Extinguished

Ashley Anderson:
Ashley Anderson grew up in a military family and moved to many different places throughout her childhood. As a result of the constant travel, her interest in art was sparked at a very young age when visiting the numerous art museums throughout Europe. She always knew she wanted to be an artist, but it wasn’t until later that she discovered she wanted to be an animator. During the summer of her junior year in highschool, she had the wonderful opportunity to intern with Moonbot Studios in Shreveport, Louisiana. There she got a taste of what it was like to work in a real animation studio amongst creative and talented people who share the same passion. Many of the people there were Ringling alumni, and so the choice for college seemed obvious. While at Ringling, Ashley’s creativity was able to shine as she dedicatedly worked on every animation piece to the best of her ability. Ringling’s tough curriculum prepared her for a summer internship during her Junior year, as a character animator for Zynga games. There she was able to strengthen her animation skills, while at the same time gaining the real world experience of creating animation that was put into actual games. Now as Ashley completes her degree in Computer Animation from Ringling, she is more excited than ever to fully realize her dream of becoming a character animator. Animating is a way of doing the impossible – it takes you to places you cannot otherwise go. It moves you, and affects you… and great animation will stick with you a lifetime.

Jacob Mann:
Jacob Mann grew up in the seaside town of Brighton, England. His parents are artists and his love of animation and art was cultivated from a young age. During his senior education he became especially inspired by artists of the Baroque and Renaissance periods and their intense, magical use of light. After finishing his senior school he moved to Denmark to study at the Animation Workshop in Viborg to study Classical Drawing on a 6 month intensive classic drawing course. During this time he was accepted at Ringling College of Art and Design, where he won a Dreamworks Scholarship. After his first year at Ringling he returned to the UK for the Summer to intern with the photographer Rankin, an experience which cemented his love for practical and CG lighting. The following year he was fortunate to be accepted to join Walt Disney Animation as a “Art and Production Intern” for the summer where he learned a lot from his mentors and fellow interns. His experience there fuelled his determination, ambition and inspiration for his chosen career and he returned to college to work with his fellow student, Ashley Anderson, full of enthusiasm and drive for his senior Thesis - Extinguished. This summer he is excited to be joining Blue Sky Studios in Connecticut as a Lighting Intern.