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	<title>Interdisciplinary Collaboration Archives - BYU College of Fine Arts and Communications</title>
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		<title>Artists from BYU and Across the US and Europe Meet in Iceland to Collaborate on a Show in Santa Fe</title>
		<link>https://cfac-archived.byu.edu/experiential-learning/artists-meet-in-iceland-to-collaborate-on-a-show-in-santa-fe/</link>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Alexis Carver]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Tue, 15 Oct 2019 17:33:54 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Experiential Learning]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Interdisciplinary Collaboration]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Claudine Bigelow]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Design]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Drawing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Gary Barton]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Jen Orton]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Joe Ostraff]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Linda Reynolds]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Painting]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Printmaking]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://cfac-archived.byu.edu/?p=49286</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[<p>Diverse artists establish an on-going relationship of community and unity For the past 10+ years, a group of BYU professors — including Claudine Bigelow (Music), Gary Barton (Art), Jen Orton (Art), Joe Ostraff (Art) and Linda Reynolds (Design) — have been collaborating with various artists across the U.S. and throughout the world. After a conversation between a few fellow collaborators — Ostraff, Nuala Clarke from Ireland, Karina Hean from Sante Fe, New Mexico and Ostraff’s wife Melinda Ostraff — the idea of “Odd Nature” was born. The idea evolved into a project where a team of 23 artists — including a total of six students from BYU, the U.S. and Europe — gathered together in Iceland to explore the relationship between humans and the natural world and the impact they have on each other. Each artist specialized in multiple disciplines including design, music, painting, drawing, printmaking, letterpress, book arts, video, performance art and installation work. Ostraff knew he was bringing together some power artists in Iceland, so he sat back and watched the creativity emerge. “I went into the project not wanting to be heavy-handed about what I thought should happen,” Ostraff said. “It will be an ongoing partnership that’s very organic and a lot bigger than I anticipated.” Art major Jeffery Hampshire — one of the six students who were invited to participate in the Iceland trip — discovered lasting ties and an unforgettable experience. “The Iceland trip was great because the students there mixed with professional artists,” he said. “We did projects together, but the main purpose was to set parameters for a future project. We are in communication today, even after that trip.” For Hampshire, the vision of his future changed because of the transpired events in Iceland. “I feel like an actual artist now,” said Hampshire. “The experience in Iceland has changed the way I’ll continue on future projects. I pictured myself as an artist working alone in a studio, but now I see a future of collaboration being a major part of my work.” Claudine Bigelow — a BYU viola professor within the School of Music — also participated in the Iceland trip. “Daily, we would have a workshop, connect it in some way with seeing nature in Iceland, and then we shared an evening meal and spoke about art ideas,” said Bigelow. “We got to know each other well and became fast friends in the process.” The trip was only Bigelow’s third experience working with visual artists. “I loved watching talented people create — watching their drawing and painting techniques,” she said. “It was important for me to watch really gifted artists speak with their own clear voice. I was honored to work together.” After the Iceland trip, 12 out of the 23 artists featured their work at the Santa Fe Community College art gallery in New Mexico. The show was displayed from Sep. 13 to Oct. 10. “Odd Nature” didn’t just establish opportunities for the artists to collaborate on future projects — it also taught life lessons. The title “Odd Nature” is not just an art show, but a definition of diverse people coming together to create something beautiful. “We hope people will find themselves in the project,” Ostraff said. “There were a lot of different people with different beliefs who came together to make ‘Odd Nature’ possible. The civility in the room allowed for people to collaborate even if they didn’t agree or have similar lifestyles and backgrounds, but they did agree to be kind, thoughtful, civil people and it’s been a great thing to think about.” The work was made possible through the generous support of The Ballinglen Arts Foundation and Brigham Young University. For a different version of the story and more visuals, visit art.byu.edu</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://cfac-archived.byu.edu/experiential-learning/artists-meet-in-iceland-to-collaborate-on-a-show-in-santa-fe/">Artists from BYU and Across the US and Europe Meet in Iceland to Collaborate on a Show in Santa Fe</a> appeared first on <a href="https://cfac-archived.byu.edu">BYU College of Fine Arts and Communications</a>.</p>
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		<title>BYU Symposium Explores Positive Potential of New Media Forms</title>
		<link>https://cfac-archived.byu.edu/department-of-theatre-and-media-arts/byu-symposium-explores-positive-potential-new-media-forms/</link>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Martha Duzett]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Thu, 25 Apr 2019 18:13:56 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Department of Theatre and Media Arts]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Events]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Experiential Learning]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Interdisciplinary Collaboration]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Benjamin Thevenin]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[New Media]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Symposiums]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://cfac-archived.byu.edu/?p=47171</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[<p>Student organizers Jessica Runyan and Jared Richardson discuss their symposium experience New media forms such as social networking platforms, virtual reality and digital games regularly spark research and warnings about potential hazards, but a recent BYU symposium explored the other side of the coin: emerging media and creative collaboration as a force for positive change. The Media of Today and Tomorrow symposium was organized by Department of Theatre and Media Arts professor Benjamin Thevenin in collaboration with media arts students Jessica Runyan and Jared Richardson. The team put together a full day of panels, workshops and interactive displays in the hopes of connecting students with like-minded individuals and professionals in various sectors of new media. “One of the first things we talked about was what we wanted our message and the feel of the symposium to be,” said Runyan, who is interested in producing and developing video games. “We wanted to capture this idea of a world’s fair where people who work in new media can get together and network. The main goal was to create opportunities for students to connect with people both on and off campus and see what other projects are going on that they could get involved in.” As part of this mission, the organizers reached beyond film and animation to invite different disciplines across campus — including journalism, psychology, family life and computer science — all of which, Runyan explained, contribute important perspectives on both the perils and promise of new media. The symposium’s midday panel also brought together a variety of skills and interests from across the industry. Theatre and media arts professor Kimball Jensen moderated a discussion between PBS Idea Channel creator Mike Rugnetta, Studio C and JK Studios writer and actress Mallory Everton, The VOID co-founder Curtis Hickman and Spy Hop audio instructor Myke Johnson. “Each member of the panel came from a very different background, but the principles they were sharing about creativity and collaboration were the same,” said Richardson. “New media can seem disparate, but whether you’re making a film or a video game, there’s so many things we have in common. I think the best thing to come from the panel and other presentations throughout the day was how much potential there is in all of these things.” Mike Rugnetta also delivered the keynote presentation, focusing on the use of new media as a tool for creators to connect with each other and build a better world. “He didn’t shy away from the hard issues,” said Runyan. “He talked about how a lot of the problems we’re dealing with online aren’t specifically internet problems; they’re real-world problems that involve the internet.” In both his address and the Q&#38;A that followed, Rugnetta offered advice and options for combating negativity online. “The best way is not necessarily to try to make media to attack someone else, but to make another option,” said Runyan. “He talked about how hard it is to create a piece of media that attacks somebody else’s view in a way that is also uplifting. Instead, we can make media that is a better opportunity or a better choice for people. There are issues that I can’t solve on my own, but I can create a positive community online that people can choose to click on instead of something else.” Richardson, who plans to pursue a career in post-production sound and children’s media, appreciated the weight Rugnetta placed on parts of the industry that are often dismissed as trivial or pointless. “It’s very clear that he’s taking things like gifs and memes and YouTube videos very seriously, and I think we all need to do that,” said Richardson. “New media is so important. It took time for film to be considered an art form, and for some reason it’s still taking people a while to realize that things like internet culture and video games absolutely have artistic merit and can be used to great effect — whether that be for good or for a detrimental effect.” Both Richardson and Runyan came away from the symposium with a greater understanding of the impact their attitude and intent have on the things they create. “The same principles apply to all new media work,” said Runyan. “Be nice to people, be nice to yourself and realize that you can’t do everything. You can go into whatever kind of field you want, but at the end of the day, you have to ask yourself, ‘maybe I have the technical skills, but am I nice to people? Can I be reliable? Can I be a good force in the industry?’” In addition to presenting on YouTube gamers in a breakout session, Richardson headed up an interactive Nintendo Labo display. Watching symposium attendees build their own cardboard creations to interact with the Nintendo Switch reminded him that imagination, innovation and positive entertainment remain at the heart of much of new media. “New media is fun, and we need more fun,” said Richardson. “We also need to broaden our horizons — this isn’t just for film students. Anyone can come and participate and get excited about the future.”</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://cfac-archived.byu.edu/department-of-theatre-and-media-arts/byu-symposium-explores-positive-potential-new-media-forms/">BYU Symposium Explores Positive Potential of New Media Forms</a> appeared first on <a href="https://cfac-archived.byu.edu">BYU College of Fine Arts and Communications</a>.</p>
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		<title>BYU Department of Design Partners with Black Student Union to Bring Renowned Artist to Campus</title>
		<link>https://cfac-archived.byu.edu/department-of-design/byu-department-of-design-partners-with-black-student-union-to-bring-renowned-artist-to-campus/</link>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Sydnee Gonzalez]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Sat, 06 Apr 2019 00:23:36 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Department of Design]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Interdisciplinary Collaboration]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Lectures]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Illustration]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://cfac-archived.byu.edu/?p=45651</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[<p>R. Gregory Christie, an award-winning illustrator, gave students a glimpse into his career R. Gregory Christie recently shared the secret to his success — which includes over 60 children&#8217;s books and honors like the Caldecott Medal, the Coretta Scott King honor and a NAACP Image Award — with BYU students. Christie’s visit to students was made possible by a partnership between the Department of Design and the Black Student Union (BSU). Design professor David Habben said the collaboration has been a positive experience and that the two groups already have plans for further collaboration. “It was a fantastic experience for all involved and I can’t speak highly enough about the efforts that the BSU does to provide a place for inclusion and expression for BYU’s black student body,” said Habben. “These students bring a wonderful combination of academic excellence and unique perspectives to our university and community.” This feeling was echoed by the students who attended Christie’s lecture. “What I’m most interested in is building a career in illustration, so it’s really cool to see people’s life experiences and learn a little about their style,” said Robert Bogh, a pre-BFA major. “You just get to be a part of the conversation that is art.” Taran Trinnaman, an English major and member of BSU, also added that Christie’s lecture and the other events the artist hosted on campus. “It was really cool to see how just a few beginning jobs, random coincidences and a good portfolio led to a connection and that just spawned more and more opportunities and just all these works of art,” said Trinnaman. “It was really inspirational to see that.” Despite all of his accomplishments, Christie stressed to students that his journey to success hasn’t been easy. A big part of Christie’s career has been luck; he’s done the right things at the right time in the right place. One of Christie’s biggest projects was doing the animation for “Garrett’s Gift,” a short film that was narrated by Queen Latifah. “The first time I met [Queen Latifah], she didn&#8217;t know me and I didn&#8217;t know her. I walked up to her and showed her my work and she said ‘I&#8217;m trying to get a drink on’ and I felt so bad,” said Christie, adding that the bravery he had to approach her is what landed him a job later down the road.   “Go show your art,” Christie told students. “It&#8217;s worse in your head than in the reality of life.” Christie added that in order to be successful, artists need to have at least two of the following: discipline, talent and luck. However, Christie also added that he’s hopeful for up-and-coming artists, who he says have more advantages than any other generation before them. “There&#8217;s never been a time in the world where you have a megaphone to the world,” said Christie of the power social media and the internet can give young artists. “In these times, you don&#8217;t have to go with the system. In a way I feel that this is your world now.” Christie ended by emphasizing the importance of criticism. “I welcome it; It means I&#8217;m actually doing something that&#8217;s pushing the envelope,” said Christie. “Not everyone is going to like you.” He added, “People do not like change . . . Artists either kind of fall in line with what&#8217;s already out there, or they do something that&#8217;s so strange that the next generation gets it,” said Christie. “And you just have to do art because you love it.”</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://cfac-archived.byu.edu/department-of-design/byu-department-of-design-partners-with-black-student-union-to-bring-renowned-artist-to-campus/">BYU Department of Design Partners with Black Student Union to Bring Renowned Artist to Campus</a> appeared first on <a href="https://cfac-archived.byu.edu">BYU College of Fine Arts and Communications</a>.</p>
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		<title>BYU Professor Brings Joseph F. Smith’s Vision of the Dead to Life in New Film</title>
		<link>https://cfac-archived.byu.edu/faculty_staff/byu-professor-brings-joseph-f-smiths-vision-of-the-dead-to-life-in-new-film/</link>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Sydnee Gonzalez]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Tue, 02 Apr 2019 16:24:50 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Experiential Learning]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Faculty and Staff]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Interdisciplinary Collaboration]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[School of Communications]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Advertising]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Kevin Kelly]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://cfac-archived.byu.edu/?p=45631</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[<p>BYU School of Communications Professor Kevin Kelly&#8217;s new film &#8220;I Saw the Hosts of the Dead&#8221; will air Sunday, April 7 at 9 a.m. on BYUtv before “Music and the Spoken Word.” The film is a documentary — mixed with a little live action — that explores Joseph F. Smith’s vision and the background behind it. To read more about the inspiration behind the film and what it took to create it, visit the School of Communications website.  &#160;</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://cfac-archived.byu.edu/faculty_staff/byu-professor-brings-joseph-f-smiths-vision-of-the-dead-to-life-in-new-film/">BYU Professor Brings Joseph F. Smith’s Vision of the Dead to Life in New Film</a> appeared first on <a href="https://cfac-archived.byu.edu">BYU College of Fine Arts and Communications</a>.</p>
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		<title>Collaborative Experience Between BYU and Volunteers of America Supports Homeless Youth</title>
		<link>https://cfac-archived.byu.edu/department-of-art/collaborative-experience-between-byu-and-volunteers-of-america-supports-homeless-youth/</link>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Emily Webb]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Wed, 06 Mar 2019 19:53:43 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Department of Art]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Department of Design]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Interdisciplinary Collaboration]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Joe Ostraff]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Linda Reynolds]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://cfac-archived.byu.edu/?p=45359</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[<p>College of Fine Arts and Communications classes allow students to use their artistic abilities to help populations in need BYU design and art students used their time and skills to fundraise, collect clothing and teach youth and young adults at the Volunteers for America (VOA) Youth Resource Center (YRC) in Salt Lake City last fall. Students who take Design Lab, taught by Linda Reynolds, and App Creative/Critical Thinking, taught by Joe Ostraff, spend an entire semester using their design knowledge and skill to benefit the community. The classes provide a way for students to get real-world professional and leadership experience while serving alongside volunteer organizations. “We’re honored that BYU art and design students selected VOA to work with and we’re humbled by the generosity and compassion they’ve shown our clients. The students are indeed ‘difference makers’ and through art have changed and saved lives of youth experiencing homelessness,” said Cathleen Sparrow, the chief development officer of Volunteers of America Utah. For the Youth Resource Center partnership, students planned and led several different projects to work directly with the clients and support the center financially. Every student enrolled in the two classes helped teach one of six art workshops at the center. Each workshop focused on helping the clients develop a new skill and create an art project of their own. Visual Arts major Kara Smith led a workshop on screen printing T-shirts. She said the clients took the class seriously, with one client making an extra shirt for a friend who had to leave early. “They were just very involved and excited to take part and ownership in the creative process and that inspired me,” Smith said. The experience benefited the BYU students as well. Ricey Wright, another art major, said, “I believe being able to teach the process of how to make something definitely helps me become a better artist. I am able to reiterate what I know as well as learn from the individual creativity of the participants. To raise money for the YRC, the students spent a night selling art in Salt Lake City. Artists Brian Kershisnik and Gary Ernest Smith donated artwork, which the students recreated with screen printing and sold. Abby DeWitt, a graphic design student who helped with the print collective, said, “This was an awesome experience because a lot of designers were able to learn the screen-printing process. Then we were able to package, distribute and figure out how to sell a lot of these prints.” The class also hosted an all-day pop-up shop in BYU’s Harris Fine Arts Center. Each student received $100 as seed money to create a product that would demonstrate their talents and appeal to customers. “It was a little scary at first because there were rumors floating around about how much had been spent, and everyone was nervous that we wouldn’t make that much back,” said Haley Mosher, a Design Lab student. “But we ended up making a lot of money. It was a great experience for the customers, and we ended up earning a ton of money to donate to the YRC.” Mosher also led the group in charge of the clothing drive. They created branding for the drive, purposefully designing a concept that would catch the attention of students and encourage them to donate. “We were told by the Youth Resource Center that these kids want clothes that are cool because they’re going to interviews, they’re going to high school or college, they want to dress nice,” said Mosher. “We wanted to urge people to donate clothes they actually liked and actually wore. We wanted it to be more of an actively giving clothing drive.” According to Mosher, the branding appealed to BYU students. At the end of the drive, the team filled two 15-passenger vans with donated clothing for the YRC. Design major Brooke Pathakis said the class showed her how she could use the skills she learned in school to help others. “It’s good to do service, but it’s hard to find those opportunities,” she said. “I usually wouldn’t think of graphic design as ‘service,’ but it really is.” Mosher appreciated seeing the impact her work had on the YRC and its clients as well as the other students in the class. “It was a win-win,” she said. “We got to be creative in ways we don’t always get to because of class restrictions, but we also knew that our product was going to benefit the YRC.” The art and design students who participated can now add to their resume that they worked on a large-scale project to serve the community, and they better understand how to use their skills in a philanthropic context. In addition, the Youth Resource Center volunteers and staff say the partnership with the BYU classes has had a positive impact on the youth and young adults who use the shelter’s resources. “Partnering with BYU’s art and design departments has been an amazing experience for our Homeless Youth Resource Center. It started as a one-time art class and has grown into multiple projects that range from fundraising to in-kind donation drives at BYU’s campus to joining our clients in a collaborative setting. Both student and professors have inspired our clients to express themselves multiple mediums of art,” said Jayme Anderson, the Volunteer Services Director of Volunteers of America Utah. Funding for the projects came from the Laycock Center for Creativity and Collaboration and the Sorenson Legacy Foundation. The College of Fine Arts and Communications plans to continue the partnership in the future.</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://cfac-archived.byu.edu/department-of-art/collaborative-experience-between-byu-and-volunteers-of-america-supports-homeless-youth/">Collaborative Experience Between BYU and Volunteers of America Supports Homeless Youth</a> appeared first on <a href="https://cfac-archived.byu.edu">BYU College of Fine Arts and Communications</a>.</p>
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		<title>Viola Professor Claudine Bigelow Receives Grants for Interdisciplinary Folk Music Research</title>
		<link>https://cfac-archived.byu.edu/faculty_staff/viola-professor-claudine-bigelow-receives-grants-for-interdisciplinary-folk-music-research/</link>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Martha Duzett]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Wed, 20 Feb 2019 18:05:28 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Faculty and Staff]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Interdisciplinary Collaboration]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[School of Music]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Claudine Bigelow]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Research]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://cfac-archived.byu.edu/?p=45213</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[<p>Bigelow plans to collaborate with professors in the BYU dance and art departments Viola professor Claudine Bigelow’s new research will take her back to her roots as she seeks to connect generations through music. Bigelow recently received a Women’s Research Initiative grant from the BYU Office for Research and Graduate Studies to study Scandinavian pioneer women and folk music traditions, with an additional grant from the Kennedy Center to do interdisciplinary creative work. Read more about Bigelow&#8217;s inspiration and planned research here.</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://cfac-archived.byu.edu/faculty_staff/viola-professor-claudine-bigelow-receives-grants-for-interdisciplinary-folk-music-research/">Viola Professor Claudine Bigelow Receives Grants for Interdisciplinary Folk Music Research</a> appeared first on <a href="https://cfac-archived.byu.edu">BYU College of Fine Arts and Communications</a>.</p>
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		<title>BYU Dance Faculty Collaborate to Create Documentary on Ageism Within the Dance Community</title>
		<link>https://cfac-archived.byu.edu/faculty_staff/byu-dance-faculty-collaborate-to-create-documentary-on-ageism-within-the-dance-community/</link>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Mason Graham]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Wed, 05 Dec 2018 17:54:46 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Department of Dance]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Faculty and Staff]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Interdisciplinary Collaboration]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Kate Monson]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Pam Musil]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://cfac-archived.byu.edu/?p=44538</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[<p>As she got older, Pam Musil, BYU’s associate dance department chair, had gradually removed herself from the performative and technical aspects of dance. And though she felt self-conscious about dancing on film, she did it, she said, because “this story needs to be told.” Kate Monson said it is commonplace for dancers to stop getting jobs or just bow out when they hit a certain age. “Dance has expectations similar to athletics in that you hit a prime in your 20s and then you quietly and graciously disappear from the stage in your 30s, or if you’re lucky, your early 40s,” she said. As such, Monson said, most dancers spend the bulk of their careers doing things other than performing. Read more here. &#160; Photo courtesy of Kate Monson.</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://cfac-archived.byu.edu/faculty_staff/byu-dance-faculty-collaborate-to-create-documentary-on-ageism-within-the-dance-community/">BYU Dance Faculty Collaborate to Create Documentary on Ageism Within the Dance Community</a> appeared first on <a href="https://cfac-archived.byu.edu">BYU College of Fine Arts and Communications</a>.</p>
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		<title>Interdisciplinary Student Team Merges Critical Analysis, Creative Production in Mobile Game &#8220;Dark Ride Disneyland&#8221;</title>
		<link>https://cfac-archived.byu.edu/department-of-design/interdisciplinary-student-team-merges-critical-analysis-creative-production-in-mobile-game-dark-ride-disneyland/</link>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Martha Duzett]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Tue, 20 Nov 2018 20:44:14 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Department of Design]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Department of Theatre and Media Arts]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Experiential Learning]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Interdisciplinary Collaboration]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Benjamin Thevenin]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Brent Barson]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Jeff Parkin]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://cfac-archived.byu.edu/?p=44472</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[<p>BYU students across academic disciplines invite Disneyland guests to see the park with new eyes The digital world of new media is constantly changing the way we produce, consume and think about our entertainment. In a manner fitting this fast-paced medium of study, BYU students from multiple disciplines recently applied unconventional methods to their research into Disneyland storytelling, creating a mobile game to bring their critical take on the park to the public.   &#8220;Dark Ride Disneyland,&#8221; which was released by BYU and media production company Western Lights on iTunes, is a mobile game played in the theme park that uses augmented reality and geolocation technologies to help guests dig deeper into the history, technology and culture of the park and think more critically about the stories being told. The project was conceived when media arts professor Benjamin Thevenin visited Disneyland while in southern California for a media literacy conference. “I realized the contradiction between these two experiences, the conference and the park,” explained Thevenin. “I’m involved in this community that’s invested in encouraging the public to be more careful and thoughtful in the ways that they’re engaging with media and how that media is affecting us and representing our world. But in Disneyland, I wasn’t thinking about any of that. I was just eating it up.” Thevenin began brainstorming ways to educate park visitors and encourage them to see and understand the park differently. Ultimately landing on a student research project and accompanying app, Thevenin approached BYU faculty members Jeff Parkin and Brent Barson and industry professionals Jared Cardon and Ontario Britton, who joined the project as mentors. Together they opened up an application to students across campus. Around 20 students were selected, representing disciplines including media arts, illustration, graphic design, advertising, business, computer science and mathematics. From there, each student was placed into two groups, one according to their skill set and the other serving as an interdisciplinary collaboration focused on creating game elements for one of four themed areas of the park—Adventureland, Fantasyland, Frontierland and Tomorrowland. This allowed all students to be involved on some level in every aspect of the project, including the research, story development and game mechanics. “I think the best part was working with people who were passionate about what we were creating,” said graphic design student lead Connor King. “It was the first group project I’d worked on in my 16-plus years of school where everyone actually cared and wanted to work hard to create something amazing. We all really became a family just in the course of a semester.” The level of collaboration required by the project created a rare but deeply valuable experience for the involved students. “The Laycock Center provides a means of collaboration within the College of Fine Arts and Communications,” said Thevenin. “They gave us the space to meet and quite a bit of the funding to create this project, but we had the added benefit of working with students in computer science and mathematics. We’re overcoming even bigger disciplinary boundaries, with the hard sciences working with the arts.” With this meeting of vastly different fields, students worked to understand and respect the abilities, limitations and knowledge of their peers. “Students from different disciplines essentially speak different languages, so we had to learn to communicate,” said Thevenin. “At the same time, they created a kind of balancing force. The student writers, for example, would come up with a fantastic idea, and the programmers would help them come up with simpler, more feasible means of accomplishing the same goal.” “In turn, the writers developed an understanding of the logics by which the programmers were operating,” Thevenin continued. “They learned to generate ideas according to those logics in a way that complemented the programmers’ abilities. This was not just interdisciplinary collaboration, but a kind of multi-modal learning.” “I loved collaborating with a team from across multiple disciplines, especially when we were all working together in the same room, answering each other&#8217;s questions and quickly solving each other&#8217;s problems,” added research lead Christopher Bowles, now graduated from the media arts program. “It was fun to pick up new skills from each other and create a common vocabulary. Many times across departments, we&#8217;d be saying the same things without knowing it, so we would listen, try to understand and always end up on the same page.” The bulk of the work for the game was done in the fall of 2016. The selected students enrolled in a course together and took several trips to Disneyland for a critical study of their surroundings. The project mentors provided the student groups with a list of key media literacy questions developed by the National Association for Media Literacy Education (NAMLE), intended to spark conversation about the history, purpose and effect of media. The research and ideas collected over the semester were organized and articulated by the student team through the development of original characters and storylines for the game. They hoped to stir thought and conversation among guests, sharing their own experiences and conclusions in an accessible, entertaining format. “I hope it opens their eyes,” said King of future park guests who download the game. “It’s so easy to go into Disneyland and sprint for Space Mountain, then just ride rides all day. Disney built so much story and detail into the park that often just gets walked past by millions of people, without anyone the wiser. I want people to not just go to Disneyland, but really know Disneyland.” Though the team is excited to bring the game to the public, the heart of the project for Thevenin was the academic experience for the involved students. “I was really pleased with how positively students responded to that merging of critical analysis and creative production,” he said. “As faculty, we make efforts to create that unity, but it’s difficult to achieve. This project provided a means for the jump between knowledge and a practical application to happen easily.” “We wanted students to engage with the research, engage with the park, create educational objectives and develop a story and gameplay that meets those objectives,” Thevenin continued. “The fact that the students not only succeeded in doing that, but really enjoyed the experience, was heartening for me.” This level of involvement and engagement for the students was largely facilitated by BYU’s [...]</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://cfac-archived.byu.edu/department-of-design/interdisciplinary-student-team-merges-critical-analysis-creative-production-in-mobile-game-dark-ride-disneyland/">Interdisciplinary Student Team Merges Critical Analysis, Creative Production in Mobile Game &#8220;Dark Ride Disneyland&#8221;</a> appeared first on <a href="https://cfac-archived.byu.edu">BYU College of Fine Arts and Communications</a>.</p>
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		<title>&#8220;AIR TRANSIT&#8221; COLLABORATION UNITES STAFF, STUDENTS AND UTA PERSONNEL</title>
		<link>https://cfac-archived.byu.edu/department-of-dance/air-transit-collaboration-unites-staff-students-and-uta-personnel-2/</link>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Mason Graham]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Mon, 24 Sep 2018 21:10:54 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Department of Dance]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Department of Theatre and Media Arts]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Interdisciplinary Collaboration]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[School of Music]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Keely Song Glenn]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://cfac-archived.byu.edu/?p=43974</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[<p>BYU students, alumni, faculty and UTA personnel cooperate to create raised awareness of Utah’s air pollution situation through dance. &#160; BYU students and alumni dance in &#8220;The Last Mile,&#8221; one of the videos in Song&#8217;s recent &#8220;Air Transit&#8221; project. Assistant professor Keely Song believes dance can raise awareness of important issues and her recent project “Air Transit” shows how she takes her brand of dance activism in a new direction with new collaborators, new intention and a new subject: Utah’s air pollution crisis. “Some time ago I switched from trying to make dance works to change people to making dance works to change myself,” Song said. “The creation and intent of making “Air Transit” was essentially to hold myself accountable and to change my own behavior and ideas towards riding public transit.” The project, a series of dance videos warning of the dangers of air pollution and advocating solutions, naturally brought together film, dance and music students and faculty. Three-pronged collaborations such as these are not unusual at BYU. However, Song wanted to draw input and inspiration from new areas and disciplines. “I wanted to continue to push the collaborative boundary by working with BYU assistant professor Ben Abbot from the ecosystem ecology department,” Song said. “By incorporating an environmental expert within the film, I wanted to push the dances to a level of environmental commercial activism.” &#8220;She came to my office and we discussed for a couple hours what the science on the subject is,&#8221; Abbott said. &#8220;I pointed her toward some interesting new research that links air quality with all these different kinds of health outcomes. She invited me to come into the studio and read some of the text we’d talked about and we also just kind of free-styled some stuff in the studio.&#8221; Song contacted BYU’s commercial music program for assistance and Jordan Turner, Jarrett Davis, Stephen Henderson, and Jarom Hansen helped create music for the project. The composers, all current or graduated members of the BYU School of Music, created original music for each respective dance.  Hansen, who composed and produced the music for “Save a Car Ride the Bus,” said, “I enjoy working with Keely because she’s cool when I mix in elements of jazz and R&#38;B into the music I create. I like that I can express my creative voice as part of my job.” Song also reached out to UTA officials, asking for permission to use Utah Transit Authority’s facilities and buses in the project. The organization was more than happy to help, even permitting the dance and crew to film in one of the new UVX buses. “UTA was great,” said producer, co-director and BYU alum Scott Cook. “One of my favorite parts was our bus driver, who was hilarious. You can watch a little clip of him jamming along with us. Everyone was glad to have us there.” The expanded collaboration allowed for new possibilities and gave participants the opportunity to fill new roles. “I’m not the sole choreographer of “Air Transit.” That title is shared between myself, BYU students and Tristan Gray,” Song said. A BYU student joins other dancers in the junkyard for &#8220;Air Transit&#8217;s&#8221; &#8220;Ride the Bus Save A Car&#8221; video. This collaboration of movements and choreography created a feeling of ownership and respect among the involved dance students. Tera Taylor, one of the dance students, said, “I enjoyed collaborating on this film because Keely was so willing to take our ideas and try different things with the choreography.” The changing nature of these roles also impacted film production, causing Cook to take on greater responsibility in the project. “Once the piece got green-lit, I asked Cook to come on as co-producer,” Song said. “Eventually, his role shifted to co-director as he clearly had more skill and eye for the camera. And that is the beauty of collaboration — finding the strengths in others.” Cook agreed that collaboration enhanced the project. “They bring their separate passion and I bring my separate passion and we kind of weld it together,” he said of working with the team. The dances themselves also challenged and excited the involved staff and dancers. One of the films, called “Inverted Rain,” provided particularly unique circumstances for the dancers and filming crew. “We weren&#8217;t really sure what to expect because we had never danced in water before, but we all decided to just go for it,” Taylor said. “Keely&#8217;s choreography definitely challenged all of us so it was very interesting collaborating and figuring out ways to perform the choreography, not only in the rain, but also on concrete.” “Inverted Rain was the hardest shoot we did,” said Loren Cottam, one of the other dancers involved in the project. “It was at night, it was cold, we were wet and it was concrete, but it was fun. We bonded as a cast and, from what we saw of the shots, it was really cool.” While the project collaborators come from different personal and professional backgrounds, one uniting aspect of the project is the passion participants have for air quality. “Art, in itself, is meaningful, but I think it’s especially meaningful when we can tie it to a cause and bring it to people,” Cook said. “As Keely shared this vision I was very excited,” Cottam added. “I get to dance and be a proponent for environmentalism.” &#8220;Air quality isn’t just some environmental issue of the day,&#8221; Abbot stated. &#8220;Between 2 and 5 thousand people are dying every year in Utah because of air pollution.&#8221; However, Abbot is certain that this can change, and it can change soon if Utahns change their perspective on pollution and public transportation. The “Air Transit” video scenes can be viewed online here. &#160; All photos were provided courtesy of Scott Cook.</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://cfac-archived.byu.edu/department-of-dance/air-transit-collaboration-unites-staff-students-and-uta-personnel-2/">&#8220;AIR TRANSIT&#8221; COLLABORATION UNITES STAFF, STUDENTS AND UTA PERSONNEL</a> appeared first on <a href="https://cfac-archived.byu.edu">BYU College of Fine Arts and Communications</a>.</p>
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		<title>Worlds Collide as BYU Athletes Pair up with Ballroom Dancers for BYUtv Segment</title>
		<link>https://cfac-archived.byu.edu/department-of-dance/worlds-collide-as-byu-athletes-pair-up-with-ballroom-dancers-for-byutv-segment/</link>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Sydnee Gonzalez]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Wed, 01 Aug 2018 00:14:58 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Department of Dance]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Interdisciplinary Collaboration]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Ballroom]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://cfac-archived.byu.edu/?p=43289</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[<p>The post <a href="https://cfac-archived.byu.edu/department-of-dance/worlds-collide-as-byu-athletes-pair-up-with-ballroom-dancers-for-byutv-segment/">Worlds Collide as BYU Athletes Pair up with Ballroom Dancers for BYUtv Segment</a> appeared first on <a href="https://cfac-archived.byu.edu">BYU College of Fine Arts and Communications</a>.</p>
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