Eva Grandoni
Assistant Professor · Tenure-Track
College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences
She/Her/Hers/Herself
About
Eva is an animator who loves to make people laugh. Her wacky characters and bizarro worlds collide to create uncanny and distinctive pieces. A former journalist, Eva uses, and occasionally subverts, traditional storytelling. Her interest in animation history and ‘90s cartoons influence her work both conceptually and technically as she brings traditional 2D hand-drawn techniques into digital worlds. Eva graduated from USC with an MFA in Animation and Digital Arts in 2020.Research interests
From ancient Greek plays to vaudeville, and to radio, cinema and television, comedy has been a means for amusement and escape and a way of examining society. My goal is to probe how and why animation in particular makes us laugh. Understanding this physiological response isn’t straightforward, as we often laugh when we are nervous or even afraid. As a filmmaker and former journalist, I’m interested in exploring the history of comedy in animation.My research focuses on comedic animation and movement, specifically character design, timing, narrative structure and visual presentation. As a visual storyteller, my aim is to explore comedic techniques to gain an understanding of what makes people laugh and have other emotional and physical responses. As laughter can also be a response to horror, I’m interested in the unexpected parallels between the two genres.
Additionally, I aim to explore more traditional animation methods and evaluate the cultural impact cartoons have had throughout history. I’m interested in learning more about how advancements in technology and technique affect how comedic pieces are created and perceived. From a visual perspective, I hope to immerse myself in studying the visual design and presentation of animated works to better comprehend their attempt, either successful or not, at humor.
Teaching interests
My teaching interests include: traditional animation, animation history, movement, gesture and timing in animation, digital animation, animation storytelling and developmentEducation
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MFA, Animation
— University of Southern California (2020) Threesome
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BA, Journalism
— Elon University (2012) N/A