Motion Graphics Evening Class 8 Nov 2022

Motion Graphics Evening Class starts 9 August 2022

Our next Motion Graphics 12 Week Evening Class returns on 8 November 2022. 

This online course is taught by experienced industry professionals and aims to prepare students for careers in the motion graphic and motion design industries.

The market for skilled motion designers has never been bigger, and London is host to the world’s largest motion design community.  To find out more, visit the official course page here.

"Spitfire" Wins "Best 1st-Time Director" Award

Congratulations to the makers of "Spitfire", which has won an award for Best 1st Time Director at the Halicarnassus Film Awards. 

"Spitfire" tells the story of the inspiration behind the legendary WW2 aircraft, and its creator R J Mitchell.  

"Spitfire" was directed by Christopher Mardsen-Carleton, produced by Conall Ferguson and edited by Jessa Timog-Santiago. 

"Hannibelle" Wins Best Trailer at HEI Fest

Hannibelle wins "Best Trailer" at the HEI Fest

Congratulations to the makers of Hannibelle the short animated teaser/trailer created by our second year animation students at Escape Studios, which has won "Best Trailer" at the HEI Film Fest.

Written and Directed by Alex Maynard and produced by Ben Swallow,  "Hannibelle" tells the story of a fairytale princess - who is not everything she appears.  This is the third festival award for "Hannibelle".

Motion Graphics Tutorials at Our Vimeo Channel

Motion Graphics is a large and growing part of the animation industry, and encompasses a range of skills including design, animation and technology.

Our Motion Graphics tutorial playlist covers the art of motion graphics in After Effects and also in Mash (Maya).  You can find the rest of our Animation and VFX Tutorials at our Vimeo Channel here. 

Tosin Ogunleye VFX Trainee at LucasFilm

Tosin Ogunleye

Congratulations to Escapee Tosin Ogunleye who is working as a VFX Trainee at LucasFilm, one of the world's leading entertainment companies and home to the "Star Wars" film franchise. 

 Tosin studied the Art of Visual Effects at Escape Studios, specialising in 2D Compositing, Producing, Video Editing and Photography.

While at Escape Studios, Tosin produced the short film "Seeker" which has won multiple awards at international festivals, and she also contributed to the award-winning short film "Offcut". 

"Explosive Love" Wins Best Animated Short

"Explosive Love" wins Best Animated Short at Halicarnassus

Congratulations to the makers of "Explosive Love", which has won Best Animated Short at the Halicarnassus Film Festival.

"Explosive Love" was directed by Alba Rodriguez and produced by Rohnak Sharma.  

"Explosive Love" tells the story of a lonely puffer fish looking for love - in an unlikely place. 

Motion Graphics Starts 7 November 2022

Our next Motion Graphics 12 Week Course starts on 7 November 2022.  The course is taught by experienced industry professionals, and aims to prepare students for careers in the motion graphic and motion design industries.

The market for skilled motion designers has never been bigger, and London is host to the world’s largest motion design community.   To find out more, visit the official course page here.

Kiwi's Dream Wins Best VFX at AFA

Kiwi's Dream wins Best VFX at AFA

Congratulations to the makers of "Kiwi's Dream", which has won "Best VFX" at the Art Film Awards. 

Directed by Paloma Zhu and produced by Daniel Rowe, Kiwi's Dream was based on an original concept by Freddie Belsom about an origami kiwi who dreams of flying in the clouds. 

• Benjamín Števuliak was the 3D VFX Lead, Freddie Belsom was the 2D VFX Lead.

Kiwi's Dream has won many festival awards. 

"Seeker" Best Trailer (Hon Mention) in Tokyo

"Seeker" wins "Best Trailer" (Hon Mention) at TIMFF

Congratulations to the makers of "Seeker"  which has won an Honourable Mention in the category of Best Trailer at the Tokyo International 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.  It has won many festival awards. 

Introducing "The Stellar Rescue"

Meet "The Stellar Rescue", the latest short film created at Escape Studios. "Stellar Rescue" was written and directed by Anthony Sarmiento, and produced by Wiktoria Swierk.  It was created as part of a group project by second-year animation students, working together as a team. 

"Step Up to Unreal" Free Course Starts Today

"Novem" - rendered in Unreal Engine

"Step Up to Unreal" starts today - a new free introduction to Unreal Engine at Escape Studios from Monday 23rd to Friday 27th May 2022. 

The event has been made possible by ScreenSkills, and offers students the chance to take a paid work placement with some of the best VFX film and TV studios in the UK.

The event is free, and takes place from today Monday 23rd to Friday 27th May 2022. You can find out more here. 

"Love, Mum" Best No Budget at Dreamer's Fest

Love, Mum wins Best No-Budget at DSFF

Congratulations to the makers of "Love, Mum", the short film created by our second-year students at Escape Studios, which has won an award for "Best No Budget Film" at the Dreamer's Film Festival.

"Love, Mum"  tells the story of a young woman who tries to find the secret ingredient in her beloved mother's favourite recipe.  "Love, Mum" was written, directed and edited by Amelia Watson, and produced by Llewelyn Whitney. 

Farewell to 2nd Year Undergraduate Animators

Farewell to our 2nd year animators - see you in September!

A fond farewell to our second year animation students, who leave us after a successful term in which they have created nine short animated films, many of which are already winning festival awards.

Our animation students will now have the long summer holidays to forget everything they have learned (surely - keep working on their projects? - Ed) and will be back in September to start the VFX Project, a collaboration with VFX undergraduates.

To find out what's in store in their Third Year of Study at Escape Studios, follow this link. 

Jack Hubbard Junior TD at Framestore

Jack Hubbard Junior TD at Framestore

Many congratulations to Escapee Jack Hubbard who has begun work as a Junior TD at London VFX house Framestore. 

Jack took our evening class in character design, using the skills he learned to develop his portfolio, and initially found work as a runner, working his way up the ladder at one of world's leading animation companies.

Character Design Returns 5 Sept 2022

Our online Character Design Evening Class returns to Escape Studios on 5th September 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.

There is also an eight week period of aftercare at the end of the course, where students are encouraged to continue working on their portfolios, polishing their work to industry standards. 

Introducing "Explosive Love"

 

Meet "Explosive Love", the latest short animated film created at Escape Studios.  "Explosive Love" was directed by Alba Rodriguez and produced by Rohnak Sharma.  "Explosive Love" tells the story of a lonely puffer fish looking for love - in an unlikely place.

Meet Escape Studios' Animation Dept

At Escape Studios we are fortunate to have many talented tutors in our large and growing animation department.  

We have a depth of talent and skills among our staff that ensures we can teach all aspects of the animation pipeline, from concept art through storyboarding, animation and final render. 

Below (in no particular order) are some of our talented tutors you will find teaching animation in our classrooms at Escape Studios.

Quarantine Chorus Best Quarantine Film at AFA

Quarantine Chorus wins Best Quarantine Film at AFA

Many congratulations to the makers of "Quarantine Chorus", which has won "Best Quarantine" film at the Art Film Awards.

This is the latest of many festival awards for Quarantine Chorus, a short story about life under Lockdown in a small town in Italy.  

The film was directed by Edoardo Sartori, produced by Nickoel Izharudin and edited by Paloma Zhu; it was based on an original idea by Tequila Mason. 

Introducing "Threaded Together"

Threaded Together | Short Animation Film from Manos Zervoudakis on Vimeo.

Meet "Threaded Together", a new short animated film from Escape Studios. Directed by Shauna Ludgate and produced by Manos Zervoudakis, Threaded Together tells the story of a needle who longs to be reunited with his friends.  The original score was composed by Maria Cortes-Monroy.

Character Animation by Sunny Asadi

Sayna "Sunny" Asadi is an MA student at Escape Studios, studying for her master's degree in the Art of Computer Animation. The short animation above was completed as part of DA702, the second animation module on the MA course, taught by veteran animator Lee Caller.  

Meet Your Tutors: Concept Artist Enrico Buffa

Enrico Buffa

Meet Your Tutors - Enrico Buffa.  Enrico Buffa is an experienced London-based visual development artist who teaches our Evening Class in Concept Art at Escape Studios.

Enrico has worked for animation studios such as Blue Zoo, Boulder Media, and Studio Bozzetto in Milan.  Enrico's screen credits include Transformers, It's a Pony, and Superbook. 

To find out more about our Evening Class in Concept Art,  follow the link to the official site. 

"The Wanderer" Hon Mention in Tokyo Fest

The Wanderer Hon. Mention for Best Prod'n Design

Congratulations to the makers of  "The Wanderer", which has won an Honourable Mention in the category of Best Production Design at the Tokyo International Film Festival.

"The Wanderer" tells the story of a traveller who encounters a mysterious spirit that guards an ancient temple.  

The Wanderer was directed by Chiyoko Coyte and produced by Wiktoria Swierk. This is its second festival award. 

Meet Your Tutors - Klaudija Cermak

Meet Your Tutors - Klaudija Cermak teaches the Art of Compositing for VFX at Escape Studios; she teaches the short course (12 weeks) in VFX Compositing as well as teaching undergraduate and postgraduate students.

Klaudija has over 20 years experience on commercials, broadcast TV and feature films.  Klaudija has worked at most of the major post-production houses in London including MPC, Mill, Millfilm, Framestore, Double Negative and Glassworks.

To sign up for our MA and Short Course (12 weeks) in VFX Compositing, follow this link to the official site.  To sign up for our Evening Class in 2D Compositing, read this blog post.

Simone Costa Animator at Pop Paper City

Simone Costa

Many congratulations to Escapee Simone Costa who has joined Aardman Animation's "Pop Paper City" as an animator. 

"Pop Paper City" is a new animated TV series being developed by Aardman Animation, one of the UK's leading animation companies.

Simone joins Escapee Kevin Richards at "Pop Paper City"; Kevin has been working on the new series since last year.

At Escape Studios, Simone contributed to four award-winning animated shorts: Kiwi's Dream, Malloe, Animal Lover and Nefertiti. 

Introducing "Our Ocean"

"Our Ocean" is the latest short animated film from Escape Studios. Written and Directed by Priya Shah, and produced by Ethen Dent, "Our Ocean" tells the story of three young sea turtles attending the 500th anniversary "Fish City Festival", where the activities of careless humans threaten to destroy the ocean habitat.

"Love, Mum" Wins Hon Mention in London Fest

Love, Mum Best Super Short Film (Hon Mention) at LMA

Congratulations to the makers of "Love, Mum", the short film created by our second-year students at Escape Studios, which has won an Honourable Mention in the category of "Best Super Short Film" at the London Movie Awards.

"Love, Mum"  tells the story of a young woman who tries to find the secret ingredient in her beloved mother's favourite recipe.  "Love, Mum" was written, directed and edited by Amelia Watson, and produced by Llewelyn Whitney. 

"Joe" Wins Best VFX at Athens Film Fest

"Joe" wins Best VFX at Athens Film Fest

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.

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.

Samantha Maiolo Animator at Keyframe

Samantha Maiolo

Many congratulations to Escapee Samantha Maiolo who is working as an animator at Keyframe Studios in London.

Samantha took our 12 week short course in animation, taught by veteran animation tutor Lee Caller.  While at Escape Studios, Samantha also contributed to two award-winning animated shorts: Alma and Mafia Mix-Up.

Samantha joins a number of other Escapees at Keyframe including animators Miguel Teixeira and Conway Dobbs.

Escape Studios Rigging Reel

Welcome to the latest Escape Studios rigging demo reel - a new edit dedicated to the art and craft of rigging characters and creatures for animation.  The relationship between rigging and animation is an important one, with animators constantly testing the rigs in the process known as "Rig Wrecking". Congratulations to all our students on their excellent work, and thanks to Escapee Miguel Teixeira for cutting the reel. 

"Hannibelle" Wins Best Trailer at AFA

Hannibelle wins Best Trailer at the AFA

Congratulations to the makers of 

Hannibelle the short animated teaser/trailer created by our second year animation students at Escape Studios, which has won "Best Trailer" at the Art Film Awards.

Written and Directed by Alex Maynard and produced by Ben Swallow,  "Hannibelle" tells the story of a fairytale princess - who is not everything she appears. 

"Hannibelle" is currently being entered into film festivals; this is its second festival award.

Kevin Richards Returns to Escape on 13 May

Kevin Richards Teaches at Escape Studios

Animator and Escapee Kevin Richards will be returning to Escape Studios tomorrow Friday 13th May to teach our short course and master's degree animation students.

Kevin is a traditional 2D animator who took our 12 week short course in animation at Escape Studios, and successfully made the transition to 3D animation in Maya, working as an animator on "Shane the Chef" at Cloth Cat animation in Cardiff.

Kevin will be teaching our students the art of character animation. 

Introducing "Picture Us"

"Picture Us" [Short Film] from Charlotte Ann Gimbird on Vimeo.

"Picture Us" is a new short film created by third year animation students at Escape Studios, studying the Art of Computer Animation. “Picture Us” is set inside an art gallery, in which two old master paintings fall in love with one another.  Picture Us was written and directed by Tom Perry and produced by Charlotte Ann Gimbird. It is currently being entered into film festivals.  

Dave Edwardz Visits Escape Studios 19 May

Dave Edwardz

A very warm welcome to Dave Edwardz from Locksmith Animation who will visit Escape Studios next week on Thursday May 19th along with his colleague Shelley Page.  Dave is Head of Layout at Locksmith, and will talk about opportunities for graduates to explore entry level positions in 3D Layout at Locksmith.

3D Layout is one of the key roles on an animated film, the equivalent of cinematography on a live-action set.  3D Layout artists make creative choices about camera and layout, contributing significantly to the look and feel of a project. 

The Wanderer Hon Mention in Athens Film Fest

The Wanderer Best Prod'n Design (Hon Mention) in Athens

Congratulations to the makers of the animated short film "The Wanderer" which has won an Honourable Mention in the category of Best Production Design at the AIMFF.  

"The Wanderer" tells the story of a traveller who encounters a mysterious spirit that guards an ancient temple.  

The Wanderer was directed by Chiyoko Coyte and produced by Wiktoria Swierk. This is its first festival award. 

Meet Your Tutors: Edmund Brown

Ed Brown

Edmund "Ed" Brown is one of our key Motion Graphics tutors; he teaches Cinema 4D and leads our 12 Week Course in Motion Graphics at Escape Studios, which starts up in September 2022.

Ed is a CG Generalist and Motion Designer working in broadcast and entertainment visuals, as well as West End theatre work. 

Ed in trained in video production, media studies, film and video and digital screen arts.  Ed began his career as a 2D animator, and now specialises in motion graphics in Cinema 4D.

"Love, Mum" Wins Best Animation in Milan

"Love, Mum" Wins Best Animation at Milan Gold Awards

Congratulations to the makers of "Love, Mum", the short film created by our second-year students at Escape Studios, which has won an award for "Best Animation" at the Milan Gold Awards.

"Love, Mum"  tells the story of a young woman who tries to find the secret ingredient in her beloved mother's favourite recipe.  "Love, Mum" was written, directed and edited by Amelia Watson, and produced by Llewelyn Whitney.  The lead animator was Victoria Stoykova.

Sweet Heart Wins Best VFX at Onyko Film Fest

Sweet Heart wins Best VFX at the Onkyo Film Fest

Congratulations to the makers of "Sweet Heart", which has won Best VFX at the Onyko Film Festival. 

Sweet Heart is a short VFX film created by students at Escape Studios; it was directed by Liam Mann, co-directed by Shenaaz Suliman, and produced by Emmanouil "Manos" Zervoudakis.  "Sweet Heart" tells the story of two cake figurines who fall in love.  It has won many festival awards.

"Shimmer" Wins Best VFX at London Film Fest

"Shimmer" Wins Best VFX at the LIMFF

Congratulations to the makers of "Shimmer", the short VFX film created by students at Escape Studios, which has won Best VFX at the London International Film Awards. 

"Shimmer" was directed by Will Moss and produced by Aidan Callaghan, and tells the story of two glass figurines which come to life. 

Animation was completed in Autodesk Maya, editing was done in Adobe Premiere, and rendering was done in Arnold.

Shimmer has won many festival awards. 

Escapee Ridma Suriyagoda Joins Framestore

Ridma Suriyagoda

Many congratulations to Escapee Ridma Suriyagoda who has recently joined London VFX studio Framestore as a runner.

Running is a traditional entry-level job in our industry, the first rung on the ladder for countless careers in animation and vfx.  One of the best things about being a runner is the opportunity to be physically present in a VFX Studio, and understand how all the different parts of the company work together.

Ridma Suriyagoda took our BA in The Art of Visual Effects at Escape Studios, and will graduate this summer.

BAFTA Scholarships Open Until 20 May 2022

BAFTA is taking applications for three UK based post-graduate scholarships in Film, TV, Animation and Games worth up to £12,000 each. The deadline is 20 May 2022.

The BAFTA scholarships are supported by Warner Bros and the Duke of Cambridge, and include a work placement and also free access to BAFTA events. They can also be used to help finance our MA in 3D Animation, and our MA in Storyboarding & Previsualisation.

Meet Motion Graphics Tutor Adam Bennett

Adam Bennett

Adam Bennett teaches motion graphics at Escape Studios - a key part of the animation pipeline, and a booming area of jobs and creativity. 

Adam has over 15 years experience working in the motion graphics industry, creating work for clients such as Paramount, HSBC, BT, Sony, Sky, Universal, Conde Nast, Warner Brothers, VISA and ITV.

Adam started his career working in DVD menu design, winning BVA awards for best menu design in 2009 and 2010 for Son of Rambo and Monty Python: Almost the Truth.

Adam teaches motion graphics alongside his colleague Ed Brown.

Kiwi's Dream "Best Creative" at Halicarnassus

Kiwi's Dream Best Creative at Halicarnassus

Congratulations to the makers of "Kiwi's Dream", which has won "Best Creative" at the Halicarnassus Film Festival. 

Directed by Paloma Zhu and produced by Daniel Rowe, Kiwi's Dream was based on an original concept by Freddie Belsom about an origami kiwi who dreams of flying in the clouds. 

Kiwi's Dream has won many festival awards. 

VFX Project - Get Ready to Pitch! - 19 May 2022

Alba Rodriguez pitches "Explosive Love"

On Thursday 19th May at 1.30pm we will hear pitches from our 2nd year animation & VFX students for PR6001 Studio Project Module, which starts in September 2022.

This pitch presentation is where our students first present their idea for a VFX Project to go into production in September. 

What sort of story is it? Who are the characters, and why do we care about them? Why does the audience want to see this film? 

Announcing "Introduction to the Light"

"Introduction to the Light" is a new experimental animated short film created at Escape Studios. 

Written and directed by Escapee Mattia Binda, with cinematography by Samuele Bogni, "Introduction to the Light" is a visual poem and experimental animation.

Mattia Binda took our MA in VFX Production at Escape Studios, learning the art and craft of visual effects film-making. 

"Introduction to the Light" represents a departure from much of the work done recently at Escape Studios, exploring a non-narrative style of animation.

"Introduction to the Light" is currently being entered into film festivals. 

"Hannibelle" Wins Best Trailer at Onyko Fest

"Hannibelle" wins Best Trailer at Onyko Fest

Congratulations to the makers of "Hannibelle",  the animated teaser/trailer created by our second year animation students at Escape Studios, which has won "Best Trailer" at the Onyko Film Awards.

Directed by Alex Maynard and produced by Ben Swallow,  "Hannibelle" tells the story of a fairytale princess - who is not everything she appears. This is Hannibelle's first festival award.

"Spitfire" Hon Mention at Art Film Awards

"Spitfire" wins Best 1st-Time Director at the AFA

Congratulations to the makers of "Spitfire", which has won an Honourable Mention in the category of Best First-Time director at the Art Film Awards. 

"Spitfire" tells the story of the inspiration behind the legendary WW2 aircraft, and its creator R J Mitchell.  "Spitfire" was directed by Christopher Mardsen-Carleton, produced by Conall Ferguson and edited by Jessa Timog-Santiago.  This is the film's first film festival award. 

"The Crash" Wins Best Trailer at Vesuvius Fest

"The Crash" wins Best Trailer at Vesuvius 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 Vesuvius Film Festival.

"The Crash" is a sci-fi VFX short written and directed by Lewys Rhodes, and produced by Daniel Rowe.  Cinematography was by Benjamin Stevuliak.  The Crash has won many festival awards. 

End of Year Student Showcase Rich Mix 9 June

End of Year Showcase on 9 June 2022

Save the date! Our Student Experience team will host our annual End of Year Student Showcase at Rich Mix in Shoreditch on Thursday 9 June 2022.

The event will showcase the work of our third year graduating class and also our Master's degree students. 

Students will be able to show their work to recruiters and other experts from industry, with a chance to network and exchange contact details.