Three faculty members and 15 students from SAE Expression College’s Animation Department teamed up to create an animated educational short film for the San Francisco Junior Giants, a charitable arm of the San Francisco Giants.
The “Splash Hit” animated video was created to teach important lessons about health, education, the four bases of character development (integrity, leadership, confidence, team work), and striking out bullying. The message is tailored to a young audience and is conveyed in an engaging and enjoyable manner featuring two sea lion characters in McCovey Cove with the AT&T ballpark serving as the backdrop.
“We wanted to tell a story that was not dull and boring, but one that the kids would enjoy while learning the important message the stunning video conveys,” says Brian Andrews, Program Chair of Animation & Visual Effects as well as Digital Filmmaking at SAE Expression College. “All the work on the film was done by students, production time for the project was 16 weeks and was a collaborative effort between two cohorts of students. The project provided a great opportunity to give the students real world experience.”
The Animation & Visual Effects program students who contributed their talents to the project include:
Jeff Anderson (Sound Arts)
- Jessica Bundang
- Chloe Costa
- Rachel Donnelly
- Mehrdad Fatemi
- Jason Heist
- Jorge Holguin
- Diana Huang
- Marcus Lee-Sorondo
- Katharine Makaiwi
- Art Martinez
- Benjamin Nzomo
- David Rosales
- David Saechao
- Nathan Spandorf
Faculty members Lauren Morrison and Justin Pixler also worked on the project alongside Brian Andrews.
The video also features the voice of Buster Posey, pitcher for the San Francisco Giants.
The “Splash Hit” is available on MLB.com and was distributed on DVD to 90,000 families participating in the Junior Giants program.
