{"id":11874,"date":"2018-05-08T09:09:59","date_gmt":"2018-05-08T16:09:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogschapman.wpenginepowered.com\/dodge\/2018\/05\/08\/thesis-spotlight-meraki\/"},"modified":"2018-05-08T09:09:59","modified_gmt":"2018-05-08T16:09:59","slug":"thesis-spotlight-meraki","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.chapman.edu\/dodge\/2018\/05\/08\/thesis-spotlight-meraki\/","title":{"rendered":"Thesis Spotlight: Meraki"},"content":{"rendered":"

Blending stop motion, Taylor Johnston\u2019s (BFA\/DA \u201918) area of expertise, and the computer graphic prowess of Austin Piko (BFA\/DA \u201918), the team behind Meraki<\/em>\u00a0are making the only stop-motion animation thesis film to come from Dodge College this year.<\/p>\n

The team is excited to bring the magic of three-dimensional animation to audiences with this film. Magic they discovered while playing as children. \u201cWhen I was a kid I would make stop-motion films on the floor in my room,\u201d says Evan Ridpath (BFA\/PR \u201918), the film\u2019s producer.\u00a0\u201cThat got me into wanting to do film and animation, and now here we are, working on this thesis.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt comes full circle,\u201d says Johnston, reminiscing about the hours spent creating worlds as a kid.<\/p>\n

While most digital arts films are done entirely on a computer, “we had all the same set restraints a live action film would have, with a physical set we constructed over the fall semester,\u201d says Ridpath.<\/p>\n

This experience has become a labor of love as the team worked tirelessly to complete the project on time. \u201cThere was a day, last semester, we spent five hours at Home Depot, just trying to figure out what we needed,\u201d says Piko. After the correct supplies were purchased, with the help of student volunteers, paid only in pizza, the group got to work making this short film. \u201cWe were on set eight hours a day, three days a week, for the last month of the semester. It was a marathon,\u201d says Piko.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a unique story and we hope to get people fired up about stop-motion after seeing it,\u201d says Johnston.<\/p>\n

Visit our calendar<\/a>\u00a0for the screening date of the animated thesis films.<\/p>\n

Special thanks to AMD studios<\/a> for providing a necessary scholarship to bring this dream to life.<\/p>\n