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Kate Stransky

Lecturer

Contact

Bio

Education: BFA, 2002, The School of the Art Institute of Chicago

Kate Stransky is a director and production designer for film, television, and commercials with a specialty for stop-motion animation, puppets, and miniatures. Some of her commercial clients include: Nike, Hershey's, Mattel/Barbie, Hasbro Toys, McDonald's, QVC Shopping Network, Darigold Milk, Raid, Blue Moon Brewery, Laughing Cow Cheese, Glade Candles, and Footlocker. Her film and television resume includes AMC (Ultra City Smiths), PBSKids (Donkey Hodie), Gaumont Television (Approach Alone), Moonwatcher Inc (5-25-77), Universal Studios (Public Enemies), IFC (Timms Valley), 20th Century Fox (Pleading Guilty), Sony Pictures (The Beast), Universal Pictures (Public Enemies), The Food Network (The Great Food Truck Race). 

She has also designed and fabricated exhibits, dioramas, and large scale sculptures for The WNDR Museum of Chicago, The Field Museum of Natural History, The Shedd Aquarium, Kohls Children's Museum, The New York International Toy Fair, The Nuremberg International Toy Fair, Hamley's Toy Store of London, and FAO Schwarz. She has designed and fabricated  masks, puppets, costumes, and sets for Lookingglass Theatre, The Chicago Children's Theatre, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Emerald City Theatre, Bailiwick Theatre, and The Peoria Ballet Company. 

Kate recently production designed a stop-motion animated film, Wheetago War, for Spotted Fawn Productions in Vancouver, BC, directed by Amanda Strong and produced by the National Film Board of Canada.  She also just finished production designing a live-action puppetry film, Future Feeling, for Manual Cinema of Chicago, IL. 

In between commercial projects, Kate has been working on a short puppet film of her own, The Fortune Teller's Daughter, which follows a young girl as she travels to the underworld to retrieve her recently deceased mother.

Courses

Title Department Catalog Term

Description

This course teaches students how to use language creatively and practically in the development of animated media. As well as the role of art direction in the development of animation works. Students will develop skills in writing for the animated short, in relation to dialogue and visual description, treatments, and full scripts. The class will also cover in-depth art direction and pre-production. The goal of this class is to make students literate in the use of language and visuals in the creation of their work, as well as the utilization of these skills in professional animation studios. The class will also cover skills like pitching stories, writing project proposals and creating look books, decks etc.. Books will include; Writing for Animation, Comics, and Games by Christy Marx; Art Direction for Film and Video by Robert Olson Students will complete a series of assignments, based on their own ideas, and adapting existing texts, as well as each other’s writing into visuals. The class will culminate in a final project proposal that will contain a script, synopsis, and visual art direction for an animated work.

Class Number

1869

Credits

3

Description

This course teaches students how to use language creatively and practically in the development of animated media. As well as the role of art direction in the development of animation works. Students will develop skills in writing for the animated short, in relation to dialogue and visual description, treatments, and full scripts. The class will also cover in-depth art direction and pre-production. The goal of this class is to make students literate in the use of language and visuals in the creation of their work, as well as the utilization of these skills in professional animation studios. The class will also cover skills like pitching stories, writing project proposals and creating look books, decks etc.. Books will include; Writing for Animation, Comics, and Games by Christy Marx; Art Direction for Film and Video by Robert Olson Students will complete a series of assignments, based on their own ideas, and adapting existing texts, as well as each other’s writing into visuals. The class will culminate in a final project proposal that will contain a script, synopsis, and visual art direction for an animated work.

Class Number

1642

Credits

3

Description

This two day 6 credits studio course, taught by two faculty members (one on each day), is designed for students who made a serious commitment to animation as a major part of their art practice and who wish to focus on the completion of an animated project for public presentation. All animation techniques are welcome. The structure of the class consists of periodic workshops, regular critiques of student works as well as individual meetings. Additionally, students will be exposed to diverse examples of contemporary animated works and will participate in discussions of relevant critical topics. This course will give students the necessary time and resources to complete an elaborate animated work. Additionally, students will be exposed to diverse examples of contemporary animated works and will participate in discussions of relevant critical topics. This course will give students the necessary time and resources to complete an ambitious animated work.

Class Number

1606

Credits

6