Crash Wins Best Trailer at Halicarnassus

The Crash wins Best Trailer at Halicarnassus film Fest

Many congratulations to the makers of "The Crash", a short film created by students at Escape Studios, which has won Best Trailer at the Halicarnassus Film Festival. 

"The Crash" is a sci-fi VFX short written and directed by Lewys Rhodes, and produced by Daniel Rowe.

PR5001 Starts on 21 February 2022

On 21st February our 2nd year undergraduate animation students begin Studio Project Module PR5001, where students collaborate to work together on group projects, creating short films.

This module is the culmination of the second year of study at Escape Studios.

The Studio Projects are designed to simulate as closely as possible the experience of working on a live client project.

The Studio Project is worth 45 credits and runs until the end of the summer term in May.

The Studio Project is broken up into two six week projects, giving students two chances to practice their film-making, animation, and story-telling skills.

Animal Lover Wins Best Micro Short in Berlin

Best Micro Animation in Berlin

Many congratulations to the makers of the short film "Animal Lover", which has won "Best Micro Animation" at the Berlin Flash Film Festival. 

"Animal Lover" is a one-minute animated short written and directed by Anastasia Gurova, produced by Priya Shah, and edited by Daniel Brand-Sinyinza. This is the third festival award for "Animal Lover".

Moon Rockz Best No Budget at Dreamer's Fest

"Moon Rockz" wins Best No Budget at Dreamer's Fest

Congratulations to the makers of the short film "Moon Rockz", a short Sci-Fi comedy written and directed by Molly Babington, and produced by Stevie Stedman, which has won "Best No Budget" film at the Dreamer's Short Film Festival.

This the fourth festival award for "Moon Rockz", which last year won "Best Sci-Fi" at the Flicks Film Festival, and also "Most Witty Animation" at the Animafantasia Film Festival.

Creative Workshops are Back!

It's all about Teamwork

Creative Workshops are back! If you have applied for one of our undergraduate Animation, Games or VFX courses, for entry in September 2022, you may well have been invited to attend a Creative Workshop here at Escape Studios.

Creative Workshops are a chance for us to get to know you, for you to get to know us, and for you to find out more about what we do at Escape Studios.  In March 2020 our Creative Workshops moved online, but now we are delighted to be able to welcome our prospective students back in person.

Home Sweet Home Wins Best Animation Award

Home Sweet Home wins Best Short Animation

Many congratulations to the makers of "Home Sweet Home", which has won the award for "Best Short Animation" at the Halicarnassus Film Festival. 

  

Home Sweet Home is about a gang of discarded sweets trying to get back to their sweet shop home. 

Home Sweet Home was directed by Maria Robertson, co-directed by Harry Pearson and produced by Maddison Gould.  

Animal Lover Best Micro Short at Dreamachine

Animal Lover wins Best Animated Short at Dreamachine

Congratulations (and Merry Christmas!) to the makers of the short film "Animal Lover", which has won "Best Micro Short" at the Dreamachine Film Festival.

"Animal Lover" is a one-minute animated short written and directed by Anastasia Gurova, produced by Priya Shah, and edited by Daniel Brand-Sinyinza.  

This is the latest award for "Animal Lover", which tells the story of a young girl growing up in rural Russia. 

Character Design is Back on 25th April 2022

Artwork by tutor Steve Sole

Our online Character Design Evening Class returns to Escape Studios on Monday 25th April 2022.

  
Character Design is an eight week evening class taught by industry veteran and Escape Studios' Head of Character Design Steve Sole.

Steve will guide students through the principles of character design, building up to an industry brief.

Introducing "Punch"

 

Meet "Punch", a short film created at Escape Studios,, written and directed by Niccolo Smaldone, and a collaboration between post-graduate students on the MA in Storyboarding & Previsualisation and  animation.  "Punch" is a short story about a forgotten theatre in a city park in which a mysterious character tries to tempt a young boy away from his mobile phone.  The film has won two awards: "Best Micro Short" at the Vesuvius Film Festival, and Best First-Time Director at the Halicarnassus Film Festival. It was produced by Stevie Stedman.

Side Quest Wins "Best First-Time Director"

Congratulations to the makers of "Side Quest", which has won "Best First-Time Director" at the Halicarnassus Film Festival. 

Side Quest is an adventure story set in a distant fantasy land, in which a brave knight embarks on a quest to free a Princess from a vicious dragon

"Side Quest" was directed by Jess Hiles and produced by Priya Shah. This is the film's first festival award.

Golden Acorn Wins Best Trailer at GEIFF

Many congratulations to the makers of "The Golden Acorn", which has won an award for Best Trailer at the Golden Eagle Indie Film Festival (GEIFF).

"The Golden Acorn" is a movie trailer completed by 2nd year undergraduate Escape Studios Animation students, written & directed by Maciej Osuch, edited & produced by Miguel Teixeira. 

In The Golden Acorn a detective duo team up in NutTown to defeat the evil squirrel crime boss.

Jack Thompson Rigger at Aardman

Jack Thompson

Many congratulations to Escapee Jack Thompson, who has been promoted to "rigger" at Aardman Animation.

Aardman Animation, based in Bristol, is one of the UK's leading animation companies, responsible for many animated hits including the "Wallace and Gromit" series of shorts.

Jack Thompson studied the Art of Computer Animation at Escape Studios, and made significant contributions to a number of successful animated projects, including two award-winning short films: "Joe" and "Over Under".

Toonboom Harmony Tutorials at Vimeo

Welcome to our free introductory tutorial in Toonboom Harmony, the animation software that is increasingly dominating the 2D animation industry, and a growing part of our 2D pipeline at Escape Studios.  This "Walkthrough" tutorial was recorded by Harry Ravelomanantsoa, and is intended as an introduction to the art and craft of 2D animation in Toonboom Harmony.  

ToonBoom Harmony Returns 19 April 2022

Our 2D Animation evening class in Toonboom Harmony returns to Escape Studios on Tuesday 19 April 2022.

Learn the fundamentals of 2D animation over 10 weeks, one evening a week using Toonboom Harmony, one of the leading software packages for the creation of 2D animation.

In recent years 2D animation has experienced a significant revival, both in the UK and overseas, as Studios such as Blue Zoo, Aardman Animation, and Brown Bag Films adopt the software.

A Long Way Home Best Trailer at HEIFEST

A Long Way Home Wins Best Trailer at HEIFEST

Congratulations to the makers of A Long Way Home, which has won Best Trailer at the Heart of Europe International Film Festival (HEIFEST).

A Long Way Home is a teaser/trailer directed by Harrison Bell and produced by Josiah Martin-Lofters, about an orphan girl searching for her biological mother.  It has won many festival awards. 

"Burger Royale" Wins 15 Festival Awards

Meet "Burger Royale" - a short animated teaser/trailer written, directed and produced by Escape Studios' animation student Gary Roche.  Above is the festival cut, with original music by composer Stuart Bramwell.  "Burger Royale" has already won fifteen festival awards, as well as many festival nominations and selections.  Burger Royale tells the story of a hungry drunk who walks into a burger joint one night only to find, to his horror, that he is on the menu.

Ragdoll Dynamics for Maya

We're recommending Ragdoll Dynamics to all our animation students. Ragdoll Dynamics provides Maya animators with real-time physics for fast, automatic overlapping motion. 

Ragdoll is a real-time physics solver for Maya, similar the native nCloth and nHair solvers except that it works on transforms rather than points.

 

MA Story and Previs Returns on 2 October 2023

"Moon Rockz" directed by Molly Babington

Our Master's Degree course in Previsualisation and Storyboarding is now recruiting for October 2023.

This unique degree, first launched in September 2019, is the first-ever master's degree in Previsualisation & Storyboarding, and is taught by industry veteran Iliana Franklin. 

Developed in consultation with industry, and formally validated by the University of Kent, this degree is a unique opportunity to learn industry-level skills and also earn an internationally recognised academic qualification.

Our MA students have created award-winning films such as "Moon Rockz", which recently won "Best Sci-Fi" at the Flicks Film Fest, and "Street Ratz", which won Best Trailer at the Vesuvius Film Festival, and Best Trailer at the CFIFF.

Joe Wins Best VFX at the LIMFF

Many congratulations to the makers of Joe, which has won Best VFX at the London International Monthly Film Festival (LIMFF). 

 "Joe" is a short film directed by Callum Reeve and produced by Aidan Lonergan, completed as part of animation Module PR6001,  a Studio Project worth 60 Credits. 

Joe is a story about a cleanup robot that goes wrong.

Joe has won many festival awards, including a "Director's Choice" award at the Sci-On film festival and a "Four Stars Award" at the British International Amateur Film Festival.

Tim Jones Animator at Random42 Scientific

Tim Jones

Many congratulations to Escapee Tim Jones who is working as an animator at Random42 Scientific Communication, a US and UK-based animation studio specialising in medical animation and education, virtual reality, augmented and mixed reality animation.

Tim took our master's degree in 3D animation at Escape Studios, where he put together a strong animation demo reel, and built a LinkedIn profile with embedded links to his demo reel and website. 

Marc Stevenson Teaches Anim 1 in Jan 2022

Marc Stevenson

Veteran animator and Escape Studios tutor Marc Stevenson will return to teach animation basics - AN4001 - to our first year undergraduate students in the New Year.

Marc has credits on many Hollywood hit films including Fast & Furious 6, Avengers, Age of Ultron, Moon, and Victor Frankenstein.

Marc has also created a great number of online animation tutorials for our students, which you can find at our Animation Vimeo Channel.

Street Ratz Wins Hon Mention at Tokyo Fest

Street Ratz wins Hon. Mention in Tokyo Fest

Many congratulations to the makers of "Street Ratz", which has won an Honourable Mention in the category of Best Production Design at the Tokyo International Film Festival. 

This is the latest award for "Street Ratz", which tells the story of Tal, a young girl locked in a dystopian universe who must avoid the clutches of a gangland mafia boss to escape the city underworld. 

Street Ratz is a teaser/trailer written and directed by Austin Hill,  and produced by Jack Wright.  Street Ratz has won many festival awards. 

"Joe" Wins Best VFX at HEIFEST

Many congratulations to the makers of Joe, which has won Best VFX at the Heart of Europe International Film Festival (HEIFEST).  

 "Joe" is a short film directed by Callum Reeve and produced by Aidan Lonergan. 

Joe is a story about a cleanup robot that goes wrong; it has won many festival awards.

Producing Animation by Zahra Dowlatabadi

Producing Animation by Zahra Dowlatabadi

We're recommending "Producing Animation" by Katherine Winder and Zahra Dowlatabadi, an important resource for any of our students interested in the production side of creating animation.

Producing animation is an increasingly important part of what we teach at Escape Studios, as our students collaborate on short film projects, entering festivals and winning awards.

Being a successful animator isn't just about being good at animation; you also need to understand how group projects work, and learn how to collaborate with other artists in a studio environment.

Many Escapees have gone on to fill production roles at animation, games and VFX studios in recent years, as studios ramp up production in the UK. 

Home Sweet Home Best VFX at Tokyo Fest

Many congratulations to the makers of "Home Sweet Home", which has won "Best VFX" at the Tokyo International Film Festival.

  

Home Sweet Home is about a gang of discarded sweets trying to get back to their sweet shop home. 

Home Sweet Home was directed by Maria Robertson, co-directed by Harry Pearson and produced by Maddison Gould.  

Home Sweet Home was filmed on location in London and has won many festival awards. 

Paolo Amadini Animation TD at MPC

Paolo Amadini

Many congratulations to Paolo Amadini, who is currently working as an Animation TD at MPC, joining many other Escapees at the fast-growing animation and VFX studio.

Paolo took our MA in 3D Animation at Escape Studios, where he directed the short film "Palindromo", which has won many festival awards.

MPC is one of the UK's largest and most successful animation and VFX houses, responsible for blockbuster hits such as The Jungle Book and the 2019 re-make of The Lion King. 

Escape Exchange with La Salle, Barcelona

Ramon Llull University, Barcelona

Escape Studios is delighted to announce our new Exchange programme with La Salle, part of the Ramon Llull University in Barcelona, Catalonia.

La Salle offers degrees in Engineering, Architecture, Business, Digital Arts and Animation. Technology and innovation.

In 2022 four Escape students will be travelling to Barcelona to study, and three students from La Salle will be coming to Escape Studios, two studying the Art of Computer Animation and one studying the Art of Visual Effects.

This is a welcome opportunity for our students to study overseas in one of Europe's most beautiful cities. 

The Animation & VFX Course at La Salle is taught in Catalan, Spanish and English. 

"Joe" Wins Best VFX at Argenteuil Fest

"Joe" wins Best VFX at the Argenteuil Fest

Many congratulations to the makers of Joe, which has won Best VFX at the Argenteuil Film Festival.

 "Joe" is a short film directed by Callum Reeve and produced by Aidan Lonergan, completed as part of animation Module PR6001,  a Studio Project worth 60 Credits. 

Joe is a story about a cleanup robot that goes wrong. The lead animator was Jack Thompson.  Joe has won many festival awards. 

Minuet Best Sound Track at Halicarnassus Fest

"Minuet" Best Soundtrack at Halicarnassus Fest

Congratulations to the makers of Minuet, which has won an award for Best Sound Track at the Halicarnassus Film Festival.

Minuet is a short film about a young girl preparing for a concert recital, directed by Aaron Hopwood and Harry Pearson, and produced by Maddison Gould.  

The original score was composed by Alexandra Harwood.  

Minuet has won many festival awards. 

Billy Allen Animator at Factory 42

Billy Allen

Many congratulations to Escapee Billy Allen who is currently working as an animator at Factory 42, a London-based animation studio specialising in augmented reality installations and interactive animation experiences.

Billy studied the Art of Computer Animation at Escape Studios and worked on a number of award-winning projects including Over Under - on which he was lead animator - and also Reach. 

Factory 42 is located in Somerset House on The Strand in London, a short walk from Escape Studios, an innovative start-up with a growing roster of AI and AR projects. 

Graduation Day!

2021 Graduation Ceremony

Yesterday was Graduation Day at Escape Studios.  This year's long-delayed graduation ceremony was held at the Mermaid Theatre in Blackfriars, London, on the banks of the River Thames. 

We were able to welcome our graduating students from 2021 and 2020 for the graduation ceremony and for a drinks reception afterwards. 

A Long Way Home Best Trailer at Onyko Fest

A Long Way home wins Best Trailer at Onyko Awards

Many congratulations to the makers of A Long Way Home, which has won Best Trailer at the Onyko Film Festival. 

A Long Way Home is a teaser/trailer directed by Harrison Bell and produced by Josiah Martin-Lofters.  It has won many festival awards. 

Street Ratz Best Production Design in Athens

Many congratulations to the makers of "Street Ratz", which has won Best Production Design at the Athens International Film Festival. 

This is the latest award for "Street Ratz", which tells the story of Tal, a young girl locked in a dystopian universe who must avoid the clutches of a gangland mafia boss to escape the city underworld. 

Street Ratz is a teaser/trailer written and directed by Austin Hill,  and produced by Jack Wright.

Street Ratz has won many festival awards. 

"Joe" Wins Best VFX at Onyko Festival

"Joe" wins Best VFX at Onyko Film Awards

Many congratulations to the makers of Joe, which has won Best VFX at the Onyko Festival. 

 "Joe" is a short film directed by Callum Reeve and produced by Aidan Lonergan, completed as part of animation Module PR6001,  a Studio Project worth 60 Credits. 

Joe is a story about a cleanup robot that goes wrong.  Joe has won many festival awards. 

Animation Event with Alberto & Leo Wed 8 Dec

"An Evening With..." Alberto Mielgo and Leo Sanchez Barbosa

Escape Studios is collaborating with Siggraph London for "An Evening With" event next week with legendary designer Alberto Mielgo and Leo Sanchez Barbosa.

This event takes place on Wednesday 8th December at 6.30pm GMT via Zoom.

To sign up, follow the official Zoom link.

Mafia Mix-Up Wins Best 1st Time Director

Congratulations to the makers of "Mafia Mix-Up", which has won Best First-Time Director at the Halicarnassus Film Festival.

Mafia Mix-Up was written and directed by Jake Lee, and produced by Emmanouil "Manos" Zervoudakis. 

This is the second festival award for Mafia Mix-Up, which also won Best Micro Short at the Vesuvius Film Festival.

Steve Lall "Lighting for Animators" Tues 7 Dec

Steve Lall teaching at Escape Studios

Studio Assistant Steve Lall is back on Tuesday 7 December at 9.30 am to teach our 2nd year animation students the fundamentals of lighting in animation.

An understanding of lighting in Maya is a necessary part of the animation pipeline, and vital for the short films our students will make in PR5001, the 2nd year Studio Project Module which begins in 2022.

Steve will cover the fundamentals of lighting with Arnold, showing how our animators can achieve successful lighting setups with minimal complexity.

We also have a series of videos on lighting at our Vimeo Channel to support the classroom instruction.

"Leaching" Wins Best Trailer at Vesuvius Fest

The Leaching wins Best Trailer at Vesuvius Fest

Congratulations to Escape Studios' tutor Lee Caller whose short teaser/trailer "The Leaching" has won Best Trailer at the Vesuvius International Film Festival.

  

"The Leaching" is a teaser/trailer for an animated horror film, currently in development. 

Lee teaches our Short Course, Advanced Animation, and Animation Masters students.  Lee's short film "Jelly Cars" has also won a number of festival awards.  

Rise of the Engines - Real Time on 5 Dec 2021

Animation in real time Sunday 5 Dec 2021

Join Escape Studios' Michael Davies and St John Walker for a panel talk on "Animation in Real Time" hosted by the London International Animation Festival (LIAF), revealing the secrets of real-time rendering in Unreal Engine.

The event is free and takes place online on Sunday 5 December 2021 at 11am.

Petroc Menuhin Animator at Freefolk

Petroc Menuhin

Many congratulations to Escapee Petroc Menuhin who has started work as an animator at FreeFolk VFX in Soho.

Petroc graduated with a BA in the Art of 3D Animation from Escape Studios, where he directed the short film "Offcut", which has won multiple festival awards.  

Freefolk is a UK-based VFX and animation house established in London in 2003 as Finish; it became Freefolk in 2016. 

Amarok Wins Hon Mention at Horror Island

Amarok wins Hon Mention at Horror Island Fest

Congratulations to the makers of "Amarok", which has won an Honourable Mention at the Horror Island Film Festival in Las Palmas. 

Amarok was written and directed by Shenaaz Suliman and produced by Josiah Martin-Lofters.   Amarok has won many festival awards. 

Adam & Eve Mk II Best Animated Short LIMPA

Adam & Eve Mk II wins Best Animated Short at LIMPA

Many congratulations to Sebastian Kuder, director of "Adam & Eve Mk II", which has won Best Animated Short Film at the London International Motion Picture Awards (LIMPA).

Adam & Eve Mk II, is a sci-fi re-telling of the Genesis story, directed by Escapee Sebastian Kuder.   Adam & Eve Mk II has won over a dozen festival awards.  

  

Young Cartoonist of the Year Competition Open

Deadline 5 January 2022

The Young Cartoonists of the Year Competition is back; the deadline for submissions is 5 January 2022.

Hosted by the Cartoon Museum, re-opened after its long Covid-19-slumber, the annual competition seeks to reward rising cartoon talent. 

Judges include Martin Rowson (The Guardian), Christian Adams (Evening Standard), Banx (FT), Peter Brookes (The Times), Nick Newman (Private Eye), and Matt from the Daily Telegraph. 

Jelly Cars Best Cinematography Halicarnassus

Jelly Cars wins Best Cinematography at Halicarnassus

Escape Studios is proud to congratulate animation tutor Lee Caller whose short film Jelly Cars has won "Best Cinematography" at the Halicarnassus Film Festival. 

This is the latest award for Jelly Cars; which last year won a Special Mention at the ANSFF in Buenos Aires.

Cartoon Museum "Laughter Lab" Opens

Last night was the opening of a new exhibition at London's Cartoon Museum, titled Laughter Lab: What’s So Funny?, which seeks to "uncover the science behind funniness".  

The exhibition invites visitors to contribute to a science experiment which hopes to find out what makes a cartoon funny. 

The experiment is being conducted in collaboration with Robin Dunbar, Professor of Evolutionary Psychology at the University of Oxford. What makes us laugh? It's a complex question, with some surprising science behind it. 

Meet Mr Buttons - the Cartoon Cat

Mr Buttons

Meet Mr Buttons, the cartoon cat created by veteran animator and rigger Keith Osborn, who has made his cute orange cat available for free download.

Mr Buttons is a fun, quirky rig, suitable for broad cartoony character animation.  Mr Buttons is the star of Osborn's book "Cartoony Character Animation with Maya", which we recommend for all our students.

We also have a series of tutorials with Mr Buttons (see below) on how to plan cartoony animation.

How to Block out a Dialogue Shot

How do animators plan out a dialogue shot from scratch? As with everything in animation, the secret is in the planning. The key skill that all animators must learn at Escape Studios is how to plan a shot from start to finish.  Start with an idea, think it through, shoot live action reference and draw thumbnail sketches. Then, and only, then should you start creating poses in Maya. 

Sesame Street Sound Archive

For animators looking for inspiration for some cartoony animation with dialogue, one great place to search is the Sesame Street Sound Archive, which you can find here. 

The Sesame Street Sound Archive is full of cartoony audio clips, which work well with cartoony characters such as Mr Buttons and also the Willy rig.  

To get started, try picking a very short line of dialogue, download it and then drag and drop it into your timeline in Maya. To see more about how to use audio files in Maya, follow this link.  To see more about how to use the "Willy" rig, see this blog post.

Malloe Best No Budget at Dreamer's Film Fest

"Malloe" Best No Budget at Dreamer's Fest

Congratulations to the makers of "Malloe", which has won Best No Budget Film at the Dreamer's Film Festival.

"Malloe" is a short film about two children who find a very unusual creature - one that is very fond of marshmallows. 

"Malloe" was directed by Eilin Berrio Pena, edited by Ross Green, and produced by Nickoel Izharudin.  It has won many festival awards. 

Success Stories at Escape Studios

Success Stories at Escape Studios

Here at Escape Studios we have thousands of Escapees working in the global animation, games and VFX industries.

Check out the infographic on the left to see some of the projects that our recent graduates are working on. 

To see more recent Success Stories at Escape Studios, and see the kinds of studios that our animation students are getting hired by, follow this link. 

Peer Observation Returns to Escape Studios

Lee Caller Teaching at Escape Studios

"Peer Observation" at Escape Studios is part of the process of making sure that we are delivering the best possible classes to our students. 

"Peer Obs" is about staff development, sharing of best practice, enhancing teaching quality and generally keeping us all on our toes. 

Each tutor at Escape Studios should make sure that in any given academic year they observe at least one colleague teaching, and also make sure that they themselves are observed at least once.

Luis Marcillo-Coronado Animator at Jellyfish

Luis David Marcillo-Coronado

Many congratulations to Escapee Luis David Marcillo-Coronado who has recently started work as a 2D animator at Jellyfish Pictures in London.

Luis completed a Master's Degree in Animation here at Escape Studios and, after graduating with an MA, continued to polish his demo reel.

At Escape Studios, Luis contributed to the award-winning short film "Flame", a group project directed by Cherelle Owusu and produced by Carolina Xavier, which has won multiple festival awards.

Luis's career at Jellyfish began as a runner, a well-established entry-level pathway into the animation and vfx industries, after which he got a well-deserved promotion to animator.

Seeker Wins Best Trailer at Costa Brava Fest

Seeker wins Best Trailer at Costa Brava

Congratulations to Escapee Rassoul Edji, whose short film "Seeker" has won Best Trailer at the Costa Brava Film festival. 

 "Seeker" is a short sci-fi film directed by Rassoul Edji and produced by Tosin Ogunleye.   Seeker is about a giant robot running amok in suburban England.  

Seeker has won around a dozen festival awards. 

"Crash" Audience Award at UK Student Fest

Many congratulations to the makers of "The Crash", a short film created by VFX students at Escape Studios, which has won the "Audience Favourite" Award at the UK Student Film Festival, including a cash prize of $100.

"The Crash" is a sci-fi VFX short written and directed by Lewys Rhodes, and produced by Daniel Rowe.

"The Crash" is a short film created by our students at Escape Studios, combining live action and VFX. It has won many festival awards.