When you first join the e-Communication 21st
century program at Olathe Northwest, you take a survey of all the courses. As a
junior you have to choose your area of focus.
Kelsie Wilt chose Animation, and it is paying off for her.
Wilt, a senior here at ONW, has been a part of e-Comm since
her freshman year, but has had a love for animation ever since she was a child.
“I love the idea of creating a character and then making it
come to life,” Wilt said. “The Disney movies I watched when I was younger really
got me into it.”
Wilt’s favorite way of animation is 2D, which is the way she
draws all her animated animals.
“Even though they’re harder to animate, they are more fun
and easier to actually draw,” Wilt said. “You can make them become anything you
want.”
This passion for animation has paid off big time, as she was
accepted into the prestigious Kansas City Art Institute.
“A lot of animation companies look to them for animators
once they graduate,” Wilt said. “That’s what I hope to do with my career.”
Her work has not only gotten her into KCAI, but she recently
won a pixel award at the eMagine film
“I’ve always drawn wolves since I was little because they’re
my favorite animal,” Wilt said.
"The Wolf" is a 2D animation that involves a wolf running
across the screen and howling at the moon. As you watch it, you might think
something like that is easy to do.
But think again.
That wolf took over two months and almost 40 separate
drawings to complete. Wilt studied the way wolves ran in packs to make this
animation as realistic as possible.
“It was extremely time consuming, but it paid off in the
end.”
When looking back to her past four years at ONW, Wilt is
glad she joined e-Comm, especially the animation wing.
“e-Comm really helped me get out of my shell and show me
what I want to do with the rest of my life,” Wilt said. “It helped me discover
the talent that I didn’t know I had.”
