This week, Flashpoint’s Women in Media joined Broadcast Meteorologist Mary Kay Kleist for a behind the scenes look at CBS studios in Chicago. After their visit, second year Recording Arts student Elena Rubin shared her reactions.

Our tour of CBS studios with Mary Kay Kleist was an absolute blast!

Mary Kay was gracious enough to give us a comprehensive tour of the CBS floors where we had the chance to meet with anchors, producers, directors, editors and many more. Everyone was so warm and inviting and seemed genuinely interested in our career prospects and offered up meaningful words of wisdom that they have gained throughout the years in the industry.

Mary Kay finished up our tour by bringing us down to the main studio where we had the opportunity to see her and the rest of the anchor crew in action. We were all taken aback at how everyone handled their jobs with such ease .

This tour was incredibly inspiring and educational. Students from all media background (broadcast, film, recording arts, visual FX) will learn a ton from this terrific touring opportunity!

As a part of Flashpoint’s Jumpstart speaker series,  CEO Howard Tullman took time to talk with students about his history, his experience, and the things he’s learned along the way.

Dylan Morris, a first year student at Flashpoint, shares the following reactions.

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Howard’s speech for me summed up what Flashpoint is about: perseverance, dedication, work ethic, and excellence.  He began by discussing his personal history and some of the businesses he started like the Cobalt Croup, Jam TV, and tunes.com. Howard’s speech was about what one needs to be successful here at Flashpoint and in any industry one wants to make a career in,  in my case the film industry.

What Howard said one needs is a good work ethic, perseverance, and the dedication to whatever one does, whether it be a film project, video game, or writing a paper. “Be focused,” he advised; If you make a pitch and say “I have this idea, but I also have this other one,” no one will think you believe in what you’re pitching.  In a pitch, you need to believe in your project and yourself because you’re also selling yourself and your abilities.

Howard also said that you can’t let a crisis stop you; you’ve got to keep fighting!  There will always be crises, especially in the film industry. If you let the crises stop you then you will never finish the project. Never settle or, in other words, if you think you can cheat a shoot instead of doing it right, then you might as well not do it. But what Howard said that got my attention the most is you can’t control success. No one never knows if a movie will be successful (except James Cameron). What you can control is excellence. That’s what this school is about, and that’s what I am about.  If that’s what you’re about, then this is the place you can achieve excellence.

Flashpoint Academy Film and VFX students combined efforts to create a short video for the American Lung Association’s Fight for Air Stair Climbs. This video will be played over 6 million times in prominent skyscrapers citywide.

About Fight For Air Climbs:

Fight for Air Climbs are unique fundraising events for the American Lung Association. They usually happen in prominent skyscrapers, stadiums or arenas and involve climbing multiple steps. Sometimes called a “vertical road race”, teams and individual participants can use the event as a fitness target, as a race, with you challenging yourself or you racing against other people, or as a great way to be active and meet new friends. American Lung Association Climbs are also a wonderful way to support someone who has lung disease or as a memorial to someone who has passed away.

Watch the video here:

Flashpoint Academy Film and VFX Departments Combine to Create Video for American Lung Association (from Howard Tullman on Vimeo).

February 7, 2010
CHICAGO NEWS COOPERATIVE

A High-Tech Alternative for Hollywood Hopefuls
By JAMES WARREN

James Warren is a columnist for the Chicago News Cooperative.

“House lights up!” proclaimed the silver-haired former lawyer who, with blue jeans, black T-shirt, black safari jacket and Nikes, looked oh-so Hollywood in an oh-so Chicago bastion, the Merchandise Mart.

As four understudies from the Second City comedy troupe entered the sound stage, they were trailed by film students climaxing three weeks of labor by taping a half-hour faux “Saturday Night Live.” It featured comedy sketches, droll pre-taped mock commercials and a live performance by Rhymefest, a hip hop artist.

The students get academic credit by handling sound, cameras, lights and the funny people, all with the help of professionals, and their polished handiwork, “Live at the Mart,” may soon be shown on NBC locally or nationally. It underscored the glitz, teamwork and market-driven pragmatism at the core of Chicago’s Flashpoint Academy of Media Arts and Sciences, one of the country’s most curious and disorienting educational institutions.

Imagine Pixar, Disney, Nintendo and Dreamworks all melded into a vocational setting. Started in 2007, this is a pricey ($25,000 a year) two-year school intended for those not motivated by high school, or brief college stays, but who are captivated by technology.
“I was bored by high school,” said Craig Reuss, 18, a red-haired, somnolent-looking first-year student from Lake Geneva, Wis., who wants to work in video games.

Focused in four areas — students can earn an associate of applied science in recording arts, visual effects and animation, game development and film — Flashpoint has drawn visits and testimonials from directors like Ken Burns, Harold Ramis and Quentin Tarantino, as well as executives from Microsoft, broadcast producers and video game development firms.

Howard Tullman, the ex-lawyer with a sleek West Coast look and air, runs the academy on a belief that too many students are “demotivated” by technology-poor four-year schools, and that the convergence of digital technologies necessitates a cross-disciplinary curriculum, mandated collaboration and faculty from high-tech industries.

A workaholic P.T. Barnum with an eclectic modern art collection that is on display throughout the hallways, Mr. Tullman is unabashedly derisive of old academia. He labels “a joke” the tradition of professors’ lecturing, and finds most university film schools a waste, producing “coffee fetchers.”

The academy has 450 students, 26 full-time faculty members and a core curriculum of basic communications skills, English and math. Students work 30 to 40 hours a week producing video games, films and animation. Microsoft and others use the school to test next-generation technology.

“This is the Julliard of digital technology,” said Lyn Niemann of Downers Grove, a former Chicago Tribune reporter and, at 45, one of the older students.

Start-up costs were $20 million, with 90,000 square feet at the main building at 28 North Clark Street, and 50,000 square feet at the Mart. Even pros are taken aback by the facilities: two large performance and broadcast stages; four sound recording studios; five 36-station computer labs for film, recording arts, animation and game development; 10 classrooms with multiple projectors and surround sound; a vast digital media storage infrastructure and a screening room also used by big-time movie productions filming in Chicago.

Amanda See, 21, an aspiring film producer from Huntley, Ill., spent a year at the University of Iowa, and then decided to go to Flashpoint. “They just couldn’t keep up with the fast pace of the industry,” she said of Iowa.

Nicholas Gerger, 21, of Barrington, spent three semesters at Harper College. “I didn’t do well and didn’t apply myself,” he said. He was entranced during a tour of Flashpoint and delighted when he got a camera and a mandate to “go out and do something” on his first day of cinematography.

Classes meet three times a week for nine weeks. Flashpoint said it placed 70 percent of its graduates — most impressive, given the economy — and it was just awarded degree-granting authority from the Illinois Board of Higher Education, a key step in the ultimate goal of formal accreditation.

Local employers lauding the academy include Josh Tsui, president of Robomodo, a Chicago video game developer who created the latest version of the popular Tony Hawk series. Bruno Cohen, general manager of WBBM-TV, finds Flashpoint inspirational. “It’s all about preparation, focus and hard work,” Mr. Cohen said.

Ultimately, the academy appears to be a welcome experiment: a vocational school not for traditional blue-collar trades but for creative tasks.

Mr. Tullman is probably too harsh in his assessment of the many inspiring professors in liberal arts lecture halls. But the market will be the final arbiter.

James Warren is a longtime Chicago journalist and the publisher of The Chicago Reader.

Flashpoint Academy continued its support of CG Society: Chicago Chapter on Friday night, hosting another well-attended workshop with a presentation by Heinz Schuller from Day 1.

Heinz presented an in-depth look at lighting for games that included:

• Heinz’ background and the background of Day 1
• Who lighting artists are, what a lighting artist needs to know, and what a lighting artist does
• Day 1’s approach to lighting from an aesthetic point of view
• Comparisons between dynamic and static lighting
• Deferred shading
• The relationship between light volumes and light complexity
• The elements within an artist’s toolbox for lighting
• Global lighting
• Local lighting
• The future of lighting for games, including radiance sampling

Flashpoint Academy’s Production In Action, “At the Mart,” a live to tape comedy show featuring The Second City and musical guest Rhymefest, taped this week in front of a live studio audience — and NBC Chicago was there to capture the action.

Click For Video on nbcchicago.com

Cameras and coffee and bears, oh my!

As a part of Flashpoint’s January 2010 Production In Action curriculum, Flashpoint Academy students band together to create “The Point” – A Live to Tape Television Show Featuring an Ensemble of Second City Performers.

Flashpoint Academy students are workign with a very talented cast of actors from Second City to develop new characters and write a series of live sketches for the new show. In addition, the Second City troupe will perform a number of short digital films being produced by the students.

Throughout the process of creating this show, students of all disciplines have helped tackle some of today’s most pressing issues, including animal nights and inter-species cooperation, office decorum, and such timely questions as, “Where can a bear get a decent cuppa joe in the morning?”

Animation and Visual Effects students at Flashpoint are working with a major Hollywood animator to prepare an animated short for the show. In addition, they will be creating the show’s opening credits, behind the scenes materials, and special effects for other digital shorts.

2009 was a big year for iPhone apps, seeing the development and release of thousands of mobile applications for the iPhone and iPod Touch. At the beginning of 2010, the editors at The Portable Gamer consulted on the best App Store games and selected bitFLIP as one of the top TPG Picks of 2009.

“BitFLIP has got a unique take on the gem matching casual game that has been so popular for the last several years. By giving each piece two sides, there are multiple ways to create your combos. Add to that the variety of power-ups that are available, and you have a game that is always different. Whether you have a few minutes, or all the in the world, the multiple game modes have an option to fit into your schedule. Honestly though, one of the best things BitFlip has going for it is the music by Robert Clouth, it’s energetic and fun which sets the tone for gameplay well. – Frank Delaney”

bitFLIP was developed by Flashpoint Academy graduates at Metamoorephosis.

With announcements of 3D programming coming from several key television networks and a 3D animated feature in theaters shattering box office records, ABC 7’s Leah Hope turns to Flashpoint Academy’s Animation & Visual Effects chair Perry Harovas for insight into the art and science behind this increasingly popular 3D technology.

Click for Video

January 05, 2009
Education 2010: Digital Planet
Emily Torem

The starving-artist stereotype has unfortunately maintained a decent amount of credibility, which could explain why myriad parents scoff at kids who harbor Dawson Leary-like dreams of being the next Spielberg past adolescence. Flashpoint Academy, with its combination of real-world practicality and a passion for the digital arts, is helping to dispel that notion. “Thanks to the ubiquitous nature of media, and the downscaling of technology, anyone can make a living in the arts—with the right education to get them started,” says Academic Dean Paula Froehle.

Founded in 2007, the fledgling digital-arts college in downtown Chicago offers intensive two-year programs in one of four areas: Game Development, Film & Broadcast, Recording Arts and Visual Effects & Animation.

Flashpoint differs from other four-year colleges in its cross-disciplinary, immersive approach to teaching that keeps current with the pace of the industry. “Today keeps changing to tomorrow; it’s a constantly evolving field,” says Perry Harovas, Chair of the Digital Effects and Animation Department. Timeless skills, like the ability to follow a project through from start to finish, teamwork and problem-solving skills are emphasized. “Rather than having them be button jockeys, [they] learn how to use all the tools together and have them know everything that’s going on behind the scenes.”

Flashpoint’s faculty are all strongly encouraged, if not required, to continue working professionally in their respective industries, keeping up to date with current developments and software changes. Harovas has just completed some film trailers for Liongate Entertainment. “When a new piece of technology comes out and does things better and faster, we can change the curriculum to reflect that,” says Harovas. “This flexibility keeps us attentive, alive and current for the students—a vital aspect of teaching the digital arts,” says Froehle. “As soon as it becomes outdated, you’re teaching history, not contemporary approaches.”

Flashpoint students are on a schedule that is far from typical for a college student: they are expected to be on site forty-to-sixty hours a week. Additionally, students are expected to adhere to Flashpoint Professional Standards, including accountability, collaboration and initiative, traits considered vital to succeeding as a professional in any field. Students can gain or lose FPS points based on their behavior outside the classroom. “In a lot of ways we are more like a graduate program—we expect a dedication that is at that level, and in return, we offer a student a two-year immersion in professional education,” says Froehle.

“We aren’t a place where a student can spend time ‘finding themselves’ or trying to discover what it is they want to do,” says Froehle. “A Flashpoint student must know the field they want to enter before being accepted.”

For the right student, however, Flashpoint seems to have held up its end. Froehle easily lists impressive job placements by Flashpoint’s first—and as of yet only—graduating class, freshly minted in May 2009. Film grads litter the West Coast, placed with top production companies, while others make their way in freelance gigs on reality TV crews. Still others have stayed in Chicago, working for outfits like WriteGoal, a local production company. A group of Recording Arts students work audio for area concerts, having done the Elton John/Billy Joel at Wrigley and several Broadway shows, including “The Addams Family.”

“When I see our students at graduation, and hear how well they’re doing in their new careers,” Froehle says, “I feel absolutely certain that for the right student, this approach is the best education for media artists in the twenty-first century.”