"Squeaky Clean" Best Micro Short at Rohip Fest

Squeaky Clean wins "Best Micro Short" at Rohip Fest

Congratulations to the makers of the short animated film "Squeaky Clean", which has won "Best Micro Short" at the Rohip Film Festival.

Squeaky Clean was directed and produced by Luis Yarroll, and co-directed by Amy Little. 

Squeaky Clean was completed as part of Studio Module PR5001, a collaborative module in which second-year animation students work together on short film projects. This is Squeaky Clean's third festival award. 

"Backtrack" Wins Best Animation in Singapore

Congratulations to the makers of "Backtrack", the teaser/trailer created by our second year animation students at Escape Studios, which has won "Best Animated Short" at the Indo-Singapore International Film Festival .   

"Backtrack" is a teaser/trailer for an animated film telling the story of a young athlete who is bullied at school. 

The Backtrack trailer was directed by Philippa "Pip" Cowen and produced by Sihaam "Simu" Weheliye. This is its third festival award. 

"Tatty" Wins "Best Art Film" at HEI Fest

"Tatty" wins "Best Art Film" at the Heart of Europe Fest

Congratulations to the makers of the VFX short film "Tatty", which has won "Best Art Film" at the Heart of 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 latest of many festival awards for Tatty.

"Lucky Break" Wins "Best Micro Short" at Tekka Fest

"Lucky Break" wins "Best Micro Short" at Tekka Film Fest

Many congratulations to the makers of "Lucky Break", which has won "Best Micro Short Film" at the Tekka International Film Festival.

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.  

Lucky Break has won many festival awards.

Escapee Alex Budulan TD at Jellyfish Pictures

Alex Budulan

Many congratulations to Escapee Alex Budulan who has become an FX Artist at Jellyfish Pictures.

FX is a growing part of the animation and VFX industry, one where new technology is driving opportunities for employment and growth.

Real time rendering - especially with Unreal Engine - is an area where the technology has shifted in the past few years, with animation and VFX houses abandoning traditional ray-tracers in favour of real time rendering.

Kevin Richards' "Crucial Tip" for Animation Graduates

Kevin Richards teaching at Escape Studios

Escapee Kevin Richards is a lead animator at Pop Paper City and has brought many Escapees onto the hit show as Junior Animators. 

In this guest blog post, Kevin offers our animation graduates his "crucial tip" for landing that crucial first job in animation. 

So what is the single most important thing our graduates can do to get hired? Below is the one crucial thing you can do, to place yourself ahead of most of the other applicants for the job. 

Remembering Daniel Brand-Sinyinza

Daniel Brand-Sinyinza

Escape Studios is mourning the untimely passing of Daniel Brand-Sinyinza, whose premature death from cancer we have just recently learned about.  Daniel studied the Art of Computer Animation at Escape Studios, graduating in the summer of 2021.

Daniel was a very talented student, who won multiple awards for his work on the many animated short films that he contributed to at Escape Studios. 

Popular and well liked by his colleagues, Daniel was a lively and able student, always a pleasure to teach, keen to master the art and craft of animation, and contributed to many award-winning short films.

"Papercut" Wins "Best VFX" at Makizhmithran Fest

"Papercut", wins "Best VFX" at Makizhmithran Film Fest

Many congratulations to makers of the VFX short film "Papercut", which has won "Best VFX" at the Makizhmithran 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 a short film.  The original score was composed by Lorenzo Pelli.

This is the latest of many festival awards for Papercut.

Animation Evening Class is Back on 21 Aug 2023

Our 20 week part-time evening class in 3D Animation  returns on 18th September 2023.

This online class runs for 20 weeks on Tuesday and Thursday evenings, from 7-10pm, and is taught by veteran animator Matteo Sanna.

Students start with basic exercises and build towards an industry-ready demo reel.

"Lucky Break" Wins "Best Fantasy" in Singapore

"Lucky Break", wins "Best Fantasy" in Singapore Festival.

Many congratulations to the makers of "Lucky Break", which has won "Best Fantasy Short Film" Award at the Indo-Singapore Film Festival.

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.  

Ben Swallow Animator at Pop Paper City

Ben Swallow

Many congratulations to Escapee Ben Swallow who has recently joined Aardman Animation's "Pop Paper City" as a junior animator.

"Pop Paper City" is a new animated TV series being distributed by Aardman Animations and produced by Lovelove films.  Pop Paper City is a preschool craft TV show. The series focuses on a group of paper friends as they find ways to have fun together by creating new parts of their paper world. 

While at Escape Studios, Ben contributed to a number of award-winning short films at Escape Studios, including Hannibelle, "Explosive Love" and "Freefall". 

"Love, Mum" Wins Best Super Short at Florence Fest

"Love, Mum" wins "Best Super Short Film" in Florence

Congratulations to the makers of "Love, Mum", the short film created by our second-year students at Escape Studios, which has won the award for "Best Super Short Film" at the Florence 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.  

Undergraduate Q&A May 24th 5.30pm

Undergraduate Q&A Wednesday May 24th 2023

Join us tomorrow Wednesday May 24th at 5.30pm for an undergraduate Q&A with our program leaders at Escape Studios. 

To sign up for this free event, follow the link here.

Undergraduate Q&A events are a great opportunity to find out more about our undergraduate programmes and how they work. 

Introducing "Good Soup"

GoodSoup from Jessa Veronica on Vimeo.

Meet "Good Soup", the latest animated short created by our graduating class of animation students at Escape Studios. Directed by Jessa Timog-Santiago and produced by Iulineia Filip,  Good Soup was made using Maya, Substance Painter, and Unreal Engine.  Grumpy septuagenarian Mr Green tries unsuccessfully to open a stubborn can of soup; the hungrier he gets, the more desperate he becomes. Will he stop at nothing to get what he wants?

"Tech Troubles" Wins "Best Student Film-Maker"

"Tech Troubles" wins "Best Student Film-Maker" at EEFF

Many congratulations to the makers of the VFX short film "Tech Troubles", which has won the award for "Best Student Film-Maker" at the Eastern Europe Film Festival.

Directed by David Akinyose and produced by Louis Gaffney,  Tech Troubles was a collaboration between undergraduate animation and vfx students, working together to create an original story.  

The original score was composed by Ben Salwey. 

"iCare" Wins Best Sci-Fi in Singapore

"iCare" wins "Best Sci-Fi" at Singapore Fest

Congratulations to the makers of the short VFX film "iCare", which has won the award for "Best SciFi" at the Indo Singapore International 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.

"Tatty" wins "Best VFX" (Hon Mention) in Athens

"Tatty" Hon Mention in the category of "Best VFX" in Athens 

Congratulations to the makers of the VFX short film "Tatty", which has won an "Honourable Mention" in the category of "Best VFX" at the Athens International Film Awards. 

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 latest of many festival awards for Tatty.

"Amarok" Wins "Best Trailer" in Vienna

"Amarok" wins "Best Trailer" at Vienna Indie Fest

Congratulations to the makers of "Amarok", which has won Best Trailer at the Vienna Indie Film Festival.

Amarok was written and directed by Shenaaz Suliman and produced by Josiah Martin-Lofters.  

Amarok tells the story of a First Nations police detective in a remote town in Northern Canada where a curfew is imposed as a savage wolf stalks the community.  Amarok has won many festival awards. 

Escape Studios Visits Blue Bolt VFX

Escape visits Blue Bolt in Victoria, London

Escape Studios' students were delighted to visit VFX house Blue Bolt this past week. 

Blue Bolt are a cutting-edge VFX house based in London, Victoria.  The studio visit was led by Escape Studios' Talent Development Manager Will Hughes, who met Blue Bolt VFX Supervisor Richard Frazer, as well of Head of 3D Nicholas Birmingham and 3D artists Amandeep Kukreja (a fellow Escapee) and Alex Charilaou.

Tutor Spotlight - Michael Davies

Michael Davies - Head of Creative Technology

We're delighted to announce that 3D Artist and rigging specialist Michael Davies has been promoted to Head of Creative Technology at Escape Studios.

Michael has worked on many VFX blockbusters such as Batman vs Superman, Doctor Strange and Thor Ragnarok - and will be heading up the September launch of our new BSc/MSci Degrees in Animation, Games & VFX.

"Squeaky Clean" Wins "Best Micro Short" Tekka Fest

"Squeaky Clean" wins "Best Micro Short" at Tekka Fest

Congratulations to the makers of the short animated film "Squeaky Clean", which has won "Best Micro Short" at the Tekka International Film Festival.  

Squeaky Clean was directed and produced by Luis Yarroll, and co-directed by Amy Little. 

Squeaky Clean was completed as part of Studio Module PR5001, a collaborative module in which second-year animation students work together on short film projects This is its second festival award. 

What Kind of Tablet Should I Buy?

What Kind of Tablet Should our Students Buy? This is a question we often get asked at Escape Studios, for those students looking to work from home. 

Nowadays there are many different kinds of tablets available, and cheaper versions than the traditional Wacom brand. 

"Papercut" Wins "Best Micro Short" at UAE Film Fest

Many congratulations to makers of the VFX short film "Papercut", which has won "Best Micro Short" at the United Arab Emirates 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 a short film.  The original score was composed by Lorenzo Pelli.

Studio projects such as this one are part of what we call The Escape Method - bringing together students with multiple talents to work in teams and produce an industry-quality outcome. 

This is the latest of many festival awards for Papercut.

Introducing "End of The Line"

Introducing "End of The Line" - the latest short animated film created at Escape Studios, Directed by Eren Arnold and produced by Zoe Walker,  End of The Line tells the story of an inebriated traveller who confronts his inner demons on a subway train.  "End of The Line" is the final film created by a group of third year animation students at Escape Studios; it was completed over the course of four months using Autodesk Maya and rendered in Unreal Engine 5.

"Tech Troubles" Best Original Score at Rohip Fest

"Tech Troubles" wins "Best Original Score at Rohip Fest

Many congratulations to the makers of the VFX short film "Tech Troubles", which has won the award for "Best Original Score at the Rohip International Film Festival.

Directed by David Akinyose and produced by Louis Gaffney,  Tech Troubles was a collaboration between undergraduate animation and vfx students, working together to create an original story.  

The original score was composed by Ben Salwey. 

Introducing "Bouya"

Bouya (ぼうや) | Student Short Film - Escape Studios from Alex Sellen on Vimeo.

Escape Studios is proud to introduce the latest short animated film created by our graduating animation students - "Bouya". "Bouya" was directed by Chiyoko Coyte and produced by Alex Sellen, both studying the Art of Computer Animation at Escape Studios.  "Bouya" tells the hidden story of mysterious forest creatures working together to clean up the mess left by thoughtless humans.

"iCare" Wins "Best Debut" at Makizhmithran Fest

"iCare" wins "Best Debut Director" at Makizhmithran Fest

Congratulations to the makers of the short VFX film "iCare", which has won the award for "Best Debut Director" at the Makizhmithran International 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.

"Backtrack" Wins "Best Editing" at London Awards

"Backtrack" wins "Best Editing" at London Awards

Congratulations to the makers of "Backtrack", the teaser/trailer created by our second year animation students at Escape Studios, which has won "Best Editing" at the London Movie Awards.

"Backtrack" is a teaser/trailer for an animated film telling the story of a young athlete who is bullied at school. 

The Backtrack trailer was directed by Philippa "Pip" Cowen, produced by Sihaam "Simu" Weheliye and edited by Pelumi Oyekunleye. This is its second festival award. 

IK- v - FK: What Does It Mean? And Which is Best?

IK - v - FK - which is best?

One question that often confuses student animators is "IK vs FK" - Inverse Kinematics (IK) vs Forward Kinematics (FK).  The IK -v- FK debate is a bit of a techie question - it's not immediately obvious what these terms even mean, let alone how to explain which option you should choose.

IK -v- FK is really about hierarchies - usually shoulders, arms and hands.  If a character's hand controls are set to IK, then you are controlling the hands from the bottom of the arm hierarchy, from the hand control.  If you set the controls to FK, then upper arm, shoulder and body is in control of what the hands do.

In a walk cycle, you usually set arms and hands to FK, because the arms are swinging, controlled from the shoulders. But if you were to animate a sword fight, where the position of the hands is key, then you would likely choose IK.  For a bit more visual clarity, watch the short video below.

Escape Students Celebrate "Dead Shot" Premiere

Henry N'Guetta, Klaudija Cermak and Oliver Chenery 

Escape Studios students are celebrating tomorrow's Sky Premiere of the indie thriller Dead Shot (formerly "Borderland"), directed by London-based film-makers Tom and Charles Guard.

In Dead Shot,  a retired Irish paramilitary witnesses the fatal shooting of his pregnant wife by an SAS officer, and takes his revenge to the streets of 1970's London.

Our compositing students, led by VFX Supervisor Klaudija Cermak, completed around a dozen shots on the film.

"Mechamorphosis" Wins Best Animated Short Award

"Mechamorphosis" Best Animated Short at Dreamer's Fest

Congratulations to the makers of "Mechamorphosis", which has won Best Animated Short at the Dreamer's International Festival.

Mechamorphosis was written and produced by Alberto Scotti and directed by Ilaria Colavito, both of who are now working as Studio Assistants at Escape Studios.  

Animation was completed by Steven Lall.  Hélios Lyons did the sound design and composed the original music.  The project was overseen by Michael Davies. 

Shelley Page "Eye Candy" Show Thurs 11 May 2023

10am on Thursday 11 May in Room 2.1

Escape Studios is delighted to welcome back Locksmith Animation's Shelley Page tomorrow Thursday 11 May at 10am for her long-awaited "Eye Candy Show" - a selection of the latest graduation films and commercials from around the world.

As Key Talent and Artist Liaison at Locksmith Animation, Shelley travels the world searching out the best animation talent, and finding the best student short films. 

The event takes place at 10am on Thursday in Room 2.1 at 190 High Holborn.

Shelley's film credits include "Who Framed Roger Rabbit?", "Shrek 1-4", "Shark Tale", "Madagascar", "Kung Fu Panda", and "How to Train Your Dragon".  

"Squeaky Clean" Wins "Best Micro Short" in Singapore

"Squeaky Clean" wins "Best Micro Short" in Singapore Fest  

Congratulations to the makers of the short animated film "Squeaky Clean", which has won "Best Micro Short" at the Indo-Singapore International Film Festival.  

Squeaky Clean was directed and produced by Luis Yarroll, and co-directed by Amy Little. 

Squeaky Clean was completed as part of Studio Module PR5001, a collaborative module in which second-year animation students work together on short film projects This is its first festival award. 

"Backtrack" Wins Best Trailer at Tekka Film Fest

Congratulations to the makers of "Backtrack", the teaser/trailer created by our second year animation students at Escape Studios, which has won "Best Trailer" at the Tekka International Film Festival.   

"Backtrack" is a teaser/trailer for an animated film telling the story of a young athlete who is bullied at school.  The Backtrack trailer was directed by Philippa "Pip" Cowen and produced by Sihaam "Simu" Weheliye. This is its first festival award. 

"An Evening With..." Jorge R Gutierrez 11 May 2023

Escape Studios is delighted to welcome animator and director Jorge R Gutierrez to our next "Evening With..." event at Escape Studios on Thursday 11th May at 6pm. 

Jorge R Gutierrez is a veteran animator and film director whose credits include the critically-acclaimed 2014 release "The Book of Life", which he directed. 

"Papercut" Wins "Best Original Score" in Hollywood

"Papercut" wins "Best Original Score" in Hollywood

Many congratulations to makers of the VFX short film "Papercut", which has won "Best Original Score" at the Hollywood Gold Awards.
  

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 a short film.  The original score was composed by Lorenzo Pelli.  This is the latest of many festival awards for Papercut.

Sunny Asadi Studio Assistant at Escape Studios

Sunny Asadi

A warm welcome to Escapee Sayna "Sunny" Asadi who has recently joined Escape Studios as a Studio Assistant at Escape Studios, helping to train the next generation of animators.

Sunny took our master's degree in the Art of Computer Animation, taught by veteran animator Lee Caller.  

Our Studio Assistants are a key part of the team at Escape Studios, one of the principal resources for our students, making sure that they get regular timely feedback on their work.

"Tatty" Wins "Best VFX" in Singapore

Congratulations to the makers of the VFX short film "Tatty", which has won "Best Student Short" at the Indo-Singapore International 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 latest of many festival awards for Tatty.

Escape Studios Moves to North Greenwich

Our New Home - from September 2023

Escape Studios is delighted to announce the move to our new campus in North Greenwich in September 2023. 

Our new home will be the top floors of a new building in North Greenwich - with stunning views of the River Thames.  

It is located in the Design District, an area that is becoming a hub for technology and design.

Studio Library - Free Maya Plugin

We're recommending the free Studio Library plugin for all our animation students.   

Studio Library offers Maya animators a Python script for managing poses and animation clips in Maya, saving time on production and helping to maintain style continuity. 

"Our Ocean" Wins "Best Animation" at Golden Fern

Congratulations to the makers of "Our Ocean", which has won Best Animated Short Film at the Golden Fern 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".   

Dex and Troy are young sea turtles attending the 500th Anniversary of the Fish City Festival, an annual underwater celebration where they meet their angel fish friend Maya.  Tragically, careless human activity from above threatens the festival with catastrophe. 

This is the latest of many festival awards for Our Ocean.

Character Walks with the Bio Motion Walker

Bio Motion Walker

This week our first year undergraduate students are studying how to animate a walk cycle, creating a successful biped walk and then giving it character and personality.

One very useful resource is the Bio Motion Walker from the Bio Motion Lab, located at York University in Toronto, Ontario.

The Bio Motion Walker allows animators to move a range of sliders showing how to make a walk cycle feel masculine or feminine, heavy or light, anxious or calm, happy or sad.  

Animators study live action, and then incorporate - and exaggerate - real life in their work . The Bio Motion Walker is a useful tool for analysing how people walk and move in different ways.  

You can find the Bio Motion Walker here.

"The Crash" Wins Best One Minute Short in Singapore

"Best 1 Minute Short" at Indo Singapore Film Fest

Many congratulations to the makers of "The Crash", a short VFX film created by students at Escape Studios, which has won an award for "Best One Minute Short" at the Indo Singapore International Film Festival.

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

The Crash has won many festival awards. 

Escape Graduation Show 6 June 2023

End of Year Showcase: Tuesday 6 June at 30 Euston Square

Save the date! Escape Studios will host our annual End of Year Student Showcase on Tuesday 6th June at 30 Euston Square, with an After Party at 26 Leake St.

The event will showcase the very best work done by our third year graduating class and also our Master's degree students.