蜜桃av

Open image in fullscreen

 During the past school year, junior animation majors from 蜜桃av Adventist University鈥檚 School of Visual Art and Design (SVAD) collaborated with its School of Music to produce both the visuals and soundtrack for an animated short film.

The film, titled Deep Space, is about a boy, Juno, who finds beauty in his circumstances after his original venture into space takes an unexpected turn. The film was created by 11 SVAD students and guided by powerful music composed by students in the School of Music, then recorded live by the Symphony Orchestra on campus.

鈥淚t was an incredible experience,鈥� describes Shelby Brautigan, senior character animation major. Among other roles, Brautigan was the lead animator for the project. 鈥淚 grew as a leader and was able to push myself to work harder than I think I ever have,鈥� she adds.

During their junior year, students seeking a fine arts degree in animation are required to complete Collaborative Studio, a year-long course that emulates a real-world setting. Future animators learn how to work together to develop an animated short project. While resources are typically employed through other peers within SVAD, last year鈥檚 class decided to try something new.

鈥淚 was thinking in my head, 鈥極h, we need music,鈥欌�� recalls Deep Space director Evan Eslava, junior character animation major. After further thought, Eslava asked the School of Music if they would be willing to collaborate to produce the score for the film.

Music professors and students instantly agreed to help. 鈥淭his sounded like a fascinating new opportunity, so I immediately took advantage of it,鈥� says recent music theory and literature graduate Matthew Kimbley, 鈥�25. He and two other students fabricated the ideas for the film鈥檚 soundtrack and composed the music themselves.

鈥淚t was stressful at times, but fun through all of it,鈥� notes co-composer Susanna Ziesmer, junior psychology and music theory and literature double major. 鈥淭he teams I got to work with, both in the music and film schools, were very supportive and encouraging.鈥�

Eslava echoes this sentiment. 鈥淒espite some challenges,鈥� which included calibrating the soundtrack to an unfinished film, 鈥渢he story still resonated with the composers.鈥� He adds, 鈥淲orking with them, I would say, was the greatest part of the experience because of the energy they brought in. It was amazing!鈥�

Course professor Zach Gray, MFA, who also serves as dean for SVAD, emphasized how well everyone involved seemed to click. 鈥淚 want to give a lot of credit to Evan and the animators as well as those at the School of Music. Each person contributed significantly, and it couldn鈥檛 have been done without every person on the team.鈥�

Samuel Vargas, senior music theory and literature major, helped with the composition of the soundtrack and oversaw the live recording with the orchestra. 鈥淚鈥檇 definitely love to see 蜜桃av continue to do this,鈥� he exclaims. 鈥淚 thank the Lord for the ability to be part of this experience. It did get very intense at times, but thankfully, we had each other.鈥�

鈥淥ne of the great things about animation is the music part of the story,鈥� notes Jesse Rademacher, MFA, associate professor for SVAD. 鈥淗aving 蜜桃av be responsible for the animation and the music is a really great testament to the power of creativity, of the things that we can accomplish on this campus. I hope we do more of that.鈥�

Deep Space is expected to be released in 2026. Meanwhile, the short has already been selected for screening by four film festivals and won two awards, one for Best Original Score from the Indie Short Fest, and a jury award for Best Debut Animation from the Athens International Film Festival. 

---