Making Curriculum Pop

An interesting article from Fast Company about the Gnomon School of Visual Effects.

Some interesting passages:

Over the course of his lecture, he uses words such as "sci-fi'd out," "badass," "hard-core awesomeness," and "zombie dragon" as naturally as "topology" and "base mesh." When Alvarez taps into a key concept, he raises his eyebrows and gesticulates in symmetrical and controlled motions, like a mime. These gestures become a kind of geometry, as if he's physically molding the same 3-D polygons he models on his computer and projects onto a screen at the head of the room.

Patricia Beckmann-Wells, manager of school and outreach relations at Walt Disney Animation Studios, calls Alvarez a visionary for redefining the educational landscape for CG. "It was an undefined beast 10 years ago," she says. "Alex took it on himself to fill a void."

Today, Gnomon is considered the MIT of visual effects -- the most reliable route to a real job for art-school grads focused on Hollywood.

Thanks to Alvarez, students at Gnomon aren't just production drones. They have a sense of how to make "images that are part of the larger story," says Michael Fink, CEO of Frantic Films. As Alvarez tells his students, it's all about their ability to fill in the blanks.

The Gnomon website: http://www.gnomonschool.com/
Full article here: http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/137/hollywoods-creature-teacher...

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