A still from "Forge Ahead"

Did you know UW-Stout has programs for Entertainment Design and Game Design and Development? ‘Tis true. And yes, it’s as cool as it sounds. In fact, at the recent Minnesota Electronic Theatre animation festival in Minneapolis, where 14 student projects were chosen to participate, 11 of them were from UW-Stout. (The Minnesota Electronic Theatre serves the computer graphics community throughout Minnesota and western Wisconsin.)

One of the animations from UW-Stout actually took 2nd place in the contest, entitled “Forge Ahead.” It was a group effort created by Andy Bensen of Amery, Chayne Bourget of Cadott, Keith Catalano of Green Bay, Tyler Haas of Cadott, and Tou Xiong of Appleton. In just over three minutes of animation, “Forge Ahead” tells the creative story of a robot who creates robots.

In the independent category, a 3-D animation called “Smorgasboard (After Per Lynse)” by Dave Beck, who is also from UW-Stout, was one of three chosen to be in the festival.

Stout students getting a BFA in Entertainment Design can choose between concentrating in Animation, Comics and Sequential Art, or Digital Cinema. There is also a BS program in Game Design and Development.

Check out the videos here. Here’s “Forge Ahead” ...