Music majors resonate with the character and charisma of Thomas Hampson

https://vimeo.com/295876694 BYU’s highly esteemed Center for Animation became even more reputable when the short film “Grendel,” directed and produced by BYU animation students, recently won its sixth Student Academy Award. This year, the Student Academy Awards competition received a total of 1,615 entries from 255 domestic and 105 international colleges and universities. Only 16 entries received an award. Student director Kalee McCollaum and student producer Austin Rodriguez worked with approximately 40 students to make this film a reality. Thousands of hours went into the project which was supervised by professors Kelly Loosli and R. Brent Adams. The story of “Grendel” is a reverse telling of the classic Beowulf tale where Grendel, the friendly monster in the film, is joined by rowdy Viking neighbors who harass him. He slowly starts to retaliate until he realizes he’s the one who has become the monster. This realization spikes a change in character as he chooses to help save the Vikings from other creatures. Read more at news.byu.edu, sltrib.com or usatoday.com

BYU’s highly esteemed Center for Animation became even more reputable when the short film “Grendel,” directed and produced by BYU animation students, recently won the Center its sixth Student Academy Award.

Director Barrett Burgin and producer John Newton reflect on the role their beliefs played in the development and production of university-funded capstone film “Father of Man”

Rutman gave a presentation on becoming a more thoughtful pianist during practice

Jared Benson is an alum of the graphic design program at BYU

BYU communications faculty, staff and students co-produce a documentary filmed in Spain about the famous network of pilgrimages — Camino de Santiago Five students and three professors from the BYU School of Communications traveled to Spain to capture the experience of BYU Spanish language majors walking the Camino de Santiago, a network of pilgrimages leading to the shrine of the apostle Saint James the Great in northwestern Spain. The footage they took was compiled into a documentary about the Camino de Santiago, why people walk it and what it means to be a pilgrim. The 15-minute video, “Camino de Santiago: The Way of St. James,” was released on Aug. 25. “Our communications students conducted themselves so professionally. They were passionate about the project and hardworking,” said Cressman. “We were very fortunate to have this experience. I believe it begins to fulfill the vision of our school’s director, Ed Carter — to get our students out into the world in mentored-learning situations where they can do challenging but exceptional things.” BYU communications students shadowed and interviewed BYU Spanish students on the Camino de Santiago study abroad as well as others they met along the pilgrimage. “Everywhere I went on the Camino, people told me they had met one or more of our students,” said Cressman. “In every single instance, those people told me how impressed they were with them.” Read the full story at comms.byu.edu.

Hit-making Nashville-based singer-songwriter Ben Rector will be the featured talent for BYU Spectacular! 2019, along with prolific LDS-Christian crossover artist Hilary Weeks. The headliners will also be joined by Vocal Point, Men’s Chorus, Young Ambassadors, Ballroom Dance Company, Cougarettes, International Folk Dance Ensemble and the BYU Dunk Team as part of BYU Homecoming 2019. BYU Spectacular! offers two performances: Thursday, October 17, and Friday, October 18, 2019 at 7:30 pm. Tickets for the general public go on sale July 15th at BYUtickets.com, with advance ticket sales for BYU alumni and students and BYU ArtsPass holders the week prior. Read more at news.byu.edu

The College of Fine Arts and Communications will continue its mission to “teach the disciplines of art, communications, dance, design, music and theatre and media arts … expand their civilizing influence on the human spirit” with another year of the Faith and Works Lecture Series.

BYU School of Communications students, professors and alumni joined together for a catered lunch and a motivational lecture on Friday, Sept. 20 Public relations graduate Abe Gong was the guest speaker at the Fall 2019 Beckham Lecture, a semi-annual lecture given by a communications alumni or professor to students. He is currently the CEO of Superconductive Health and was chosen for his innovations in healthcare research. Gong focused on the once-in-a-lifetime opportunities that guide individuals’ lives — both professionally and personally. The once-in-a-lifetime opportunities that have happened in Gong’s life include his undergraduate education at BYU, his masters degree at the University of Michigan, various job opportunities and creating a family with his wife. Gong noted that people typically say “seize the opportunity” when encouraging others to take chances that could lead to positive growth, but he argued that the word “seize” has a sudden, forcible and grasping feeling that inhibits personal responsibility for opportunities. Instead, Gong believes that students should think of the phrase as “cultivate the opportunity.” As individuals seek to cultivate opportunities in their lives, they will create and shape life-changing trajectories and events. Read the full story at comms.byu.edu.

BYU communications professor uses passion for flying drones — both personally and professionally — as inspiration for award-winning research paper

Earlier this year, Larson received the Smith-Pettit Foundation Award for Outstanding Contribution to Mormon LettersMelissa Leilani Larson discovered her talent and love for crafting words at an early age, writing her first short story in third grade.