Students studying abroad in Italy design film school, video games

Students studying abroad in Italy designed a film school on the outside wall of the medieval town of Castiglion Fiorentino and used their host town as a setting to create video games during their Texas A&M spring 2012 study abroad semester.

“Part of the film school assignment was to see Italian films and design a project as the semester progressed,” said Peter Lang, associate professor of architecture, who led the studio.

Students attended a film class by Santa Chiara faculty member Manuela Marchesini to help them create their designs.

Since many medieval-themed video games, said Lang, have an ambience similar to the town’s Santa Chiara Study Center, where Texas A&M’s Italian study abroad program is located, he asked students to create video games with the center and the town as a backdrop.

Robert Skelton’s video was inspired by a noisy cat and takes place on a cobblestone street surrounded by medieval stone walls.