Page 171 – NYFA

NYFA Graduates Organize Donation Center for Mexico Earthquake Victims

New York Film Academy Acting for Film alumnae Laura Gudino, Diana Perez and Diana Valencia have spent the last few weeks organizing relief efforts for the victims of the Mexico earthquake. The actresses set up a donation center in downtown Los Angeles and worked round the clock organizing and packing goods that were then sent to the earthquake-stricken areas of Mexico.

NYFA sat down with these incredible ladies for a full account of their experience.

NYFA: How did you start your donation center?

It started as an idea of 7 Mexican friends (Diana Valencia, Laura Gudiño, Nitzia Chama, Diana Pérez, Armando Bernal, Mauricio Guzmán & Katia S.T.) who were completely heartbroken after the consecutive earthquakes that hit our beloved country. We were looking for a way to help and after some investigation, we discovered there were no donations centers in LA. With the help and generosity of the owner of Patrón Envíos and Shiff Cargo, Armando Bernal, we opened a donation center in Downtown LA. After that, social media helped us spread the word.

NYFA: Did you decide to start it together and how did that come about?

It was September 19th, we were all in different parts of California talking to each other, asking about our families, and trying to be super active on social media, sharing information and contacting people. The day after the earthquake, we met at the shipping company and we started to make a list of what kinds of goods were we going to ask people to donate; we created a work schedule and worked on getting the word out. That night, September 20th, we had a flyer that was sent as public posts in social media and the response was incredible. The first 24 hours we had tons of boxes, volunteers, news reporters, and radio phone calls. It was beautiful.

NYFA: What has been the most challenging and rewarding parts of these efforts? –

The most challenging part was enduring the long hours of work. That was the only hard part because there were definitely more rewards. There was so much generosity from the community, celebrities, reporters, TV channels, radio channels, and even companies. People in the donation center became friends, and the energy from morning to sundown was amazing. There were chants, laughter, and cheers. We were able to put together four trailers full of clothes, food, water, medical equipment, medicine, tools, apart from being full of love, hope and strength. The organization that we were able to partner with is Caravana de Amor which took the charge of receiving the donations in Morelos, Mexico and distributed them to those in need. The person in charge of that organization is the writer and radio & TV host, Carlos Márquez.

NYFA: How can people continue to help? Are there any non-profits or other organizations you recommend donating to? –

People can continue helping in many ways. Our donation center is closed but there are many organizations like UNICEF, Cruz Roja Mexicana.

You can follow Diana, Laura, and Diana’s efforts on their official Instagram account, @la4mexico.

NYFA and Veterans in Media And Entertainment Co-Sponsor Casting Society of America Panel Discussion for Military Veterans

The Division of Veterans Services at the New York Film Academy College of Visual & Performing Arts (NYFA) joined Veterans in Media And Entertainment (VME) to welcome the Casting Society of America (CSA) to the College’s campus in Burbank, CA for a panel discussion specifically tailored for military veterans. The stellar group of industry professionals shared all-important information about the ‘business’ side of the acting vocation.

CSA and VMA at NYFA LA — From left to right, Jack Kennedy (VME), Jon Levy, Jason Kennedy, April Webster, Paul Dinh-McCrillis, Tricia Wood, and Russell Boast

The event was held under the auspices of CSA’s “Commitment to Diversity and Inclusion”. CSA’s Diversity Initiative has the mission of providing knowledge and opportunities to many different populations including veterans who are pursuing careers in the entertainment industry.

The panel featured legendary casting directors including April Webster (“Star Wars: The Force Awakens,” “Star Trek,” “Criminal Minds”), Jon Levy (“ER,” “Shameless,” “The Brave”), Tricia Wood (“La La Land”), Jason Kennedy (“NCIS”) and Paul Dinh-McCrillis (“Get Big”). Russell Boast, Vice President at CSA and Jack Kennedy, Director of Programs at VME moderated the event.

The attendees were treated to an inspiring two-hour discussion that provided an in-depth look at how casting directors approach the process of audition and selecting actors for roles in film, television, and commercials. The esteemed panel of casting directors also spoke about how veterans’ military and life experiences can help during the casting process and when the actor is on the film set. Veterans are often highly disciplined and very capable of working in a team environment.

“NYFA was proud to host this event on our campus and to collaborate, once again, with the membership of Veterans In Media And Entertainment, and now with CSA in support of the veteran community in our area”, stated Michael Kunselman, Veterans Coordinator at NYFA’s Division of Veteran Services.

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“The panel discussion with the CSA was an excellent learning experience and extremely informative for me as a new actor. I appreciated the opportunity to have been given the chance to hear from some of our leading casting directors from the industry. They all had useful information to share and some of the main points that resonated with me were to trust myself, learn to be my authentic self and the importance of knowing and connecting with the material,” said Douglas Prideaux, US Army, BFA Acting student at the New York Film Academy.

NYFA has been honored to support over 1300 veterans who have studied at the College since 2011. This collaboration is just another step in supporting this newest generation of veterans who are pursuing their aspirations to be successful in the entertainment industry post-military service.

NYFA Musical Theatre Alumna Terra Warman Creates Original Musical “Mister B. Gone”

NYFA Musical Theatre alumna Terra Warman isn’t afraid of anything — not even demons.

Carving out a unique path in the musical theatre industry, the multi-talented artist has just put the finishing touches on her original musical “Mister B. Gone,” adapted from the book of the same name by Clive Barker, a dark tale that tackles freedom, hell, and all the forces in between.

We had a chance to interview Terra via email to learn about her process, what makes this musical one-of-a-kind, and what’s next.

From the August reading of “Mister B. Gone” – Jakabok (Terra Warman) and Quitoon (Eduardo Perez-Torres)

NYFA: First can you tell us a little bit about your journey and what brought you to NYFA?

TW: I desperately needed to escape my home town of Cincinnati. After a major career shift from international politics to … I had no idea … NYFA reached out in that very effective way that they do.

I’ve been in music my whole life and both of my parents are artists so considering a school like this made sense. It was interesting to me that on top of a musical theater education, the second year final was a musical film. I decided to audition, they slapped me with a scholarship, and it was off to New York for me.

From the August reading of “Mister B. Gone” – The Lovers, She and He (Kenny Malloy and Jacob Henry)

NYFA: Why musical theatre?

TW: Straight theater didn’t excite me enough, music by itself needed an anchor in storyline, and from the age of 13-16, most of the music I wrote was basically a diary entry anyway so, why the heck not musical theater?

NYFA: Do you have a favorite NYFA moment from your time studying with us?

TW: One of my favorite NYFA things was my second year performance lab final. The assignment was to make a five minute jukebox musical with three songs. We wrote the 20 minute epic “Space Oddity” about a rock band that wins a lottery to go to space, crash lands on an alien planet, and has to escape. At one point we’ve got “Space Oddity,” “Come Sail Away,” and “Wicked” all layered on top of each other. My lab partners and I got swept away — we had extra rehearsals, did lighting ques, costume changes…

It was the first time something I had created had ever come together like that instead of being some failed and unrealized pipe dream in my head. That’s the dragon I’m chasing.

From the August reading of “Mister B. Gone” – NYFA alumni Charles Englesjerd plays a demon hunter, a madman, and Heinrich Herzt

NYFA: Can you tell us about your work developing “Mister B. Gone,” how the project came about, any exciting discoveries in your work?

TW: OH I CAN. I wrote the first song while still at NYFA, because I liked the language of the book. I loved this hateful main character who comes out the gate ordering you to burn the book and spends the whole story telling this horrifying and sad tale where nothing goes right, everything is unrealized, and the reader is complicit in all of it. It was different in structure from everything we were studying in class, and the words read like music. This was my private rebellion against classical musical theater that everyone was insisting I would never be right for. The writing of Clive Barker’s “Mister B. Gone” was one of pure accident and an immeasurable amount of dedication and faith.

The discoveries I have made can be simmered into this: You cannot do it alone. (And Hell is always in A minor.)

Listen: “Caroline” from “Mister B. Gone”

NYFA: For you, what was your process in converting a book into a musical?

TW: In February of this year I met this guy and as a pretense for hanging out with him I say “Yo guy, wanna…hang out and sing some song I wrote about a demon?” I taught him the song and he writes me this email of 20 questions about character motivation, and where the song comes in this show that I had only vaguely conceived of. I answered these questions as if I was really writing this musical.

Then I booked “In the Works,” a low stakes showcase for new music at the Duplex (Thanks Bobby Cronin) and thought, well, why not write one more song?

The guy introduces me to playwright Rachel Chung (who is also from Cincinnati, but we didn’t know each other), and suddenly she and I are meeting three times a week, having our friends read scenes, and plotting what the stage might look like. A dear friend insisted that, as a going away present, she wanted to see an exposition of the work. We could have done a concert or a reading … and we pretended we would. But this monster had us, and we were gonna feed it the world. What happened next resulted in one of the most intense theatrical experiences of my life.

I wrote music and lyrics in the day, we had rehearsals at night with our cast, then Rachel and I had production meetings long into the night. Everyone either had a full time job or was a Med student at Columbia. Bye sleep.

In one month (June) we fully wrote and produced the first act, launched an incredibly successful Indiegogo campaign, and staged said act in Rachel’s Washington Heights apartment. We took a week to recover then, finish/revise/recast/and rehearse the full show over the next month (July). We had fundraisers, photoshoots, impromptu singalongs. Sometimes a song wasn’t written when it was slated to be staged so we’d stage something else, or role play the idea of a scene before writing it. For the full production I took on the lead role of Jakabok Botch, and probably will continue to for all time because he just gets me. Rachel moved to Scotland after the last show, and now we continue to work as a trans-Atlantic team.

From the August reading of “Mister B. Gone” – Caroline (Aili Klein) and Jakabok (Terra Warman)

NYFA: Any advice for fellow NYFA students who are interested in acquiring the rights to a story and developing an original musical, as you are doing?

TW: YES! If you are adapting, find out who has the adaptation rights. We got really lucky because Clive Barker owns the rights to his own work and sold them to us for a dollar.

NYFA: What is your favorite aspect of creating an original musical?

TW: When the actors ask me questions about the meaning of the music and lyrics. It really touches me that someone else is thinking critically about my work, because that’s all I do. Then you get that perfect moment when it’s on it’s feet, with the band, sounding just the way you imagined and you look around at what you made and this very intense feeling of pride and fear wells up inside you and you have to excuse yourself to joy-cry in the bathroom.

The other thing: The world you create is yours. How you present gender, sexuality, race, and age is your right and responsibility. In our show, though the characters have a gender, representation on stage of that gender is fluid and abstract. I insist on having actors of color. I want non-binary and fluid people to come out and feel they have an opportunity in my work. I think women are just as capable as playing dangerous and threatening characters as men. And because I wrote it, I can have it this way.

From the August reading of “Mister B. Gone” – Kenny Malloy

NYFA: Would you say your time at NYFA was at all useful in preparing for the work you are doing now?

TW: Absolutely. There is no one way to do this, and at NYFA every one of my teachers had done it differently. They really pushed me to take ownership of the career that I wanted, and that’s no easy task considering I didn’t know what it looked like. I just didn’t want the conventional. If I was struggling with the way the industry ran, or my role in it, they handed me the tools to do something about it.

NYFA: Can you tell us about any other projects you are developing or working on? What’s next for you?

TW: I just got a fellowship through Town Stages to develop my song cycle “Havoc! A Song Cycle for Six Women Who Give a F*ck,” which was produced earlier this year and raised over $6000 for charities helping to end violence against women and girls.

“Mister B. Gone” has a concert reading coming up at The Tank on October 21-22. After that we plan to submit to festivals and an off-Broadway run. The NYMF and Edinburg Fringe for sure.

Rachel and I have a couple of things on the docket. A Hildegard of Bingen rock opera, “Juile D’Aubingy,” a version of 1776 in space with all women…

My band Terra and the Dactyls continues to gig around the city, and be the core pit band in my shows.

The New York Film Academy would like to thank Terra for taking the time to share some of her story with our community.

NYFA Gold Coast Holds July 2017 Acting for Film Mid-Year Student Performances

This September, New York Film Academy Gold Coast Campus held the July 2017 Acting for Filmmaking mid-year performance showcase for an enthusiastic invited audience.

The mid-year performances provide Acting for Film students the important opportunity to gain hands-on experience, utilizing what they have learned so far in their course whilst working on challenging material.

Directed by Acting Lecturer, Veronica Neave, students performed excerpts from the play “All In The Timing” by David Ives.

On the choice of material: “The world according to David Ives is a very odd place,” explained Neave. “It is enchanting, perplexing, incessantly intelligent and side-splitting funny. The July actors have risen valiantly to this challenge and have give an outstanding performance.”

NYFA Broadcast Journalism Weekly Update Oct. 9

BuzzFeed went into the “morning TV” business late last month, and TechCrunch reports that they are already nearing one million “viewers.” But this isn’t a typical TV show. Besides being younger and more stylish than its traditional counterparts, it isn’t on TV. Rather, it is distributed on Twitter. Which is perfect, seeing as its target audience doesn’t watch (or own a) TV. (Do you? The answer is largely age dependent…) The fact it is, Twitter allows audience members to interact with the program on the same screen, avoiding the dreaded “second screen” phenomenon where someone is watching TV and posting on social media simultaneously, obviously not paying attention to the commercials advertisers pay lots of money to run.

Of course, the irony in this is that Twitter still hasn’t found a way to turn a profit…

Speaking of “interactive,” in 2013, the interactive documentary “Hollow” won a Peabody Award for its exploration of West Virginia’s McDowell County, and the hardships and economic contraction the community is facing. Jeff Soyk, an award-winning media artist and Open Documentary Lab fellow at M.I.T., collaborated with Elaine McMillion Sheldon on the documentary, planning the layout and producing the interactive elements. (Read Storybench’s interview with McMillion Sheldon here.)

Increasingly, non-fiction video (which includes news) is being distributed across multiple platforms. Take a look at how “Hollow” allows people to do more than simply view the project. They can actually become part of it, plus see how their experience compares with other viewers.

Looking for advice on how to be a better journalist? Often someone you work with, a respected teacher, or a mentor can provide useful guidance. Or, you can do like I did many years ago and write the executive producer of a network TV news program and ask him (or her) to take a look at your work. The resulting feedback isn’t always pleasant. In my case, I was told my stories were “workman-like,” but the advice is still valuable. (I realized I had to significantly step-up my game…)

The Columbia Journalism Review has a wonderful posting in which top journalists reveal the best reporting advice they ever got. It’s worth a read, if only to get decades of good advice in 15 minutes…

Looking for advice on how to build a career in TV journalism? You might want to contact NYFA grad Nicole Cross. Nicole was a member of the first NYFA class to graduate when I became Chair of the Broadcast Journalism department four years ago. Last week, I learned that she has joined the news staff of KVUE TV in Austin, Texas.

Nicole is following a traditional career path, as she started at the smallest media market in the United States (#208 – Victoria, Texas); from there it was on to Monroe, Louisiana; then Shreveport, Louisiana; and now Austin, Texas (market #35). She went from a reporter, to a morning anchor, to a midday anchor to an evening anchor. Pretty impressive, especially since Nicole came to NYFA to embark on a total career change…

Congratulations, Nicole! That’s her below, with some of the Associated Press awards she has won.

NYFA Explores the Legacy of “The Death and Life of Martha P. Johnson”

“The Death and Life of Marsha P. Johnson” takes a searing look at how American society mistreated transgender and queer civil rights leaders. Directed by David France, the documentary film follows Victoria Cruz as she tries to solve the mystery behind the death of trans-activist and friend, Marsha P. Johnson.

“The Death and Life of Marsha P. Johnson” is, unfortunately, a timely exploration, not just of the many unsolved murders within the trans community, but of how the queer community, in general, has failed their transgender family. There’s a particularly heartbreaking scene where trans-activist Sylvia Rivera is booed off the stage at the 1973 Pride Parade.

During a Q and A held at the Netflix compound in Hollywood, France revealed an early working title for the film was, “We All Killed Marsha P. Johnson.” The title conveys the anger and frustration at how little was done to uncover the truth.

During that Q and A, France said of the legend, “If you were gay and living in ‘queer New York’ during Marsha’s lifetime, you knew Marsha.” Johnson was an incredibly kind woman known for giving away her clothes. If someone complimented how much they loved her scarf, she would remove it from around her neck and hand it to them.

She was also a mother to many. In the early 70’s Johnson created STAR House, a home for transgender youth. The facility was run with her best friend, Sylvia Rivera. For three years they were able to provide safe housing for kids who were often thrown out of their family homes. Johnson didn’t have a job and would often have to prostitute herself to help support those around her.

It was that kind of spirit that led many to call her a saint. She was a muse to Andy Warhol and a key participant of the Stonewall Riots, which gave birth to the Gay Civil Rights movement in 1969. When her light went out unexpectedly, the LGBTQA community, couldn’t get justice for her. France wanted to know why.

After seeing the film, we here at NYFA had some questions of our own. We asked Alejandro Ibarra, an LGBTQA identifying faculty member of the New York Film Academy about how Ms. Johnson’s life has affected their life and why documentaries like this are so important.

NYFA: What is your relationship to the Stonewall?

Ibarra: I grew up seeing Stonewall almost like a sacred, mythological place. It is a place I never thought I would see in person. It held a massive importance amongst a community that wasn’t yet tangible to me. The first time I visited the bar, I was an openly gay adult. I got goosebumps all over and my eyes were watery. I participated in a protest at Stonewall earlier this year. We stood against the government’s proposed travel ban. Being there was a powerful thing.

NYFA: What does this historic event mean to you?

Ibarra: It’s something that has greatly influenced me. Even though I was born much later, I am able to walk down the street, while holding hands with a partner, and I have the option to get married. That is all thanks to the Stonewall movement.

NYFA: What do you know of Marsha P. Johnson?

Ibarra: Quite a bit, but not enough. I did my thesis in grad school on equality and gay rights. A big part of that was the Stonewall Riots and the major activists that arose from that. Marsha P. Johnson was a part of that research.

NYFA: Has her work affected you personally? How?

Ibarra: Overall, hearing of someone being so brave, at a time where the danger was much greater, combined with the fact that she’s a woman, is incredibly inspiring. We live in a time when the gay community needs to be very vocal. We have to fight and stand our ground. People like Johnson give us fuel to keep going.

Her work with the trans and drag community has had an immeasurable impact. She even stood against members of the community who were scared of the images drag culture projected to the straight and cis-gender peoples of the world.

NYFA: What other LGBTQ documentaries have had a positive effect on society?
Ibarra: A recent one that comes to mind is, “Do I Sound Gay?” It addressed a stereotype, not just within the community, but with how other people view LGBTQA individuals. Another powerful documentary that I think all my friends, LGBTQA or not, were affected by, is “Bridegroom.” That film is such a heartbreaking story. I think it moved everyone, regardless of their association or opinion of the community.

NYFA: For those who don’t know Ms. Johnson’s legacy, what do you hope this documentary tells them?

Ibarra: I hope it illuminates young queer people the same way I felt illuminated when I first learned about her. It put a face and name to the people who fought for me. I’m able to live, as openly as I do now, because of her work. It has a different weight and importance when you are able to think of a specific person and be grateful for their contributions.

The New York Film Academy would like to thank Netflix for giving us an opportunity to screen this film. Be sure to watch “The Death and Life of Marsha P. Johnson” in theaters and on Netflix starting Friday, October 6th, 2017.

NYFA Shows Early Screening of “The Florida Project” with Darren Dean

On Wednesday, October 4th, New York Film Academy hosted an early screening of the already critically acclaimed “The Florida Project,” as part of the Producing Department’s Industry Speaker Series. NYFA Instructor and Producer of the film Darren Dean was on hand to introduce the film and participate in a Q&A session following the screening. Produced by Sean Baker, “The Florida Project” focuses on Florida motel residents who live in the shadow of Disney World in and around Celebration, Florida (Kool & The Gang’s post-disco smash “Celebration” blares during the credits). We previously wrote about the film’s premiere at the prestigious Director’s Fortnight at Cannes. The film is being distributed by A24 which has positioned itself as a curator of excellent cinema with recent releases such as “Good Time,” and last year’s excellent, Academy Award-winning “Moonlight.”

Darren Dean at NYFA — Producer Darren Dean discusses “The Florida Project” with NYFA Producing Chair Neal Weisman

Neal Weisman, Chair of Producing at NYFA, introduced the film and moderated the Q&A with his colleague. Dean described his entry into the film industry as such: “I started making films when I was 40. I was working marketing. I worked with Sean, went back to school to complete my degree, and ended up shooting a film he liked.” He continued,”I know no other world. I don’t know the ‘let’s go from the paper, let’s strictly follow the rules’ world.” His unique vantage point was valuable to students who may eventually try to marry traditional methods with experimental filmmaking styles such as Baker and Dean.

“[Sean] likes to get involved with the families that live in the motels, for example, or, in ‘Prince of Broadway’, the West African street hustlers, or, in ‘Tangerine’, the trans sex workers.” As Mr. Weisman put it, this lends an authenticity and honesty to all of Baker’s work. “If there’s one thing I’ve learned to trust, it’s his instinct.” “Create this pastiche of ‘The Little Rascals. This is Sean’s tribute to ‘The Little Rascals.'”

“We are two straight, white men from New Jersey who happen to think straight white male filmmaking is boring,” Dean joked referencing his work, such as the acclaimed “Tangerine,” with Baker. The newest film focuses on another marginalized group, the “hidden homeless” people living week-to-week in motels outside of Orlando. A number of the bit parts were people who actually live in the motels with no prior acting experience. Like many actors and actresses in Baker’s previous films, the female lead, Bria Vinaite, was cast from Instagram. Veteran actor Willem Defoe is the “name” of the cast and delivers a powerful performance as the tough but empathetic manager of the motel. The main child character, Moonee, is played by Brooklynn Prince who is astounding and is sure to receive recognition come award season.

New York Film Academy students from Filmmaking, Screenwriting, Acting for Film, and other disciplines were captivated by the harrowing drama and stuck around for questions afterward. Following the Q&A, Dean was gracious enough to sign posters given by A24 and chat with students and aspiring filmmakers.

“The Florida Project” is released nationwide this Friday, October 6. Director Sean Baker will be attending a Q&A at AMC Lincoln Square in New York City following the 9pm showing of the film. See below for more info.

UPDATE: “The Florida Project” has since been nominated for the following major awards, among others:

Golden Globe – Willem Dafoe for Best Supporting Actor
Independent Spirit Award – Sean Baker for Best Director
Satellite Award – Sean Baker for Best Director
Screen Actors Guild Award – Willem Dafoe for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role
Gotham Independent Film Award – Brooklynn Prince for Breakthrough Actor

NYFA Alum to Premiere Film at San Diego International Film Festival

New York Film Academy Filmmaking alum Eliana Álvarez Martínez will premiere her film “Spirit of Discovery” at the San Diego International Film Festival on Saturday, October 7, 2017. The film follows Walter Munk, an American oceanographer on a mission to research the unique flying Devil Rays that bear his name. Munk, also known as the “Einstein of the Oceans,” is renowned for his work on ocean currents and wave propagation. On the brink of 100 years of age, Munk is still active in the scientific community.

NYFA sat down with the film’s director, NYFA alumna and instructor, Eliana Álvarez Martínez.

NYFA: What about this subject inspired you to make this film?

Eliana: When I first met Walter Munk I was just mesmerized by who he was and all the achievements he had had throughout his career. But after that, I fell in love with is humble personality, his young spirit and his desire to keep working and discovering things at 100 years old. It Is very contagious.

NYFA: What were some of the challenges you faced making this film?

Eliana: The hardest part of making this film was to keep pushing forward during 4 years while we didn’t have funds. I was lucky to count on the help of lots of friends and colleagues from NYFA and elsewhere. Without them, this film wouldn’t have been possible.

NYFA: How does it feel to be premiering at the San Diego International Film Festival?

Eliana: I think San Diego is the perfect location to premiere the film. Not only because this is where Walter started his career but also because of the timing. He is turning 100 years old this month so no other film festival could be more perfect.

NYFA: How did your experience at NYFA help you in your career?

Eliana: Constantly having a camera in your hands gave me the experience and confidence I needed to get out there and start working right away. Not to mention all the super talented people that you meet from all over the world while you are in school. It’s an unbelievable network and we all help each other.

The film was worked on by a number of NYFA alumni: Leah Goudsmit is credited as the Co-Producer & Editor; Marco Vital for Additional Cinematography; Susi Dolling as a Colorist; Anna Pascual for Motion Graphics. NYFA instructors Andrea Swift and Ivan Julian are also credited as Story Producer and for Sound mix respectively.

You can watch the trailer for “Spirit of Discovery” here.

Maya in 60 Minutes with Craig Caton

NYFA instructor Craig Caton joined the NYFA Games team on an episode of “Schooled!” and held a crash course on Maya…and dragon physics. The key points of takes us through the steps of animating a dragon, putting it through a flight cycle and running it through Unity for a final polish.

Using a dragon rig from Skyrim, Craig animated an 18 frame loopable flight cycle. One of the keys to making the animation look natural is understanding how a dragon moves and the basic laws of physics. For example, when the dragon is flapping its wings upwards the outer wings would actually be pointed downward (dragon physics!). The technical term for this movement in animation is “overlapping animation” and becomes a fundamental element in making even basic animation look realistic.

Another useful tip we learned was that we shouldn’t be too concerned with symmetry when it comes to animating flapping wings. A common, novice mistake is to try to make the wings move in perfect symmetry when, in nature, birds do not flap their wings in perfect symmetry. A rule of thumb to keep in mind is that nature is rarely perfectly symmetrical.

You can learn more tricks of the trade by viewing the episode in its entirety here:

Watch live video from NYFA_Games on www.twitch.tv