Laura Hanes/The Falcon Freelance animator Corrie Francis focuses her art on nature and environmental issues. Her latest animation, “For the Masses,” was previewed in SPU’s art building over the weekend.

Vivid goldenrods cascade over a mountain, washing the landscape and signifying daybreak. The serene scene is shattered with the juxtaposition of a thriving metropolis, bustling with tremendous noise. Industrial steel shoots from the city, strangling the peaceful mountain, engaging in the epic battle of city versus nature. The mountain thrashes but finally is subdued by the iron.

This disturbing scene is the introduction of animator Corrie Francis's animation "For the Masses," an environmentally-aware film previewed at SPU's art department last Friday. This animation and 54 others from other animators and filmmakers were played at the Hazel Wolf Environmental Film Festival from May 1-4 at the University of Washington.

Francis's friend and fellow Fulbright Fellow Assistant Professor of Art Katie Kresser invited her to preview at SPU and share her animations with aspiring artists.

Francis said her decision to animate came when she was 13 years old.

"I had an epiphany when I realized that people get paid to draw all day," she said at the preview. An education at Dartmouth University only spurred this drive more when she had to create her own animation major and explore various media herself.

The media she uses for her animations vary from a simple graphite sketch to sand.

In addition to "For the Masses," Francis showed some of her other animations at the preview, including "Ash Sunday" and "Tracks."

"Ash Sunday" depicted the playful creation of a woman, beginning with a graphite sketch. The animation comes to life with the addition of oil paints, unifying the movement of the graphite with the ferocity of the oil colors. The rich, fiery tones of red, orange, and yellow give life to the graphite, creating a beautiful display movement and color.

"Tracks" combined Francis's use of traditional media with her recent exploits in the African desert. She used "sand animation" for the work, creating a vibrant African background on a glass plate and positioning sand in it. Then, illuminating the bottom, she causes the sand to become a charred black, contrasting with the vibrant background. The sand is used to portray the movement of the animals of the African plain, including lions, giraffes, and exotic birds.

Her animations run 24 frames a second, she said, although some basic movements can be simplified to 10.

"People say animators must be patient," Francis said. "I like animation because I'm impatient. I don't like to focus on one drawing and make it perfect."