"Papercut" Wins Five Stars Award at 2023 BIAFF

Many congratulations to makers of the VFX short film "Papercut", which has won a "Five Stars Award" at the British International Film Festival.
  

Directed by Giorgos Konstantinou and produced by Victoria Arraez, Papercut was a collaboration between 3rd year undergraduate animation and vfx students, working together to create an original short.   

This is the latest of many festival awards for Papercut.

Short Course and PG Open Day Sat 22 April 2023

Join us on Saturday 22nd April 2023 for a Short Course and Post-Graduate Open Day at Escape Studios, hosted at our central London campus at 190 High Holborn WC1. 

The event takes place on Saturday 22 April, where you can visit our studios, try out our software and find out what it's like to study with us. 

"Lucky Break" Wins "Best VFX" at Art Film Awards

"Lucky Break" wins Best VFX at the Art Film Awards

Many congratulations to the makers of "Lucky Break", which has won its first festival award - Best VFX at the Art Film Awards.

Lucky Break was directed by Victoria Stoykova, edited by Rohnak Sharma, and produced by Adewale Ogunbekun.

Lucky Break was a collaboration between undergraduate animation and vfx students, working together to create an original story.  

Andrew Schlussel Talks AI and Animation

In his new Ted Talk DNEG Animation's Andrew Schlussel explains why, even though AI can now automate many jobs - such as concept art - we should not fear it.  Andrew explains how changes in animation and vfx technology over the years have increased the size of the industry - not shrunk it.  He suggests that AI will be no different, and that the "net sum" of jobs in the Creative Industries will continue to increase, even though certain processes can now be done by machine learning.  What should we do with AI instead? - embrace it, and use it. 

"iCare" Wins "Best Animated Short" at Golden Nugget

iCare" wins "Best Animated Short" at Golden Nugget Fest

Congratulations to the makers of the short VFX film "iCare", which has won the award for "Best Animated Short" at the Golden Nugget Film Festival.

Directed by Bruno Urzi and produced by Alex Sellen,  iCare was a collaboration between undergraduate animation and vfx students, working together to create an original story.

This is the latest of many festival awards for iCare.

"Ambush" Wins "Best VFX" at Reels Film Fest

"Ambush" wins "Best VFX" at Reels Film Fest

Congratulations to the makers of "Ambush", which has won an award for "Best VFX" at the Reels Film Festival.

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 VFX Project, 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. This is Ambush's latest festival award.

Undergraduate Open Day Sat 22 April 2023

Undergraduate open day on Saturday 22 April 2023

Escape Studios is hosting a new undergraduate open day on Saturday 22 April 2023.

Escape Studios' Open Days are a chance to find out about our undergraduate degrees in Animation, The Art of Games and Visual Effects.  An Open Day is an opportunity for potential students to find out how they can follow in the footsteps of our award-winning alumni.

What Do DNEG Animation Look For in a Demo Reel? - More Acting and Dialogue Shots

DNEG Animation Team

On 21st March we hosted an event with DNEG Animation, in which around 60 of our animation students got personal feedback on their animation reels, from Andrew Schlussel - Senior Director, Training and Development DNEG Animation, Dara McGarry - Director of Outreach at DNEG Animation and Bridget Dash - Senior Talent Acquisition for DNEG Feature Animation. 

At Escape Studios we host regular industry feedback sessions, where students can get feedback from industry guests.  Industry feedback is important because it helps to keep us grounded in the real world of the animation industry, reminding us of what animators will be expected to do when they face actual clients.

The big note from DNEG Animation? More acting and dialogue shots, please. 

Animation Taster on 24th April 2023

We're running a new Animation Taster at Escape Studios on Tuesday 24 April 2023, 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.

The all-day animation taster lasts from 10am until 4pm.

Escape Studios 2023 Careers Guide

2023 Careers Guide

The free Escape Studios 2023 Careers Guide is back - with a fresh take on the current state of the animation, games and VFX industries. 

Our annual Careers Guide, updated every year, is an invaluable handbook for aspiring digital artists in the animation, games and VFX industries. 

What are the key roles in the industry? Who is hiring, and for what positions? 

Character & Creature Creation Taster 24 April 2023

Character & Creature Creation is back: we're hosting a Taster Day in Character & Creature Creation on 24th April 2023 at 10am

The free taster takes placefrom 10am until 4pm and is run by Escape Studios tutor and animation veteran Michael Davies.

Michael will introduce students to to facial anatomy - and how this can used to help create a character from a 2D concept.  

Character & Creature Creation is one of our most technically advanced courses; it involves the creation of characters and creatures from start to finish - from rough concept art all the way through to the final animation, lighting and rendering of characters and creatures. 

Meet The Houdini Tutors at Escape Studios

Houdini Team: Simon, Dan & Mark

Meet the Houdini Team at Escape Studios - Head of Industry Training Mark Spevick and veteran VFX artist Simon Browne teach Houdini to our VFX students at Escape Studios. 

SideFX Houdini is an increasingly useful digital tool that allows users to create FX work such as smoke, fire and water with much less difficulty than with traditional software packages.

Baseball Pitch Tutorial with Marc Stevenson

Learn to animate a baseball throw with Marc Stevenson in the free video tutorial above.  This new tutorial is part of our series of animation tutorials hosted at our Vimeo Tutorial Channel; our central hub for our animation and VFX video tutorials, making it easy for our students to find tutorials to support their classroom studies. In this tutorial, Marc shows how to animate a baseball pitch using live action reference, and also how to attach and un-attach the ball from the pitcher's glove.

"Street Ratz" Wins "Best Trailer" at RFA

Street Ratz

Many congratulations to the makers of "Street Ratz", which has won "Best Trailer" at the Robinson Film Awards.

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.

Who Teaches 2D Animation at Escape Studios?

2D Animation Team at Escape Studios

Who Teaches 2D Animation at Escape Studios? Meet our talented 2D Animation team, the folks who are delivering our new 2D Animation Pathway at Escape Studios.  

We have many animation tutors with experience in 2D animation; a growing number are now also teaching with the latest 2D animation software - Toonboom Harmony.

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 new software such as ToonBoom Harmony.

"Tatty" Wins "Best VFX" at the EEFF

"Tatty" wins "Best VFX at the EEFF

Congratulations to the makers of the VFX short film "Tatty", which has won an award for "Best VFX" at the Eastern Europe Film Festival.  

Directed by Amelia Watson and produced by Wiktoria Swierk, "Tatty" was a collaboration between undergraduate animation and vfx students at Escape Studios, working together to create an original story.

This is the third festival award for Tatty.

Animation Taster on Monday 20 March 2023

Animation by Lee Caller

Our animation taster is back! We're running an in-person Animation Taster at Escape Studios on Monday 20th March 2023, 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.

Meet the 2nd Year Tutors at Escape Studios

Who teaches the second year undergraduate animation and vfx students at Escape Studios? The second year of studies is where our students begin to specialise in their chosen field - whether animation, visual effects or games.  

For animators, there are four modules in the second year: AN5001 (character animation), AN5002 (creature animation), CR5001 (specialism) and PR5001 (Studio Project).

For VFX artists, the modules are similar, with VFX students choosing between 3D VFX and 2D VFX (compositing)

Below are the tutors who help our students embark on their professional animation and VFX journey.

Animation Demo Reel Feedback with DNEG 21 March

Calling all current animation students and recent Escapees - we are hosting a new Demo Reel Review with DNEG Animation on 21st March 2023.

This event takes place at 5pm in person in Rooms 1.11 and 1.12 at our Central London campus at 190 High Holborn WC1 and is free for all our students.  

"Game Knight" Wins "Special Award" at EEFF

"Game Knight", Special Award for Best VFX 

Congratulations to the makers of "Game Knight", which has won a Special Award for "Best VFX" at the Eastern Europe Film Awards.  

Directed by Wyndham Brunt and produced by Christopher Marsden-Carleton,  

Game Knight was a collaboration between undergraduate animation and vfx students.  This is its third festival award. 

63 Escapees at The 2023 Oscars

Escapees at the 2023 Academy Awards

Escape Studios is delighted to congratulate the 63 Escapees who contributed to Oscar-nominated movies this year, including Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, The Batman (2022) and Elvis.

Congratulations to all our Escapees whose work contributed so much to the success of these amazing films - we are proud of you all. 

Meet the First Year Tutors at Escape Studios

First Year Tutors at Escape Studios

Who Teaches the First Year Undergraduate Animation, Games and VFX students at Escape Studios?  Our first year at Escape Studios is the same for all our undergraduate students, whether they are studying animation, games, or visual effects.

That means that in the first year of studies ("Level 4"), all our students study a broad, flexible curriculum, enabling everyone to understand the whole animation, games and VFX pipeline - before committing to a single specialism in their second year of studies.  

Escapee Montse Larqué Ferrer Animation Reel

Congratulations to Escapee Montse Larqué Ferrer on her latest Animation Demo Reel.  Montse Larqué Ferrer joined us at Escape Studios as an Exchange Student from La Salle in Barcelona, working as both concept artist and also Lead Animator on the VFX short film "Sweet Heart", which has won many festival awards.

Locksmith Animation Feedback 13th March 2023

Escape Studios is delighted to welcome back Locksmith Animation's Shelley Page on Monday 13th March at 10am to give our second year animation students industry feedback on their Group Projects, part of Studio Module PR5001.

Shelley's film credits include "Who Framed Roger Rabbit?", "Shrek 1-4", "Shark Tale", "Madagascar", "Kung Fu Panda", and "How to Train Your Dragon".  Shelley is currently Key Talent and Artist Liaison at Locksmith Animation in London.  

More New Books for The Animation Library

New Pixar Studio books

We've acquired some new books for the Escape Studios Animation library, where we keep traditional hard copies (ie actual physical books) on the Third Floor at 190 High Holborn, WC1. 

The new books are "Pixar Storytelling" and "Pixar and the Aesthetic Imagination", new titles which will help our 2nd year animators as they start their group film projects. 

The Animation Library is located outside Toontown and Winterfell classrooms.

"Papercut" Wins Best Animation at HEI Film Festival

 "Papercut" wins "Best Animated Short" at HEI

Many congratulations to makers of the VFX short film "Papercut", which has won "Best Animated Short" at the Heart of Europe International Film Festival.
  

Directed by Giorgos Konstantinou and produced by Victoria Arraez, Papercut was a collaboration between 3rd year undergraduate animation and vfx students, working together to create an original short.   

This is the latest of many festival awards for Papercut.

2023 "Rookies" Now Open For Entries

All of our graduating students at Escape Studios will soon be entering The Rookies Awards, the international competition for young creatives. The competition opens today, Tuesday March 7th 2023 - and the final deadline is 1st June.

The Rookies was founded in 2009 to "showcase the most talented student designers, illustrators, film makers, animators, developers, digital artists, and launch them into the career of their dreams." All our final year students are required to enter as part of their Professional Practice Module.

Sound Design with Jakob Parsons Thurs 9 March

Sound Designer Jakob Parsons

We're delighted to welcome back sound specialist Jakob Parsons to teach sound design to our 2nd year undergraduate animators.  Jakob will join us on Thursday 9th March at 9.30am via Zoom.

Good sound design is a vital part of the film-making process. 50% of the experience of enjoying a film is audio, and yet when teaching film-making we tend to focus most of our attention on what we see with our eyes, sometimes neglecting the importance of sound.

Animators might not always realise it - but we definitely need good sound design.

"iCare" Wins "Best Editing" at Helsinki Film Festival

"iCare" wins "Best Editing" at Helsinki Awards

Congratulations to the makers of the short VFX film "iCare", which has won the award for "Best Editing" at the Helsinki Awards Film Festival.

Directed by Bruno Urzi and produced by Alex Sellen,  iCare was a collaboration between undergraduate animation and vfx students, working together to create an original story.

This is the latest of many festival awards for iCare.

"Spidey Swing" by Giorgos Konstantinou

Check out the "Spidey" parkour animation above by Escape Studios third year animation student Giorgos Konstaninou.  Giorgos has been working on a number of animation exercises over the past year, as well as directing the multiple-award-winning short "Papercut", which has enjoyed considerable festival success.  Giorgos' animation displays a growing mastery of locomotion and mechanics, as well as cinematography, graphic design, sound design and comic timing. 

Third Year Anim & VFX Tutors at Escape Studios

Who teaches the third year undergraduate animation and VFX  students at Escape Studios?  

The final year of undergraduate study is in many ways the most important; it's where our students polish their demo reels, work on their CV or resume, and become "studio ready talent".  

For our third year animation students, there are three modules, a Specialism Module, a Professional Practice Module, and a Studio Project Module in which students work together to create studio-quality short films.

Sagar Rathod, Paul Harrison, Clement Gharini and Steve Lall are the core team that oversee the third year at Escape Studios. 

"Over Under" Wins Best Production Award at HEI Fest

"Over Under"  wins "Best Production" at HEI Film Fest

Many congratulations to the makers of "Over Under" , which has won an award for "Best Production" at the Heart of Europe Film Festival.

This is the latest award for Over Under, a short fantasy sci-fi film directed by Lucy Harris and produced by Aidan Lonergan, as part of their graduation year Studio Project.

The lead animator was Billy Allen, and Jack Thompson was the Head TD.

Last Call for Anim Evening Class on March 7th

Our 20 week part-time evening class in 3D Animation  returns on 7 March 2023; there are still one or two places available. 

This online evening class runs for 20 weeks on Tuesday and Thursday evenings, from 7-10pm, and is taught by veteran animator Matteo Sanna, currently working at Weta Digital, the studio that brought The Lord of The Rings and The Hobbit to the big screen.