DNEG feedback to our MA VFX Students

Many thanks to our VFX Industry Partner DNEG and DNEG artists Laura Morton, Arda Kutlu and Atilla Menteş for giving invaluable feedback to our Escape Studios MA VFX CG and Compositing students on their Team Project short film proposals.  

Life Drawing for Escape Animation Students at DNEG

Our 2D Animation undergraduate students will soon be attending life drawing classes at DNEG, one of the UK's leading animation & VFX houses, courtesy of DNEG's Andrew Schlussel and Dara McGarry.  

Escape Studios Visits DNEG

Escape Studios visits DNEG

Many thanks to Andrew Schlussel and everyone at DNEG for the inspiring tour of the Great Portland St Studio yesterday. 

The visit was a great opportunity for our students to visit one of the UK's longest-established VFX and animation houses; responsible for multiple blockbuster hits.  

Joining DNEG Redefine and "The Escape Verse"

The "Escapeverse"

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

In January of this year I found myself joining The Escapeverse.  After ten years of teaching at Escape Studios, I have gone on industry secondment - joining DNEG Redefine as animation director on a new feature film, a co-production between Redefine and Sky, with most of the animation being done in Hyderabad, India.

Escapee Tendai Mande Sweatbox Lead at DNEG

Many congratulations to Escapee Tendai Mande, who has recently started a new position as a Sweatbox Lead at DNEG.

While at Escape Studios, Tendai studied the Art of VFX, and contributed to the short animated film "Street Ratz", which has won multiple festival awards.  Tendai worked Street Ratz as Editor, Second Director, and Lead Pipeline Supervisor. 

DNEG (formerly Double Negative) is one of the UK's longest-established VFX and animation houses; responsible for multiple blockbuster hits.

Escapee Callum Walters Prod'n Supervisor at DNEG

Callum Walters joins DNEG

Many congratulations to Escapee Callum Walters who has joined DNEG as a Production Supervisor. 

DNEG (formerly Double Negative) is one of the UK's longest-established VFX and animation houses; responsible for multiple blockbuster hits.

Callum Walters studied the Art of Visual Effects at Escape Studios, graduating with First Class Honours.  While at Escape, Callum contributed to a number of award-winning films, including Vivi Ossa and the BAFTA-shortlisted Jerich0. 

DNEG Hosts "Garfield" Screening Q&A 19 Sept 2024

As we extend a warm welcome to our new undergraduate students at Escape Studios this week, we're delighted to invite our students to a screening of The Garfield Movie with industry partners DNEG Animation tonight Thursday September 19th at 6.15pm. 

DNEG Animation is one of the UK's leading animation studios, and one of our key industry partners. 

Nimona & DNEG at Escape Studios 27 Feb 2024

Oscar-nominated "Nimona" & DNEG Animation are coming to Escape Studios tomorrow 27 February 2024, both in-person and also via Zoom. 

Join us for an evening with Dara McGarry, Director of Outreach at DNEG Animation, Bridget Dash, Talent Aquisition Partner, and Anthony Kemp, Executive Digital Producer for DNEG Animation.

DNEG will also be talking about their new Summer Internship Program, and how to apply. 

This is a great opportunity for all our students to get to know one of the UK's leading animation houses, and find out about new jobs and opportunities. 

Luis Yarroll Intern at DNEG Animation

Luis Yarroll

Many congratulations to Escape Studios animation student Luis Yarroll who has started an internship at DNEG, one of the UK's leading visual effects houses.  Internships at DNEG are highly competitive, with applications from students all over the UK. 

Luis is in his second year of studies at Escape Studios, but he has already produced two award-winning animated shorts: "Squeaky Clean" and "Wake:Up!", both completed with a small team in under six weeks.  

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. 

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 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.  

DNEG's Karan Reddy Gives Animation Feedback

Karan Reddy

A warm welcome to DNEG Supervising animator Karan Reddy who has been giving industry feedback today to our Short Course and MA Animation Students at Escape Studios. 

Industry feedback is at the heart of what we do at Escape Studios, part of what we call The Escape Method, a combination of intensive classroom teaching, online tutorials, constructive feedback, industry engagement, and group project work. 

DNEG is a global animation and VFX house, responsible for multiple VFX hits. 

Tendai Mande SweatBox TD at DNEG

Many congratulations to Escapee Tendai Mande, who has recently started a new position as a SweatBox TD at DNEG.

While at Escape Studios, Tendai contributed to the short animated film "Street Ratz", which has won multiple festival awards.  Tendai worked on the film as Editor, Second Director, and Lead Pipeline Supervisor. 

DNEG is one of the world's leading animation and VFX houses, pioneers in VFX and also software development.  

Alex Budulan Unreal Engine TD at DNEG

Alex Budulan

Many congratulations to Escapee Alex Budulan who has become an Unreal Engine Technical Director (TD) at DNEG, one of the UK's leading visual effects houses.

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

Real time rendering 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.

Industry Feedback from DNEG

Santiago Colomo

Yesterday we were fortunate to welcome DNEG animation supervisor Santi Colomo and Dara McGarry, Artist Manager at Double Negative, for online industry feedback with our students.

Santiago Colomo is an animation supervisor at DNeg, with 16 years experience in the industry.  Santiago and Dara joined us online via Google Meet and Syncsketch to offer feedback to our animation students on their short film project "Moon Rockz", directed by Molly Babington, which is nearing completion.

Industry feedback is at the heart of what we do at Escape Studios; it helps our students to connect with the commercial world and make sure we're teaching industry-relevant skills.

Industry Feedback with DNeg on Monday

Dara McGarry

We're delighted to welcome back David Prescott, Senior Vice President of Creative Production at Double Negative, and Dara McGarry, Artist Manager at Double Negative, for some online feedback with our students on Monday 4 May.

David and Dara will be joining us online via Google Meet and Syncsketch to offer feedback to our second year animation students on their film projects.

Industry feedback is at the heart of what we do at Escape Studios; it helps our students to connect with the commercial world and make sure we're teaching industry-relevant skills.

David Prescott to visit Escape Studios

David Prescott

We're delighted to welcome David Prescott, Senior Vice President of Creative Production at Double Negative, to visit Escape Studios.

David will be visiting us on Thursday 12 March, offering feedback to our second year animation students on their projects.

Industry feedback is at the heart of what we do at Escape Studios; it helps our students to connect with the commercial world and make sure we're teaching industry-relevant skills.

DNeg Animator Oz Gani Mentors our Students

Oz Gani

We're excited to welcome back VFX animator Oz Gani to Escape Studios, helping to guide our second year animators, who are currentlystart work on their second group project, an animal or creature documentary.

Oz has been reviewing our students' work and helping us to make sure we're reaching for DNeg standards of animal and creature animation.

Oz Gani is a supervising animator at DNeg, and a veteran of VFX hits such as Edge of Tomorrow, The Amazing Spiderman, and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.