Escapee Dave Novis Animator at Pop Paper City

Dave Novis

Many congratulations to Escapee Dave Novis who has recently joined Aardman Animation's "Pop Paper City" as an animator and 3D generalist.

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

 
Dave took our short course in 3D Animation at Escape Studios, and later become a Studio Assistant (SA) at Escape Studios, before going on to find work in the animation industry.

Spider Locomotion Tutorial with Marc Stevenson

We're delighted to announce a new free animation tutorial from Escape Studios' animation tutor Marc Stevenson, who has added an "arachnid animation" tutorial to our Vimeo Channel - you can see the introduction above.  Marc's tutorial demonstrates how to animate spiders using Autodesk Maya - showing how to break down complex motion into simple parts to get a sophisticated result.  

"Picture Us" Wins "Best No Budget" at Dreamer's Fest

"Picture Us" wins Best No Budget at Dreamer's Fest

Congratulations to the makers of "Picture Us", which has won "Best No Budget" at the Dreamer's Film Fest.

“Picture Us” is an animated short set inside an art gallery, in which two old master paintings fall in love, and must find a way to be together.   

Picture Us was written and directed by Tom Perry and produced by Charlotte Ann Gimbird.   This is its second film festival award.  

Art Foundation Module Starts in September

Photobash by Andy Ramlika

One of the first mini-modules our students will tackle in their first year at Escape Studios is the "Art Foundation" module, taught by Escape Studios' tutor Lorenzo Maniccia

In Art Foundation our students will learn the basics of human anatomy and the fundamentals of environment design.  

Students are asked to produce anatomical sketches, assemble a moodboard and do thumbnail sketches - all in preparation for a final "photobash" concept artwork. 

 

Aimee-Rose Schiele Concept Artist at West Pier Studio

"Ginger" by Aimee-Rose Schiele

Many congratulations to Escapee Aimee-Rose Schiele who is working as a concept artist and character designer at West Pier Studio in Brighton.

Aimee-Rose took our character design class at Escape Studios, and is now working in industry, putting her skills to practical use; concept art and character design are among the most creative parts of the animation pipeline.

West Pier Studio is a leading games and software development studio based in Brighton, a stone's throw from Brighton beach and its iconic West Pier.  West Pier Studio "creates and publishes high quality applications across all platforms".

"Post Mortem" Wins Best VFX in Athens Festival

Post Mortem Best VFX in Athens 

Congratulations to the makers of "Post Mortem", the VFX short produced at Escape Studios, which has won Best VFX at the Athens International Film Festival.

Post Mortem was directed by Toby Haslam and Ridma Suriyagoda, and produced by Aidan Callaghan.  

Post Mortem takes place in a futuristic secure facility, where a surgeon performs an autopsy on a mysterious patient. 

This is Post Mortem's second festival award.

Meet "Giles & Rupert's Prehistoric Predicament"

 

Meet Giles and Rupert's Prehistoric Predicament - a teaser/trailer for an original animated TV series created at Escape Studios by director Toby Haslam and producers Samia Chowdhury and Georgia Baird.  Giles and Rupert are Victorian inventors whose time machine invention goes horribly wrong - creating a world of Jurassic trouble. 

Escape Studios 2022 Previsualisation Reel

We're proud to present our 2022 Previsualisation Reel, a showcase of work done by students on our Master's Degree course in Previsualisation and Storyboarding, first launched in September 2019.  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.

Seta Kendir Concept Artist at Fireslug Studios

Seta Kendir

Many congratulations to Escapee Seta Kendir who is working as a concept artist and character designer at Fireslug Studios.  

Seta took our character design class at Escape Studios, and is now working in industry, putting her skills to practical use; concept art and character design are among the most creative parts of the animation pipeline.

Fireslug Studios is a London based independent games studio founded in 2020, currently working on their first title: "Ashborn".

Free After Effects Tutorial With Adam Bennett

Many thanks to Motion Graphics tutor Adam Bennett for our latest free tutorial in the art of Motion Graphics in After Effects.  In the video above, Adam walks motion graphics animators through "Five Tips for Animating Physics in After Effects".

"Love, Mum" Wins "Best Young Film-Maker" Award

"Love, Mum" wins Young Film-Maker Award

Congratulations to the makers of "Love, Mum", the short film created by our second-year students at Escape Studios, which has won the "Young Film-Maker Award" at the 2022 Film One 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.  

AN5001 Character Animation Starts 31 October 2022

Module AN5001 "Computer Animation Pro", our character animation module, starts on Monday 31st October 2022.

This year, AN5001 is the second animation module that our undergraduate students encounter in their second year of studies, in which our students study the art and craft of character animation.   In AN5001 our animation students tackle character actions, pantomime, acting, performance and dialogue, and enter the monthly 11 Second Club competition.  The Individual Portfolio Assignment is due on Wednesday 14 December 2022. The Retrospective is due on Monday 19th December 2022.

"Liminal" Best 1st Time Director at Halicarnassus

Liminal "Best First Time Director" at Halicarnassus

Many congratulations to the makers of "Liminal", which has won "Best First Time Director" at the Halicarnassus Film Festival. 

"Liminal" tells the story of a young girl in a hospital ward who is beset by demons of the imagination.  It was written and directed by Zoe Walker, and produced by Alex Sellen.  

Escape Studios' Character Animation Reel 2022

We're proud to release our latest Escape Studios' Character Animation Reel. This latest edit of the best character animation from Escape Studios includes work by Sunny Asadi, Ella Grunberger, Alex Maynard, Paloma Zhu, Wiktor Brodoswki, Niki Varela, Maria Robertson, Joshua-Ibrahim de Guzman,  Eilin Berrio Pena, Elena Scala, Daria Zadecka and Rohnak Sharma.

"Our Ocean" Wins Best Micro Short at Vesuvius

Our Ocean Best Micro Short at Vesuvius Fest

Congratulations to the makers of "Our Ocean", which has won an award for "Best Micro Short" at the Vesuvius Film Festival.

Our Ocean was created by our fourth year animation and vfx students, studying the Art of Computer Animation and VFX.  Written and Directed by Priya Shah, and produced by Ethen Dent, Our Ocean was a collaboration with the charity "Ocean Generation".

Motion Graphics Taster Day on 27 July 2022 at 5pm

We're hosting a free Online Motion Graphics Taster on 27 June 2022 at 5pm.  Come along and find out what's involved in our motion graphics courses at Escape Studios.

Our next Motion Graphics 12 Week Course starts on 26 September 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.

"Shimmer" Wins Best VFX at CEFF

Shimmer wins Best VFX at the Cinematic Europe Fest

Congratulations to the makers of "Shimmer", the short VFX film created by students at Escape Studios, which has won Best VFX at the Cinematic European Film Festival.

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

Steve Sole Returns for "Movement & Narrative"

Character art by Steve Sole

We're delighted to welcome back character designer & visual development artist Steven Sole to teach at Escape Studios in September 2022.

Steven will teach our first year undergraduate students Movement & Narrative, a mini-module in which students develop their skills in creativity, design, and visual narrative, starting on Monday 19th September 2022.

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

Post-Mortem Wins Best VFX in Tokyo Film Festival

Post Mortem wins Best VFX in Tokyo

Congratulations to the makers of "Post Mortem", the VFX short produced at Escape Studios, which has won Best VFX at the Tokyo International Film Festival.

Post Mortem was directed by Toby Haslam and Ridma Suriyagoda, and produced by Aidan Callaghan.  

Post Mortem takes place in a futuristic secure facility, where a surgeon performs an autopsy on a mysterious patient. 

This is Post Mortem's first festival award.

Meet Your Tutors - Lorenzo Maniccia - 2D VFX

Lorenzo Mannicia

Meet Lorenzo Maniccia, one of our newest VFX tutors at Escape Studios, and an experienced 2D VFX artist with skills in compositing and also in matte painting.  

Lorenzo Maniccia teaches VX4001 - 2D VFX (Compositing) - a 15 Credit Module, to our first year undergraduate students, helping to prepare them on their visual effects journey. 

As well as his experience in VFX, Lorenzo has also contributed to the creation of open source educational software (So.Di.Linux) for students.  

Carine Ong VFX Associate Producer at MPC

Carine Ong

Many congratulations to Escapee Carine Ong who has joined MPC as a VFX Associate Producer.

MPC is one of the UK's longest-established VFX and animation houses; responsible for blockbuster hits such as The Lion King and The Jungle Book.

Carine  studied animation and VFX at Escape Studios, and joins a growing number of Escapees working in production roles across VFX, animation and games.

VPN Access for Students at Escape Studios

VPN at Escape Studios

One question our students often ask is how to use the VPN at Escape Studios. "VPN" stands for "virtual private network", ie a service that helps users maintain privacy and security online.  

Our VPN establishes a secure, encrypted connection between our students' home computer and the internet, providing a private tunnel for data and communications.

At Escape Studios, the VPN allows our students to work remotely, accessing all the software that they would normally use if they were working on site. 

Normally the network inside Escape is kept separate from the wider internet.  You can access the internet from within Escape, but you can't access Escape from the internet - since it is separated by a firewall for security reasons.  

But, by connecting to our VPN, users open a "tunnel" that goes from your computer and through our firewall to connect to to the Escape network.

Meet Your 3D VFX Tutors - Federico Arculeo

Federico Arculeo

Meet Federico Arculeo - one of our newest 3D tutors at Escape Studios.  Federico's film credits include "Thor: Love and Thunder" on which Federico worked at Framestore as a matchmove artist.

Federico Arculeo teaches VX4002 - 3D VFX (a 15 Credit Module) to our first year undergraduate students, helping them to build their 3D skills on solid foundations. 

After studying VFX with Escape Studios, Federico joined us as a Studio Assistant, during which he learned Unreal Engine.  Later Federico joined Framestore, working as VFX artist, and recently returned to Escape to teach 3D VFX.

Short Course & PG Open Day at Escape on 28 July

Open Day at Escape: Thursday 28 July 2022

We're hosting a Short Course & Post-Graduate Open Day at Escape on Thursday 28 July 2022.  

Open Days are a chance to find out about what we do, and how we can help you develop your career in the creative industries.

To book your free place, follow this link.

"Seeker" Wins "Best Trailer" at Art Film Awards

"Seeker" wins Best Trailer at Art Film Awards

Congratulations to the makers of "Seeker"  which has won "Best Trailer" at the Art Film Awards. 

 "Seeker" is a short sci-fi film directed by Rassoul Edji and produced by Tosin Ogunleye.   

Seeker tells the story of a giant killer robot pursuing its victim in suburban England.  It has won many festival awards. 

Real-Time Animation with Blue Zoo

Michael Davies animates in real time

Last week Escape Studios visited the London animation studio Blue Zoo to test their new Real-Time Animation Pipeline.  

Traditional animation is painstaking and time-consuming, but Blue Zoo's new real-time pipeline allows the user to create puppet animation in a matter of seconds.

The interface uses the Oculus Rift, and allows the animator (on left is our Head of Animation, Michael Davies) to create puppet-style animation much more quickly than using a traditional approach. 

The Oculus interface allows the animator to use a layered approach, starting with the main body control, then animating the head, hands, eyes, eyebrows and so on. The effect is very much like a digital version of The Muppet Show, producing a lively, energetic style of animation.

The Crash Wins Best VFX at Art Film Awards

The Crash wins Best VFX at the Art Film Awards

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

"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. 

Introducing "Novem"

Meet "Novem", the video game produced by students on our Integrated MArt at Escape Studios, who collaborated over the course of a year to create this original game.  "Novem" was supervised by veteran animator and 3D generalist Amedeo Beretta, who oversaw the project from the initial pitch through to final completion. "Novem" was directed by Erin Harrison, now working as a level designer at Media Molecule, and produced by Callum Walters, currently a production co-ordinator at DNEG in London.  

"Explosive Love" Wins Hon Mention at CEFF

Explosive Love Hon Mention Best Student Film at CEFF

Congratulations to the makers of "Explosive Love", which has won an Honourable Mention in the category of Best Student Film at the Cinematic Europe 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. 

AN5002 "Animals & Creatures" Starts 19 Sept 2022

animation by Zoe Walker

On Monday 19 September 2022 our 2nd year undergraduate animators return to Escape Studios to start their next module: AN5002: Advanced Computer Animation, in which students learn to animate animals and creatures.  

AN5002 starts on Monday 19 September 2022 and finishes on Friday 21 October 2022.  The Portfolio assignment, a 7-11 second animal or creature animation, is due on Wednesday 19 October 2022. The Retrospective assignment is due on Monday 24th October 2022 at 11.59pm.

"Hannibelle" Wins Best Trailer at World Indie Fest

Hannibelle wins Best Trailer at WIFA

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 World Indie Film Festival.

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 latest of many festival awards for "Hannibelle".

Laptop Specifications for 2022

What kind of laptop?

"What kind of laptop should I buy?" is a question that is often asked at Escape Studios. 

Computer specifications change regularly and much depends on exactly what you want to use your laptop for.  But let's say you want to buy a laptop capable of running Autodesk Maya, for computer animation and to render out your shots.

What sort of laptop should you buy, and how much do you need to spend? Our animation tutor Amedeo Beretta offers some advice to our students.

Meet "Ambush"

Meet "Ambush", the latest short film from our students at Escape Studios.  Ambush was directed by Thomas Grantley and produced by Viktor Fiuk. The 3D Lead was Efthymios Bairaktaris and the 2D Lead was Andrea Tomas.  Ambush was completed as part of the final film-making module in the third year of studies at Escape Studios, in which students work together to create a short film, mirroring as closely as possible the workings of a studio environment. 

Free Animation Taster on Tuesday 26 July

We're running a free online Animation Taster at Escape Studios on Tuesday 26 July 2022, taught by short course animation tutor Lee Caller.

Taster Classes are a great chance to learn about character and creature animation, and find out what an animator's job is all about.

You will learn how to use Autodesk Maya and get a hands-on introduction to 3D Animation techniques. No prior knowledge of Maya - or any software - is required.

Eilin Berrio Pena Animator at Pop Paper City

Eilin Berrio Pena

Many congratulations to Escapee Eilin Berrio Pena, who has recently 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.

While at Escape Studios, Eilin directed the award-winning film "Malloe", and contributed to many other award-winning projects. 

Stellar Rescue Wins Best Director at Art Film Awards

Stellar Rescue wins Best Director (Super Short Film) at AFA

Congratulations to the makers of "The Stellar Rescue", which has won Best Director (Super Short Film) at the Art Film Awards.

"The 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. 

The Stellar Rescue tells the story of a young boy who must rescue a fallen baby star, and must return it to its parents in the sky.

Meet Your Tutors - Clement Gharini

Clement Gharini

Clement Gharini teaches Cinematography and Compositing on our Visual Effects courses, and also teaches our first year and third year undergraduate students. 

Clement teaches CR4001 Craft Foundations - Cinematography in which our undergraduate students first get to grips with live action cameras, offering a foundation for the study of cinematography.  

"Alma" Wins Best Sci-Fi at Future of Film Fest

Alma Best Sci-Fi at Future of Film Fest

Congratulations to the makers of "Alma", which has won Best Sci-Fi at The Future of Film Fest.

"Alma", is the first fully motion capture CG short film created at Escape Studios. 

Alma was directed by Rola Hafez, produced by Emmanouil "Manos" Zervoudakis, and overseen by animation tutor Amedeo Beretta.

Alma has won many festival awards.  

Undergraduate Taster Day Saturday 16 July 2022

We are hosting a new undergraduate Taster Day on Saturday 16th July at 10.30am.  

Our Taster Days introduce prospective students to the Art of Animation, VFX and Games. 

Taster Days are a great chance to learn about Escape Studios, and find out what our undergraduate degrees are all about. 

Come and get some free hands-on experience of what it is like to study with us.

Adam Twycross External Examiner for Art of VFX

Adam Twycross 

Meet Adam Twycross - our external examiner for our undergraduate course in The Art of VFX and also our post graduate courses - MA VFX Production (3D), and also MA VFX Production (2D).

Adam Twycross is a senior lecturer at Anglia Ruskin University, and an accomplished animation and vfx artist with considerable experience in higher education.

External examiners play an important part of quality control in UK higher education, ensuring that our courses meet the highest standards, and that the grades awarded are correct and appropriate.

"Gnaughty Gnomes" Wins "Best VFX" at EEFF

Gnaughty Gnomes wins Best VFX at Eastern Europe Fest

Congratulations to the makers of Gnaughty Gnomes, which has won Best VFX at the Eastern Europe Film Festival.

Gnaughty Gnomes is a short animated film made made by animation and vfx students at Escape Studios. Gnaughty Gnomes was directed by Antonia Palmer, produced by Hannah Sheppard and co-produced by Charlotte Gimbird.  

Gnaughty Gnomes has won many festival awards. 

"The Stellar Rescue" Wins Best Director at FOFA

The Stellar Rescue wins Best Director (Super Short Film)

Congratulations to the makers of "The Stellar Rescue", which has won Best Director (Super Short Film) at the Future of Film Awards.

"The Stellar Rescue" was written and directed by Anthony Sarmiento, and produced by Wiktoria Swierk.  

The Stellar Rescue tells the story of a young boy who must rescue a fallen baby star, and must return it to its parents in the sky. This is its first festival award.

Escape Studios Animation & VFX Demo Reel 2022

We're proud to release our latest Escape Studios' Animation & VFX Demo Reel, a selection of our best work taken from the many award-winning films created by our students over the past year.  This new demo reel includes clips from "Introduction to the Light", "Picture This", "Our Ocean", "Sweet Heart", "Shimmer", "Russell", "Freefall", "Love, Mum", "Threaded Together", "Stellar Rescue", "Hannibelle", "Spitfire", "Explosive Love", "Post-Mortem" and "The Wanderer".

"Producing" Taster Day Tuesday 5th July at 5pm

Join us on Tuesday July 5th at 5pm for a free taster in the art of producing for animation, games and VFX.  Production teams are at the heart of all VFX and Animation projects; experienced producers are in short supply, and there is growing demand for new talent across the whole sector.

This free online taster is designed to give you an insight into the VFX industry and the production roles which are currently available as well as an overview of the course. 

Our courses in producing are designed in collaboration with our industry partners to ensure all our students learn the fundamental skills required to enter the industry.