Archive notice: This article was originally published on September 4, 2006. Links and embedded videos are preserved as part of the historical record.
The German Film School has secured animation specialist and director Kris van Alphen (“Asterix”, “The Little Polar Bear 2”, “Ducktales” et cetera) as a lecturer. From the winter semester 2006/7, he is to introduce first-semester students to the craft of cartoon and 2D animation and thus lay the foundations for their studies for a Digital Artist diploma.
The 40-year-old animation designer, who grew up and studied in Belgium, already has teaching experience, which he gained from 1995 to 2001 as a guest lecturer on the Animation degree programme at the “Katholieke Hogeschool Limburg”, Academy for Media and Design, in Genk, Belgium, and as a visiting professor for animation and guest lecturer for storyboarding, both at at the HFF in Babelsberg. In addition to animation direction on cinema and TV films, he was also responsible for music video clips and commercials.
In 2005, van Alphen was responsible for the animation in the music video clip “Von hier an blind” by the German band “Wir sind Helden”. In 2006, he worked, among other things, as animation director for the cinema film “Little Dodo”, produced by Rothkirch/Cartoon-Film for Warner Bros. He also created the storyboard and the reference animations for the cinema film “The Three Robbers”, produced by Landmark Animation.
“Van Alphen stands for profound practical knowledge and high, competitive quality in animated films,” explains Professor Dr Bernd Willim, president of the Elstal film school: “With his versatile profile and impressive filmography, he fits excellently with our internationally oriented philosophy.”
