Below is a transcript of our conversation with CMU Professor Steven Leeper and CMU graduate Lindsay Robertson…
David Nicholas:
I'm David Nicholas and this is Central Focus, a weekly look at research activity and innovative work from Central Michigan University students and faculty. The issue of climate change has believers and deniers, and the debate is still very polarizing. With funding from a NASA grant, CMU professor Stephan Leeper from the Department of Art and Design is developing animation to illustrate and raise awareness on the concept of climate change. Lindsey Robertson, a May 2024 graduate, served as the lead student assistant and will continue work on the project prior to beginning grad school. They both joined me in studio…
Stephan Leeper:
I think a couple of years back I was having coffee with David Weindorf from research and showing him some of the work we were doing, and he was really excited about a lot of different things that were going on and then after our meeting, he watched some of the links I'd sent him and he sent me two frame grabs that were polar opposites. One of them, and he said these) these two things really get me excited. One of them were battling 3D robots, which we teach right, and the other one was a frame grab from (from) Lindsey's thesis project, which was a pulsing orange liquid, totally abstract that (that) just kind of grabs you at this visceral level, right? And (and) then with that, he sent me a photograph (of a) (of a science of a), of a of an earth scientist doing a presentation and that image on the screen looked exactly like what Lindsey's frame grab was, and that connection was pretty interesting. Like, you know, these (these) scientists are trying to show their work and explain what it means. And at the same time, Lindsey's kind of playing around with the same imagery and making it move. And that was a kind of an AHA moment.
DN:
Somewhere in the back of your mind. Were you seeing it? This pulsating orange figure as (as) something that represented…fill in the blank.
Lindsay Robertson:
Yes, so it's funny. So yes, it's abstract, but I was working with data from an old textbook about body sizes and ideal body weights. And so, I had, that's what my senior thesis was about was how angry I was at all of these ideal bodies that were put in a textbook. And so that was in the back of my mind while I was animating. So that's possibly why it ended up looking the way it did like that chart.
DN:
But no immediate connection then to climate change. So how (how) did that that gap, the meeting with former Vice President Weindorf, how did that then get you folks linked up with other science folks? And (and) starting to see the possibilities of animation being used to (to) better, pardon the pun, illustrate what the scientists are trying to say about climate change.
SL:
Dr. Weindorf is a wonderful collaborator and was just fascinated with (the), with all the ways that animation was being kind of celebrated in our program, and when the NASA grant came up, it was a unique opportunity for CMU.
DN:
Specifically, this CMU model that (that) they will use in the potential overall project for (for) scientists and (and) what they want to illustrate.
SL:
The immediate goal is to just make the media, right? To create this visceral experience for the viewer where that science data has a tendency to be kind of cold and meaningless. It's, but if you understand what the ramifications are, what's at stake that should, that's a story, right? That has emotional impact.
LR:
The end goal is a one to two-minute animation that can be broken into like bumpers or segments, essentially that could be shown like 20 seconds just in public spaces. So, it's like an awareness and then possibly you know there's a QR code to the full length. But just to get people thinking about it and to (to) catch their attention immediately with the imagery.
DN:
Growing interest overall in animation, the art of the storytelling through animation and now a use of that type of story when it comes to looking at the concepts of climate change. Steve Leaper from the Animation department and the School of Art and, Department of Art and Design at Central Michigan University and Lindsey Robertson, graduate of that program, congratulations on receiving the grant. Best of luck with the project moving forward. Thanks to both of you for coming in.
LR. SL:
Thank you! Thank you!
