At Purdue University, Clements takes computer graphic classes, which vary from Digital Audio and Video to Digital Lighting and Rendering. Digital lighting and Rendering is widely used in animated movies, such as “Toy Story.”
“It is one of the key things I have to understand for my future career,” Clements said.
Clements said his favorite class is illustration. One of the projects in the class was a comic book reconstruction, and the class assignments were equivalent to jobs in an actual studio.
“I had a blast in the class,” he said.
In his animation class, the students give each other peer reviews, and Clements said he appreciates the critiques.
“We can get critiques from peers and professors,” Clements said. “Even if it is bad, it makes me work harder.”
Clements’s artistic ability developed at a young age while drawing animated characters in elementary school. In addition to the arts, Clements said he strived high in academics. After graduating as valedictorian, Clements chose to go to Purdue College of Technology to advance his skills.
At West Washington High School, Clements was chapter president of Business Professionals of America. Darrel Myers, adviser and information technology professor at BPA, had Clements in a class and said he recognized his talent.
“Brandon is the perfect mixture between creativity, technical knowledge and communication skills,” Myers said. “In BPA, he had the creativity to communicate with an audience, the technical knowledge to make it happen and the communication skills to present his work to professionals in the industry.”
Clements competed on a video production team with two of his fellow classmates and won first place two years in a row at the BPA State Leadership Conference. In 2009, the team traveled to Dallas to compete nationals and placed top 10 in the United States.
During his senior year, Clements said his ambitious attitude guided him to participate in another competition — digital media production. The assignment was to make a video to promote Washington, D.C.
In his video, Clements transports the viewers throughout the city. He included pictures of main attraction, such as the Jefferson Memorial, the Vietnam Memorial and the House of Congress. His computer model of the White House and view of the city give the experience of Washington, D.C., in less than two minutes.
“He was the perfect storm for judged media events,” Myers said.
Clements won first place at district, and received a perfect 500 points at the State Leadership Conference. He went on to win second place in Digital Media Production at nationals in Anaheim, Calif. This was the highest ranked award in chapter history.
“In my five years with BPA, I haven’t seen more devotion from one student than that of Brandon Clements,” Myers said.
Clements’ friend and fellow BPA member, Molly Johnson, commented on his talent.
“Brandon is one of those that can take something simple and turn it into brilliance by adding his own flare,” Johnson said. “He truly has a gift.”
While attending Purdue, Clements had the opportunity to go to the SIGGRAPH conference in Vancouver, Canada. SIGGRAPH is an international conference on computer graphics and attracts the most talented people in the field. Sony Image Works and Cap Com were among the attending.
Since Clements was a student volunteer, he received assistance with housing and only had to pay for his plane ticket.
SIGGRAPH also had a lot of professionals in the field.
“The city was flooded with all types of professionals,” Clements said. “SIGGRAPH is a good networking event. You can get hired on the spot.”
Clements spoke with an employee from “Industrial Light & Magic” while doing one of his assigned jobs at the conference.
Clements said he is applying to be a student volunteer for SIGGRAPH again. This conference will be in Los Angeles. Clements said he hopes attending his freshman year will improve his chances.
By ASHLEY ELGIN
Staff
ashelgin@iupui.edu
