At Disney, animator Brad Condie helped bring to life the characters in such films as "Pocahontas," "Mulan," and "The Hunchback of Notre Dame." 

Now, as a professor at Ball State University, he is part a faculty project to create a one-minute animated short film, "Beatnik Sermon." He is joining with Andy Beane, interim director of the School of Art, and Matt Mullins, an English professor.

The film is based on a short poem by Mullins, which touches on existential ideas of value and reality. Mullins voices the poem through a 3D animated head/bust.

Condie has animated the 3D character, represented in layers of stacked and glued cardboard, and synchronized it to the dialogue. The 700 individual cardboard heads were shot outside over a period of 10 daylight hours to form a sort of time-lapse film. The film will be submitted for competition in national and international festivals.

Still in the works for Condi is a 10-minute short animated film created for virtual reality. The story centers on a newly single dad trying to potty train his 2-year-old son. The film is both funny and heartfelt in the struggle to keep it all together in a post-divorce life with shared custody, said Condi, who will use 3D animation software on the characters. The VR film will also be submitted to national and international festivals.

Read more about Condie: https://magazine.bsu.edu/2019/12/19/brad-condie/