Little Ice Age

Zia Zhao – Penny W. Stamps School of Art & Design

Collaborator: Kaysen Mortensen-Chown – School of Music, Theatre & Dance

This project is interdisciplinary due to the dual roles of art and music in the creation of this short film. As is tradition for many animated shorts, this film will have no dialogue, instead relying on instrumentation and soundscapes to convey the emotions of the characters. Through this method, we would like to explore the relationship and dependency art and music have. With interdisciplinary work comes challenges, of which we are experienced in facing. I have been in Living ArtsEngine for four years, as a mentee, mentor, programming board member, and an alumni. Through this program, I have learned to work with those who have different strengths than I do. In addition, I have completed two animated short films through the animation classes I have taken at Stamps. Kaysen has experience with scoring, group performance, and solo performance. She has scored multiple films and projects, as well as collaborated in many ensembles, such as the local band Kingfisher. This project, both score and animation simultaneously, will be in production the entireWinter semester of 2023, finishing by the final week around April 18th. Visual development and storyboarding is completed. I also would like to make an impact in the Stamps community with this short. Animation requires a team effort, and one thing I would like to do as aPeer Mentor for Stamps is allow my mentees to gain experience in an animation pipeline and credit in an independent project, something that art programs typically offer but Stamps does not (and of which I am trying to vouch for with this project!). Kaysen hopes this film will impact the community by encouraging more collaborations between SMTD and Stamps