On Thursday, Sept. 24, the Program in Character Animation at CalArts presents the 2020 Virtual Character Animation Open Show, which will be livestreamed on YouTube. The showcase includes work from Character Animation students at all year levels (BFA1–4), reflecting the format of the annual in-person Open Show, typically taking place in the spring semester on campus.
The first-ever virtual show features 37 student films, clocking in at a total runtime of two hours and 21 minutes. Participating Character Animation student artists, all of whom are Film/Video BFAs, include:
Nahla Hambazaza, Janelle Feng, Michelle Cheng, Jagger Badazz, Lindsay Scanlan, Jacq Kirkman, Jeongho Lee, Clarisse Chua, George Park, Zoe McCuen, Rory Dise, Chelsea Li, Joey Karwal, Xenia Balashov, Jason Gabriel, Alex Vvedenskiy, Young Kang, Anna Scott, Haeun Yoo, Ursula Echeverria, NM8 Truong, Daniel Chung, Vanessa Kwan, Victoria Vincent, En Nelson-Correia, Anna Lee, Hyoung Joon Yoo, Michelle Tang, and Colleen Sinclair.
Due to the pandemic, the Open Show had to migrate to a virtual showcase. The campus’ shuttering in the spring semester came on the heels of the annual CalArts Animation Portfolio Day event, after which, according to School of Film/Video Assistant Dean and Program Director of Character Animation Maija Burnett, is typically when “students batten down the hatches and put in a huge amount of time completing their films prior to the April deadline.”
During the transition to remote instruction, students had limited time to retrieve their film files from the lab servers before leaving campus. Many were later mailed lab computers and Wacom Cintiqs, an extensive effort coordinated by members of the School of Film/Video staff. The film submission deadline was also extended to better accommodate students due to the sudden upheaval.
See the full list of films here, and catch the livestream on YouTube.
Event Details
2020 Virtual Character Animation Open Show
Thursday, Sept. 24, 4-6:30 pm PT
Online (YouTube livestream)
Free