For over 50 years the Grammy Awards have been an annual touchstone for the music industry and its fans, honoring timeless recordings, top artists, and providing a stage for memorable live performances. The upcoming 54th Annual Grammy Awards are set to honor the best in music from the past year, with nominees that include exciting new talent like Adele and Robyn, as well as industry veterans Jeff Beck and Tony Bennett.

Looking at 2012’s lineup, we’re proud to see dozens of Full Sail Recording Arts graduates credited on many of the year’s biggest projects. In total, 71 grads worked on 52 nominated projects, spanning 38 categories. Some notable highlights include alumni credits on three of the nominees for Best Pop Vocal Album, four of the nominees for Best R&B Album, and all five of the nominees for Best Country Song.

Of this group, nine graduates will be eligible to receive their own Grammy statues, in categories like Best Engineered Album-Non Classical, Best Rap Song, and Record of the Year. Five of those grads are also nominated for their collected work on Rihanna’s hit Loud, in contention for Album of the Year.

The list of alumni eligible for Grammy awards are:

Brad Blackwood, Mastering (Best Engineered Album-Non Classical – Paper Airplane – Alison Krauss & Union Station)

Dustin William Brower, Composer (Best Rap Song – “The Show Goes On” – Lupe Fiasco)

Josh Gudwin, Vocal Recording (Album of the Year – Loud – Rihanna)

Jermaine Jackson, Producer (Album of the Year – Loud – Rihanna)

Joe Lambert, Mastering (Best Engineered Album-Classical – Mackey: Lonely Motel – Music From Slide – Rinde Eckert, Steven Mackey & Eighth Blackbird)

Graham Marsh, Engineer (Album of the Year – Doo-Wops & Hooligans – Bruno Mars)

Corey Shoemaker, Engineer (Album of the Year – Loud – Rihanna)

Phil Tan, Mixing (Record of the Year – “Firework” – Katy Perry; Album of the Year – Loud – Rihanna)

Jeff Villanueva, Engineer (Album of the Year – Loud – Rihanna)

Speaking about our grads’ involvement on the range of nominees, Full Sail Director of Alumni Jay Noble explained, “We are astonished by the incredible success of our alumni who have contributed to projects being recognized for GRAMMY® Awards this year. It is with great pride that we celebrate our graduates for continuing to inspire our current students, while following their life-long career ambitions.”

The 54th Annual Grammy Awards will broadcast live on CBS on Sunday, February 12, at 8pm EST. Full Sail will be hosting a special Grammy viewing party on campus that evening, open to both students and staff. The event will begin at 7pm in the Full Sail Live Venue, with prizes and giveaways for students.

Grammy-nominated alt-folk duo the Civil Wars will be the latest artists to grace the stage at Park Ave CDs (2916 Corrine Drive) today at 3:30 p.m. for a special in-store performance, recorded and produced by Full Sail Recording Arts students and instructors.

The Civil Wars’ 2011 album Barton Hollow is up for Best Folk Album and Best Country Duo/Group Performance at the Grammys this year. Since their emergence in the music industry in 2009, the group has appeared on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno and The Late Show with David Letterman, and has had their music featured on Grey’s Anatomy.

The partnership between Full Sail and Park Ave CDs has yielded over 100 recorded in-store performances, many of which have gone on to become international releases.

Check out the music video for the title track from Barton Hollow, and be sure not to miss this free event!

The Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra was recently on campus to present their 20th Anniversary Sneak Peek Event at Full Sail Live.

Attendants were given a glimpse of what’s in-store for Central Florida’s resident professional orchestra, including their Opera Series (featuring Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro and Puccini’s Madame Butterfly),and performances of classics like A Midsummer Night’s Dream, My Funny Valentine, Home for the Holidays, and How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying.

The event – which featured OPO President Candy Crawford, Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer, OPO Executive Director David Schillhammer, and Full Sail University’s Director of Alumni/Events Producer Jay Noble – also shed some light on an upcoming event on April 21 called Symphony in HD: Live at Full Sail, which will unite classical music and technology in a multimedia showcase and gala to benefit the Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra. Symphony in HD will also feature video, animation, and photography by Full Sail staff and students. We’ll be sharing more info about the event as the date gets closer. Visit Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra for a full run-down of their 2012-2013 season.

Full Sail students regularly collaborate with one another while on campus. Some even carry on with their joint effort after graduation. Web Development and Design graduates Stephen Rivas and Joe Lessard are set on doing just that with their web development company Zeunic, and a server-administration product they call Host Kit.

Stephen Rivas and Joe Lessard on a recent visit to Full Sail

Stephen is a project manager at Zeunic, and Joe is lead developer. The two presented Host Kit at the 2012 Node Summit in San Francisco, an event devoted entirely to the business implications of the server-side JavaScript environment Node.js. In this year’s NodeJam competition, a proud Zeunic was presented with the Audience Choice Award.

“We had an amazing time and will likely have some great partnerships come out of this,” said Stephen of the duo’s experience at Node Summit.

Consider a list of the country’s foremost musical epicenters and Nashville is sure to top it. So when Alyssa McCraw graduated from the Entertainment Business Bachelor’s program this past September, her sights narrowed on the musical metropolis in northern Tennessee.

“I always knew I wanted to be in the music business in Nashville,” says Alyssa, who applied for an internship at one of the most successful record labels in Nashville, Big Machine Label Group.

Thanks to an introduction by Full Sail’s Career Development team and armed with the inside knowledge she gleaned from doing a project on Big Machine Label Group in her Entertainment Business Marketing & Strategic Planning course, Alyssa landed an intern spot creating visual creative content for artists like Taylor Swift, Rascal Flatts, and Reba McEntire.

Read more about Alyssa’s work in Nashville in this profile of her on FullSail.edu/grads.

Get ready for the Playdom invasion here on campus, as Disney’s online social network game developer will be on campus to talk to students about their company, facility, and what it takes to be a part of the Playdom team during a presentation in the Entertainment Business Auditorium at 6:00 p.m.

With more than 15 free games available on Facebook, MySpace, and social networks around the globe, Playdom was recognized as one of the 2010 Hottest Silicon Valley Companies by Lead411 in 2010.

Here’s some background information on our Playdom guests:

Tamir Nadav – a 2005 Full Sail Game Development graduate – is a game designer at Playdom. He has quickly become a known name and face in the gaming industry, thanks in no small part to his enthusiastic networking abilities and presence at conventions and universities throughout his career. He has been interviewed by EGM, IGN, and was featured in Prima Games’ popular how-to book, Paid to Play: An Insider’s Guide to Video Game Careers. Tamir will be hosting workshops for game developers on Thursday in 3B-137 at 2:00 p.m.

Playdom VP/Exec Producer Gordon Walton has personally developed more than 30 games and overseen the development of more than 200 games throughout his 30+ year career. His previous positions include VP/Co-Studio General Manager at BioWare Austin (Star Wars: The Old Republic), VP/Executive Producer/Studio Manager at Sony Online Entertainment, and Senior VP/General Manager of Kesmai Studios, where he oversaw the development of several MMOGs including Air Warrior and Multiplayer Battletech.

Leslie Wolin began her HR/Recruiting career in the hospitality industry before finding a home in the world of video games/entertainment in 2009. After a few years at LucasArts, ILM, and Lucasfilm Animation, Leslie joined the Disney Mobile team and then expanded her role with the Disney Interactive Media Group, as well as the Playdom Recruiting team. Leslie will be speaking about internship and entry level artist opportunities at Playdom’s Palo Alto and Austin locations on Thursday at 3:00 p.m. in the Entertainment Business Conference Room.

Got all that? Just to recap:

Playdom Presentation
Wednesday, Entertainment Business Auditorium at 6:00 p.m.

Game Developer Workshop with Tamir Nadav
Thursday, 3B-137 at 2:00 p.m.

Leslie Wolin Presentation
Thursday, Entertainment Business Conference Room at 3:00 p.m.

See you there!

As a technical director at Fox Sports South and Sportsouth in Atlanta, Georgia, 2004 Show Production graduate Jason Story is in charge of the live video editing for pre-game and post-game shows the network produces. Since Fox Sports South is one of the largest regional sports networks in the nation, Jason’s packed schedule sees him handling broadcasts for college and professional baseball, basketball, football, ice hockey, and more.

“I’m in charge of a very large video console that has a couple hundred buttons on it, and I control basically anything you’re going to see during those half hour pre and post-game shows,” he says. “When you see a graphic overlaid on video that says how many yards a player has run for, or you’re looking at the different camera shots that are being punched up at any time – that’s me.”

Read more about Jason’s career at Fox Sports South in this profile at FullSail.edu/grads.

Three Full Sail instructors wrote short, fictional stories for the book, 15 Views of Orlando, a literary portrait of the city. The book, published by Burrow Press, releases Jan. 31 and locals are invited to attend a book release party at Urban Rethink at 625 E. Central Blvd. on Jan. 31 from 6 to 9 p.m.

Attendees can pre-order the book online and pick up their copy at the book release party.

15 Views of Orlando began as a blog project on the Burrow Press website and evolved into a book, according to Music Production Course Director Jared Silvia, who took part in the project. The book’s collection of stories – all set in Orlando – was written by 15 different writers, all of whom built upon each other’s stories in some way. The stories feature locales that give the city character but are not necessarily the spots that tourists envision when they think “Orlando.”

“The idea in people’s heads that don’t live here is: ‘Disney, Disney, Disney’ – shiny, happy tourism place,” said Mark Pursell, who teaches composition and was one of the writers for the project. “But it’s just like anywhere else in the sense that the people who live in the place and are here all the time see all the facets.”

For instance, writer Ashley Inguanta, who also teaches in the Writing Department at Full Sail, based her story in Orlando’s Little Vietnam section – an area replete with Asian grocery stores and restaurants and rich in history. Other examples are Oviedo’s Townhouse Restaurant, “Crocodile World” (a fictional version of Gatorland), and Tom & Jerry’s, a bar in Winter Park.

“It is like taking a tour of Orlando in that you get to see some of the best and worst of the city,” said Silvia.

Since each story was supposed to somehow connect to the last, each writer had only about seven days to write his or her story, adding to the spontaneity of the project.

Silvia likens it to street photography: “You’re walking down the street with your camera ready, and you’re going to take a picture, but you can’t necessarily control the people who you’re going to cross paths with,” said Silvia. “But the way you frame that picture, it has to be spontaneous. You know, that’s your creative injection on the image.”

At the Urban Rethink event, Silvia and other writers will be reading their stories aloud.

An associated art show, “Art Inspired by Orlando,” is on display at Urban Rethink, which features the art of Full Sail instructors Lesley Silvia and Thomas Thorspecken.

For more information on 15 Views of Orlando, go to the Burrow Press website or listen to this WMFE interview of three of the writers involved.

Students in Full Sail’s Pure Motivation group recently assembled to volunteer in an Air Potato Raid event in Central Florida’s forests.

The air potato – also known as dioscores bulbifera, if you’re into that sort of thing – is considered an invasive species in the Sunshine State due to its tendency to spread its large-leafed vine and shade out any plants growing beneath it. This in turn has a negative effect on animal wildlife by taking away some of their food sources. 23 student volunteers were able to collect over 250 pounds of potatoes and garbage from the designated area.

Pure Motivation holds monthly events that bring Full Sail’s student body together to help aid different community-based organizations that are in need. Since the group’s launch in 2008, students have contributed their creative compassion in a variety of efforts designed to positively impact the local community, including collaborations with Read Across America, Harvest Time International, Wreaths Across America, Give Kids the World, and more.

If you’ve logged into FSO lately, you might have noticed that the Library page looks a little bit … different. That’s because it is. Just last week, we launched our completely redesigned Library website. Now on the homepage, you can view our hours and contact information, as well as links to the Library’s blog and our Online Library Catalog. Looking for access to EBSCOhost or LexisNexis? Just click on “Research Databases” at the bottom of the page. Here you can also find links to tutorials, request forms (including Interlibrary Loan), a list of helpful online resources,  and library staff bios.

Well, what are you waiting for? Go check it out! We hope the new design helps you find what you’re looking for easier and faster.

Students in Full Sail’s Game Development degree program are typically not even thinking about getting recognized outside of the school as they work on their Final Projects – they’re just trying to get them finished in time. But a group from this month’s graduating class has already been spotlighted for their game a week before they even graduate by indieDB.com.

The site – which is dedicated to connecting and supporting independent game developers and their games – recently showcased Noxious on their Popular Games List. The game takes place inside a research facility, and challenges players to blow their way out of the locked down contamination site.

“It’s amazing to see what a student team made up of three degree programs can put together in five months, when the programmers build their engine from scratch, artists learn how to work with limitations, and they’re constantly pushed to meet deadlines,” says Full Sail Game Project Art Director Phillip Marunowski. “I’m so proud of these students, and I wish the best for them as they venture out into the industry.”

We’ll be featuring Noxious (as well as the other projects from this month’s graduating class) next week after the Game Final Project presentations, but in the meantime, take a sneak peek at some of the gameplay here.

They came, they coded, and they most certainly conquered. This past weekend was the Global Game Jam, in which game developers team together to create a game within a straight 48-hour block.

Full Sail University acted as the local host for the worldwide event, and the Central Florida GGJ team was able to crank 12 different games, including a Kinect platformer called Jörmunrunner. Some of the team members kept the rest of the world updated on their progress this weekend via Twitter. We’ve grabbed some of the highlights here:

Check out our photo gallery from the Global Game Jam, and stay tuned for pictures and videos of the games in action!

We recently spoke with Full Sail Game Development grad Patrick Driggett, who has just taken his first job in the gaming industry, as a producer at Ready at Dawn studios, the creators of Daxter, God of War: Ghosts of Sparta, and more. It’s a career move he’s been building toward for a number of years, and follows such personal and professional milestones as serving as an imagery intelligence analyst during Operation Iraqi Freedom, and over half a decade as a software engineer at a popular computer simulation company.

“I’ve had some amazing experiences, but there’s always been that thing in the back of my head telling me that I wanted to work on games,” he says. “Even while I was in the military I fell into a circle of friends that were all just gamers, where I would do my shift, then I’d get off and we’d all hang out together playing games like Everquest.

“I knew that a traditional school wasn’t for me because I’m a nose-to-the-grindstone kind of person – if the pressure’s on then I’m happy,” he says. “Full Sail just seemed like a great fit, and it offered everything I could ever imagine wanting.”

To read more about Patrick’s transition from the military into Full Sail, and his progress toward his career at Ready At Dawn, check out this grad profile at FullSail.edu/grads.

Welcome to the Student Club Spotlight, where we showcase Full Sail student clubs and organizations on campus.

X-Factor’s mission is to provide an arena for Full Sail women to address and discuss the issues and challenges that affect them, as well as celebrate the past and present advances of women in the entertainment industry.

“X-Factor members have the opportunity to network with other female students from all Full Sail degree programs,” says club sponsor and Senior Campus Student Advisor Jenelle Bell. “They are able to build community, participate in fun and engaging activities and events, and learn how to do what only an X-Factor woman knows how to do – Think Pink.”

Some recent examples of the Think Pink mentality are the X-Factor’s Cell Phone Drive, where members collected 50 cell phones which were donated to the Women of Harbor House of Central Florida. The club also hosted a Clothes Swap Party for the Full Sail female student body. And X-Factor is also in the process of planning a string of events for Women’s Celebration Month in March.

To learn more about X-Factor, visit their page on Facebook.

If you’re an aspiring artist or songwriter, you won’t want to miss S.W.I.T.C.H. this Saturday from 4:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. at Full Sail Live 1. Presented by performing rights organization SESAC and Full Sail University, S.W.I.T.C.H. (SESAC Writers Interacting To Create Hits) is an innovative musical concept that teams established Atlanta and Florida songwriters with Full Sail students to create boundary-defying music.

The event’s panel includes Erika Ender, a 20-year veteran songwriter, performer, and Idol Puerto Rico judge; four-time GRAMMY-nominated producer/composer Kendrick Dean (Chris Brown, Destiny’s Child); and Atom Troy, Course Director of Songwriting and Development in the Music Production Bachelor of Science degree program.

The event will include a music critique listening session, during which 15 songs from attending Full Sail students will be randomly selected and presented to the panel for critiques. The PROmancing the Song portion of the evening will allow students a musical speed date with composers and producers. Those selected will get a two minute private session with these songwriters to listen to their music and lyrics to see if there is chemistry to be able to work on a collaboration together.

If you’re planning on attending the event, please bring a two minute snippet of your song in an audio CD format, as well as your own headphones and MP3 player. Register for the event now, and don’t miss out on this exciting opportunity this weekend!

Come see the latest in high-speed camera technology from Olympus today at 3:00 p.m. in FS3F 122 & 125. Olympus engineers will be on campus to show students their new i-SPEED 3 camera, the latest addition to the i-SPEED line that provides high resolution, extreme low light sensitivity, and up to 150,000 fps recording – making it the ideal tool for high-level research.

Be sure to register for this event, and we’ll see you there!

This week’s “Film Fridays” student film is Changes, co-directed by Geoff Durham and Frank Legette III.

Credits:

Unit Production Manager/Editor: Michelle Bramlett

Executive Producer: Jason Boyette, Johnny Kosik

Lead Producer: Ed Stork

Producer: Kenny Beaumont, Lambert Mixson

Writer/Editor/Director: Geoff Durham

Director: Frank Legette III

Director of Photography: Sean Salzman

First Assistant Director: Patrick Barbato

Second Assistant Director/Casting Director: Cory Rittenhouse

Production Designer: Tanner Moody

Art Director: Charlie Turner

Script Supervisor: Scott David Hendrickson

VTR: Bobby Vaughn

Production Coordinator: Jeremy Harmsen

Gaffer: Jerry Hunt

Camera Department: Christian Cotrone, Nick Derrico, Spencer Ray, Anthony Serino

Best Boy: Miguel Acosta

Key Grip: Matt Jensen

Swing Grip: Alvaro Garza

Props Master: Nick Graczyk

Sound Crew: James Cardinal, Charles McCrary, Jason Raab

Craft Services/Still Photography: McCain Merren

Production Assistants: Kevin Quinn, Nykoi Potts

Catering: Chef Aaron

Anyone familiar with Full Sail’s Education Media Design & Technology degree program is likely familiar with the concept of using various forms of media to help facilitate learning for students in an increasingly digital age. Marc Prensky knows a thing or two about the subject; as founder and Creative Director at Spree Games, he’s created over 50 titles designed for K-12 students, as well as for Games2Trains, which offers game-based business, military, and educational training.

Full Sail will be hosting Marc for a presentation in Full Sail Live tonight at 6:00 p.m. He’ll be talking about his experience in combining video game entertainment with education, and highlighting some of his work, which has been featured in the New York Times and Wall Street Journal. Don’t miss out!

Featured in Pro Sound News’ Studio Showcase and Mix magazine’s Class of 2010 selection of the year’s “hottest new studios,” Clear Track Recording is a three-room facility in the Tampa Bay area offering recording, editing, mixing, and full-scale song production services.

Clear Track's piano

Full Sail Recording Arts graduate Mike Johnson is founder, owner and head engineer at Clear Track, and recently, our Career Development department headed down to Tampa to visit with Mike, as well as studio manager Elizabeth Johnson, and Clear Track’s head producer Spencer Bradham.

You’ve been working hard enough this week – now it’s time to play some games. Come by FS3B 304 today from 2:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m. for this month’s Structure of Game Production Project Expo. The Expo presentations are an open floor environment where guests can play student-made games and developers can share their insight (and war stories) with students who are earlier in the degree program.

Here’s a sneak peek at this month’s games:

Prehistoria

Scientist Ethan Lorrington travels back in time to explore a world that predates recorded history. However, his time machine breaks upon arrival in the past. Guide Ethan in his quest for thrills and the remnants of his time machine.

Vegicide

A turn-based vegetable-themed strategy game (and really, how many of those do you come across every day?), Vegicide is loaded with colorful characters and intense tactical gameplay. With six unique factions, you can struggle for supremacy as the downtrodden tubers, or lead the war-hungry broccoli to total domination. Be on the lookout for the crafty bananas and charismatic peppers, and never discount the stealth of the oranges nor the majesty of the blueberry.

See you there!