by Anna McClure | Jun 13, 2015 | Arts and Entertainment
Following a successful first set of photoshoots, rising sophomore Sarah Johnson is preparing to continue her project in which she hand makes costumes and then photographs students from the theater department in them. During the spring semester, Johnson completed several shoots of various Disney characters at locations around Nashville. The characters included Alice, the Mad Hatter, Belle, Ariel, Tarzan, and Jane. “The first round went really well. Johnson said “I was blessed with actors willing to give a lot to the characters and work very well with an amateur photographer to create magic for a few moments, enough to capture and share with others.” Johnson faced several challenges along the way, including hand sewing costumes after her sewing maching broke and photographing Lacy Hartselle underwater as Ariel. Johnson purchased a waterproof camera case, which had a built in floatation device. “I had to physically push the case underwater and hold it down while trying to take pictures and not resurface. Johnson said “Each time we went under, we only had about a 7 to10 second interval to get pictures before I was pushed to the surface again. [Lacy] worked equally hard, trying to swim with her legs in a tail and keep her wig on, all while looking like a princess.” An additional challenge she faced was directing the actors about what to do and how to pose. She often gave them free reign as their characters and captured the moments as they happened. Despite the challenges involved, the end results have surpassed Johnson’s expectations. “I’ve loved every one thus far. Johnson said “Each character or set of characters...
by Anna McClure | Mar 14, 2015 | News Slider
For some, coming to college means leaving behind the novelties of childhood, but not for Sarah Johnson. Johnson, a freshman theater major, intends to bring Disney characters to life by hand-making costumes and photographing students in the theater department wearing them. Johnson had the idea for a similar project four years ago, but felt she did not have the resources and skills necessary to bring it to life. “When I came to Lipscomb and got into the theater department, got a little more into photography and had a nice camera, I started taking pictures and I started seeing the talent that all these different people had,” Johnson said. “Instead of using models, I thought that it would be interesting to see people, who for or a living or for a hobby want to act as characters, to take on the characters that they love.” Johnson is planning to photograph a different set of characters each semester. The theme of this set will be Disney Princesses, but future plans include Toy Story, Disney villains, Greek Mythology and horror sets. Friend and fellow first year theater student, Natalie Risk, has been assisting Johnson with the project. “This is a project that will span our entire four years of college,” Risk said. “I’m really looking forward to seeing the last set of pictures we take and comparing them to our first. Seeing the progression and the growth in every aspect of what we do will be a lot of fun to watch.” Together they have made a schedule, acquired materials and picked locations for photo shoots. With fabrics, bedspreads and clothing from Goodwill...
by Jamin Craig | Nov 10, 2014 | Opinion
Big Hero 6, the newest title from Walt Disney Animation Studios, stands as yet another home run for the Mouse House. The film’s blend of action and adventure with close-knit relationships and genuine emotion made for an epic story, one of the best Disney has told in quite some time. Big Hero 6 takes place in the fictional metropolis of San Fransokyo. It tells the story of 14-year-old robotics engineer Hiro Hamada and his older brother, Tadashi. The elder Hamada, a robotics genius, has developed a revolutionary robot healthcare assistant named Baymax. Tadashi dreams of helping the world with his creation, but Hiro sees Baymax doing even more. After a tragic accident, Hiro feels compelled to turn Baymax into a tough fighting machine. The two join forces with a few of Tadashi’s friends (Honey Lemon, Wasabi, GoGo and Fred) to find out the root of a mysterious plot that may correlate with the accident. Big Hero 6 has a lot going for it. The film’s animation is absolutely stunning. Sure, this is Disney, the animation king, but this movie felt very lifelike. The animators included several cues from live-action film. In all the fight scenes, production used a lot of “handheld shaky cam” visuals with “poor” zooming and focusing, but the movement never became distracting. Thinking all the way back to Toy Story, CGI animation has come a very, very long way. But, animation is only a tool used to make the movie. The core of every movie is the story, and this story here is very strong. In fact, this is the best story that Disney has put out...
by Colleen Casner | Oct 27, 2014 | News Slider
Aspiring animators learned from the careers of veteran Disney animators during ProWeekend Animation and Illustration Weekend Artist Seminar on Saturday in Lipscomb’s Shamblin Theater. Headlining the event were three Disney animators, Tom Bancroft, Ruben Aquino and Claire Keane. Their experiences represented different periods of Disney animation as Bancroft and Aquino designed and animated characters from 1990’s films like The Lion King, Mulan and Beauty and the Beast, while Keane has worked on more recent films such as Tangled and Frozen. The event consisted of lectures by each of the three artists, a character design contest and a question-and-answer session with the artists. Attendees particularly enjoyed learning from the artists’ experiences. Gene Fayne enjoyed hearing how classic Disney characters evolved during the design process, but the most important part of his experience was being inspired by the artists’ success. “The biggest thing I’m taking away from it is to just be inspired and just continue to draw and practice, and hopefully I can get to where those guys are,” Fayne said. Lipscomb sophomore Elena Stewart said about her experience, “The most important thing I’ve learned about animation just this weekend is how important it is to do research and to tell a story.” Stewart is particularly excited about Bancroft’s new position as artist-in-residence at Lipscomb’s new animation department, a part of the College of Entertainment and the Arts. She has lofty ambitions for her career; her dream is to work at Pixar. “I can’t believe that I’m going to be working with Tom Bancroft. I just can’t wait to learn from someone who is so knowledgeable in the field. I...
by Sarah McGee | Jun 4, 2014 | Opinion
Disney always has a way of adding an interesting touch to movies as the years have gone by. Gone are the days where the princess is dependent on the prince and helpless. Recent releases like Tangled, Pixar’s Brave, and Frozen have all shown fans that heroes can come in the most surprising forms. Sleeping Beauty has a tale that almost everyone knows, but Disney flipped it upside down with Maleficent, a live-action reimagining of the classic Disney animated film. One of the most neglected parts of Sleeping Beauty was the reasons as to why Maleficent was as evil as she was. Why did she have it out so badly for the king and queen? What was her problem with Aurora? These questions were all answered swiftly in Maleficent. Viewers are introduced to the title character as a young child, where the audience is shown her growth emotionally and physically. Be prepared to relate to Maleficent on a whole different emotional scale. Angelina Jolie is spectacular as Maleficent. She portrays the infamous villain with humor, heartbreak and unconditional love. The heavy undertone of feminism throughout the film was incredibly refreshing. Also, Jolie’s makeup and outfits are absolutely flawless. Elle Fanning is gorgeous as Princess Aurora. Every outfit she wears is beautiful, but as in the original adaptation, she does not contribute much to the film as a character. Fun fact of trivia here: Princess Aurora has the least amount of lines in a film out of any Disney princess. Newcomer Brenton Thwaites is also a little underwhelming, though still breathtaking, as Prince Charming. It would have been nice to see Aurora and...
