SYMBOLS IN ANIMATED STORYTELLING
Ages 16-29
Summer 2023, JHU-MICA Film Centre
Animation offers a unique opportunity to tell stories through the use of graphic symbols. Whether abstract or representational, symbols can convey complex ideas and emotions in ways both visually compelling and intellectually stimulating. In this workshop, student fellows will explore the power of symbols to create meaning and depth in their work. They’ll study symbols in familiar animated films like The Lion King (the sun as circle of life) and Beauty and the Beast (the enchanted rose as ticking clock of the Beast's curse); and also in literature, in the writings of F. Scott Fitzgerald and Lorraine Hansberry. They’ll consider conventional or public symbols, those that have meaning within a shared culture (for instance, a Christian cross), and personal symbols, those given meaning through their use in an artwork. Personal symbols might exploit common associations (the sun in The Lion King), or might be wholly individual, embodying a meaning given solely by the artist. Through discussion and exercises fellows will identify both culturally and personally resonant symbols in their own stories and experiences, and use them to create visually striking and conceptually rich short animations with Adobe Animate. Their work will be shared on the program website and through a public exhibition. Limited to 9 student fellows.
Alfonzer Harvin is a graduate of the Screenwriting and Animation program (SWAN) at Morgan State University. He is Media Specialist and Web Designer at NorthBay Education Inc., and has created animations for Comcast and the Baltimore Parking Authority. He is skilled in all phases of production, and believes that knowledge is all we need to change the world.
Kerstyn Myers is a member in the Phi Theta Kappa Honors Society at UMBC, where she is pursuing computer science. She believes technology and art are the connections to the future.
