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Expression College Motion Graphic Design Students Nearly Sweep Awards at Best in SW: Flash Animation and Motion Graphics Festival

22 Expression College Motion Graphic Students Honored for Nine Submissions

EMERYVILLE, CA – NOVEMBER 12, 2007 – Expression College for Digital Arts, the premiere school of its kind in the United States, announced that an impressive total of nine student submissions were honored with 1st, 2nd and 3rd place awards at Best in the SW: Flash Animation and Motion Graphics Festival in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The awards, celebrating the best in Flash animation and motion graphics, were announced during the festival’s keynote.

Expression students honored with a 1st place prize were:

Matt Hopkins, Best Title Design for Motion Pictures, PB3K
Matt created this title sequence for and Ex’pression student short film, PB3K using Adobe After Effects.  The zombie film has a paranoid main character that awakens to a news broadcast of the world in a chaotic mess because of a chemical leak which has caused people to turn into zombies.

Matt chose to use the gas mask as the subject of the piece as it clearly represents the idea of chemical warfare or other related disasters. He also felt that the iconic image of a gas mask evoked fearful thoughts and feelings of horror and destruction. The idea behind having the gas mask extremely out of focus at first and slowly coming more and more clear was to create an atmosphere of uncertainty in the viewers mind.

Jennifer Smith, People’s Choice Award: Best Animation, Lantern Paradise
Jennifer use Adobe After Effects to create this entire motion piece.  Jennifer directed a student on the green screen dancing.  She then incorporated that footage into her project.  In addition to After Effects for the special effects and final render, all graphics were edited in Adobe Photoshop.

The piece was made to promote the artists Amon Tobin.

“Both our motion graphics teachers and students went beyond that extra mile to create and submit superior projects to the Best in SW Festival,” said Yael Braha, Motion Graphic Design Director, Ex’pression College for Digital Arts. “We’re beyond impressed with the student creations and honored that the festival recognized the projects with their show awards.”

Other students honored at the festival with their respective entries include:

Best Use of Animation/Motion Graphics in a PSA
2nd place for Truth created by Ken Louie-Nishikawa

3rd place for A Greener World created by Chris McCard, Ryan Lewis, Chanda Arnett, Mara Martinez, Albert Chung, and Stasia Archibald

Best Title Design for Motion Pictures
3rd place for Tag, You’re It! Created by Ryan Lewis and Ryan Welch

Best Promotional Animation
2nd place for Lantern Paradise created by Jennifer Smith

Best Entertainment Program Production
3rd place for Hardly Strictly Bluegrass created by Adam DeGregorio, Eric Ramin, Brian Newman, Alissa Mach, and Emma Meyer

Best Animation Post-Secondary
2nd place for Roses That created y Janelle Falcone

3rd place for Recycle created by Marissa Robb

Best in Motion Graphics/Post Secondary
2nd place for Top Chef created by Matt Hopkins, Jeremy Fratkin, and Patrick Vance

People’s Choice Award: Best Animation
2nd place for A Greener World created by Chris McCard, Ryan Lewis, Chanda Arnett, Mara Martinez, Albert Chung, and Stasia Archibald

Best of Show: Motion Graphics 7 Visual Effects
3rd place for PB3K created by Matt Hopkins

People’s Choice Award: Best Motion Graphics and Visual Effects
2nd place for Hardly Strictly Bluegrass created by Adam DeGregorio, Eric Ramin, Brian Newman, Alissa Mach, and Emma Meyer

The Best in SW Festival brings top Hollywood animators, motion graphics artists, and VFX artists together to discuss concept, design and execution in Flash animation design and motion graphics.

About Ex’pression College for Digital Arts
Founded in 1999, Ex’pression is a unique digital arts college. Ex’pression College for Digital Arts teaches and grants Bachelor degrees in four programs: Sound Arts, Animation and Visual Effects and Motion Graphic Design and Game Art and Design. Ex’pression utilizes a professional accelerated program and students live and learn in the culture of digital arts for approximately 2.5 years. Each class is limited to a small number of students to insure excellent hands-on learning and the student-to-computer ratio is one-to-one. Students are taught by and work with the best practitioners and equipment that the industry can offer. Ex’pression’s close ties to top industry professionals provide students with real-world client projects, mentorship opportunities and a top-rated career development track that has resulted in an exceptionally high placement rate for graduates. When graduates leave their Ex’pression family behind, they are prepared to assume sought-after jobs in Silicon Valley, Hollywood, and other art and high technology centers around the world. Ex’pression College is accredited by the Accrediting Commission for Career Schools and Colleges of Technology, (ACCSCT).

Ex’pression College for Digital Arts’ campus is located in an imagination-inspiring 100,000-square-foot building, at 6601 Shellmound St. in Emeryville, Calif., just across the Bay Bridge from San Francisco. For more information, please visit Ex’pression’s Website at: www.expression.edu.