How Feedback Works at Escape Studios

How does feedback work at Escape Studios?  Animation is an iterative process, and student animators learn by systematically correcting their mistakes and improving their technique through regular positive feedback. Feedback can often feel negative, but it's important to remember that everyone at Escape Studios is there to help all our students do their best work. When we push you to do better, it's because we want you to do the best work you possibly can. So how does feedback work? There are a number of ways in which students at Escape Studios can get regular feedback and positive criticism.

Escape Studios "Rookies" Certified School

"Officially Certified School" & "Top Ranked School"

We're delighted to announce that Escape Studios has been approved as a "Rookies" Officially Certified School and "Top Ranked School" for 2020.

This is a great honour for us - only the best international schools receive certification from The Rookies, reflecting our students' growing technical and creative success in recent years.

To see Escape Studios at The Rookies' Official Page, follow this link.

Ex Disney Chief Andy Bird Head of Pearson

Pearson, the global education company that owns Escape Studios, has a new CEO, Andy Bird. Prior to joining Pearson, Andy Bird was Chairman of Walt Disney International. Here at Escape Studios we are especially pleased to have a new CEO who is a Disney alumnus - and therefore will undoubtedly have a deep understanding of animation and the animation industry. We look forward to welcoming him soon at Escape Studios once he settles in to the new job, which he starts on October 19th.

Steve Sole is Back for "Movement & Narrative"

Steven Sole

We're delighted to welcome back character designer & visual development artist Steven Sole to teach at Escape Studios.

Steven will teach our first year undergraduate students Movement & Narrative, a mini-module in which students are invited to develop their skills in creativity, design, and visual narrative, which starts on Monday 14th September. This year the module will be taught partly in the classroom, and partly online.

Steven Sole comes to us from Framestore and also from Tiger Aspect Productions, where he was Art Director on Mr Bean.  To see some of Steve's work, visit his official site.

Elena Scala Animator at Climax Studios

Elena Scala

Many congratulations to Escapee Elena Scala who is now an animator at Climax Studios.

Elena took our 12 week animation short course at Escape Studios, and found work as a Roto Animator at MPC, working on "Cats" alongside a number of other Escapees.

Now Elena is working at Climax Studios, a games company based in Portsmouth, England.

Elena's career path shows how flexible animators can be in today's market, and how the games industry continues to be a major recruiter of animation talent.

"I Am Not a Mouse" by Evgenia Golubeva

"I am not a Mouse" is a new book by Escapee Evgenia Golubeva, who took our short course in 3D animation, and has since forged a career as an animator, writer, illustrator and director.

Her new book "I am Not a Mouse" is based on her award-winning short film, and adds book publishing to her already extensive portfolio career.

"I am Not a Mouse" is about a young girl called Olivia - who really doesn’t like her nickname, mostly because it gets her into some sticky situations. How can she persuade her mum to stop using it?

Laura Knight 3D Layout Artist at Jellyfish

Laura Knight

Many congratulations to Escapee Laura Knight who has started a new job as a Layout Artist at Jellyfish Pictures, one of London's leading animation houses.

Laura took our MA in 3D Animation and worked hard on polishing her demo reel, eventually finding work at Jellyfish Pictures.

Laura joins Escapees Luis Marcillo-Coronado, Henry Fenwick and Rory Marchant who also found animation jobs at Jellyfish after graduating from Escape Studios.

"Seeker" Wins Best Low Budget Film in Milan

Many congratulations to Escapee Rassoul Edji, whose short film "Seeker" has won Best Low Budget Film at the Assurdo Film Festival in Milan, and was also nominated for "Best Trailer".

This is the latest award for "Seeker", which recently won "Best Short" at Lisbon Film Fest, "Best Cinematography" at the European Film Festival, and "Best Super Short" at the Lisbon Film Festival.  The film was also selected as a finalist in this year's Rookies competition, and was nominated for Best Director at the Prague Film Festival.

How to Block Out Pantomime Animation

Pantomime Animation by Jamie Floodgate

How do you block out and plan a pantomime animation - an animated scene without dialogue? The trick with animation is to plan it out thoroughly in advance.

In the case of pantomime animation, we teach a workflow that is reliable and dependable, one which will get your shots approved on time, with minimal aggravation.

The secret of success lies, as ever, in the planning. Plan your work properly and you won't go wrong.

Stopping a Walk Cycle with Marc Stevenson

We've uploaded a new tutorial to our online collection, designed to support our students working from home, and to supplement our traditional classroom teaching. The Tutorial shows How to Stop a Walk Cycle, and was recorded by Escape Studios tutor Marc Stevenson. In this tutorial Marc shows how to bring a walking character to a stop in a convincing and believable way.

The "Five Pillars" of "The Escape Method"

What is "The Escape Method"?  The Escape Method is the way we teach animation at Escape Studios.  It has five pillars: Intensive classroom teaching, online tutorials, constructive feedback, industry engagement, and group projects.  All our students at Escape Studios study intensively, with daily personal tuition from industry-trained tutors, combined with online tutorials, regular, intensive feedback, and engagement from industry.  Our BA and MA courses also have a strong focus on group work, known as "Studio Projects" in which students work together in teams, learning the "soft skills" of working in groups, mirroring the actual processes of a live studio project. Watch the short video above to find out more about "The Escape Method".

Lights & Shadows in Maya with Michael Davies

We've uploaded more Maya tutorials to our expanding Vimeo Tutorial Channel.

These latest videos teach the art of Lighting and Shadows in Maya with Michael Davies.  This new series of videos is an introduction to the basics of lighting and shadows in Maya, including Gobos and Effects.

Finding Work in the Animation Industry Under Lockdown

Covid-19 has changed the jobs landscape, and not for the better; companies are shedding jobs around the globe. The good news is that animation continues to flourish; unlike live action filming, animation can be done remotely, and there is a large and growing demand for fresh animation content.

Here in the UK, many animation studios are still actively looking for talent.  Remote working is booming - consider the case of Escapee Daniel Baidoo who is working from home in Malta for an Italian Animation Studio on a British TV Series.  Truly, animation has become a global business.

"Flame" Wins Best Super Short Film in Prague

"Best Director" - Super Short Film

Many congratulations to the makers of the short film "Flame", which has won Best Director - Super Short Film at the Prague Film Festival.

"Flame" has won multiple awards in recent months, including Best Animation at the LISFF, Best Editor at the "We Make Films Festival" in London and a Five-Star Award at the British International Amateur Film Festival.  Flame was directed by Cherelle Owusu, produced by Carolina Xavier, and overseen by supervising tutor Amedeo Beretta.

Daniel Baidoo Animator at Maga Animation

Daniel Baidoo

Many congratulations to Escapee Daniel Baidoo, who has found work as an animator at Maga Animation, an animation company based in Monza, Italy.

Daniel is currently working remotely for Maga, animating "4-5 seconds of animation a day" on Ricky Zoom 2, a British CGI preschool series about a red motorbike named Ricky.

Prior to Ricky Zoom, Daniel worked at Animal Logic animation studio in Sydney, Australia.

Webinar with Escapee Evgenia Golubeva

On Thursday we hosted a webinar titled "From Escape Studios to Disney - How Escapee Evgenia Golubeva became a writer at Disney TV Animation".  In the webinar I asked Escapee Evgenia Golubeva about her remarkable career since leaving Escape Studios.  Evgenia is an award-winning animator, writer and director who is currently working as a writer at Walt Disney Animation.  Evgenia studied with us on our animation short course, and has since forged a career as a writer and independent film-maker, entering her animated films in festivals around the world and winning international prizes for her work. For anyone who missed the live event, watch the video above to find out more about Evgenia and her career.

Animate a Ball Throw with Alex Williams

We've added a new series of videos to our Vimeo Tutorial Channel, on how to animate a character throwing a ball.

The tutorial is important for any animator learning how to animate a physical action, and shows how to use live action reference in order to create a believable and technically accurate result.

Clearing Opens Today at Escape Studios

Today and tomorrow we are taking phone calls for the so-called "Clearing" process, during which UCAS matches up applicants with vacancies at Universities across the UK.

We still have a few spots available to study animation, games and VFX at Escape Studios, so if you'd like to to start your career in the creative industries - don't hesitate to get in touch.

"Seeker" Wins "Best Short" at Lisbon Film Fest

"Seeker" - Best Super Short 

Many congratulations to Escapee Rassoul Edji, whose short film "Seeker" has won "Best Super Short" at the Lisbon Film Festival.

This is the latest award for "Seeker", which recently won "Best Cinematography" at the European Film Festival, was a finalist in this year's Rookies competition, and was nominated for Best Director at the Prague Film Festival.

Flame Wins Best Animation at the LISFF

Best Animation LISFF

Many congratulations to the makers of the short film "Flame", which has won Best Animation at the London International Student Film Festival (LISFF).

"Flame" has won multiple festival awards including Best Editor at the "We Make Films Festival" in London and a Five-Star Award at the British International Amateur Film Festival. Flame was directed by Cherelle Owusu, produced by Carolina Xavier, and overseen by supervising tutor Amedeo Beretta.

How to Render Animation "On Twos"

We've recently uploaded a new video tutorial on how to render animation to look as if it was animated on twos, with UG Program leader Michael Davies.  You can find the video at our Vimeo Channel here.

Character Creation is Back on 26th October

3D art by Jonathan McFall

Character Creation is back; our 18 week evening class in Character Creation returns to Escape Studios on Monday 26th October 2020.

This evening course will teach students how to create their own character designs and bring them to life. Over 18 weeks you will design, model, texture, rig and animate your own character.

The course is taught by Jonathan McFall, an experienced 3D artist and veteran of many VFX hits including the Harry Potter series, Men in Black 3, and Immortals.

Texturing in Maya with Michael Davies

We've uploaded a new series of videos to our Vimeo channel, on Texturing in Maya, with our UG Program Leader Michael Davies.

The five videos are an introduction to the basics of materials and textures in Maya, and are a useful place to begin for anyone looking to understand the basics of texturing in Maya.

Last Call for Animation Evening Class 1st Sept

Dragon animation by Jamie Floodgate

Last call for our 20 week part-time Animation evening class in 3D animation, which returns on 1st September 2020.

This online class runs for 20 weeks on Tuesday and Thursday evenings, from 7-10pm. The course starts with animation fundamentals and builds up to complex actions and performances, and a professional level demo reel.

The class is taught by veteran animator and animation tutor Michael Morgan. 

Story & Previs MA Demo Reel

We're proud to present our very first Story & Previs MA Demo Reel, a showcase of work done by students on our Master's Degree course in Previsualisation and Storyboarding, which first launched in September 2019.  Four student films: Street Ratz, Moon Rockz, Animal Lover and Hat Shop, were directed by our MA students, and have recently been entered in festivals, already winning selections and awards.  Developed in consultation with industry, and formally validated by the University of Kent, the MA in Story & Previs is a unique opportunity to learn industry-level skills and also earn an internationally recognised academic qualification.

Parkour Tutorial with Paloma Zhu

We've uploaded a new parkour animation tutorial to our expanding Vimeo channel; this time a parkour animation shot by Paloma Zhu; you can find it here.

The shot was originally animated by Paloma on the short film "Street Ratz", which was nominated for Best Trailer at the Assurdo Film Festival.  In this tutorial, Paloma shows how she created live action reference clips and edited them together to block out her animation, ensuring realism, accuracy and believability.

From Escape Studios to Disney - Webinar with Evgenia Golubeva on Thursday 13th August

Evgenia Golubeva

Join us on 13th August at Noon for an animation webinar titled "From Escape Studios to Disney - How Escapee Evgenia Golubeva became a writer at Disney TV Animation".

In this free webinar I'll be asking Escapee Evgenia Golubeva some questions about her remarkable career since leaving Escape Studios.

Evgenia is an award-winning animator, writer and director who is currently working as a writer at Walt Disney Animation in London.

Evgenia studied with us on our animation short course, and has since forged a career as a writer and independent film-maker, entering her animated films in festivals around the world and winning international prizes for her work. You can sign up for the webinar here.

Body Mechanics Tutorial with Amedeo Beretta

Body Mechanics Tutorial with Amedeo Beretta

We've uploaded a new Body Mechanics Tutorial to our Vimeo Tutorial Channel.

The tutorial was recorded by Escape Studios tutor Amedeo Beretta, who will teach our 2nd year undergraduate animators this September. 

You can find the new body mechanics tutorial, using the free "Ultimate Walker" rig, here: https://vimeo.com/showcase/7400864

"Seeker" Wins Best Cinematography at EFF

Many congratulations to Escapee Matteo Balduzzi, Director of Photography on the short VFX film "Seeker", which has won "Best Cinematography" at the Europe Film Festival.

This is the latest award for "Seeker", which has picked up a number of trophies, having been selected as a finalist in this year's Rookies competition, and also nominated for Best Director at the Prague Film Festival.

Melissa Coarezza Animator at Milestone s.r.l.

Melissa Coarezza

Many congratulations to Escapee Melissa Coarezza, who has secured a position as a technical animator at the Italian video game company Milestone s.r.l.

After a year at MPC film in London working on the production of Maleficent 2 - Mistress of Evil, Melissa, who took our 12 week course in 3D Animation, has joined the TechArt team at Milestone, in her home town of Milan.

Technical animation is a growing area of the animation industry, one where opportunities and jobs are rapidly expanding. 

UV Unwrapping Tutorials at Vimeo

We've uploaded a new series of tutorials to our Vimeo channel, on the subject of UV Unwrapping.

The tutorials were recorded by our UG Program Leader Michael Davies, and form part of our large and growing Vimeo Tutorial Channel, which has hundreds of videos on animation, games and VFX.