SCAD AnimationFest 2023 just wrapped on September 28-30 in Atlanta, Georgia, and CGMagazine was able to catch all the action in-person.
Atlanta, Georgia has been a thriving city, emphasizing its growth into the Arts and Entertainment industry. The annual festival, SCAD AnimationFest, returned once again which brought more new things into the constantly evolving art and design pioneers—and CGMagazine was there to witness all its greatness. This year, the multi-faceted Atlanta campus invited many industry leaders and SCAD alumni from major VFX, animation and tech companies. Some of the highlights included some execs and production staff on hit series such as Netflix’s Nimona film adaptation, Hulu’s Adventure Time: Fionna & Cake, and FOX’s Krapopolis.
The major difference of this year’s festival was experiencing the panels and talks in the campus’ new 700-seat SCADshow theater! This was all built to host more special events and screening opportunities for the students and faculty. It was also a major part of the new buildings called FORTY FIVE, named in commemoration of the university’s 45th year of growing and constantly metamorphosing.
We were astonished by the green space courtyard that the buildings surrounded, and how it could be used for social events and/or fashion shows for SCAD Fashion. The entire complex was built as an on-campus residential, academic, and wellness space. They even have a huge LED screen as a nice backdrop to the installment; we saw students playing games of Mario Kart 8 on it too! Creativity truly continues to thrive and expand on the SCAD Atlanta campus.
Day 1 (Kicking Things Off)
Here is a list of all of the great things CGMagazine was able to check out at SCAD AnimationFest 2023 on Day 1:
- Once Upon a Time: Animating Netflix’s Nimona
- Transforming the Peach State with FuseFX
- Animal Repair Shop — THE ARKHAM ASYLUM FILES: Panic in Gotham City AR Board Game Demo
- Screening: Inspector Sun and the Curse of the Black Widow
SCAD AnimationFest 2023 began with a bang! It began with a special in-depth look at the process behind animating the characters in the hit-film adaptation of Netflix’s Nimona, presented by DNEG Animation’s global head of character animation, Theodore “Ted” Ty. We were able to check out the deep dive into what kinds of research and references went into bringing the characters to life, and what made us love and hate them. Surprisingly, a lot of classic Disney animation styles were referenced, as most of them were related to what Ty referred to as “Golden Poses.”
Then, we were able to check out a presentation from the VFX company FuseFX’s head of studio and senior VFX supervisor, Brian Kubovcik, who discussed how his team was able to transform various landscapes across Georgia into environments seen in major TV/film productions. Their team has worked on some crazy shots, a lot having to do with crowds and making them look more abundant than there are real actors in each frame. Some of the biggest productions Kubovcik and FuseFX Atlanta were able to work on were Extraction 2, DMZ, and She-Hulk: Attorney at Law, just to name a few.
Afterwards, we got the chance to check out the world’s first augmented reality blend of escape room and board game concepts, THE ARKHAM ASYLUM FILES: Panic in Gotham City from the Animal Repair Shop team. The demo allowed us to get a taste of what it would be like to play the game in real time, showing off the innovative technologies of blending physical board game mechanics, escape room rules, with AR capabilities. The presentation was led by the vice president of interaction and gaming, Michael Borys; chief creative officer, Alex Lieu; and associate interaction designer and writer, Church Lieu.
To round off the day, was the special screening of Inspector Sun and the Curse of the Black Widow. We were able to view the whole film before its theatrical release on October 27, 2023. Before the screening, SCAD held a brief award ceremony to present the SCAD AnimationFest Outstanding Achievement in Animation award to Ty. Definitely a touching moment to end off day one. Be sure to catch CGMagazine’s full interview with Ted Ty coming to the site soon.
Day 2 (Keeping The Excitement Going)
Here is a list of all of the great things CGMagazine was able to check out at SCAD AnimationFest 2023 on Day 2:
- Media Tour of the SCAD Digital Media Center and SCAD Atlanta Casting Office
- Hearing From SCAD Alumni
- SCAD Animation Studios Presents: The Making of ‘The Last Dungeon’
- Screening And Q&A With Adam Muto: ‘Adventure Time: Fionna and Cake’ — Episode 6
Day 2 of SCAD AnimationFest 2023 started off with a tour of the SCAD Digital Media Center and its LED Volume. Check out the article from last year’s SCAD AnimationFest to get a deeper understanding of it. The presentation was led by associate dean, SCAD School of Animation and Motion, SCAD School of Film and Acting, and SCAD School of Creative Technology, Jud Estes. When asked about what new things they have been testing out on the LED Volume, he discussed how they want to expand the physical sets on the floor with some LED panels on the ground.
Next stop, a tour into the SCAD Atlanta Casting Office allowed us to see how students are given opportunities to be casted and connected on major productions, all within the campus. The office has been noted as the the only on-site, professionally run casting office in higher education, boasting its ability to get its students in films like Gemini Man, Baywatch and The Little Mermaid. This majestic office is managed by dean of the School of Entertainment Arts at Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD), Andra Reeve-Rabb, alongside faculty advisor and acting professor Alpha Tyler.
Afterwards, we were able to hear from SCAD alumni on their current roles across the gaming, VFX and animation industries. Each one offered the students attending SCAD or thinking to attend SCAD a look into what they could be from different perspectives: creator and director of Jelly, Ben & Pogo, Jalysa Leva; associate character technical artist at Blizzard Entertainment, Trent Bellet; 3D generalist at Meptik, Julianna Mercado; 3D motion designer at Territory Studio, Brendan Wilson; and motion graphics designer for the Atlanta Hawks, Zeno Padinjattekara.
On a similar line of seeing the mettle of SCAD students, the making of The Last Dungeon panel provided a fun, insightful conversation behind some of the great minds at SCAD Animation Studios. The panel was moderated by SCAD chair of animation Chris Gallagher, with which he dove into production questions for these amazing students who worked on the film: visual effects supervisor, Ash Brock visual effects supervisor; technical director, Kate Meine; producer, Andrew Nelson; and director, Alex Young.
The night ended with a special presentation by and for the executive producer (Adventure Time franchise) Adam Muto, who received the SCAD AnimationFest Spotlight Award. He was able to screen episode six of the new spin-off series Adventure Time: Fionna and Cake, along with some never-before-seen footage that did not quite make the full cut of being animated for the main series. The full CGMagazine interview with Muto will be coming soon!
Day 3 (The Finale)
Here is a list of all of the great things CGMagazine was able to check out at SCAD AnimationFest 2023 on Day 3:
- SCAD FASH Tour of the SCAD FASH Museum of Fashion + Film — The Blonds/Ellen von Unwerth
- Turning A Green Space Into Art With SCADpro
- SCAD Animation Showcase
- Screening And Q&A: FOX series ‘Krapopolis’ — Episode 1 & 3
Battling on through SCAD AnimationFest 2023’s final day of events, we were able to check out the SCAD FASH Museum of Fashion + Film again this year. However, it hosted two major curations from The Blonds and Ellen von Unwerth. The Blonds’ sparkling and glamourous clothing designs worn by Beyonce, Madonna, Paris Hilton and Jennifer Lopez, encapsulating more than 80 designs of exquisite signature looks. German photographer Unwerth’s work was displayed with a very Barbie–pink theme as its backdrop, nestled with her bold and striking work of images.
The first panel of the day highlighted the marriage of mural art and AR tech, an amalgamated project by SCADpro and Phipps Plaza. A multifaceted team of SCAD students, alumni and faculty were able to create a “17-foot mural at the upscale Buckhead mall using Adobe Aero’s latest technology.” SCADpro is described as a studio that essentially seeks out and connects business leaders to current and future art and design professionals, and create projects that can solve real-world challenges. We were able to see how the nature of the mural could be extended in AR, using the new Adobe Aero technology.
Following SCADpro’s presentation was another awesome panel that captured the essence and purpose of SCAD AnimationFest every year: the SCAD Animation Showcase. This was a premiere screening of various SCAD Animation Studios short films created by SCAD animation students, all overseen by their prestigious SCAD animation professors. My personal favourites were Three Raccoons in a Trench Coat, Goro Goro and Bunny to the Moon.
The final award ceremony put SCAD alumni Steve LaVietes in the spotlight, who graduated from SCAD all the way back in 1996 with a B.F.A. in computer art. He was awarded the first SCAD45 Award, for his exemplary work in the creative industry. With over 20 years of experience in the industry, he has gone on to be a principal software engineer with Pixar Animation Studios, received an Academy Award for Technical Achievement in 2013 for his role in developing Katana, the industry-standard computer graphics scene management and lighting software. Katana has been used in visually striking films such as Avatar, Gravity and The Amazing Spider-Man to name a few.
As for the final panel, the FOX series created by Dan Harmon (Rick and Morty, Community) Krapopolis took center stage. We were given the opportunity to see the first episode on the big screen, along with an exclusive preview of an all-new episode. The screening was followed by a conversation and Q&A, moderated by Variety’s TV editor, Michael Schneider, with the show’s creatives: supervising director, Pete Michels, and lead character designer, Andy Ristaino.
Keep your eyes peeled for the exclusive interviews CGMagazine was able to cover at SCAD AnimationFest 2023!
