Escape Animators 3rd & 4th in 11 Second Club

Paloma Zhu and Eilin Berrio Pena

Many congratulations to Paloma Zhu and Eilin Berrio Pena who have been ranked 3rd and 4th in the October 11 Second Club Competition, in which over 180 animators from around the globe tested their skills.

The 11 Second Club is a monthly character animation competition in which aspiring animators compete to win prizes and get their work noticed.

Animators from all over the world participate, animating a character speaking a line of dialogue, which is provided on the first day of every month by the club. 

It's a monthly free animation competition. Participating animators can share their progress with one another and critique each other's work - just like in a real animation studio.

Paloma Zhu

11 Second Club
The 11 Second Club is a monthly animation competition, open to animators anywhere in the world. A line of dialogue is selected and, at the end of the month, all the participants vote for the submission that they consider the best for that month.  The idea of the 11 Second Club is "to give animators a chance to practice their skills in a fun, challenging environment".

This month, the line of dialogue involved two characters talking:

"Wouldn't it be funny if we both got it wrong eh? If I did the good thing and you did the bad one?"

"No! It wouldn't be funny at all!"

AN5001
For our students, entry into the competition forms part of the AN5001 second year character animation module, in which students learn the art of character animation and performance.


Paloma Zhu - No 3
Rush Hour by Paloma Zhu placed third in the competition. Paloma's very inventive animation skillfully imagined the two characters as a set of traffic lights.




Eilin Berrio Pena - No 4
Eilin Berrio Pena imagined the scene as a cosy dinner a deux with a zombie and another guest, who isn't too keen on being served brains for his tea. Again, a very imaginative performance, well executed.




Duncan Guymer - No 12
Also placed in the top twelve was our very own studio assistant, Duncan Guymer, who came in at a very respectable number 12.



Live Action Reference
The secret of success in character animation is good planning. Both Paloma and Eilin worked hard to secure good live action reference, filming themselves acting out their shots and using this reference for their animation blocking. You can see examples of their live action reference below.

Paloma Zhu - Live Action Reference
Paloma filmed herself acting out the shot and imported the live action into Maya, working from an image plane to ensure that she had all her animation planned out from the start. This is a methodology widely used in industry.  Even in the 1930s Disney animators on Snow White used live action to help create their animation performances.




Eilin Berio Pena - Live Action Reference
Eilin acted out both roles in the scene, filming herself acting out the scene, then editing the footage in Premiere so that it perfectly matched the line of dialogue. Then, she used her live action performance to create her animation blocking.





Congratulations to all our students on their excellent work. To see other competition successes by our students at Escape Studios, follow this link.

The Escape Studios Animation Blog offers a personal view on the art of animation and visual effects. To apply for our new BA/MArt starting in September 2020, follow this link.