When Mouths Went Missing: A Post-Pandemic, Cross-Disciplinary Collaboration for Actors and Animators

ABSTRACT

In the months following the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic, faculty in all sectors of higher education scrambled to find solutions for teaching and learning safely. This article examines a pedagogical partnership between acting and animation professors who devised a series of collaborative classroom projects for their students. The two faculty reflect on the outcomes of the project, which unfolded in three different iterations over two semesters and brought undergraduate and graduate students together in collaborative, cross-disciplinary teams. An aspirational vision for future collaborations sets out how this pedagogical partnership might be further developed to enhance students’ training and learning in both the visual and performing arts.

KEYWORDS:

• Animation
• acting
• voice over
• visemes
• phonemes
• interdisciplinary teaching

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to acknowledge our community partners at Knoxville, Tennessee’s Central Cinema for their consideration of the students’ projects.

Both authors live and work on lands that are the traditional territory of the Tsalagi peoples (now the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma, and United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians) and Tsoyaha peoples (Yuchi and Muscogee Creek).

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Kathryn M. Cunningham

Kathryn M. Cunningham is an Assistant Professor of Theatre at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville and a certified teacher of Knight-Thompson Speechwork. Notable acting and coaching credits include TACT and the Resident Acting Company (NYC); Utah Shakespeare Festival; Asolo Rep; Nashville Rep; and numerous productions at Clarence Brown Theatre as resident voice and dialect coach. Her work has been published in the Voice and Speech Review, The Conversation, and the International Dialects of English Archive. She holds a graduate certificate in vocology from the Department of Speech and Hearing Science at Lamar University and an MFA in acting from Florida State University/Asolo Conservatory for Actor Training.

John C. Kelley

John C. Kelley is an Assistant Professor of Time-Based Art. His award-winning works have screened in international film festivals in more than 25 countries. His recent animated short A Family that Steals Dogs (2020), received a “Staff Pick” from Vimeo.com, “Best 2D Animation Overall” from the Florida Animation Festival, The Golden Hat Award for Best International Short at Animattikon in Cyprus, Best Sound Design at the Ottawa International Animation Festival, and was nominated for Best Animation Short at Raindance Film Fest in London. He has been an artist-in-residence at Cow House Studios in Ireland and the Hambidge Center in Georgia.