It’s the beginning of a new Academic Year, and many students are currently pitching their thesis projects and getting excited to produce brand new short films. We are excited too! We hope to be able to continue our support of the SHM filmmakers community, and one of the ways we do that is to pair current students with alumni and industry professionals, to help them to elevate the quality of their productions.
We also have plans to continue sponsoring events, featuring our alumni and other industry artists, to get the SHM filmmaking community excited to produce short films and exchange information and ideas.
Our current board has been working hard for 2 years now, and it is about time for a renewal. We are looking for new committed board members to spearhead the SHM Film Collective. If you are interested please fill out this interest form here.
Yay! The SHM Con of 2022, which happened in April 23rd of 2022, was the perfect venue for SHM Film Collective super special screening of all the SHM short films completed in 2020 and 2021. 14 films!!!! We hosted the 2 hours long event at the Student Union Theater, and after the screening we hosted a super awesome Q&A with the filmmakers!!!Even though everybody was wiped out after several hours of SHM Con, all the seats were taken and the theater was completely full. In the audience, SHM faculty, alumni, current students and their families were offered a great treat: films with amazing stories, told in all kinds of different visual styles.
These were 14 films that our community was able to complete during the pandemic! Not a small feat!
The screening was completely full, but not everybody stayed for the Q&A, which went on for quite a long time! The SHM filmmakers were able to talk about their productions, and gave crucial advice for the aspiring filmmakers in the audience.
Every year around February 18 (in honor of our room number 218), Shrunkenheadman students, alumni and friends of the program gather for a special convention to sell art, meet friends both old and new, and have fun hanging out and participating in events throughout the day!
This year, the event has been adapted to take place entirely online, and the SHM Film Collective will be debuting this very website, as well as streaming some of the best films to come from our program.
One of the initiatives of the SHM Film Collective to help pair current filmmakers with mentors that suit the goals of the film project. “A Bowl Full of Love” directed by Ashrita Cavalli is a a mixed media animated film about South Indian food and family bonding.
Seeking to develop a strong visual aesthetic for their film, the team reached out to the Collective to find a VisDev mentor. We paired them with Priscilla Wong, an SHM alumni currently working as a Visual Development Artist at Dreamworks Animation with experience working on several of their feature films.
“It was great to reconnect with the SJSU Animation Illustration program. So excited to see the growth of new talented artists!”.
-Priscilla Wong
We asked director Ashrita Chavali for her thoughts on the mentorship experience, and she had this to say:
“The SHM Film Collective Mentorship was a valuable asset to us. We approached the collective for guidance in visual development and crafting an interesting film. We were soon paired up with Priscilla. During our session, she pushed us to expand our horizons by reminding us of what we cherish and to look for it in our own favorite films. Thanks to her advice, we were able to cut through the clutter and truly focus on the emotional core of the film.”
-Ashrita Chavali
The SHM Film Collective wishes the “A Bowl Full of Love” team the best of luck with their film and are excited to see the final product!
As part of our mentorship program, the SHM Film Collective paired another alumni with a current BFA film in production. “Nai Nai“, directed by Hsiu Hsiu and Minori Uemura, is a 3D animated short film about a Chinese grandma who faces her hatred towards the Japanese.
The team reached out to the Collective seeking a mentor to guide them in Visual Development, so we paired them with J.P. Balmet, SHM Film Collective board member and Art Director at Dreamworks TV Animation.
Bringing a lot of VisDev experience to the table, J.P. was able to offer the team some great advice.
“My experience as a mentor on Nai Nai has been really rewarding. I definitely feel more connected to SJSU and what’s happening with the program. As always, the passion of SHM filmmakers is strong, and it’s great to meet and discuss ideas and direction. I was able to assist with Art Direction advice in the form of character and environment art notes, discussion around mood and tone in the color key/lighting, and ways to get the most out of 3D assets to serve the intent of the design/story. The students have a vision for their project and it’s cool to see what they decide to take and discard as this really is about helping them to best achieve their personal filmmaking goals. I would do it again in a heartbeat!”.
-J.P. Balmet (SJSU Grad 2007)
We reached out to the Nai Nai team to share their experience working with J.P., and here’s what they had to say:
“JP has been an exceptional mentor to our BFA project, Nai Nai, especially to the vis dev team. He has taken the time to draw over our characters and paint over the colorscript as well as given some valuable advice on how to work as a team creatively and collaboratively. His willingness to share his artistic knowledge and industry experiences are valuable lessons that we’ve learned from. “
-Pearl Kaewpanya, VisDev Artist
“The SHM Film Collective has been super invaluable for us in achieving stylistic choices in our film. We were grateful to meet JP, who was our mentor for Visdev. Throughout the process, JP was accommodating and offered us insightful feedback on making appealing characters. (Most times, he would even walk us through draw-overs and paint-overs.) In addition to feedback for our characters, JP would take a look at our colorscripts and 2D stills and offer realistic approaches in creating a mood-setting believable environment. Having JP as our mentor has been super helpful in streamlining our visdev process during the fall semester. We’re currently in the animation pipeline and will, hopefully, will be finished with the film by the end of the semester!
-Hsiu Hsiu Lin, Producer and Animator
Hsiu Hsiu Lin, Minori Uemura, and Pearl Kaewpanya
The SHM Film Collective wishes the “Nai Nai” team the best of luck with their film and are excited to see the final product!
After establishing the SHM Film Collective, we needed to have a logo to represent our organization.
We first reached out to students and alumni during the “Kaeru” screening event and held a logo contest. We received several entries, and decided upon one by our very own board member, Mai Shirai.
Mai’s original design
We all loved the idea of incorporating a film reel along with the SHM logo, and asked Mai to continue refining the concept. After receiving feedback, Mai created several iterations of her logo design, trying out different fonts and stylizations.
Eventually, we decided upon our final logo design. Special thanks to Mai for all her hard work!
A little bit about Mai Shirai, our logo creator:
Originally from Japan, Mai Shirai is a storyboard artist and a 2019 graduate of SJSU Animation/Illustration. She directed the amazing 2D short film “Coming Home” for her thesis project. Mai is also an amazing animator and designer. This girl does it all!
One of the BFA thesis groups receiving mentorship this year is “A Fleeting Moment” directed by Allyanna Demafeliz and produced by Victoria Yando.
“A Fleeting Moment” is a short animated film that follows the journey of two raindrops as they fall from the sky, and come to terms with what it means to be alive.
Being an FX heavy film, the SHM Film Collective thought it appropriate to pair the group with Brandon Louie, an alumni and 2D FX animator currently working at Flying Bark Productions in Sydney, Australia. Brandon graduated in 2019 and worked on the thesis short “Kaeru“, serving as both producer and 2D FX lead.
Here are Brandon’s thoughts on the value of the mentorship program for upcoming BFA students:
Brandon Louie
“The mentorship has been beneficial as it allows the current BFA team to learn from the experiences the Kaeru team learned in creating our own film. The first benefit is being able to share practical insight for approaching the road to a completed film. This can prove to be helpful in small, but key areas, such as knowing how to manage teams, approaches to animation techniques, and other areas. The other benefit is just knowing that there is someone who has your back that you can chat with as you’re working to finish a film. Being able to converse and share with the team behind “A Fleeting Moment” has been a wonderful experience thus far and I hope it has benefited the crew as they strive to complete their wonderful film.”
-Brandon Louie
When asked about their experience working with Brandon through the mentorship program, Director Allyanna had this to say:
“Brandon has been incredibly gracious and helpful with us! We have had one Zoom meeting together that has lasted for hours. He gave us many tips and advice from his experience working in “Kaeru,” and he also gave us additional resources for working with After Effects from some of his other crew members. We also created a Messenger group chat where we can ask for additional advice when needed. My team and I are definitely applying the advice he generously gave us, and we’re very grateful for this opportunity to help us make our film better and to connect with alumni!”
-Allyanna Demafeliz
The SHM Film Collective wishes the “A Fleeting Moment” crew the best of luck in finishing their film and cannot wait to see the final product!
The SHM Film Collective officially launched last year, and despite the craziness of 2020, the board has met every month and accomplished many things! Here is our year in review.
We introduced the SHM Film Collective to current students, explaining our initiatives and kicking off our mentorship program for the upcoming BFA film projects.
We also put together a film archive, gathering all SHM directed/produced shorts of the past and creating a database. Our goal beyond having an easy to navigate directory is to host screenings and events to highlight SHM film history. Our archive already has over 40 films, and many more will be added in future years!
In October, we organized our first launch event with “Kaeru“, a 2019 short film directed by SHM Film Collective board member Denise Chan. After explaining the goals of the Collective to a broader SHM audience, we screened the film and hosted a making-of presentation and Q&A panel with the Kaeru crew.
We still have many plans for the future but are proud to have accomplished so much in our debut year! Our immediate goals are to continue our mentorship program and to participate in the first ever online SHM Con in February so we can spread the word about our Collective. We look forward to virtually seeing everyone there!
SHMfilmcollective.org 