I’m often struck by the wide array of events on campus and how many opportunities we have here at Northwestern. For example, last week I attended a talk by a character designer from Pixar Animation Studios who has worked on Monsters University and their upcoming film, Inside Out. This was something I certainly never expected to be able to attend, especially not for free, but as soon as I heard about it I was excited to go.

The designer talked about some of the technical aspects of animation and creating characters for an animated film, but it was certainly accessible to people like myself with no background in film. He also incorporated other disciplines; since their upcoming film is about emotions, he discussed the research that Pixar has done on psychology to understand how people express their emotions. We watched videos of the stages of animation and concept art that he had created in order to design the characters. He was also willing to talk about his own career path for those in the audience interested in pursuing film-oriented careers. For me, the best part was the movie clips he showed us; we got to see 7 minutes of the film even though it hasn’t been released! At the end of his talk he took a few questions and we all got up on stage with him for a picture. On our way out the door, we all were given buttons with characters from the new movie.

I think the best part about this event was its accessibility. A professor from the Radio, Television, and Film (RTFV) department who has taught courses on Nature Documentaries and Disney organized the event. RTVF is a program that builds up a great community and has students passionate about all kinds of films; for example one of my close friends is interested in creating documentaries, and other people get involved in areas like sketch comedy on television. The event definitely attracted a lot of film students for obvious reasons, but I was still more than welcome to attend. Like I mentioned in my previous post about the benefits of having a high caliber School of Music on campus for those of us not majoring in music, the School of Communication (which houses RTVF) is able to bring in really interesting speakers and events. Luckily, those of us who might have a tangential interest in those different areas are still able to take advantage of the opportunities.

–Jason Smith

photo source: Northwestern School of Communication Facebook.