Skip to main content

Animation Program Celebrates Students

By May 12, 2014May 28th, 2014Animation

Villa Maria College Animation program screened the work of its students on Saturday, at the Animation Screening event held in the Dipson Amherst Theater on Main St. in Buffalo. The Junior and Senior short films, which were reviewed by a select jury of faculty and professionals, were screened to a packed room.

Both junior and senior films were screened at the event, with sophomores having a separate screening on Friday, May 2 on campus. The Junior films are created by small groups of juniors who work as a team to produce a short animated film over the course of two semesters, while Senior Thesis films are done individually, and represent a culmination of the 4 years in the BFA program. All screened films were reviewed by a profession judging panel, which presented seven awards to the students for their work that night.

Christina Yuen ’14 took home the Special Achievement in Story, Best Overall Senior Film, and Best In Show awards for her film “Sunshine Painter,” which you can watch below.

Christina Cronmiller ’15, Christopher Ercker ’15, Kelsey Faulise ’15 and Cassie Hamilton ’15 won Best Overall Junior Film for “Ramshackle Lullaby,” Brian Winkler ’14 won a Special Mention for “Wild West Wonderboy,” Sean Bodkin ’14 took home a Special Achievement in Art Direction for “The Facts Concerning the Late Arthur Cheesecat and His Family,” and Lee Terwilliger ’14 won a Special Achievement in Technical Direction with “For A Few Cupcakes More.”

Photos from the event can be found on the Villa Maria College Flickr page.

The judging panel included:

Juniors and Seniors at the 2014 Villa Maria College Animation Screening.

Juniors and Seniors at the 2014 Villa Maria College Animation Screening.

Jonathan Cone – Freelance Animator, Former Faculty Member
Glenn Ehlers – Content Developer at MOOG
Donna Fierle – Department Chair and Instructor of Humanities at Erie Community College
Rodrigo Gomez – Manager of Visualization at Fisher-Price, Inc.
Sarah Hanson – Animation Faculty, Owner of August Productions
Dan Hopen – Animation Faculty, Co-founder of Great Big TV
Bud Kolich – Director, R&D Technical Services
Kyle LoConti – Chairs of the Division of Arts, Media & Technology at Niagara County Community College
Bryan Matthews – Creative Director of the Buffalo Bills
Matthew Quest – Design Visualization Specialist at Fisher-Price, Inc.
Justin Scricco – Visiting Animation Faculty