We follow a young boy who must become courageous and evasive within a living nightmare a realm systematically designed to kill him. Run Little Boy is a 2d short animation that addresses police brutality and judicial misconduct. He received an MFA in Computer Arts at the School of Visual Arts in 2019, and he currently works for Titmouse Inc. I think it is our responsibility to continue to tell different stories, using our creative strength to bring light and to show our solidarity and support.” Still images from “Run Little Boy.”ĭominick Bedasse is a 2d designer and animator with a knack for storytelling. And as people often say, ‘This is a movement, not a moment.’ It’s not just conversation, it needs to lead to action. I think in the animation industry, we need to keep the conversation going by telling stories of Black culture and history. Shih adds, “I’m happy to see there are more animated stories that are related to the black community, like Hair Love and Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse from Sony Pictures. Images from “The First Time I Realized I was Black.” I worked on this project with CNN because we want everyone’s story to be heard and understood. The first-hand experiences of people who are from different backgrounds, as storytellers and artists - these are the most beautiful things that we should celebrate. I think it is important that we have conversations about race and racism in different forms. As an immigrant and person of color, I could associate with the feelings and the struggle of being seen as an outsider. Du Bois, I was so moved and felt it resonated with the story. In my animation I decided to use two colors, black and white, to represent racism with metaphorical transitions and visuals conveying feelings of despondency and rejection by different racial groups. I believe animations can communicate and evoke emotions, and also help to build a deeper sense of empathy. We invited people to have conversations about race and justice in America and to help us understand the challenges of different labels in society, based on an excerpt from W.E.B. This was one of my favorite projects at CNN. I had the opportunity to design and animate an animation for a CNN feature series, The First Time I Realized I Was Black. Melody Shih is a motion designer at CNN Motion, and graduated from SVA MFA Computer Arts in 2016. A few of them shared their projects and creative journeys with their alma mater! Many alumni address social and political issues in their work. The School of Visual Arts’ animation departments - BFA Animation BFA Computer Art, Computer Animation, and Visual Effects and MFA Computer Arts - have an amazing and diverse group of alumni that have been featured in thousands of film festivals and exhibitions over the years.