Two College of the North Atlantic (CNA) students are making their mark on the national scene, after winning awards for their digital animation work.
Micah Smith and Tymur Markunin recently completed the Digital Animation program at the Bay St. George campus. Earlier this year, they entered their final projects in the Applied Arts Magazine Awards and beat out competitors from across Canada, the U.S. and abroad in the student category.
Their instructor, James Grace, says they checked out last year’s winning entries before deciding to enter.
“We looked at the level of competition and felt we could win,” he says. “We entered two projects and sure enough, both of them won.”
Smith’s video, titled Nine, is based on an old Newfoundland joke, but with a futuristic twist. It shows a large robot following a smaller robot which is repeating the word “nine.” The large robot drops into a trap with eight others and the little robot starts saying “ten” as it goes off in search of another victim.
Smith, who grew up in Torbay, says the program challenged him to develop his artistic skills.
“The whole idea is to take something and make it come to life – it has to be believable,” he says. “I didn’t have a lot of artistic background when I came to the program, but the teachers were there to support me.”
Markunin’s video, titled Friends, depicts a boy who is being grilled by a doctor about his imaginary friend. At the end of the story, the boy is carted out of the room and it becomes evident that the imaginary friend, does, in fact, exist.
The Odessa, Ukraine native says he thinks the two videos won because they caught the judges’ attention by telling interesting stories in a brief two to three minute window.
“It’s difficult to make a good story with a twist at the end. Both our works had a really nice twist, which you are not expecting.”
Carrie Martin of Applied Arts Magazine says the entries are judged by a carefully selected panel of professionals who have won awards in their respective fields.
“We line up judges across multiple disciplines across North America,” she explains. “We spend a considerable amount of time with this process to ensure that we have a well rounded jury. Feedback from the judges was that they were impressed with the calibre of the work across all of the categories.”
Award winners receive national coverage in the magazine’s November/December issue, and their work is featured on the magazine’s website for a year. They are also featured in a year-end winners’ exhibit, which includes a reception where they get to meet industry professionals.
Grace says the win is a testimony to the quality of the CNA program.
“This is a hidden gem. We have a very good program and talented students and what it comes down to is a demonstration of talent,” he says. “The program is structured uniquely. They get a lot of production experience and there’s a big focus on teamwork.”
Both Smith and Markunin hope to find jobs in Newfoundland, and there’s a wide area of employment opportunities for students who excel in the program, as they did.
“It’s about 50/50 between the entertainment industry, (movies, television and gaming) and other applications, like industrial and engineering simulations,” says Grace.
Digital Animation is a two-year applied arts program offered at the Bay St. George campus. For more information visit www.cna.nl.ca.
Friends from Timmy2015 on Vimeo.
NiNE from Micah Smith on Vimeo.
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Media Contact:
Gina MacArthur
Public Relations Specialist
College of the North Atlantic
Ph: 709-643-7928
gina.macarthur@cna.nl.ca