A graduate of the Biomedical Communications program won the Scientific and Educational Award at the 2015 St. Tropez International Film Festival. Pina Kingman created the animation “Our Resilient Genome” with the Visualization Group in the Department of Informatics at the University of Bergen in Norway where Kingman and her colleagues wanted to explore new ways to visualize molecules.
“To depict molecules in animation, we use a standard set of representations; for example, the space-filling model or the ribbon model. But these static models are only representations when, in reality, molecules are much more dynamic. So, we decided to create a new visual metaphor loosely based on the Electron Cloud Model,” Kingman says.
Kingman graduated in 2009 with her Master of Science in Biomedical Communications and immediately began freelance work before moving to Fort Collins, Colorado. She joined the media company Visual Health Solutions where she worked on 3D animations and on a web-based rotating anatomical figure. From there, Kingman moved to the MedMovie studio in Lexington, Kentucky where she created medical-legal illustrations, medical device animations, and ultrasound-based 3D models. In 2013, the Visualization Group at the University of Bergen recruited Kingman to work for a year as the medical animator on their physioillustration research project.
“My MScBMC degree took me on this path and is the basis for everything I do,” Kingman says.
An independent filmmaker based in Bergen, Kingman currently operates Pina Kingman Studios. She continues to create short-film animations to share complex scientific information and to promote health education. She also organizes art exhibits, film screenings and public talks all intended to inspire interest in science.
by Maeve Doyle
