Aiyanah Duddey

Film and Media Arts ‘24

Junior

I can say with confidence that since the day I could hold a pencil I was creating. Growing up in a southern small town, it was clear from a young age that I was an eccentricity outgrowing her surroundings. In grade school, I found that fighting for my creative liberation was the way I found my voice. My mother encouraged me to speak up, and accumulative hours after school working on artwork of all mediums provided me with the grit to do so. It wasn’t until I was in my senior year of high school that I discovered that I could take my love of artistic mediums and blend it with my undying love of film and television. I can admit now that I went in blind. I knew nothing of film besides the behind-the-scenes features I watched on DVD. But, it was my need to take the worlds I’d drawn, I’d written and make them a reality that drove me forward. It was in my Junior year of college that I finally found the beautiful convergence of my love of the art world and the film world: Stop Motion and Practicals. Now, I embark on the tediously wonderful journey of building things from scratch, with nothing but base scraps.  Which in a way is exactly how my story has always gone, I create something from nothing.

My strengths lie, and always have lied, in the art and writing world. I have collected countless journals of stories and worlds that I have written. I have always seen things so vividly, fantastical worlds hidden away in the cusps of the trees at the edges of my hometown. My mother encouraged it, everything was real if I believed it to be. It’s that belief system that gives me the ability to take any challenge and make it an advantage. As I navigate the world of building practicals, stop motion and mixed media filmmaking I find myself excited by my abilities. I have been able to take my almost 18 years of artistic training and apply it to building entire sets for stop motion pieces. From miniatures with paper and foam board to building armatures from foil, wire and polymer clay. Through an Independent Study with Professor Warren Cockerham, I have learned all about stop motion and 35 mm film development and editing. With extensive trial and error I have learned the best materials to build and the best methods to structure my pieces and make them successful. 

I will not pretend that my time at the University of Tampa has been easy, there are many roadblocks I’ve had to overcome. In my journey so far I’ve fallen many times, in my attempt to bring the extravagant worlds in my head to life, I have found that I can get carried away. In my time here, I’ve had to get a reign on my visions and see what tools are already in my belt rather than overstepping. As uncomfortable as it is to take my pieces and perhaps cut them down or rewrite certain locations and characters, it is a meditative experience. Taking guidance from Professor Taylor Curry, I learned that taking those few steps back and breaking down my stories to what is most important, I am able to portray my messages clearly and successfully. 

The future to me is a vast concept, ever changing as I aim to use my skills to build a happy life for myself. When I graduate, the dream is clear, though. I want to take my love of building sets and practicals to make my own company that specializes in hybrid filmmaking styles. My dream is to build an environment where diverse stories can be told in diverse ways. A place where all people, regardless of background, are able to collaborate and bring worlds to life that can leave a mark on this big beautiful planet. My future is colorful, making stop motion animations and mixed media films that seek to build the bridge between experimental and narrative filmmaking styles. I suppose my biggest goal is to continue my love of making art and hopefully bring that love to people who need it.