Four Escape Student Films in Animex Film Festival

Four Films Selected for Animex Film Festival

We're delighted to congratulate our students on having four short films accepted into this year's Animex Film Festival. 

Animex is an annual international film festival of animation, VFX and games which takes place at Middlesborough Town Hall in North Yorkshire.  This year Animex runs from 11-15 November 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.

Escape Studios 2023 Official Demo Reel

We're proud to release the official 2023 Escape Studios Reel.  This latest edit of the very best Animation, VFX and Games created by our students Escape Studios includes work by our most recent graduating class, as well as clips from many of our award-winning short films.  Congratulations to all our students on their remarkable work, once again raising the bar even higher.

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.

Escape Studios' Character Animation Reel 2022

We're proud to release our latest Escape Studios' Character Animation Reel. This latest edit of the best character animation from Escape Studios includes work by Sunny Asadi, Ella Grunberger, Alex Maynard, Paloma Zhu, Wiktor Brodoswki, Niki Varela, Maria Robertson, Joshua-Ibrahim de Guzman,  Eilin Berrio Pena, Elena Scala, Daria Zadecka and Rohnak Sharma.

Molly Babington Associate Lecturer at UAL

Molly Babington

Many congratulations to Escapee Molly Babington who has started a new position as an Associate Lecturer at the University of the Arts London.

Molly Babington recently graduated from Escape Studios with a Master's Degree in Storyboarding and Previsualisation. 

While at Escape Studios, Molly directed the award-winning short film project "Moon Rockz", which won "Most Witty Animation" at the Animafantasia Film Festival and "Best Sci-Fi" at the Flicks Film Festival. 

Rich Jeffrey Directs "Bluey" Down Under

Many congratulations to Escapee Rich Jeffrey, who is directing a new TV series "Bluey", launching on ABC KIDS in Australia on Monday 1st October. Bluey is the story of a "loveable and inexhaustible six-year-old Australian Blue Heeler dog", and is made by a team of artists in Brisbane, Australia. Rich took our animation short course at Escape Studios, and has since developed a stellar career in the industry. Rich said of Bluey: "We built it from the ground up, training all our crew. It's the result of loads of hard work and dedication from an amazing team of over 40 people. I'm proud to be a part of it and can say it is an honor to be the animation director on this series. "

Rogue Trooper: The Quartz Massacre

Congratulations to all our students and Escapees who successfully collaborated on this awesome short fan-film "The Quartz Massacre", based on the 1980s comic series Rogue Trooper from the stable of 2000AD. The film is a great example of students and graduates of Escape Studios working together on a successful group project, honing their skills and learning how VFX projects get put together. Congratulations to them all on a highly successful outcome.

Steven Lall Studio Assistant at Escape

Steven Lall

Many congratulations to Escapee Steven Lall who has recently started work at Escape Studios as a studio assistant, helping our second year undergraduate animators to polish their skills.

Becoming a studio assistant at Escape Studios is a great way to launch a career in animation and VFX -  our studio assistants invariably move on to careers in industry, after working and studying here, perfecting their demo reels and developing industry contacts.

Escape Studios at VIEW Wed 25th October

Escape Studios is going to VIEW, the 18th International VFX & Computer Graphics Conference that takes place every year in the beautiful Italian town of Torino (Turin).

We'll be there running a one-day workshop in Maya on Wednesday 25th October, demonstrating some cool creature animation techniques. The class is aimed at complete beginners and requires no prior experience with Maya.

Animation Taster Days: 30 May & 14 June

Learn to animate a bird in flight

We're running two more Animation Taster Days here at Escape Studios, on Tuesday 30th May and Tuesday 14th June.  Come and learn about character and creature animation, and find out what an animator's job is all about.

We're running these animation taster days to give future animators an idea of what it's like to work in the  industry, and discover if this is a career that's right for them.

You will work with Autodesk Maya and the Adobe Creative Suite, and you’ll get a hands-on introduction to 3D Animation techniques, all for just £25!  By the end of the day you'll have your own piece of animation uploaded to your YouTube channel.  So, how do you sign up?

Industry Panel at the VFX Festival - What Does The Future Hold?

Industry Panel discussion at the Escape Studios VFX Festival

The Industry Panel at the VFX Festival was hosted by Escape Studios Director Ian Palmer, and interviewing panel members (from left) Hector MacLeod (Glassworks), Kevin McDowell (Creative Assembly), Anna Hollinrake (Climax Studios), Dave Throssell (Fluid Pictures and Rob Holmes (The Mill) - all about the future of our industry.

So, where is the industry going, what skills are demand, and what does the future hold?

Dave Novis Studio Assistant at Escape

Dave Novis Animation Reel from David Novis on Vimeo.

Escapee Dave Novis, who took our animation short course last summer, joins Escape Studios as a studio assistant this week, getting ready to help out with our next cohort of animation trainees. Dave is an excellent animator who combines a thorough understanding of Maya and the 3D animation tools with a great sense of entertainment and comic timing.  Becoming a studio assistant is a great way to start off a career in animation and VFX - our studio assistants all move on to careers in industry.  We congratulate Dave on his new job, and welcome him to the Escape Studios team.

Storyboarding is Back! Evening Class Starts March 21st

Storyboarding is back at Escape Studios! We're running a class in storyboarding here in Shepherd's Bush, starting on 21 March 2017. It costs £995 and it's a part-time course, designed to fit around jobs and families.

The class is taught by me and by other industry professionals. Last year we had some great tutors from London's Blue Zoo animation, and a live industry brief to give our students experience of what an industry storyboard test is actually like.

2017 VFX Festival 7th - 9th February

The countdown to our 2017 VFX festival is on, and tickets are selling out fast.

Just like last year, we'll be showcasing the best of VFX, Animation, Games and Motion Graphics.

There is no better way to find out about the latest trends in our industry and - of most importance for our recent Escapees - who is hiring and for what.  We strongly encourage all our current, past and future students to attend. Come and find out what the future holds for our industry.

Star Wars Rogue One - Free Escape Studios Tutorial!

Did you know that Escape Studios offers tons of free tutorials at our YouTube Channel?  Tutorials like this new Star Wars - Rogue One tutorial above are a great way to learn new skills, and also find out what it's like to work in the animation and VFX industry.  Above is a tutorial by one of our talented studio assistants, Federico Guzzardo, who has created an awesome tutorial showing you how to create a Star Wars TIE Fighter, and comp in into a VFX plate.  Tutorials like this one are highly recommended - it's a great way to improve your knowledge base and raise your game. To find our YouTube channel, follow this link.

Escape Labs is Back! Rendering Software Panel on Thursday 24 November

3D Render

There are just a few places left at our Escape Labs Software session on Thursday, to be held at our brand new campus at 190 High Holborn.

Come along on thursday 24th November at 6pm and hear from Fluid Pictures, Jordi Bares from Glassworks, and Amaan Akram from The Mill as they share their knowledge of rendering software and discuss what are the best solutions for visual effects artists.

The event is free, and we'll even throw in free drinks and nibbles!

Beach Volleyball! Sunday 12 June in Wimbledon Park

Beach Volleyball - Yay! Escape Studios is organising a "Beach Volleyball and BBQ Bonanza" for our students on Sunday 12 June in Wimbledon Park from Noon until 5pm. All students of Escape Studios (and even ex-students!) are warmly invited to come along and join the fun.

Where: Wimbledon Park

When: Noon until 5pm, Sunday 12 June.

How much does it cost?  £10.

More information at our Facebook Group here.

The Spline Doctors Are Coming! London Animation Workshop on June 3-4 in Greenwich

The Spline Doctors are coming ! We're excited to welcome two leading animators to London in June, running a superb not-for-profit animation workshop.

Andrew Gordon (Pixar Directing Animator) and Kyle Balda (Co-Director of Minions and The Lorax) are presenting a two-day workshop which will "raise your animation skills to the next level". And, best of all, "VFX Jam" are offering a special discount to friends of Escape Studios.

Greg Woodcock Animator at 360 Studios

Escapee Greg Woodcock took our three month intensive animation course here at Escape Studios back in 2011, before launching his animation career in the Games industry. 

Since leaving Escape he has worked for a number of leading games companies including 360, CM, Mew Lab, MI, Easy Tiger and Serious Parody. 

We asked him to talk about his current projects and also to explain how he succeeded in breaking into the games industry - a rapidly expanding but highly competitive field.