Kelsie Wilt: Animator in the making

Screen Shot 2015-04-29 at 1.45.08 PMWhen you first join the e-Communication 21st century program at Olathe Northwest, you take a survey of all the courses. As a junior you have to choose your area of focus.

Kelsie Wilt chose Animation, and it is paying off for her.

Wilt, a senior here at ONW, has been a part of e-Comm since her freshman year, but has had a love for animation ever since she was a child.

“I love the idea of creating a character and then making it come to life,” Wilt said. “The Disney movies I watched when I was younger really got me into it.”

Wilt’s favorite way of animation is 2D, which is the way she draws all her animated animals.

“Even though they’re harder to animate, they are more fun and easier to actually draw,” Wilt said. “You can make them become anything you want.”

This passion for animation has paid off big time, as she was accepted into the prestigious Kansas City Art Institute.

“A lot of animation companies look to them for animators once they graduate,” Wilt said. “That’s what I hope to do with my career.”

Her work has not only gotten her into KCAI, but she recently won a pixel award at the eMagine film festival for her work, “The Wolf.”

“I’ve always drawn wolves since I was little because they’re my favorite animal,” Wilt said.

“The Wolf” is a 2D animation that involves a wolf running across the screen and howling at the moon. As you watch it, you might think something like that is easy to do.

But think again.

That wolf took over two months and almost 40 separate drawings to complete. Wilt studied the way wolves ran in packs to make this animation as realistic as possible.

“It was extremely time consuming, but it paid off in the end.”

When looking back to her past four years at ONW, Wilt is glad she joined e-Comm, especially the animation wing.

“e-Comm really helped me get out of my shell and show me what I want to do with the rest of my life,” Wilt said. “It helped me discover the talent that I didn’t know I had.”

 
 

More Posts in eComm Frontpage News

 
 

Share this Post