Professor DeNigris' Sabbatical Vlog

Some of you may know that Professor Paul DeNigris, Program Champion for Digital Video at University of Advancing Technology, has taken a sabbatical this Spring semester to get some additional industry experience working in visual effects in Hollywood. Paul is keeping a daily vlog of his experiences in LA, which he calls "Hollywood at 45." Check it out here:

Ignite Phoenix #16 videos now online!

UAT Digital Video is proud to have provided video production support for the last 2 iterations of Ignite Phoenix, a homegrown event where speakers get five minutes to educate and entice the audience with something they are passionate about. Topics run the gamut from politics to food to dinosaurs to cosplay. It's all over the place, and that's what's exciting about Ignite!

Here's the complete playlist for Ignite Phoenix #16:



And if you missed Ignite Phoenix #15 a few months back, here it is:

TEDx Evans Churchill videos now online

Here's a playlist of one of the events we covered this semester, TEDx Evans Churchill, held in November at Phoenix's BioScience High School!

UAT DV Vlog: Behind the Scenes at Nerdtacular 2013!

This is the second year in which the UAT Digital Video crew has traveled up to Salt Lake City to film FrogPants Studios' annual Nerdtacular event. This year though, our vlog crew captured the fun! Check it out:

UAT DV Vlog: Practical Effects!

Check this out - the students had some fun with dry ice and burning steel wool in the Advanced VFX class. Stick around til then end to see a sneak peek at a VFX shot from our upcoming time travel film "Ouroboros!"

UAT DV Vlog: Phoenix Comicon!

Check out the cosplayers, vendors, and mayhem at Phoenix Comicon thru the eyes of UAT Digital Video!

UAT DV Vlog: Phoenix Comicon Set Construction

The UAT Digital Video team had a great time at Phoenix Comicon! Go behind the scenes of our booth construction. More Comicon coverage coming up!

UAT DV Vlog: Behind the Scenes of "Ouroboros"

We're kicking off a new semi-regular feature, the UAT DV Vlog, which will offer behind the scenes looks at our students and faculty in action on set and in the studio. Here's our first installment, a look at the filming of our new sci-fi film "Ouroboros."

The Making of RED SAND

The UAT Digital Video team has put together 4 behind-the-scenes documentaries about the making of our epic Mass Effect prequel fan film, RED SAND! The videos give a great look into the creative process, the nuts and bolts of VFX-heavy filmmaking, and the community of UATDV students. It's 22 minutes of behind the scenes awesomeness. Check it out!

ONE Community: 'Karen & Nelda'

UAT Digital Video is delighted to share the story of "Karen & Nelda" which debuted on Spirit Day at the ONE Community Spotlight on Success Local Heroes Awards. The video was produced by UATDV students and faculty in cooperation with ONE Community.

This special tribute and video tells the story of Nelda Majors and Karen Bailey who have been together for 54 years. They met when they 18 and 19 years old. Nelda knew that she was gay, yet Karen was in a relationship with a soldier for 4 years prior to their meeting. Six months after their friendship began; Karen came back from spring break and told Nelda that she loved her. Both women were raised in Texas and have lived in the Valley for the last several years. The journey of their lives together and how society’s views have evolved over the last 50+ years was documented at the Spotlight on Success Local Heroes Awards which celebrates LGBT history month and twelve LGBT and allied ONE Community business members in October of each year.

24-Hour Film Challenge: 'Concealed Chronicle'

Here's a fun little film a team of UAT Digital Video students produced for the summer 2012 A3F 24 Hour Film Challenge. That's right, they did this in one day from start to finish! And, it was in the Top 20 Films in the Challenge!

Parameters for the challenge were a required line ("Let's get this over with"), a required prop (a box which had to be opened or closed), and a required theme ("a hidden agenda").

More info about the challenge: http://www.thea3f.net

RED SAND Released!

After 9 months of post-production, our latest sci-fi epic RED SAND: a Mass Effect fan film has been completed and released! The film debut on YouTube on Sunday October 7th following a live pre-show with star Mark Meer (the voice behind Commander Shepard in the Mass Effect games), and has scored 75,000 views in just under 4 days. We could not be happier! Check it out below:



And we are thrilled to announce that RED SAND has begun receiving invitations to cons and film festivals! This evening we were invited to screen at the following events in 2013!

RadCon 6A - SF&;F Convention - February 15-17, 2013 - Pasco WA http://www.radcon.org/

Seattle Crypticon - Memorial day weekend - Seattle WA

LoneStarCon3 Film Festival - Aug 29 -Sept 2, 2013 - San Antonio, TX http://lonestarcon3.org/

TCIF3 Film Festival - October 2013 - Richland WA http://www.tcif3.com/

If you want to see RED SAND on the big screen, and you live in any of the above locales, mark your calendars! More info as it develops!

w00tstock 4.0 videos now online!

On July 12, 2012, Professor Paul DeNigris and student Jared Oppie went on the road to videotape w00tstock 4.0 at the Balboa Theatre in San Diego, California.

Billed as "A Night of Geeks and Music," the show starred founders Wil Wheaton, Adam Savage, and Paul and Storm, as well as a who's who of writers and musicians including John Scalzi, the DoubleClicks, Patrick Rothfuss, and Marian Call.

The result is over 3 hours of video - some of which is definitely for mature audiences. Here's the full YouTube playlist:

UAT Digital Video produces Geeks' Night Out videos

In February 2012, a team of UAT Digital Video students lead by Professors Paul DeNigris and Todd Schoenberger provided video production support for the City of Tempe's "Geeks' Night Out" science and technology festival.

Geeks are really important to Tempe. About 20 percent of the jobs in our city are tech-related. We are, perhaps, the most tech-heavy town in Arizona, depending on how you slice it. We love geeks. They're smart, fun and want to change the world for the better. They've cured diseases, built robots, and yes, even helped us get to Mars. (Source)

The students involved in this project were: Alexander Broderick, Evanne Carter, Clayton Dowell, David Ford, Anthony Guilkey, Reginald Riley, and Vanessa Schell. Here's the playlist on YouTube, over two hours of engaging talks and high-tech product pitches. Watch it all here, or bounce over to YouTube to pick and choose which talks to watch.

'Covet' Now Online!

Two crooked cops unleash an evil that corrupts and destroys everyone it touches.

Produced for the IFP/Phoenix 48-Hour Film Challenge, Summer 2011. A co-production of UAT Digital Video, Locked Horns Productions, and SWAT HD. Required prop: battery or helmet (we chose battery). Required line: "As long as it's free..."

The film won 4 awards at the 48 Hour Challenge Screening (Best Director, Best Use of Line, Best Ensemble, 2nd Place Film) and was also an official selection of the 2012 Phoenix Film Festival and 2012 Phoenix Comicon.

RED SAND Update!

The new trailer for our Mass Effect fan film "Red Sand" was published on this past Tuesday and has racked up over 16,000 hits already on YouTube. In case you missed it, here it is on YouTube and on Vimeo:





We've also gotten some great press coverage already:

MSNBC: http://www.ingame.msnbc.msn.com/technology/ingame/move-over-hollywood-mass-effect-fans-bring-game-film-792972

Kotaku: http://kotaku.com/5912979/that-red-sand-mass-effect-fan-film-is-shaping-up-nicely

Mediocrity is the New Genius: http://mediocrityisthenewgenius.com/2012/05/23/first-amazing-trailer-for-uats-mass-effect-fan-film-red-sand/

Gameverse: http://www.gameverse.com/2012/05/23/holy-mark-meer-batman-red-sand-looks-amazing/

PopGamer: http://www.pop-gamer.com/2012/05/mass-effect-prequels-new-trailer/

UAT Digital Video Highlights Reel

Here's a reel highlighting excerpts of UAT Digital Video student works from 2005 to 2012, with peeks behind the scenes into prop fabrication, set design, makeup, effects, and more!



Complete list of projects, in order:

"Fallout"
"Bad Whiskey"
"I Have Some News"
"Reset"
"Get Pade"
"Data Stream"
"Pirate Booty"
"Like You Said"
"Somewhere (dot dot dot)"
"Extraordinary Colleagues"
"Flight of the Melvin"
"Red Sand"
"Nardo and the Sock of Destiny"
"Breeze in the Wind"
"Chet vs. The Elevator"
"Backup Plan"
"Peephole"
"Covet"

Two more UATDV-produced TEDx Talks Make it to front page of TED.com!

Two more of the videos we produced for last November's TEDxPhoenix event have made it to the front page of TED.com!

"Rick Guidotti: From Stigma to Supermodel"

Rick Guidotti is a fashion photographer with a passion project: finding and sharing the unmistakable beauty of kids with albinism and other conditions that affect their physical appearance -- and the way society treats them. At TEDxPhoenix, he shares some of their stories and the empowering effects of a little glamour as he redefines their beauty in a flash.

"Brenda Brathwaite: Gaming for Understanding"

It's never easy to get across the magnitude of complex tragedies -- so when Brenda Brathwite's daughter came home from school asking about slavery, she did what she does for a living -- she designed a game. At TEDxPhoenix she describes the surprising effectiveness of this game, and others, in helping the player really understand the story.

These videos were produced during the Fall 2011 Semester by the DVA241 (DV Production) class and edited by the DVA274 (DV Editing) class, under the supervision of Professor Paul DeNigris and Associate Professor Todd Schoenberger. Students involved were: Ty Bitterolf, Kennedy Gray, Ariel Navarrete, Neil Sparks, Nic Vereen, Dylan White, and Annie Winn.

'Fallout' Selected for Fright Night Film Festival

Just when we thought our festival run for "Fallout" was all wrapped up, the folks at Fright Night Film Festival in Louisville, KY, contacted us and asked to screen the film. One of their programmers apparently caught the film at the Terror Film Festival last October and thought it would be a good fit. So "Fallout" rides again on the big screen this summer. Check out the festival's official website here!

'Melvin' and 'Parallax' Screenings at Arizona International Film Festival

UAT Digital Video's family-friendly sci-fi comedy "Flight of the Melvin" will be screening at the Arizona International Film Festival in Tucson, Arizona, as part of their "Shorts for Youth" program.

Shorts for Youth
Saturday, April 21st @ 3 pm
The Screening Room
127 East Congress Street
Tucson, AZ 85701

Buy Tickets Here!


Professor Paul DeNigris's Thesis Film "Parallax" (winner of "Best Arizona Short Film" at the 2012 Phoenix Film Festival) will also be screening at Arizona International. The film was produced by an all-star crew of UAT DV students and alumni.

Arizona Shorts
Wednesday, April 18th @ 8 pm
The Screening Room
127 East Congress Street
Tucson, AZ 85701

Buy Tickets Here!