MURFREESBORO — The short films in MTSU’s latest double feature are home-grown:
they’re new animated short films by Kevin McNulty, an assistant professor in the
Department of Electronic Media Communication.
“Tethered,” the
story of a lonely red balloon fighting oppression, and “Coffee,” a tale of the
delicious brew mixed with consumerism and ignorance, will be screened Tuesday,
Nov. 18, at 4:30 p.m. in Room 103 of the Bragg Mass Communication Building.
The screenings are
free and open to the public. A searchable campus map with parking notes is
available at http://tinyurl.com/MTSUParking14-15.
McNulty will be on
hand to answer questions about the short films and the animation used to create
them.
“Tethered,” which
originated in 2009, was completed this summer. McNulty’s plan to explore an
“otherworld” where balloons are alive began as a simple story of self-discovery
but soon developed into a stirring portrayal of maltreatment.
“It’s about
bullying and oppression as seen through the eyes of one balloon,” said McNulty.
“It’s about how it can psychologically beat you down. The red balloon sees the
atrocities going on, and it does something about it.”
Fellow mass
communication faculty member Dr. Joseph Akins provided an original composition
for the film. Otherwise, the film was a solo project; McNulty created, animated
and rendered the film on his own.
McNulty’s writing,
directing and producing efforts on that film convinced him to enlist help for
“Coffee,” a commentary on consumerism and what McNulty calls the “don’t care
where it comes from as long as it’s cheap, works and/or tastes good” mentality.
“I got smart on this one” said McNulty. “I
applied for the URECA (Undergraduate
Research Experience and Creative Activity) Summer Teams grant in Spring
2014 and basically said, ‘Anybody want to make a film with me?’”
A group of MTSU
animation students volunteered, and the team worked from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
weekdays beginning June 9. McNulty often came in on the weekends, too.
“The dedication
was amazing,” the professor said. “Some students had jobs at night to go to
after working on the film during the day.”
Senior Kelsie
Richards even delayed her graduation until August to complete the film. Andie
Ayotte, Derek Barnes, Chris Dyer, Simon Idiare Jr., Erin Thompson and Raphael
Williams made up the rest of the student team.
Jacob Loper, a
member of the death-metal band Hell Forged, supplied the music, and Aaron
Trimble, a graduate student in the Department of Recording Industry, helped
with recording the vocal performances.
McNulty and the
students provided all the voices for the film, creating a caffeinated
4.5-minute ride complete “with screams.”
McNulty earned a
Master of Fine Arts degree from New York’s Rochester Institute of Technology
and focuses on digital animation, motion graphics, stop-motion and traditional
animation.
Currently an
adviser for the ACM SIGGRAPH Student Chapter, McNulty also teaches Intermediate
Digital Animation 3310, Advanced Digital Animation I and II and Animation
Seminar I and II classes, where students create a 30-second short film over the
course of two semesters.
“Coffee” is part
of Nashville’s 2014 ArtLightenment Festival, and McNulty plans to submit “Tethered”
to film festivals too.
You can learn more
about the animation program in the College of Mass Communication at http://www.mtsu.edu/programs/animation.
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