The Dodge DIGITAL ARTS/ANIMATION Thread

Colleges and Universities A-Z Chapman University
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<p>This thread is dedicated to future and current Digital Arts/Animation majors at Chapman-Dodge; its purpose is to make it easier for prospective students to find detailed information about the program. Last year, when DS was exploring schools and applying, there was little specific information about the various DA programs available (a lot more was out there about film production). And what was available about Dodge's DA program was spread far and wide on various threads--all in bits and pieces. A central DA thread will be helpful, I think. </p>

<p>I will start off by offering the perspective we've gained about the Digital Arts program based on DS's freshman experience at Dodge this year. Others can pipe in to share their views and ask questions. I hope some of the entering 2013 students will share their experiences along the way. Chapman's DA major is growing increasingly competitive and has much to recommend it. Our son is glad to be in the Dodge program, for very specific reasons. He was accepted to USC SCA for Digital Arts, too, by the way, but followed his heart (and the merit scholarship!) to Dodge in fall, 2012. </p>

<p>Here are some reasons our son our son is loving his DA program at Dodge: </p>

<p>1) At Dodge, the students dive into their major in week one. As a freshman, DS has already been animating, story-boarding, collaborating and making films (with other students and a couple of shorts on his own). This was important to him because he'd already been animating through four years of high school. At Dodge, all the DA and film kids are working in their areas from day one. My son has been fully immersed and doing the work he loves since fall of freshman year. </p>

<p>2) Dodge has an intensive, hands-on program with very engaged faculty. The personal attention, intimacy and energy in the DA program is impressive. In addition to being on a first-name basis with great professors (who have active industry connections), DS is involved in the Digital Arts Club--and that opens up even more opportunities for meeting people and making connections. </p>

<p>3) Industry connections. USC is of course known for this. But we've seen this year that Dodge has solid connections, too. And the DA dept shows commitment to getting their students exposed and 'out there.' For example, at Dodge, DS (who is only a freshman, mind you) has met and talked with Andrew Stanton (Pixar genius and Oscar winning animator/director behind Wall-E, Toy Story, Finding Nemo, A Bug's Life) and Rob Minkoff (director of Lion King). Mr Minkoff even drew a picture of Roger Rabbit and gave it to DS, LOL. Last week, son went out to dinner with: Rich Moore and Jim Reardon (legendary story-tellers and award-winning animators known for Wreck-it Ralph, Wall-E, the Simpsons). Yes, he <em>had dinner</em> with them, along with another DA student and Bill Kroyer (his Dodge DA professor, known for Fern Gully and Tron). The kids get internships at the major studios in LA. Dodge interns are becoming known as some of the best around. DS isn't yet at that point, as a freshman, but we are hearing that Dodge interns are popular and becoming sought after. I think this has to do with the experience base they have as a result of starting their major studies early. </p>

<p>DS's only complaint, so far--if you can call it that--is that he thinks they could "drive the kids harder" in the year-long foundational life drawing coursework. He thinks they should draw for hours and hours and hours a day (like the CalArts kids). He probably has a point and I believe the program has been actively strengthening its foundation coursework in recent years. </p>

<p>The DA major has become quite competitive for admission and Bill Kroyer has been quoted to say that his goal is to build the "best DA program in the world." They are attuned to industry needs and work hard to align the coursework and program to those high standards and changing demands. DS doesn't regret saying 'no' to USC (though its a great school--goes without saying). But the fit, energy and immediate immersion he's had at Dodge is much more to his liking. </p>

<p>I will next post a couple of links to past CC threads with good information for prospective DA majors.</p>

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<p>This recent thread describes plans for the new Animation Building at Dodge:</p>

<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/chapman-university/1466964-plans-new-dodge-media-arts-center-new-center-science-technology.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/chapman-university/1466964-plans-new-dodge-media-arts-center-new-center-science-technology.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>This thread offers a detailed, inside view of the DA program from a student. She discusses the specific coursework and three concentration areas offered (2D, 3D, Visual Effects). This information was very useful and helped DS make his decision to attend Chapman last year: </p>

<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/chapman-university/1312909-animation-digital-arts-chapman-great-inside-view.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/chapman-university/1312909-animation-digital-arts-chapman-great-inside-view.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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<p>This useful summary was in a handout given to prospective Dodge students at Preview Day in April of last year. It will be interesting to compare 2013 results–maybe those will be handed out at the upcoming Preview Day…</p>

<p>2012 Dodge Freshman Class Statistics</p>

<p>Total Applications: 1176
Number admitted: 404 (34%)
Average GPA of admitted students: 3.71
Average SAT of admitted students: 1945
Male/Female: 44%/56%
In state/OOS: 47%/53% (7% international)</p>

<p>Expected Freshman Class Size by Major
Creative Producing: 30
Digital Arts: 25
Film Production: 70
Film Studies: 10
Public relations/Advertizing: 20
Screenwriting: 30
TV & Broadcast Journalism: 30</p>

<p>Dodge College Total (Freshman thru Senior) by Major
Creative Producing: 133
Digital Arts: 104
Film Production: 329
Film Studies: 48
Public relations/Advertising: 186
Screenwriting: 141
TV & Broadcast Journalism: 149</p>

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<p>I applied for transfer into Digital Arts for this fall! Can’t wait to hear back, seems like a great program.</p>

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<p>Best of luck, smalone. Which of the three concentrations are you likely to choose–Visual Effects, 2D, or 3D? Guessing it’s 3D by your username.</p>

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<p>Thanks! I’m looking to focus on Visual Effects, and some 3D animation as well if possible. :P</p>

<p>Thanks for compiling all that information on the Digital Arts major, by the way. Lots of stuff I didn’t know about the program there.</p>

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<p>Here is a link that shows the type of work being done by Dodge DA students. This award-winning senior project is a 2012 collaboration between Dodge and Comp Sci students. The game, called ‘Axle,’ is about about a little gear. We met these DA students at Admitted Students’ Day last year and got a preview of the project. At least one of these DA students was also an Honors College student, as I recall. </p>

<p>“AXLE took first place over 36 entries from Southern California colleges and universities in the inaugural Intercollegiate Computer Game Showcase sponsored by the Orange County Computer Society GameSIG. Entries were judged by professionals from Blizzard Entertainment, InExile Entertainment, Gaikai, among others.”</p>

<p>“Little Gear. Big Job.
Invented by a kindly toymaker, Axle is a little gear on a mission to fix machines. Set in the dangerous world of WWI era machinery, Axle is travels from high society to exotic expeditions, searching for where he fits in and where he truly belongs.”</p>

<p>See it here, it’s worth a look.
[Digital</a> Arts Students’ Mobile Game “AXLE” Wins Chapman a New Trophy!](<a href=“http://blogs.chapman.edu/dodge/2012/05/09/digital-arts-students-mobile-game-axle-wins-chapman-a-new-trophy/]Digital”>Digital Arts Students’ Mobile Game “AXLE” Wins Chapman a New Trophy! - Dodge College of Film and Media Arts)</p>

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<p>Gladiatorbird, many thanks for all your posts. I’ve been following as my daughter has been accepted to the Dodge Digital Arts major. It seems like a great program but she’s always planned to go to a UC for the big university experience and is conflicted. We are having a difficult time finding out if UCSD, UCD, or UCI has a decent animation type program. I know your son was looking at UCSD at one time and was wondering if you found out anything about their program. Although she loves animation, she’s not sure if she wants a school with more known depth in other programs like life sciences if she wants to minor.</p>

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<p>Hi MB, </p>

<p>Yes, DS went through a similar decision process last year. We are a UC family and hoped initially to find a match for him within the system. UCLA is the one UC known for animation: they have an excellent program, but like for Film, students cannot be admitted as freshman to the major. Students must do two years of GE and only then are they allowed to apply to the major (from within, almost as if they are transfers). It didn’t make sense to risk two years of GE there with no guarantee of his chosen major. Many students DON’T get the film or animation major when they apply. </p>

<p>We also checked out UCSD and UCI. He very much liked UCSD, in general, and we toured on Admitted Students Day. The Visual Arts Dept was difficult to get a sense of beforehand, however, and even after we visited DS didn’t have any sense of the place. The facilities for digital arts were VERY spare, the equipment they did have was old and didn’t look well-maintained…son was less than impressed, even though he really liked UCSD as a whole. The Visual Arts Dept at UCSD is not very well known and the resources looked quite limited. He did like its multidisciplinary approach, but none of the offered majors (Art History/Criticism, Media, Studio and Interdisciplinary Computing and the Arts Major or ICAM) offered much opportunity for animating. The ICAM major looked interesting, but it was more research-based and computer-oriented than he wanted. </p>

<p>UCI has a Digital Arts minor (but not major); it did not offer the depth he wanted. </p>

<p>If your student isn’t certain about the major, it’s an especially tough decision. And even a student who thinks they are 100% sure can change their mind. It happens all the time! A large university makes it easier to experiment and change majors, if needed. </p>

<p>DS grew more and more certain that he wanted to do animation by the time acceptance time rolled around. If he’d been waffling or thinking about marine science (another passion of his), he may have taken a more middle road and ended up at UCSD in order to keep options open. Keeping options ‘open,’ however, would also close some doors and, ultimately, would have meant little or no animation for DS. In his case, I suspect he would have ended up transfering (resulting in additional time and expense, plus ineligibility for the best merit scholarships). He felt strongly about not want to wait two years to get started with animation, so all the UCs ended up low on his list at the end of the day. It was ultimately a choice between USC SCA, LMU, and Chapman. </p>

<p>He made the right choice, as I think he’s much happier at Dodge than he would have been at UCSD, given his growing passion for digital arts. He’s happily immersed in animation and wanting more and more of it, not less. He likes his Honors College studies and has no thoughts of pursuing Marine Science. :)</p>

<p>Again, though–if a student isn’t sure, a broader university experience may be needed to figure things out. It’s a dilemma, to be sure. Best of luck!</p>

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<p>Thanks for your detailed response.</p>

<p>UCLA does seem risky compared to being already accepted into the Chapman DA major.</p>

<p>UCSD is her favorite UC campus. When we visited last year and even online, it was difficult to get a sense of the department. The closest thing to animation I could find was ICAM which we also felt was more computer oriented than art oriented. Looking at the course lists at the various UC’s, we also could not the depth compared with Chapman’s DA major. I didn’t know if we were missing something in our research so your feedback really helps. Some of the CSU’s like Fullerton and Long Beach seem to be better geared toward animation than the UC’s. </p>

<p>She definitely wants animation to be part of her college studies. It’s just such a big life decision to focus in one area at the age of 17. She attended an animation program last summer and came back home knowing that she loved it. She is going through a similar thought process (open/close doors) so your past posts and this response addresses our questions.</p>

<p>The interest in animation has been fairly recent and we had not heard of Chapman until last year. We will be visiting Chapman for the first time the week of preview day to get a sense of the campus, student community, and Dodge.</p>

<p>She’s also applied to the Honors Program. Is your son finding that difficult in addition to his DA studies? She’s a good student but issues can arise and she doesn’t want to jeopardize her merit scholarship. Would a minor in an unrelated area be extremely challenging?</p>

<p>Thanks again!</p>

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<p>^You aren’t missing anything with regard to the UCs. They are fantastic universities, but with regard to animation, specifically, they offer very little (beyond UCLA). </p>

<p>The CSUs do have good programs–San Jose, Long Beach and Fullerton, in particular. </p>

<p>The tours of Chapman and Dodge will likely swing your D strongly one way or the other. Be sure to do both tours. (If you haven’t been, prepare to have Dodge knock your socks off). Once DS saw the facilities it was difficult to imagine going to a UC, even though we had initially assumed he would. Your D may respond differently, of course. </p>

<p>He is working very hard but managing well with Honors College. Chapman wants the kids to keep their merit awards for all four years and the 2.75 GPA (cumulative) requirement is evidence of that. It’s very do-able, but the kids need good time management skills since the DA projects are time-consuming and have hard deadlines–they need to plan ahead and not procrastinate.</p>

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<p>P.S.<br>
DS loved UCSD and was very favorably disposed–seriously considered it before his tour. But the word he used to describe the UCSD digital arts facilities upon visiting was…“primitive.” (DS was comparing to Dodge and UCLA, where he did pre-college summer programs in animation.)</p>

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<p>Thanks for your feedback on the Honors program and UC’s. </p>

<p>We’re looking forward to seeing the campus for the first time next week. We’re signed up for Panther for a Day, a Dodge College tour, and Preview Day. D will also be sitting in on a biology and a DA class. Not sure if any of it is redundant but I think each day offers something different.</p>

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<p>Here’s an upcoming event at Dodge: </p>

<p>Legendary Animator Glen Keane!
Professor Bill Kroyer invites Dodge digital arts students to join him for a special guest lecture by legendary Disney animator Glen Keane (Tangled, The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Pocahontas). Keane will talk about his career creating memorable animated characters and include a hands-on demonstration of drawing an animated scene."</p>

<p>Read about Keane’s career and contributions to animation here:
[Glen</a> Keane - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia](<a href=“Glen Keane - Wikipedia”>Glen Keane - Wikipedia)</p>

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<p>Does anyone know if the Digital Arts students will have the opportunity to break off from the other film students at Preview Day? I know my daughter would like to meet some of the people in her program.</p>

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<p>Thanks Gladiator !! I know we will make certain to go to that guest lecture. Knowing Glen Keane is coming to Dodge should convince any digital arts major that this school IS serious about their future animators. I remember sitting at the pool last Fall at the Grand Californian Hotel with my daughter and lo and behold the family who shared the lounge area with us, 3 of them are Disney animators and they all worked on Tangled, Wreck-it Ralph and now Frozen. When I spoke to them (they been with Disney for 15 years) they never heard of Chapman (its always the same schools named again and again i.e., CalArts, Ringling, USC, Sheridan). So it is very exciting Dodge invites these legendary animators as guest speakers so this expands the industries knowledge of the DA program at Dodge. </p>

<p>@ Smother we will be there Saturday, I am looking forward to it. She met another DA student on Panther for a Day–so I hope she meets your daughter and others as well.</p>

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</p>

<p>I wondered the same thing. My child is accepted to Creative Producing but staying over until Monday to tour Dodge because it was implied that that there wouldn’t be an opportunity to see the program on Saturday. (Although it became a good excuse to go to Disney on Sunday :slight_smile: ) Is Preview day strictly focused on the campus as a whole, or is there a chance to meet faculty from the Dodge?</p>

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<p>At DS’s preview day last year, there was a special session for digital arts majors. We met with professors Bill Kroyer, Adam Rote, and Sue Kriger (might have the latter’s name slightly wrong). Current digital arts students were present to answer questions and show work reels of their senior projects–that was fantastic. We parents were also able to meet and chat with the professors afterwards. Dept head Bill Kroyer was welcoming, enthusiastic and passionate about the future of the program.</p>

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<p>Hi ArtsandLetters,</p>

<p>Please read the posts in this thread regarding Preview Day:</p>

<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/chapman-university/1475776-preview-day.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/chapman-university/1475776-preview-day.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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<p>Mommawhalie: My daughter will be there with her dad since I have to take her twin sister to Cal Poly’s admitted students day. She is a brunette with brown eyes named Julie. I can’t think of any other distinguishing features. Hope they get to meet!</p>