CHICAGO — Animation by a student at the Illinois Institute of Art will come to life at Soldier Field during the Spring Awakening Festival.
The animation, created by Chas Fries of Andersonville, will be displayed on the jumbotron in between acts during the music festival, which runs June 14 to 16.
Fries' video, less than a minute long, combines electronic music and images of musical instruments.
"It took probably around 60 hours from conception to finish...because I went through a couple iterations and colors," Fries said.
This is the second year React Presents, which promotes the festival, and the school have teamed up to host contests where students produce promotional content.
Winners received two VIP three-day passes to the festival and a poster and T-shirt. Fries won a similar contest last year and "got some freelance jobs out of it," he said.
React Presents publicist Zach Partin said this was the first time non-students were also allowed to submit entries. Partin said there were more than 1,000 entries across the contests' categories, which included T-shirt design and creating a music mashup.
React Presents works with the school "to give their students an opportunity to display their creative talents," Partin said.
Fries, who has a degree in theater, started attending the Institute because he was eligible to take free classes there.
"I ended up liking animation as art a lot more than I did theater...," Fries said.
Fries will graduate in September.
