOTES FROM LECTURE

Tomek Popakul: how could I not remember you? #acidrain

I watched ‘Acid Rain’ 5 years ago at OIAF, and while I didn’t necessarily think about the film regularly after seeing it during the festival circuit (there were a lot of films), I certainly remembered the film immediately when the lights dimmed and Tomek Popakul’s short film screened during class. 

I deeply appreciated Tomek’s candid discussion about how he developed his own style, and how he developed his own workflow to achieve that style. I have been struggling to find my own art style, and his suggestion to find inspiration from my favorite creative works – films, books, prints, etc. – and it certainly helped me get out of a major creative rut that I’ve been grappling with since starting the XA grad program. 

I loved seeing how Tomek designed his films to be uniquely his, and how visually striking they are. There’s something to be said about an artist communicating so much by saying very little, and I believe Tomek’s films accomplish this.

 “Zima” was a beautiful balance of lines, black and white, and minimal dialogue. I was particularly struck by how there was a fine balance between horror, humor, surreal, and the naturalistic mundane, and I so wish we could have had more time to watch “Moon” (I’ll just have to watch it on my own). 

NOTES ON LECTURE

BIO:

Tomek Popakul is a Polish animation director, musician, graphic designer, and music video creator. 

His 2019 animation, Acid Rain has garnered 35 awards, has screened at 90 international festivals, including Rotterdam and Sundance Film Festivals, received a prestigious nomination for the ASIFA Annie Awards, and was included on the long Oscar list. 

In 2023, Popakul completed his newest short animated film, ZIMA, which was also longlisted by the Oscars.

In 2020, Popakul created a short hybrid animation, Moon for HBO's pandemic anthology "At Home."  He has collaborated with Kasumi Ozeki on Acid Rain, Moon, and ZIMA.

He graduated from Lodz Film School studying direction animation, special effects, and scriptwriting. His graduate film Ziegenort screened at several international film festivals and gained many awards. He created the movie Black while he was an animation artist-in-residence organized by the Japan Image Council (JAPIC) in Tokyo, Japan.

As a musican, Popakul performs under the alias, ASTMA. He is the founder of record label Wysokie Pokrzywy and host of EXOZENTRYKIME mix series on the internet Radio Kapitał. He has released albums on various labels: Audile Snow, Pointless Geometry, Intruder Alert and is the creator of music videos and cover art for them.

Musa Booker: move aside Henry Selick, Musa is the stop motion GOAT

PERSONAL THOUGHTS:

If there was anyone who could ever get me interested in stop-motion animation, it would definitely be Musa Brooker. I loved hearing about his upbringing and his journey in the film industry, as well as how he got involved great projects like “Robot Chicken” and the stop motion episode of “Community”. 

I’ve always loved watching episodes of “Robot Chicken” and am a huge fan of “Community”, so being able to meet Musa was extremely exciting. I really loved how strikingly different stop motion looks compared to 2D and 3D animation – it honestly is an animation style that cannot be replicated. 

I was also particularly fond of his stop motion work on commercials like Nike and Beats. They were so much fun to watch, and were quite effective as 30 seconds commercial breaks. 

One aspect of Musa’s lecture that I really appreciated was his emphasis on having a creative outlet outside of the entertainment industry – specifically, his emphasis on “the industry does not care about you” was a very stark and important reminder to prioritize my health over corporate and capitalistic productivity. Ensuring that I maintain my own creative outlet while paying bills was especially important to me when I entered the XA program, and I’m so glad that Musa touched upon this. 

BIO:

Musa Brooker (that's 'moo-say') is a Los Angeles-based director, animator, writer and producer who has worked with such clients as MTV, McDonalds, Disney, Hasbro, Target, Honda, Netflix, Paypal, and Google. He is currently employed at Shadow Machine as the Supervising Director of a new 2D animated series premiering in 2025. 

The Philadelphia native holds a BFA in Animation from The University of the Arts and an MFA in Experimental Animation from The California Institute of the Arts, where he was a Jacob K. Javits Fellow. When he's not working for larger animation houses, Musa can be found tinkering on projects at his own small studio, Platypus Pictureworks.

Throughout his career Musa has animated, supervised or directed various elves, trolls, cake, cereal, corn dogs, miniature cars, life-sized cars, a sponge named Bob, a mystery-solving dog, cybernetic fowl, tumbling leaves, celebrities fighting to the death, a talking tree, a group of Bratz, a tower of taste buds, a town of cougars, McNugget Buddies, robots in disguise, super powered sandwiches, real sandwiches, real people, an atomic-powered super lizard, imaginary mascots, a giant booger, a pickled diva, a sour milk carton, a singing tomato, a Super Bowl champion, a former First Lady, a Sith Lord, a Wookiee and a Goof.

Musa has been a selection committee member for the New York Animation Festival and the Annie Awards. He has written for The Animation Journal, appeared as a panelist at Comic Con, presented at the Society for Animation Studies Annual Conference and lectured at Pictoplasma. Since 2010, Musa has been a faculty member at The University of Southern California’s School of Cinematic Arts. He also serves on the Board of Directors for the Titmouse Foundation, a non-profit that works to provide opportunities in the animation industry for students from historically underrepresented communities. In 2022 Brooker was honored with the prestigious Silver Star Award for Outstanding Alumni from his alma mater The University of the Arts.

In his spare time, Musa enjoys listening to old school Hip-Hop and NPR, visiting Disneyland and voting. He is a nearly obsessive Beatles fan and despite being allergic to cats, Musa is proud papa to feline siblings Dexter Doo and the late great Barnaby Jones.

NOTES ON LECTURE

Christopher Rutledge: [adult swim] incarnate

PERSONAL THOUGHTS:

Chris Rutledge is an animator, director, and CG artist from Boston, MA, and he is absolutely the type of person I would befriend in the animation community. I really loved how open and willing he is to simply creating anything that aligns with his esoteric tastes. It was refreshing to see an artist who may not necessarily possess all of the traditional technical skills yet continues to find work because he is willing to experiment.

BIO:

Christopher Rutledge is a CG Artist and Animation Director who likes to use the latest cutting edge computer graphics technology to create floppy characters. He has directed work that has screened at Sundance, the Ottawa Animation Festival, Annecy, Pictoplasma, as well as on Adult Swim. He co-runs the creative production studio Grin Machine alongside Cole Kush and Dan Streit where he has created work for TV, advertising, and music videos, and has collaborated with many others including YONK, Takeshi Murata, BRHTR, MSCHF, Cuco, Nike, Apple, Brockhampton, Abra, Lil Nax X, Sam Rolfes, Hellavision, Deaton Chris Anthony, Kerwin Frost, and many more.

I’m particularly fond of Christopher Rutledge's gifs.

NOTES ON LECTURE

Anna Madeleine Raupach: intersectionality attained

PERSONAL THOUGHTS:

I wasn’t able to attend Anna’s in-person lecture due to work, so I was only able to watch the Zoom recording afterwards. I was particularly drawn to her work, “The Forecast Factory”, since I am always curious about the intersection of art and animation with science. I really loved how The Forecast Factory visualized changing weather patterns. Data visualization is an especially important aspect of tackling climate change, which continues to intensify with each passing day. Anna’s work gives me hope that the work and research we can accomplish in Expanded Animation could be applied to help the world at large.

BIO:

Anna Madeleine Raupach is a multidisciplinary artist based on Ngunnawal/Ngambri land, Australia, and a Senior Lecturer at the Australian National University School of Art & Design. Through multimedia installations, AR and VR experiences, and mixed media artworks, her practice engages with science and technology to critically address socio-political issues enmeshed with climate change.

Anna has a PhD in Media Arts from UNSW Art & Design (2014), and a Bachelor of Visual Arts (Honours) from ANU School of Art & Design (2007). Recent projects include an Australian Network for Art and Technology Synapse Residency, a Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences Research Fellowship, and commissioned artworks for the Tellus Project led by UNSW Art & Design and the National Herbarium; Solar Protocol Network, and Casula Powerhouse Arts Centre. In 2024 she will be a 2024 Fulbright Scholar at the University of Southern California’s School of Cinematic Arts.

Anna has been awarded international residencies at the Cité Internationale des Arts, Paris, through the Art Gallery of NSW (2018); and Common Room Network Foundation, Indonesia, with Asialink Arts (2017). She has had solo exhibitions in New York, Melbourne, Sydney, Canberra, and Bandung.

Website: https://www.annamadeleine.com/

Lilli Carré: morph, mutation, control, and revolt

Tonight’s guest lecture was Lilli Carré, an interdisciplinary artist based in Los Angeles (with an ostensible second home in Chicago) who works in experimental animation, print, and ceramic sculpture. She currently teaches in the Experimental Animation program at CalArts, and it was a pleasure and privilege seeing the range and scope of her work across multiple mediums. 

I was most affected by the short film “Private Properties” (2019/2020) because unlike her other work, it does not feature a human subject. The subject is in the recreation of an apartment, similar to how her late father would recreate crime scenes in 3D for forensics to make sense of what could have happened at a crime scene. Seeing the lines move, form, deconstruct, and reconstruct into something new again was really fascinating, and especially soothing because of the ASMR sounds Carre added. 

I also loved her short film “Glazing” (2021) because of how she thought of using animation smears as the main means of animation instead of how traditional animation uses smears as in-betweens. Seeing the character morph, mutate, and form into various shapes and forms was really beautiful and fascinating.

Carré’s talk on time, motion, and the space in between frames was particularly enlightening, and it gave me a lot to think about – especially regarding the power dynamics between creator, creation, and viewer. I was particularly moved by the larger discussion about power dynamics after watching "her short film “Jill” (2016) its homage to “Gertie the Dinosaur” (1914), and the quote:

“Sometimes laughing in the face of power is the most effective tool someone who does not have power can do”

— Lilli Carré

Carré mentioned that as artists, we are distilleries of our respective life experiences and what we grew up exposed to. Given that her parents were graphic designers – with her mother now working as a death doula – and Carré observing human shape and form change with athletic diving, I can see how much her upbringing really influenced her willingness to try and learn new techniques and equipment that emerges. Despite the various mediums she works in, I appreciate the common denominator that unites her work: mutation and morph, control and rebellion, tactility and intuition. I would have loved to see more of her exhibition work, and now I’ll try to see them in person. 

NOTES FROM LECTURE

Debra Isaac: Houdini would be proud

Debra Isaac, founder of Houdini.School, is an artist, educator and entrepreneur based out of Los Angeles – and she was a fantastic introductory guest for our first class. Hearing about her how she’s navigated changing industry landscapes in both corporate and academic settings was inspiring. Seeing how she’s paved her own path following her interests and passions gave me a lot of hope given the current state of the animation industry which, for all sakes and purposes, is depressing. 

I was especially moved by her visualizing motion capture of dancers. It was a striking combination of 3D animation, color and design, East Asian zither music, and dance athleticism. Prior to seeing this short, I didn’t have much interest in learning Houdini or motion capture, and I had to restrain myself from signing up for more classes because I need to balance school with work and life. 

I was also fascinated by Debra’s experience at Mattel, and how Greta Gertwig’s “Barbie” (2023) was much more accurate about how corporate Mattel operates than I imagined. (Side note: I will not imagine every Mattel CEO as some version of Will Ferrell.) I found her thoughts on working with STEM experts helpful in terms of balancing creative vision with scientific accuracy, especially since it depends on who you are working with (e.g. a smaller STEM company versus NASA). 

Lastly, because I still have the sensibilities of a 5 year old, Debra’s poop game demonstration made me laugh. The world can be sh*itty, so why not lean into it?

NOTES FROM LECTURE