A recent UCLA alumnus is exploring abstract and philosophical ideas, one frame at a time.

Zora Xu, who graduated from the UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television’s animation program this year, said she starts her projects with a thesis, rather than a character or story in mind, and builds her project around that central idea. Xu said she wrote her senior thesis around the idea of an upside-down world that expanded into an exploration of forgotten memories. Xu added that she is often uncertain about the end result of a project when she begins. Instead, she lets her creative process and peer feedback guide her to the work’s natural conclusion, she said.

“When you like a project, you are actually seeing or liking the person, the creator that’s behind the whole thing,” Xu said.

Xu’s work often uses a combination of digital or stop-motion animation and hand-drawn texture to consider poignant themes about humanity and communicate emotional narratives, according to her website.

Her approach has taken her work beyond UCLA, with her animated short films selected by multiple international film festivals, including the 22nd San Diego International Children’s Film Festival and the 15th Annual American Documentary and Animation Film Festival.

Her award-winning short film, “Between Beginnings,” which was her first stop-motion animation project, was made more for herself than any audience, she said. In the film, she explores the nature of existence and the futility of the search for meaning, Xu added.

Some of Xu’s other projects, such as an official Josie Bruin illustration, are made with a viewership in mind, she said. Xu added that the Josie Bruin design went through multiple iterations based on the feedback shereceived. The final design was presented during the 2024-25 women’s basketball season.

The range of Xu’s projects reflects the different ways she approaches art.

Xu said she enjoys the tedious process of stop motion animation – she finds it satisfying to watch the frames slowly accumulate over multiple days. She added that the result and feeling of creation helps keep her motivation going.

“I actually quite enjoy the time – just me in a dark studio shooting things little by little, and every day I can see a few seconds of the pieces,” Xu said. “When I finish a long shooting day and I see the result that I like, that’s the most satisfying time for me.”

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Cindy Cheng, Xu’s friend and collaborator, and a 2025 graduate of UCLA’s MFA in Animation program, said she watched Xu develop as an artist. She added that Xu began the program focusing on the details in the illustrations themselves, such as the composition, light and colors.

However, Cheng said Xu grew to embrace the distinct elements of animation as a medium by focusing on dynamism, movement and storytelling.

“It’s quite amazing to see that she’s very open to exploring new stuff and her shift of focus toward animation while also maintaining her aesthetic and visual looks to the image,” Cheng said.

Lynn Okimura, a lecturer in the animation department, said she was also able to watch Xu evolve as a storyteller across her time at UCLA. She added that she saw her develop her ability to use acting, emotion, performance and story structure to communicate philosophical ideas in an accessible manner.

Okimura said she was struck by Xu’s enthusiasm to engage with other students. She added that Xu was always eager to give thoughtful feedback to classmates and collaborate with other students.

Okimura said she observed Xu’s ability to capture the artistic vision of the people she collaborated with when she helped another director design the environments for one of her short films.

“I think that’s an important quality: to not just be able to produce beautiful visuals, but to also really listen when you are working with somebody else, connect with what they’re going for and be able to produce in different ways,” Okimura said.

Cheng added that she met Xu at the end of her first year, after Xu had been admitted into the program. She said she noticed Xu’s willingness to speak to professors and connect with current students about her work and the program.

Xu said she was interested in art from a young age, adding that she was able to remain silently focused when drawing for hours as a child. She said she pursued illustration during her undergraduate studies at Pasadena City College and California College of the Arts while maintaining an interest in animation.

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Although Xu enjoyed the handful of animation classes she took as an undergraduate student, she said she was daunted by the intensity and time-consuming nature of animation as a medium. However, Xu said after she got her art degree, she felt more comfortable branching out and exploring her interests further, and decided to apply to UCLA’s MFA in Animation program to challenge herself. She added that she has always been moved by international animation, and said “Howl’s Moving Castle” and “The Wild Robot” were some of her biggest inspirations.

In 2025, Xu received the Student Honor Award from the American Advertising Federation of Los Angeles for her original Josie Bruin illustration. She was also selected as a recipient of the Matt Groening Production Fellowship, which supports graduate students in UCLA’s graduate animation program.

Xu said she uses animation and art as a means of communicating and connecting with others.

“This is our way to speak to the world, and we hope to find the right audience that can understand us,” Xu said. “We try our best to share our understanding of the world.”