CTN Animation eXpo: Animation Educators Forum

Birds of a Feather Discussion: How Can Current Animation Teaching Approaches Be Applied to the New Media of VR and Games?

November 20, 2015 from 1:30 to 2:25 PM at CTNX 2015 in the Executive Boardroom
Burbank Airport Marriott Hotel & Convention Center, 2500 Hollywood Way, Burbank, California 91505

Welcome and Introduction
Tom Sito, AEF Steering Committee Co-Chair & Chairperson at the University of Southern California

How Can Current Animation Teaching Approaches Be Applied to the New Media of VR and Games?
As advances in technology enable new forms of artistic content delivery, educators are continually faced with the challenge of incorporating them into the courses that they teach. The new media of Virtual Reality and Video Games have emerged at the forefront, and animation is an essential element of both. Join us as we discuss how educators can apply reliable and time-tested methods to prepare students for creating content in these delivery media.


tom-sito-asifa-hollywoodTom Sito, AEF Steering Committee Co-Chair & Professor and Chair of the John C. Hench Division of Animation and Digital Arts at the School of Cinematic Arts, University of Southern California

A 40 year veteran of animation production, Tom’s credits include classic films like Disney’s Who Framed Roger Rabbit?, The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, and The Lion King, DreamWorks’ Shrek, and Warner Brothers’ Osmosis Jones. In addition he has worked on hours of television shows and commercials. Tom has lectured and taught animation around the world. He has authored books including Drawing the Line: The Untold Story of the Animation Unions from Bosko to Bart Simpson (University Press of Kentucky, 2006) and Moving Innovation: A History of Computer Animation (MIT
Press, 2013).


Andy-FedakAndy Fedak, Assistant Professor of Animation at California State University, Fullerton

Andy was born in 1978 and lives and works in Los Angeles. He received his BFA from New York University and his MFA from the University of California, Irvine. Utilizing stereoscopic projection and computer graphics techniques appropriated from contemporary Hollywood production, Andy augments the world around him into surreal narrative vignettes focusing on anxiety, consciousness, anarchism, and revelation. Some macabre, others humorous, each piece digs deeper into an unknown territory that is uncanny, yet familiar. His work has shown at LAXART in Los Angeles, The Palace of Fine Art in Mexico City, the Ottawa International Animation Festival, the Laguna Art Museum, and other venues around the world. His first solo exhibition, featuring new stereoscopic and virtual reality work, is currently on display at the Luckman Gallery at California State University, Los Angeles until December 17th.


Eric-HansonEric Hanson, Associate Professor of the John C. Hench Division of Animation and Digital Arts at the School of Cinematic Arts, University of Southern California

Eric Hanson is a visual effects designer specializing in the creation of digital environments. He attended the University of Texas at Austin where he received a BArch. Having worked with leading visual effects houses such as Digital Domain, Sony Imageworks, Dream Quest Images, and Walt Disney Feature Animation, his work can be seen in The Day After Tomorrow, Cast Away, Mission to Mars, Fantasia 2000, and The Fifth Element, among others. Eric is a member of the Visual Effects Society, International VR Photography Association, and the Association for Computing Machinery. He is currently a partner of xRez Studio, a practice engaged in leveraging emerging graphics technologies to disparate markets, including natural history, cultural heritage, and entertainment. He is an industry leader in VR and has set up the first course in Occulus at USC.