Literature, music, paintings and sculptures have always been considered art, but as times change and technology becomes more sophisticated, new methods of art are popping up.

UPA’s new multimedia class reflects that, with a curriculum blending animation, audio, interactivity, still images and text and video, with more traditional forms of art such as painting and sculpting.

Zachery James, a new addition to the UPA staff, teaches three periods of multimedia art.

James, who has an associate’s degree in art from the Academy of Art University in San Francisco, has been studying multimedia arts for six years with this his first year teaching it.

When he was younger, James liked the idea of teaching and attended film camps.

“When I was in high school, I used to do summer camps—film summer camps—and I used to teach kids how to use After Effects and Photoshop,” he said.

After the school day ends, James works with virtual reality, or VR.

With some of his friends, he is working on a murder mystery simulation where one explores a crime scene to look for clues and puts all the pieces together.

His group has only worked with it for about a month, and they are still learning the ropes, but James is hopeful about it.

As a teacher, James believes that educating and guiding students is rewarding.

“The best time of teaching is seeing your students inspired,” James said, “wanting to work on the projects, or if you show them something and they get really excited. It’s probably the best part of it.”
Since multimedia is diverse and encompassing, he has all sorts of students in his class.

He has students with theatre backgrounds and filmmaking backgrounds, and those who have the desire for animation or graphic design.
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“I try to find out what [my students] want to learn and I try to help them down that path,” James said.