Character Animation Shorts

• Ukelayla (2018): Layla, a young girl with a speech disability, has high hopes for her first day of school, but her differences make it difficult to connect to others. Where speech fails, music speaks. Follow Layla and Kiki into a world of music, magic and friendship in Ukelayla!
• Night Light (2018): A wide-eyed, newborn sea turtle named Fin finds himself on the illuminated beaches of Miami. It is a perilous time to be a hatchling, with hazards of artificial light and debris present at every turn. With the help of Abueluna, his caring, celestial guide, Fin will make the daring trek from his cluttered nest to the open seas.
• Dreamweaver (2017): The Chippewa tribe believes that Asibikaashi, the spider woman, protects children from bad dreams at night by weaving dream catchers to hang above their heads while they sleep. In Dreamweaver, she teaches Namid, an eight-year-old Chippewa girl who suffers from nightmares, to overcome her fears.
• Cuddlefish (2017): The story of Viktor, a daring Viking on the adventure of a lifetime. His travels come to a grinding halt when he meets the adorable love-sick kraken, Kaimana, who falls in love with the anchor on Viktor’s mighty ship. The two face off in an epic conflict of wit which teaches both of them that love is blind as far as the eye can “sea.”
• Farmer Glorp (2016): An animated short presenting the daily life of Glorp, an alien farmer caring for sunflowers on the sun. On a day like any other, the field is invaded by Flip, an excitable creature seeking food. Farmer Glorp must stop her accidental chaos before his crops are destroyed by her playful nature. Original score composed by Stella Sung.
• The Moth Effect (2016): The story of a tidy young woman named Anh who believes everything has a place. One day, she meets her new roommate, a party-loving moth. Anh immediately realizes that she and this moth are opposites.
• Snacktime (2015): An adventurous comedy about a mischievous spirit’s hunger for gold, a pompous conquistador who has come to steal it, and an angry guardian determined to protect her treasure.
• Enchanted Ink (2015): The story of May, a young Persian girl learning the magic of writing for the first time. Along the way she discovers that a simple mistake can make the magic go awry.
• Yours, Mime, and Ours (2014): A heartwarming tale of a clown father trying to understand his mime daughter. Hilarity ensues.
• Celestial (2014): A short science fiction 3D animated film about a supernatural being’s destructive obsession to replicate a beautiful distant star.
• Gaiaspora 2013
• Ember 2013
• Flower Story 2012
• Box Forts 2012

The Character Animation courses occur in the final two-years of the four-year Emerging Media BFA degree. It consists of a full-time series of consecutive semesters designed to prepare a cohort of students for careers in animation.  Students learn all aspects of the production process, from story creation to film completion, the tools and industry practices for computer-generated 3D animated filmmaking and the ins and outs of teamwork with opportunities for leadership amongst their peers and mentorship from the faculty. 

Featured image from Ukelayla (2018).