"Draw" Wins Best VFX at 1st Fest

Congratulations to the makers of the short film "Draw", which has won Best VFX at the 1st Monthly Film Festival.

This is the latest award for Draw, a short animated film directed by Martin Kamminga and produced by Conway Dobbs, in which two kings must do battle for mastery of the chessboard. 

"Draw" has already won many festival awards.  Jake Newton was the 3D VFX Lead, and Christopher Fernandes was the 2D VFX Lead.  Maciej Osuch was Head of Animation.

Acting for Animators Returns on 1 Dec 2022

Jack Laskey

"Acting for Animators" is back: on Thursday 1 December we welcome Star Wars actor and RADA graduate Jack Laskey for an "Acting for Animators" class with our undergraduate animation students. 

Jack's class is a practical, physical workshop in acting skills, aimed specifically at helping animators to  create more believable, authentic acting choices in their work.

Animators are actors - with a pencil or a mouse - and we need to learn how to make a strong acting performance and then translate that into our on-screen animation.

"Street Ratz" Wins Best Trailer at Golden Eagle Fest

Many congratulations to the makers of "Street Ratz", which has won "Best Trailer" at the Golden Eagle 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.  The lead animator was Piotr Noworyta.  Street Ratz has won many festival awards. 

Threaded Together Wins "Best Production" at HEI Fest

Congratulations to the makers of "Threaded Together", which has won an award for "Best Production" at the Heart of Europe Film Awards. 

Threaded Together was directed by Shauna Ludgate and produced by Manos Zervoudakis. The original score was composed by Maria Cortes-Monroy.

Threaded Together tells the story of a needle who longs to be reunited with his friends.   This is the fourth festival award for Threaded Together. 

"Chosen" Wins "Best Animation" at EEFF

Congratulations to Escape Studios animation student Pietro Mingione whose short animated film "Chosen" has won Best Animation at the Eastern Europe Film Festival. 

Chosen was animated and directed by Escape Studios animation student Pietro Mingione.  "Chosen" is a short animated film about growing up, acceptance, and the power of faith.  Pietro took our MA in 3D Animation at Escape Studios, taught by veteran animator Lee Caller.  

Jordan Coles to Teach Rigging at Escape Studios

Jordan Coles

Escape Studios is delighted to welcome back Escapee Jordan Coles to teach rigging at Escape Studios in January.

Jordan will be teaching our second year animation students the art of rigging on Tuesday January 10 and Thursday January 12th, giving our students an introduction to rigging, as part of Specialism Module CR5001.  

Jordan Coles has been working as a rigger at MPC in London.  MPC is one of the UK's leading animation and VFX houses, responsible for hits such as the 2019 remake of The Lion King and The Jungle Book.

"Box Bots" Wins "Best VFX" at HEI Fest

Many congratulations to the makers of "BoxBots", which has won Best VFX at the Heart of Europe Film Festival.

Directed by Jordan Coles and Ross Green, and produced by Priya Shah, "BoxBots" is about a contest between two toys who compete for the "World Plasticweight Championship". 

BoxBots has won many festival awards. 

Explore Sci-Fi at the Science Museum with Dan Shutt

 

Escape Studios' VFX tutor and immersive animation expert Dan Shutt has helped to create a new exhibition at the museum titled  Science Fiction at the Science Museum.  In this "immersive genre-defying exhibition" guests embark on a "once in a lifetime adventure through the cosmos to explore visions of the future through the science of today".  The cosmos in question were created and animated by Dan Shutt - our in-house expert in the field of live animation and immersive motion graphics. The project was led by agency Creative Giants, working alongside VFX house Framestore. 

"A Long Way Home" Wins Best Trailer at FOFA

Congratulations to the makers of A Long Way Home, which has won an award for at the Best Trailer at the Future of Film Awards.

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.  

The film was edited by Cameron Haley, the CG Supervisor was Nicole Widmer.  A Long Way Home has won many festival awards. 

Animating Transitions: Walk to Run Tutorial

Learn how to animate Locomotion Transitions with Escape Studios' tutor Marc Stevenson - How to Blend from a Walk to a Run.  This tutorial is especially useful for any of our students studying locomotion and mechanics. It is also useful for a demo reel to show that you can successfully blend from one gait to another. 

Motion Graphics is Back on 28 March 2023

Motion Graphics Evening Class starts 28 March 2023. 

Our next Motion Graphics 12 Week Evening Class returns on 28 March 2023. 

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.

Interruption of Studies at Escape Studios

On occasion our undergraduate students at Escape find that for whatever reason, personal or professional, they need to apply for an Interruption of Studies (also known as a suspension of studies).

Interruption of studies means exactly that - our undergraduate students can interrupt their studies, typically for a year, then pick up the course in a year's time. 

 In other words, you press the Pause Button.

Chosen Wins "Best Director" at Vesuvius Film Festival

Congratulations to Escape Studios animation student Pietro Mingione whose short animated film "Chosen" has won its second festival award - Best Director at the Vesuvius Film Festival. 

Chosen was animated and directed by Escape Studios animation student Pietro Mingione.  "Chosen" is a short animated film about growing up, acceptance, and the power of faith.  Pietro took our MA in 3D Animation at Escape Studios, taught by veteran animator Lee Caller.  

Concept Art Is Back Wed 4th January 2023

Student artwork: Pictish Village

Concept Art is coming back to Escape Studios. Our online evening class in Concept Art returns on Wednesday 4th January 2023. 

 
Concept Art is a part-time evening class, taught one night a week, running for ten weeks. Concept Art runs for 10 weeks, from 7 until 10pm.  Classes take place one night per week.

Concept Art introduces students to the techniques and skills that go up to make a well-rounded concept artist, including 3D & 2D software.

"An Evening With..." Chrissy Metge Wed 23 Nov

Chrissy Metge at Escape on 23 Nov 2022

Escape Studios is delighted to welcome back animation & VFX producer Chrissy Metge to Escape Studios for "An Evening With..." event on Wednesday 23rd November at 5pm.

Chrissy is an Executive Producer at DNEG Animation; she started her career as an animator, before moving into production. Her talk is titled "From Animator to Producer", and Chrissy will talk about her career and the many possible roles available in the Creative Industries.

Chrissy is an experienced producer, and also creative director at Fuzzy Duckling Media and Duckling Publishing.   Chrissy has worked in the animation film and TV industry for 18 years, and has film credits on many movies, including VFX blockbusters The Hobbit, Ironman 3 and Hunger Games 2.   You can see Chrissy's full list of credits at her IMDB page here. 

This event is open to all currently enrolled students.

Jack Laskey "Acting for Animators" 24 November

Jack Laskey as Mandetat in Episode VII

"Acting for Animators" is back: on Thursday 24 November we welcome Star Wars actor and RADA graduate Jack Laskey for an "Acting for Animators" class with our undergraduate animation students. 

Jack's class is a practical, physical workshop in acting skills, aimed specifically at helping animators to  create more believable, authentic acting choices in their work.

Animators are actors - with a pencil or a mouse - and we need to learn how to make a strong acting performance and then translate that into our on-screen animation.

"Giles & Rupert" Best Trailer at Dreamachine

Congratulations to the makers of Giles and Rupert's Prehistoric Predicament, which has won another festival award - Best Trailer at the Dreamachine Film Awards.

Giles and Rupert's Prehistoric Predicament is 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. 

Escapee Shauna Ludgate Joins "Pop Paper City"

Shauna Ludgate

Many congratulations to Escapee Shauna Ludgate who has recently joined Aardman Animation's "Pop Paper City" as an animator.

"Pop Paper City" is a new animated TV series being distributed by Aardman Animations and produced by Lovelove films.

Shauna Ludgate studied the Art of Computer Animation at Escape Studios.  She also contributed to many short film projects, including directing two award-winning films: "Threaded Together" and also "Pet Shop".

Little Gestures Wins $10,000 Prize at GUFA 2022

Many congratulations to the makers of "Little Gestures", which has won the "Best Cine-VFX" award in the Global University Film Awards (GUFA) 2022, with a cash prize of $10,000. 

This is the latest award for "Little Gestures", a short story about an artist's maquette which comes to life. 

The film was directed by Richard O'Hanlon and Daniel Brand-Sinyinza, and produced by Nickoel Izharudin and Dominic Strachan.   

"Joe" Wins "Best VFX" at the Art Film Awards

Many congratulations to the makers of Joe, which has won "Best Sci-Fi Film" at the Art Film Awards. 

 "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.  The 3D VFX Lead was Alfie Mitchell and the 2D VFX Lead was George Randall.  Joe has won many festival awards.

VR returns to Escape Studios

Escape VR Experience

Virtual Reality recently returned to Escape Studios: Studio Assistant Catarina Da Silva has been working at Escape on a VR project, collaborating with Zuquiel Abrahams and William Bradley.

Catarina served as the Director and Lighting Artist on The "Escape VR Experience".

Quarantine Chorus Wins Best Quarantine Film

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

"Chosen" Wins Best Director at Halicarnassus

Congratulations to Escape Studios animation student Pietro Mingione whose short animated film "Chosen" has won its first festival award - Best Director at the Halicarnassus Film Festival. 

Chosen was animated and directed by Escape Studios animation student Pietro Mingione.  "Chosen" is a short animated film about growing up, acceptance, and the power of faith.  Pietro took our MA in 3D Animation at Escape Studios, taught by veteran animator Lee Caller.  

"Draw" Wins Best VFX at the Future of Film Awards

Congratulations to the makers of the short film "Draw", which has won Best VFX at the Future of Film Awards.

This is the latest award for Draw, a short animated film directed by Martin Kamminga and produced by Conway Dobbs, in which two kings must do battle for mastery of the chessboard. 

"Draw" has already won many festival awards.  Jake Newton was the 3D VFX Lead, and Christopher Fernandes was the 2D VFX Lead.  Maciej Osuch was Head of Animation.

Short Course and PG Open Day Sat 12 Nov 2022

Animation & VFX Tasters on Saturday 12 November

Join us in person on Saturday 12th November for a Short Course and Post-Graduate Open Day at Escape Studios, at our central London campus at 190 High Holborn. 

The event takes place on Saturday 12th November, where you can visit our industry-standard studios, try out our software and find out what it's like to study with us.  We'll be running two taster events between 10am - 4pm, both on 3D VFX and 3D Animation.

"March of the Potguins" Wins Best VFX in Athens

Many congratulations to the makers of March of the Potguins, directed by Michael Vodden and produced by Daniel Brooks, which has won an award for Best VFX at the Athens International Film Festival.

March of the Potguins tells the story of two penguin salt & pepper pots who embark on an epic journey - across the kitchen counter top.  

Adikah Patterson was the 3D VFX Lead and Diogo Teixeira  was the 2D VFX Lead.   

March of the Potguins has won many festival awards. 

Drawing Club is Back Every Monday in 2022

Drawing Club is Back!  Sharpen your pencils - Escape Studios' Drawing Club has returned; it takes place weekly on Mondays in Room 2.1 (Churchill) at 190 High Holborn from 4:45 until 5:45pm. 

The club is run by our amazing Studio Assistants - including Sarah Andrews, director of the award-winning short film Jerich0.  Sarah often lends her artistic skills to the banners and posters you see around campus and on newsletters. 

Drawing Club is free and open to everyone - even you haven’t picked up a pencil in years.  Drawing Club is a great opportunity to learn something new, get the rust off your pencils - or just get away from the computer screen.

Drawing remains a very useful skill in the animator's toolkit - for designs, storyboards, thumbnail sketches and scene planning. Animation often begins with a rough sketch.

Vimeo Tutorials - Installing Maya Plugins and Tools

Maya has many free plugins and tools which make an animators life much easier.  Below is a roundup of tutorials and links that explain how to use these free plugins.

The Escape Studios Vimeo Tutorial Channel is our main hub for our animation and VFX video tutorials, making it easy for our students to find tutorials to support their classroom studies. 

"Working with Dinosaurs" Wins "Best Creative"

Many congratulations to the makers of the animated short film "Working with Dinosaurs", which has won its first festival award: "Best Creative" at the Halicarnassus Film Festival. 

Working with Dinosaurs is a mockumentary short completed by 2nd year undergraduate animation students at Escape Studios, working alongside industry mentors Framestore.  The film was directed by Daniel Dutton and Harry Pearson, and produced by Velvet Brandon.  Storyboards and Art Direction were by Sarah Andrews; Effects Animation was by Adam Scrivener, and the CG supervisor was Piotr Noworyta.  

3D Modeling Tutorials in Mudbox at Vimeo

We are delighted to announce our series of tutorials in Mudbox, the 3D Modeling program created by Autodesk to sculpt 3D models. 

Our Escape Studios Vimeo Tutorial Channel supports our students with a vast range of online resources for Modeling, as well as Materials, Lighting and Rendering.  Our Vimeo Tutorial Channel is our central hub for our animation and VFX video tutorials, making it easy for our students to find tutorials to support their classroom studies.  We also have tutorials on Materials, Lighting and Rendering in Arnold, Renderman, Unreal Engine, and also how to use Qube, the Escape Studios' Render Farm. 

Character Design is Back on 25th March 2024

Our online Character Design Evening Class returns to Escape Studios on 25th March  2024

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

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

Character Creation Returns on 9 May 2023

Character Creation by Max Brazier Jones

Our 18 week evening class in Character Creation returns to Escape Studios on 9 May 2023.

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

The Character Creation course teaches a complete approach to the creation of original 3D characters.

Materials, Lighting & Rendering Tutorials at Vimeo

3D VFX at our Vimeo Tutorial Channel 

Our Escape Studios Vimeo Tutorial Channel supports our students with online resources for Materials, Lighting and Rendering.  

Our Vimeo Tutorial Channel is our central hub for our animation and VFX video tutorials, making it easy for our students to find tutorials to support their classroom studies.  

We have tutorials on Materials, Lighting and Rendering in Arnold, Renderman, Unreal Engine, and also how to use Qube, the Escape Studios' Render Farm. 

Kiwi's Dream Wins Best VFX at CEFA

Congratulations to the makers of "Kiwi's Dream", which has won Best VFX at the Cinematic European Film Awards (CEFA). 

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. 

3D Modeling Tutorials at Our Vimeo Channel

3D Modeling Tutorials

Our Escape Studios Vimeo Tutorial Channel supports our students with online resources for 3D VFX.

Our Vimeo Tutorial Channel is our central hub for our animation and VFX video tutorials, making it easy for our students to find tutorials to support their classroom studies.   We have many 3D Modeling tutorials, covering Polygons and NURBS in Maya, as well as Z Brush and Mudbox. 

Personal Tutorials at Escape Studios - How it Works

How do Personal Tutorials work at Escape Studios? Every undergraduate student at Escape Studios is assigned a personal tutor, someone they can go to for a coffee or a chat if they need a bit of extra support.  

For our tutors, it's an important way to keep in touch with individual undergraduate students at Escape Studios, to learn more about them, their interests, and how they are getting on. 

Personal tutorials take place once a term, and form a significant part of our pastoral care for our undergraduate student body.   

Escape Studios Brings Alexander the Great to Life

Escape Studios is delighted to announce a new collaboration with the British Library as part of their new exhibition on Alexander the Great.

Alexander the Great: The Making of a Myth explores how the Macedonian conqueror's legacy was transformed into legend.

Escape Studios students created an interactive version of the Ebstorf Map - the largest medieval world map - as part of the exhibition.

"Our Ocean" Wins Best 3D Animation at ANMTN!

Best Animation at ANMTN Awards

Congratulations to the makers of "Our Ocean", which has won an award for Best Animation at the ANMTN Festival Awards. 

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".  This is the latest of many festival awards.