On Thursday, October 12, Media Arts and Visual Arts students participated in a stop-motion animation workshop conducted by Delta State University Department of Art Professor M. Korkut Akacik. A professor of animation, Akacik visited Mississippi School of the Arts to review portfolios from Media and Visual Arts students during the school’s annual Portfolio Review and College Showcase Day. In the ninety-minute session, Professor Akacik had students download the animation app “Stop Motion” to their smartphones to be able to make short stop-motion animation films. Students were divided into 7 groups, and used a variety of materials, such as Play Doh, stuffed animals, and sticky pads, to create several short 3-5-second films, frame by frame. “Remarkable when you consider that standard frame rate is 24 frames per second. The students had a great time and their appetite for the process of stop-motion was definitely wetted,” said John Kelly Shelburne, MSA’s Media Arts instructor.
Media students conduct a stop-motion animation exercise in the visual arts lab. (L-R: Jamien Wright, Amari Gallion, and Kennedy Agee)
Students from Media Arts and Visual Arts disciplines participated in the workshop. Visit the department web pages for more information about each program offering, including how to audition for admission to the two-year high school residency program: MSA Media Arts | MSA Visual Arts