BYU animation a work of collaboration
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PROVO, UTAH
As can be expected of any fan of film and animation, R. Brent Adams' office at BYU is covered with movie posters.
The combination of films featured on the posters, including "Star Wars: Episode III," "Shrek," "The Prince of Egypt" and the recent remake of "King Kong," though somewhat eclectic, is not totally random. Each poster bears signatures, not of movie stars, but of BYU alumni who helped animate each film and sent Brother Adams the posters as a thank-you gift.
The nicest posters – the ones framed and printed on archival paper meant to keep the image pristine for at least 200 years – do not promote Hollywood blockbusters. They are posters made for films produced by the BYU animation program since its creation in 2001.
"They're the ones I'm most proud of," said Brother Adams, a professor of industrial design and animation and director of the Center for Animation.
The center is a recent expansion of the animation program. It was created in 2008 as the program's "production arm," according to Brother Adams, and is a collaboration of three BYU colleges: the Ira A. Fulton College of Engineering and Technology, the College of Fine Arts and Communications and the College of Physical and Mathematical Sciences.
Brother Adams is quick to mention that, in his experience, this type of cooperation is rare, if not impossible for many universities. Seeing how willing BYU is to allow this sharing of resources to maintain the center is what he calls "the miracle of our program."
"The field of animation is big and wide and requires a lot of skills, all the way from science to technology to math to art and filmmaking to design, and it's very collaborative," he said.
When measuring BYU's success in animation, many point to the 10 College Television Awards (Student Emmys) and four Student Academy Awards, all garnered in the last seven years. Others laud the prestigious film festivals that have featured BYU animated shorts.
Brother Adams, though, sees it differently.
"The mission of BYU and the mission of the Church is to change society, to bring people to the truth," he said. "Now, on one hand you can say, 'Well, it's only animation. What does that have to do with the gospel?'
"Well, the issue is that my kids and grandkids watch movies. My kids and grandkids play computer games. We can watch what's thrown at us, or we can do our part to change content."
In conversations with studios and companies that hire BYU animation graduates, Brother Adams said he believes that change will come largely from within, as alumni stay true to their values throughout their careers. He doesn't just want people to take his word for it, though. He wants them to hear what the studios themselves are saying.
"We had a vice president of a studio come here a year ago to talk to our students about the need for them to take their faith and their belief in God and the Savior and whatever they believe in out there to Hollywood," Brother Adams said. "A lady who is head of human resources at a major studio told me to tell our students to keep taking religion classes because 'this industry attracts a lot of creeps.' "
Being able to maintain these values requires a sincere effort to balance one's life — as Brother Adams puts it, balancing "me" with "us." Besides the skills learned in collaborative projects students work on, he said most of his students have life experiences that have required them to refine that balance.
"Our students are Relief Society presidents and elders quorum presidents and returned missionaries that have learned it's not all about the 'me,' it's about 'us,' " he said. "There are lots of 'usses' when you are active in this Church."
Brother Adams added that the collaborative experience is another attractive quality for studios seeking to hire BYU graduates.
That idea of balance was the theme of a presentation Brother Adams gave Aug. 3 to the BYU Emeriti Alumni Association, titled "Balancing 'Me' with 'Us': The Story Behind 10 Student Emmys."
An impressed audience applauded after each of the three short films Brother Adams screened: "Lemmings," "Pajama Gladiator" and "Kites." In between each film, he again touted collaboration as the foundation of the program's success, as well as the spiritual impact of the program on people in major studios.
Near the end of his presentation, Brother Adams referenced a quote by Ed Catmull, president of animation studios for both Pixar and Disney, which sums up the professional feelings of the industry regarding the program.
"Over the years, Pixar has worked with a lot of different universities around the country and hired people," said Catmull during a 2008 visit to BYU. "One of the interesting things is, all of a sudden, in the last few years, we found that BYU has risen to the top. BYU has an extraordinary program here.
"It's amazing to suddenly see that BYU is producing the best in the industry. It's the perception, not just at Pixar, but also at the other studios that something pretty remarkable is happening here."
Mr. Catmull and Brother Adams met about a decade ago, when Brother Adams toured Pixar in search of a philosophy to guide the then-fledgling BYU animation program. In addition to encouraging an emphasis on collaboration, Mr. Catmull introduced Brother Adams to Jan Pinkava, who directed "Geri's Game," an Academy Award-winning animated short film by Pixar.
As the two met, Mr. Pinkava took down a poster of "Geri's Game" from his office wall and offered it to Brother Adams, along with his signature.
"He said, 'This is the last one we've got, but I feel really strongly that you need this poster as a reminder and inspiration,' " Brother Adams recalled. "So, I hung that on my wall. Before I had any other poster — before I had anything — that was the only one I had. I've moved into four offices, and that's always been up as a reminder to do something hard."
It seems none of those men could have envisioned the other posters that would eventually fill Brother Adams' office.
"I probably don't see many movies anymore that don't have a handful of students in the credits," he said.
Roaring success
The roaring success of BYU's Center for Animation, including the award-winning short film "Las Piñatas," shown above, is largely due to the efforts of both the university and students within the program to share resources and collaborate on projects. R. Brent Adams, director of the Center, refers to this kind of collaboration as "balancing 'me' with 'us.' "
Drawn to BYU
Major animation studios are drawn to BYU students not only for their specialized skills and collaborative experience, but for their high moral standards. High-ranking people in some of these studios have visited BYU to encourage animation students to continue taking their religion classes and to bring their faith and beliefs with them to Hollywood.
BYU animation awards
COLLEGE TELEVISION AWARDS (Student Emmys)
"Lemmings" — 2004
"Faux Paw: Adventures in the Internet" — 2005
"Petshop" — 2005
"Noggin" — 2005
"Turtles" — 2006
"Las Piñatas" — 2007
"The Lion and the Mouse" — 2008
"Pajama Gladiator" — 2009
"Kites" — 2009
"X-ing" — 2010
STUDENT ACADEMY AWARDS
"Pajama Gladiator" — 2009 Gold Medal in Animation
"Kites" — 2009 Bronze Medal in Animation
"Turtles" — 2006 Bronze Medal in Animation
"Lemmings" — 2004 Bronze Medal in Animation
