Monday 16 September 2024

Movement & Narrative Animation Bible Showcase

"Fully Grown Child" Animation Pitch by Lewis Sims
Our First Year undergraduate animation students will soon start the Creative Foundations Craft Module (CR4002), a foundation course in creativity and creative thinking, taken by all our first year students, whether they are studying Games, Animation or VFX.

Part of CR4002 is the mini-module "Movement & Narrative", a two-week exploration of creativity, storytelling, and design, taught by industry veteran Kevin Richards.  At the end of Movement & Narrative our students pitch an idea for an original TV or web series, including an "Animation Bible".  

Sunday 15 September 2024

Escapee Victoria Arraez Joins ILM

Victoria Arraez
Many congratulations to Escapee Victoria Arraez has joined ILM as a Production Runner. Working as a runner is a standard entry-level position in our industry which can - and often does - lead to a full time production role.  

Victoria Arraez studied The Art of Visual Effects at Escape Studios, and worked on a number of award-winning films, including Papercut and Curiosities of the Ruthless Roupell St.  

Manos Zervoudakis Prod'n Co-ordinator at Revenant

 Manos Zervoudakis joins animation studio Revenant 
Congratulations to Escapee Manos Zervoudakis who has joined the Glasgow-based animation studio Revenant as a Production Coordinator.  

Manos Zervoudakis studied the Art of Computer Animation at Escape Studios, and produced no less than six short animated films, including Threaded Together, AlmaSweet Heart, Mafia Mix-Up, Candlewick and Pet Shop

Manos won over 30 industry awards for his short film work. 

Saturday 14 September 2024

Simone Costa Animator at Blue Zoo

Simone Costa
Many congratulations to Escapee Simone Costa who has joined Blue Zoo, one of the UK's leading animation studios, as an animator.  

At Escape Studios, Simone Costa studied the Art of Computer Animation, and contributed his skills to four award-winning animated shorts: Kiwi's Dream, Malloe, Animal Lover and Nefertiti.  

Friday 13 September 2024

"The Huntress" by James Hothi


Escape Studios is proud to present "The Huntress", a new short animation created by MA Animation student James Hothi.   James Hothi is studying the Art of Computer Animation at Escape Studios, taught by industry veteran Kevin Richards"The Huntress" is a teaser/trailer for a feature film project, currently in development.

Thursday 12 September 2024

"Little Pirates" Wins "Best Super Short" at NYC Fest

"Little Pirates" wins "Best Super Short" at New York Awards
Congratulations to the makers of the animated short film "Little Pirates" which has won "Best Super Short" at the New York Movie Awards.  

Little Pirates was completed as part of Studio Module PR5001, a collaborative module in which second-year animation students work together on short film projects.  

Little Pirates was written and directed by Anna Reyes Ramirez and produced by Angharad Mathias.  This is Little Pirates' second festival award. 

Wednesday 11 September 2024

Melissa Coarezza Lead Animator at Hexworks

Escapee Melissa Coarezza
Congratulations to Escapee Melissa Coarezza, who has been promoted to Lead Technical Animator at Hexworks, a games studio based in Barcelona and Bucharest.

Melissa took our 12 week course in 3D Animation taught by veteran animator Lee Caller.  Technical animation is a growing area of the animation industry, a field where opportunities and jobs are expanding. 

Tuesday 10 September 2024

Sokratis Synitos Returns to Teach 3rd Year 2D VFX

Sokratis Synitos
We're delighted to welcome back compositing tutor Sokratis Synitos to teach our "Level 6" (ie Third Year) VFX students at Escape Studios. 

Sokratis Synitos has years of experience in compositing for both film and TV, and has also taught the Art of Compositing to our Short Course and MA students.  Sokratis has worked on many film and TV projects at studios such as DNEG, Cinesite and Warner Bros.  He has degrees in computer engineering and also in film studies. 

Sokratis is also a graduate of our 12 week 2D VFX Short Course at Escape Studios.  Sokratis's film credits include SpectreAvengers: Endgame and Kingsman as well as episodes of Black Mirror, Altered Carbon and Dr. Who.  You can find Sokratis here at the IMDB.  

Monday 9 September 2024

Undergraduate Taster Day on 5 October 2024

Join us on Saturday 5th October 2024 for our next Undergraduate (UG) Taster Day for an introduction to our undergraduate degrees in animation, games and visual effects.  

The next Undergraduate Taster Day takes place on Saturday 5th October at our new home at 6 Mitre Passage, North Greenwich. https://bit.ly/43fTl8B.

Escape Studios' Taster Days are a chance to find out about our undergraduate degrees in Animation, Games & Visual Effects, and to get hands-on experience of how we teach.  Find out what our unique Escape Method is all about. 

Sunday 8 September 2024

"Father's Blade" Wins "Best Animation" in Milan

"Father's Blade" wins "Best Animation" in Milan 
Congratulations to the makers of the short film "Father's Blade", which has won "Best Animation" at the Milan Gold Film Festival Awards.  

"Father's Blade" was directed by Thomas Husband and produced by Hugo Whitworth; the editor was Alfie Williams and the lead animator was Brandon Rai.   

This is its first festival award.

Saturday 7 September 2024

Friday 6 September 2024

Little Pirates Wins "Best Production Design" at EEFF

"Little Pirates" wins "Best Production Design" at EEFF  
Congratulations to the makers of the animated short film "Little Pirates" which has won "Best Production Design" at the Eastern Europe Film Festival.  

Little Pirates was completed as part of Studio Module PR5001, a collaborative module in which second-year animation students work together on short film projects.  

Little Pirates was written and directed by Anna Reyes Ramirez and produced by Angharad Mathias.  This is Little Pirates' first festival award. 

Thursday 5 September 2024

Ilaria Colavito To Teach 3D VFX to 3rd Year Students

 Ilaria Colavito
We're delighted to welcome back VFX artist Ilaria Colavito to Escape Studios to teach 3D VFX to our "level 6" (ie third year) undergraduate students this year. 

Ilaria Colavito joins us from the London VFX house Freefolk where she worked as a 3D Generalist on a number of TV series including Anansi Boys and Kaos.   Ilaria is an Escapee who took our 3D VFX MA with industry veteran Dan Shutt. While at Escape Studios Ilaria directed the award-winning short film Mechamorphosis, utilising a variety of 3D techniques.

Wednesday 4 September 2024

What is "The Escapeverse"?

The "Escapeverse"
What is "The Escapeverse"? The Escapeverse is the Escape Studios universe - the ecosystem in which we teach, recruit, and work with industry to deliver the highest possible quality of education in the fields of animation, games and visual effects. 

Our tutors come from industry, ensuring that they understand not just the theory behind their craft but also the practical day-to-day reality of surviving in industry.  Many of our tutors are themselves former Escapees, so they understand what we do.

Tuesday 3 September 2024

Recruiter Tiffany Feeney To Teach at Escape Studios

Tiffany Feeney
We're delighted to welcome animation recruiter Tiffany Feeney from the Talent Outpost Animation & VFX Recruitment Agency to help deliver PS6003, our final Professional Practice Module for undergraduate animation students at Escape Studios. 

What are studios looking for in new talent? As an animation and vfx recruiter, there is no-one better than Tiffany Feeney to help prepare our students for the commercial workplace. 

Tiffany Feeney has recruited for many animation & vfx studios including Dreamworks, Reel FX and Blue Sky Studios.

Monday 2 September 2024

Jake Thompson VFX Artist at Time-Based Arts

Escapee Jake Thompson
Many congratulations to Escapee Jake Thompson who is working as a VFX artist at London VFX house Time Based Arts.

Jake took our MA in 3D VFX at Escape Studios, and graduated with a distinction. He did excellent work at Escape Studios, especially in Houdini, contributing to our official Houdini showreel. 

Jake graduated from Escape studios with a Distinction in 3D VFX.  He soon found work at London VFX house Time Based Arts.

Sunday 1 September 2024

Character & Creature MA Returns 23 Sept 2024

Character created by Eren Karadag
Our MA (and short course) in Character and Creature Creation is back on 23 September 2024.

This 12 week course in Character & Creature Creation - first launched in September 2021 - is all about designing, modeling, and rigging your own characters, with a view to becoming a Character Artist at a Games, Animation or VFX house.  

Students learn all the stages of character creation from design through to final render.   To apply, visit the official course page here.