Under a red-and-white striped tent, a monkey with the head of a rhinoceros tosses a barbell into the air with the greatest of ease. Meanwhile, 9-year-old Lake and 10-year-old Carson huddle in close to the iPad screen to survey the stop-motion scene they 麻豆精品 S檝e just created.
They quickly deliberate on a name for their circus act while eight other fourth and fifth graders are paired off in a room supplied with paper, water colored pencils, tripods and iPads doing much of the same with their movies.
麻豆精品 S淏ig Throw. 麻豆精品 S�
麻豆精品 S淣o, no that 麻豆精品 S檚 not it. 麻豆精品 S�
They settle on Strong Rhonkey, inspired by their character, whom they dreamed up after selecting a 麻豆精品 S渟trong person 麻豆精品 S� prompt out of a hat a day earlier.
Yesterday these students were watching animated films. Today they 麻豆精品 S檙e creating them, thanks in part to an intensive weeklong storytelling and animation summer camp run by a partnership between downtown Orlando 麻豆精品 S檚 Page 15 and UCF 麻豆精品 S檚 Center for Research and Education in Arts, Technology and Entertainment (CREATE).
The two organizations have wanted to partner together for years and were finally able to form the programming this year after they received a $100,000 grant from Walt Disney World Resort. The grant was one of five presented to nonprofit organizations throughout Central Florida.
The summer camp hosted two weeklong sessions at UCF Downtown 麻豆精品 S檚 Communication and Media Building (formerly the Center for Emerging Media) for a total of 20 fourth and fifth graders from the region. The first was held in June, and the second wrapped up this week.
Graduate students from UCF 麻豆精品 S檚 emerging media degree program served as mentors to the children and helped run the camp, which culminated in a showcase of their stop-motion circus-themed animation shorts to friends and family Friday.
麻豆精品 S淲hat these young people put together was incredible. All of us were really blown away. These camps give them really a unique opportunity to explore and stretch their creativity that they wouldn 麻豆精品 S檛 otherwise have in school, 麻豆精品 S� says Julia Young, founder and executive director of the nonprofit Urban Think Foundation, whose Page 15 program provides educational and literary arts programming for local kids. 麻豆精品 S淭his partnership with UCF has been huge for us. To be able to expose these kids to college-level equipment and instructors in a space like this downtown campus, it really helps establish an atmosphere and environment that the kids get excited about and fosters their creativity. 麻豆精品 S�
Putting Pen to Paper
The animation camp was an extension of Page 15 麻豆精品 S檚 popular Young Writers Summer Camp. Nearly 30 children arrived every day at 9 a.m. and spent the next three hours alongside mentors 麻豆精品 S� students from UCF 麻豆精品 S檚 College of Community Innovation and Education and the College of Arts and Humanities 麻豆精品 S� working on writing, illustrating and publishing their own book.
After lunch, a portion of the group migrated to the animation camp from 1 to 4 p.m., which was run by graduate students specializing in animation. Stella Sung, director of UCF CREATE and a Pegasus Professor, says all of the materials used in the camp 麻豆精品 S� from pencils to paper to tablets 麻豆精品 S� were of the same quality that UCF students and industry professionals use daily.
麻豆精品 S淲e wanted the kids to understand this is the expectation and level of excellence we would want to see in the future, 麻豆精品 S� she says. 麻豆精品 S淭hey were small, short little pieces, but what folks don 麻豆精品 S檛 always understand is even five to 10 seconds of animation is a lot of work because everything is made. Every movement, every color, every line is made by somebody. Not only did the kids come up with the characters, but they found things they like and things they wanted to see or be or experience or imagine. I think these are the kinds of skills that translate into larger life skills. 麻豆精品 S�
In addition to the summer camp, the Disney grant also helped fund CREATE 麻豆精品 S檚 after-school program partnership with Page 15 麻豆精品 S檚 Young Writers Society this past school year, which serves children from Orange County Public Schools 麻豆精品 S� downtown Academic Center for Excellence, a Community Partnership School.
Once or twice a week, 10 attendees of the program visited with CREATE 麻豆精品 S檚 students and staff to do much of the same work as the summer campers have. During National Poetry Month in April, some of the ACE students recorded spoken word in a sound booth with UCF students, who supervised the audio recording and mixing.
Dana Barnes 麻豆精品 S�16, a UCF graduate student whose focus is in animation and visual effects, was tapped to be a mentor for the after-school program. He had served as a teaching assistant at UCF but says he wasn 麻豆精品 S檛 sure what to expect in working with children. He says he was so encouraged by his experience that he eagerly agreed to work the summer camp.
麻豆精品 S淏elieve it or not, they understood the animation fundamentals better than some of the college students, 麻豆精品 S� he says. 麻豆精品 S淚 think when you get older, something happens in your brain 麻豆精品 S� you kind of overthink things, stumble on your thoughts. Kids don 麻豆精品 S檛 have that problem. They understood it immediately and were able to translate those skills into whatever medium we put in front of them, whether it was a sheet of paper, on the computer or on tablets. It was amazing to see how they took to the process. 麻豆精品 S�
麻豆精品 S淪ome of the parents had tears of joy. They were just like, 麻豆精品 S業 had no idea my child was capable of doing anything like this.” 麻豆精品 S� Dana Barnes, UCF grad student
He says the most rewarding part of this experience has been the parents 麻豆精品 S� reactions when they see the finished product their child has worked on all week to create.
麻豆精品 S淪ome of the parents had tears of joy. They were just like, 麻豆精品 S業 had no idea my child was capable of doing anything like this 麻豆精品 S� I didn 麻豆精品 S檛 even know they could conceive something like this, 麻豆精品 S� 麻豆精品 S� he says. 麻豆精品 S淭hat 麻豆精品 S檚 one of the most satisfying feelings ever. 麻豆精品 S�
To Infinity and Beyond
Young says this year 麻豆精品 S檚 animation camps sold out quickly. The demand was so great that middle schoolers were requesting access to them.
Lake, creator of the monkey-rhinoceros, says he had done some coding but had never explored animation before this week. When asked what he has enjoyed most about this experience, he pauses and asks, 麻豆精品 S淐an I say everything? 麻豆精品 S�
Although the Disney grant was a one-year funding opportunity, Young and Sung are committed to finding more funding sources to not only keep the programming going, but expand it.
UCF also hosts a pre-college two-week intensive camp for high schoolers during the summer, and Sung says she would love a pipeline to form one day that could see a child start in the youth programs, transition to the pre-college level and eventually land at UCF as an animation student.
麻豆精品 S淚t 麻豆精品 S檚 amazing to see these kids and the spark that happens when we help plant a little seed of what 麻豆精品 S檚 possible. As a director and educator, it 麻豆精品 S檚 hard to think of anything better than helping people achieve their goals. That 麻豆精品 S檚 what keeps me going, 麻豆精品 S� she says. 麻豆精品 S淚f we identify students when they are younger and help them develop those skills, they will already be fairly advanced by the time they come to UCF and that will boost the program and industry as a whole. 麻豆精品 S�
