Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/780285
P E R S P E C T I V E | M A R C H / A P R I L 2 0 1 7 61 Below: KAHEI SHUM (Class of 2017) is originally from Hong Kong. She graduated with a BA in theater and drama from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a MFA in costume design from the UNCSA. Her costume work has been seen at Theatre Charlotte, Children's Theatre of Charlotte, UNC Charlotte, Davison College, The Barter Players, Wake Forest University, Arts Center of Coastal Carolina and the Orlando Repertory Theatre. She is now pursuing her degree in Production Design in filmmaking. Pictured here is a set still and concept art for a short film she recently designed, PICA. It was hand drawn and then enhanced with Adobe Photoshop ® . KAHEI is very prolific and has designed several other short films during her time at UNCSA: THE COAT, THE CHECK, AND THE TRIAL, SHADES, MADNESS and BLAME. a 30,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art facility that houses the Film School's Production Design, digital design, gaming, animation, visual effects and special effects programs. All third- and fourth-year Production Design majors are supplied a Wacom ® at their workstations to hone their skills. Although tech-savvy, the program stresses a curriculum based on a fulcrum of fine arts. Students begin with core classes in color & design, perspective drawing and life drawing before moving onto advanced classes in set illustration and digital design. Hand-drafting is taught alongside computer-aided design. A heavy emphasis is also placed on mentoring by faculty who are working professionals, seminars with guest artists, set decoration, prop design and manufacturing, model making, scenic techniques, set construction, and visits to Los Angeles film sets and studios to help students develop marketable skills. Production Design Chair Burton Rencher said, "It is our faculty's intention to develop well-rounded, highly trained, professional designers and other creative personnel for our industry. This is in keeping with the mission of the conservatory and that will always be our priority." Above: NICOLE GISELLE ENG (Class of 2018) is currently at UNCSA studying ways to use Production Design, and by extension film, as a medium for art. Born in Seattle, Ms. Eng has lived throughout the Americas, and weaves the multiple experiences of different cultures and perspectives into her work. The model is rendered in ½ inch scale in AutoCAD ® for A PIQUE OF INTEREST, a surreal, biographic piece looking into honest moments of womanhood. The set shows, through metaphor, the journey of blooming into womanhood, from the wide-eyed openness of youth signified by the woods, transitioning through the bathroom, a space of privacy and mirrored reflections, into a bedroom where the fulfillment and responsibilities of womanhood are finally realized. Left: DELANEY RATH (Class of 2018) fabricated this model in preparation for her third-year thesis film, THE PATIENT. In the mid-1960s, when a lobotomy was considered the ultimate cure for being gay, a doctor must make a moral decision while facing his own demons about his sexual preferences. Delaney started with this rendering in SketchUp ® , moving the information to AutoCAD for her elevations. The School of Filmmaking has seen an eighteen percent increase in enrollment over the past four years. Applications were up by thirty-five percent this year. Three UNCSA students have been accepted into the Art Directors Guild Production Apprentice Training Program and notably, all of last year's Production Design graduates are employed in an Art Department. Clearly, UNCSA's mission is on track. ADG