BYU advertising and commercial music video advertisement impresses industry professionals and wins students $10,000 scholarship

BYU’s College of Fine Arts and Communications (CFAC) will hold the 2018 April Convocation ceremonies on Friday, April 27, in the de Jong Concert Hall of the Harris Fine Arts Center (HFAC). Ceremonies will include student speakers, musical numbers and the presentation of diplomas to graduates. University Commencement will take place on Thursday, April 26 at 4 p.m. in the Marriott Center. Elder Jeffrey R. Holland will give the commencement address. More information on commencement can be found here. Convocation for the Department of Art and Department of Design will take place at 8 a.m. Speakers will include studio art students Sarah Brown Roberts and Megan Mitchell Arné, graphic design student Gunnar Harrison and animation student Kalee McCollaum. Convocation for the Department of Dance, the School of Music and Department of Theatre and Media Arts will take place at 11 a.m. Speakers will include TMA student Soren Barker and dance student Tessa Homer. Convocation for the School of Communications will take place at 2 p.m. Speakers will include public relations student Ellen Huish, news media student Natassja Krupczynski and advertising student Britt Thomas. Along with student speakers, each convocation will feature a performance by a student graduating from the School of Music. Woodwind performance student Christian Tran will perform at 8 a.m., vocal performance student Mary Hoskins at 11 a.m. and piano performance student Hyrum Arnesen at 2 p.m. More information for graduating students can be found here.

Priscilla Stewart will present her research on place and ecology based education at the National Art Education Association’s National Convention, the premier conference for K12 art educators and university researchers

Alan Menken spent time during his BYU visit to hold a Q&A with students.

In the newest installment of the Women in Design Lecture Series, four panelists answered student questions on everything from how to land jobs as a student to dealing with the uncertainty that seems to be inherent in creative careers. The panel featured of Brooke Smart, Ann Hintze, Trisha Zemp and Michelle Stuhl. These women have worked with some of the country’s most successful brands including Nike, The New York Times, Random House and Lindt Chocolate. However, their accomplishments go far beyond working with high profile companies and brands. Hintze worked for 10 years in New York agencies and recently co-founded the sustainability- focused brand Nuno, which is based in Salt Lake City. Smart is an illustrator who has been awarded a Portfolio Honor at the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators Portfolio Showcase in NYC and is currently teaching class at BYU. Zemp is a successful stop motion artist who has worked with a range of clients as a freelancer. Stuhl founded a recruiting agency that connects creative professionals with companies and brands across the globe. She also serves on the board of the Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art. In case you missed the Women in Design Panel, here are our highlights from the panel below. In following the career plans you had right out of school, how were things different or challenging in ways you did not anticipate? Hintze: “What is a plan, right? At the end of the day you have to think big picture. The plans will fall into place. There is also a lot of flexibility in the non-planning.” Zemp: “My life didn’t go as I had anticipated because I grew up in a really sheltered LDS community. I thought my calling in life was to go to BYU, find a return missionary as a freshman, fall in love, get married, drop out of school and make a lot of babies — and that was just my life plan as a 19-20-year-old. Cause that’s what all the girls in my community were praised for. Eventually I realized getting married and finding someone you love is a little harder than you think and so it didn’t happen as a freshman for me. It didn’t happen for a long time for me. And then I realized I can have dreams and goals of my own and I can pursue something.” What are a few things you look for when you are recognizing new talent? Whether that is someone you are going to hire or work with? Zemp: You can be as talented in the world as you can, or possibly ever want to be, but if you don’t work hard it really doesn’t matter. Stuhl: Talent is just the price of entry. People are not hiring portfolios, they’re hiring people. Each and every interaction, in all situations, really counts. The building of your reputation supports your success in your career. How have you made decisions that affect your career at different transitional points? For example, deciding to go to grad school, switching jobs or starting a family? Hintze: The biggest transitions in my career have happened when I’ve stopped learning or when I got to a point where there wasn’t a position for me to grow in. It was an opportunity for me to make a change. Stuhl: So many , who are the most successful, plan those moves much more strategically. If you have your head down and you’re just waiting for things to happen to you, is so different than sitting in a position where you’re open and hearing what’s going on in the world because it opens up those doors. How have you balanced freelance jobs with a full time position? Is it even possible? Zemp: If you want to make it happen, you can make it happen. As a student it just meant I didn’t sleep very much. It meant I took on jobs and I stayed up all night doing stop motion and I did it on weekends. Smart: Sometimes you need to take a step back and decide how can I make this work? If you really need a full time, but you still want to do your creative work on the side, sometimes it’s better to have a job that is not creative. Sometimes you use all your creative skills during the day and then what are you left with? Nothing. You’re just exhausted and you’ve used up all your creative juices for the day. A lot of times in creative careers there is a lot of uncertainty to where you are going to end up later in life. How do you deal with that uncertainty as you’re moving forward? Zemp: Embrace the uncertainty. That’s the best part about being a freelancer. You can create the job you want or cool opportunities just come. Everyday when you open that email it’s like new surprises pop in. Your life is a rollercoaster and you just get to go along for the ride.

TMA student shares her inspiring learning experience of living in Germany as she prepared for dramaturgy position

With a video one judge called "so genius," BYU students beat out 500 other submissions to nab top prize at the ANDY awards.

Disney Star Alan Menken Gives Draws Large Student Crowd to Once-in-a-Lifetime Forumg

The lecture will take place April 12 at 11:00 a.m. in the Madsen Recital Hall

While installing the new MOA exhibit “Curiouser,” artist Nina Katchadourian and curator Veronica Roberts visited with BYU art students

Last weekend, BYU Vocal Point’s newest music video “The Greatest Showman A Cappella Mashup,” received over 1 million views on the group’s YouTube channel. The video brought together aerial artists, dancers, singers and cinematographers to feature four songs from the movie—“The Greatest Show,” “Come Alive,” “Rewrite the Stars” and “This Is Me.” The video’s views are not the only indicator of success. It received positive feedback across the board, including from one of the film’s main stars, Hugh Jackman, who called the video an “amazing effort” on Twitter. However, the video’s greatest success may actually lie in the behind-the-scenes work that went into creating the video. McKay Crockett, BYU Vocal Point’s artistic director and music producer, said viewers have no idea just how much work and sacrifice went into creating the video from simply watching the final product. From overcoming illness to creating a circus tent to film in, nothing about the making of the video was easy. Step one was creating a collaborative environment for students from various disciplines and areas, including The School of Music, The Department of Theatre and Media Arts, Performing Arts Management, Contemporary Dance Theatre and the BYU Cougarettes. Students not only worked with each other, but also had the opportunity to work with professionals, including filmmakers, BYU Broadcasting staff and circus performers from Aeris Aerial Arts. The next step was filming the video. The four-and-a-half minute video was shot within 12 hours during a single day. The cast and crew were faced with the task of filming three perfect, continuous takes — the longest being over two minutes long—and then editing these together in post-production. Jeff Parkin, director of the video and BYU film professor, said filming under those circumstances “was a high-wire act with a lot of intensity and stress, but created a special energy on screen. The ability to pull off such shots successfully says a great deal about the professional abilities of our BYU students.” According to Crockett, Vocal Point member Jason Bromley (BA ‘20) had one of the most difficult parts in the video. Bromley trained for weeks with former Cirque Du Soleil performer Darla Davis to learn aerial choreography for “Rewrite the Stars.” Bromley stated, “This was by far the most difficult part of the video because it was unlike anything I’ve ever done. It took weeks for my body to acclimate to that kind of strain and I endured some pretty gnarly rope burns. However, it was an amazing experience and one I doubt many other college students get the opportunity to enjoy.” In addition to learning aerial choreography, Bromley had to sing at double the normal tempo while filming “Rewrite the Stars.” This allowed the post-production team to slow down the aerial work later during editing while still matching Bromley’s lips to the normal tempo of the song. Bromley stated perhaps the most amazing part about this minute-long scene is that it was filmed in one continuous take. Difficult filming circumstances were not the only barrier students had to overcome. Vocal Point member Logan Shelton (BA ‘19) was one of many cast members to get sick leading up to filming. “I wasn’t sure if I had the energy to embody the message of the video,” Shelton said. “The whole project ended up being a miracle. Everything just fell right into place. I hope people feel empowered to be their best selves from watching our adaptation.” Crockett said despite various complications, the crew and cast were able to come together to create an unforgettable experiential learning project. “It was really meaningful to see all the energy on set and all the sacrifice that went into making the video,” Crockett said. “The final video is a real testament to how great BYU is.” This BYU Records production and its success was made possible with the help of various faculty and staff across campus, including Ben Fales (executive producer), Jared Cardon (producer), Jodi Maxfield (BYU Cougarettes director) and Jenny Tingey (choreographer).

Communications Professor Kevin John will present the first lecture following the passing of Emeritus faculty Ray Beckham