Nine boys and girls from Denver high schools will team up to create three-dimensional animated movie trailers starting June 1 as part of the University of Colorado at Boulder's DigitalCUrrents program.
The students, from Thomas Jefferson and Denver North High Schools, will attend the DigitalCUrrents Summer Day Camp hosted by CU-Boulder and the Denver Public Schools' Computer Magnet Program from June 1 to June 23.
During the first seven days of camp, the students will be on the CU-Boulder campus to create a 30-second trailer for a larger 3D animated film. Students will learn about 3D design, animation, storytelling and sound from CU-Boulder computer science professors and Computer Magnet Program instructors.
Each student team can enter its trailer in the CU-Boulder Alliance for Technology, Learning and Society (ATLAS) Film Festival Contest, with the winning films displayed in the new ATLAS building at CU-Boulder. The ATLAS center is under construction and is scheduled to open in fall 2006. Members of the winning team will each receive a 3D animation and film software package of their own.
The second and third weeks of the camp shift to participating Denver high schools, where the high school students will teach their new skills to a group of middle-school girls. The high school and middle school students will all work together to complete a longer 3D animated film.
DigitalCUrrents is a partnership between CU-Boulder's ATLAS Institute and the Denver Public School's Computer Magnet Program. The magnet program gives typically underrepresented students an opportunity to work with technology and acquire real-world technology skills.
The Computer Magnet Program and the ATLAS Institute encourage education in technological fields and seek to expand opportunities for all young people to use technology.
For more information on the ATLAS initiative, contact Lucy Sanders, ATLAS executive-in-residence, at (303) 735-5108 or cuatlas@spot.colorado.edu.