Seeing the Bigger Picture
November 27th, 2010
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In the late 19th century, the art of creating visual effects for film began with frame by frame animations of moving pictures. Now, effects-men like Matt Wallin (Virginia Commonwealth University) are creating life-like icons in movies like King Kong, Jurassic Park 2, and Star Wars I: The Phantom Menace. Wallin tells us about his visual effects work and what it was like to be a stormtrooper for a new scene in Star Wars. Also featured: Teenagers are in constant contact with each other through texting or on sites like Facebook. But there is a downside. Linda Waldron (Christopher Newport University) says there has been a dramatic increase in cyber-bullying with sometimes tragic consequences. And also: Imagine a desktop printer that produces tennis shoes, chocolate Rotundas and even helps design a rocket. Glen Bull (University of Virginia) is introducing a machine called a digital fabricator into the classroom. It’s a cutting edge technology teaching tool that forms actual three-dimensional objects from designs created by students.
