LA+D Animation & Motion Media

Sad news from the world of AIB/LUCAD/LA+D Animation. Alumnus Anh Tran, who graduated in 2016, passed away in Vietnam this week due to heart disease. He is well-remembered by his friends and classmates for his sense of humor, and I have two distinct memories of Anh. One is his work in Character Animation, a class then called "Animation Basics 2." Anh turned in two assignments of lively and well-timed effects animation -- lightning and smoke and cloud-things surging toward the camera. I don't think we'd never had anyone in the program who attempted work like this, and Anh was a natural. I wondered if that's where he might end up if he pursued a career in the animation industry. The other memory is that of his senior thesis film. Anh wanted to animate two tough guys fighting. No story, no dialogue, no color. Just two dudes punching and lunging around in full-out anime and action movie fashion. Again, no one had ever done something like this. And the effects animation within it was, of course, great.  --Tim Finn, 7 May 2020.