From the Classroom: FDTN 141
4D Class Projects range from documentaries and stop motion, animation, and motion graphics by Kes Efstathiou
Hello! My name is Kes. I have been teaching 4D Design Foundations [ FDTN 141] at RIT Photo for a few semesters. It has been an amazing experience.
4D Design is a foundations course in motion required by several programs within the College of Art and Design. Projects range from documentaries and stop motion, animation, and motion graphics. Everything is threaded together by concepts of narrative structure, continuity, experimentation, and design. 4D has a little something for everyone and projects can be geared towards each student’s interests.
With so many students from different programs with vastly different skillsets, the work produced in 4D is beautifully diverse. My favorite part is learning what students are into and how they tell their specific stories.
Below are film stills from projects created over the last two years. The projects highlight the diversity of the work and represent several projects.
Tears by Caleb Ng (new media) is an illustrated poem using stop motion. First, Caleb made the graphic assets frame by frame in Adobe Illustrator and then printed each frame out using a laser print to achieve a heather gray texture.
Wildlife by Dillon Berrus (photojournalism) is a documentation of the protected birds at Montezuma National Wildlife Refuge. He interviewed several park rangers and volunteers about their experience working in this Upstate, New York landscape.
Untitled by Maggie Novak (advertising photography) is an interview with an ex-boyfriend in a unique style that blends together documentary and art films. The storyline is ambiguous, leaving room for the viewer to investigate the relationship dynamic.
Again Again by Alex Raguso (3D digital design) is an animated tale created with graphic assets drawn on a cell phone. The story navigates themes of mortality, friendship, and the mundane world.
Bio:
Kes Efstathiou (eF-sta-thEE-O) is a photographic artist whose current practice and research grapples with societal perceptions of masculinity and his own self-imposed expectations of gender expression. Largely influenced by the outdoor industry, Kes’s images use plaid within a western landscape setting to create the “mountain man” stereotype.
Kes Efstathiou really likes buffalo checkered plaid. He hopes that when you see him wearing his favorite flannel shirt, you assume he is excellent at chopping firewood.
Efstathiou earned an MFA in Imaging Arts from Rochester Institute of Technology and a BA in Photography from Montana State University – Bozeman.
Instagram: @k_efs