“Thought of You” part of Conte Animated exhibit Jan. 20-29, HFAC Gallery 303

"Thought of You" in HD, behind-the-scenes documentary and flip charts of film animations featured in HFAC Gallery 303 Jan. 20-29

Animated short was created by filming dancers, then drawing 24-frames per second of the dancing

Video has more than 1 million views between Vimeo and YouTube

This short animation is a creative collaboration between BYU animation professor Ryan Woodward and Dance Dept. instructor Kori Wakamatsu.

Woodward, who has done storyboards for Hollywood blockbusters (Iron Man 2, Spider Man 3 and Where the Wild Things Are), approached Wakamatsu with the concept this summer.

“Just thinking about that dynamic of relationships stirred my mind about doing an animation with dance,” Woodward said. “I knew I could not animate a beautiful, contemporary dance because I’m not a dance choreographer, and that’s where Kori came in.” See the behind-the-scenes video.

“Ryan gave me the back story to the piece and what motivated it and how he wanted it to be a love story,” Wakamatsu said. “I love it when the arts can integrate and find ways to connect.”

Wakamatsu choreographed a routine and chose dancers to perform the piece. Woodward then had the dance filmed so he could recreate it with animation, which he did by using 24 frames for every second.

The end result is a touching animated short that has now notched more than 1 million views between Vimeo and YouTube.

“I hope the people that watch it do have some sort of a moving experience,” Woodward said.

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