CENTER FOR COMPUTATION & TECHNOLOGY

Aspiring young moviemakers are using just about anything to give form to their self-made animated shorts during art and animation camp this month. Lego blocks, toy figurines and chalk illustrations come to life in stories of super action heroes, dancing flowers, dueling cowboys and a spoof on the Kool-Aid man. Middle and high school students are making their minimovies with techniques learned in Baton Rouge Community College classrooms at the James M. Brazier Senior building, 555 Julia St. As south Louisiana has become a popular site for Hollywood movie makers, the opportunities for aspiring filmmakers is growing as well. The LSU Center for Computation & Technology, which served as host for the Red Stick International Animation Festival in April, is also offering an animation camp. The weeklong program, co-hosted by LSU's School of Art, is providing training this week to about 20 juniors and seniors. The monthlong BRCC program, which wraps up Friday, drew 27 students in grades seven through high school. Campers created short film plots ranging from a dance-off between two clay figurines, a war between clones and droids in “Episode 2.5” of the “Star Wars” saga and a lasso-wielding Indiana Jones. Students also took lessons on claymation and other techniques, said Julie Rollins, programs specialist at BRCC. When Taylor Barras, 14, and her team of film-making buddies got tired of creating animation from clay, they turned to the classroom chalkboard and drew comedy illustrations of some of the Rugrats. They used a Webcam to take photos of the chalkboard illustrations, which included a spider descending upon Rugrats character Angelica's head. Professional art instructor Cyndy Giachetti helped students create lifesize heads and busts. “Giving them the art experience builds confidence and helps them be creative,” Giachetti said. Instructor David Sedevie, who specializes in theater and film production at BRCC, gave students the basics and the equipment to prepare their movies. Creating characters for minimovies is simple; taking photos and filming is the time-consuming part, said Barras, who snapped dozens of photos to create the chalkboard movie scenes. Kaitlyn Henderson, 12, of Baton Rouge makes homemade movies featuring family and friends. “We act stuff out and make scripts and it's fun,” she said. Henderson and several other campers said they drew their inspiration from the film, “Finding Nemo.” “It looked real. The ocean looked like real water,” Kaitlyn said. “Star Wars” fans Joshua Fernandes, 17, and Denis Frie, 15, both of Baton Rouge, used Legos and a spacelike background about the size of standard notebook paper to add their chapter to the “Star Wars” series. Their 1-inch-tall Lego clones and droids appeared far bigger on screen after the boys used zoom-in shots to capture the action. For action hero fans Charlie Flanders and Tyler Usie, both 12 of Zachary, there was no limit on plots and story lines for their “Star Wars” and “Indiana Jones” characters. “The hardest part is making the figures stand up,” said Tyler, who often works with Charlie to create homemade movies. The duo said they have big visions in sight. “We want to make movies for Pixar,” Usie said. Earneisha Downs, 13, wants to create her own cartoon television show, she said. Downs draws inspiration from Pokemon characters. Campers gave top votes to Jian Massucco, 12, for her dancing purple- and-pink flower. “I try to create something fun that everybody will like,” she said. She also created a film about sour candy sweeties that came to life. Jian, who has danced since age 4 and enjoys art and making movies, said her imagination helps her creativity. “I think about what I would like to see in a movie,” she said. Camper Amber Burks, 11, of Atlanta, said the camp has inspired her. “This is new and really cool.”