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. 

"Picture Us", Wins "Best Production Design" Award

Congratulations to the makers of "Picture Us", which has won "Best Production Design" at the London International Film Festival.

“Picture Us” is an animated short film set inside an art gallery, in which two old master paintings fall in love, and must find a way to be together.   

Picture Us was written and directed by Tom Perry and produced by Charlotte Ann Gimbird.   

The Production Designer was Molly McCabe and Eliezer Girma  was Character Designer. 

This is the latest of many film festival awards for Picture Us.  

Steve Sole Teaches Production Design 23 Jan

Steve Sole...and Mr Bean 

On Monday 23rd January 2023 we welcome back designer & visual development artist Steven Sole to teach the fundamentals of Production Design for Animation. 

Production Design is a vital part of making a short film.  What will the film look like? What is the colour palette?

Steven will be teaching our 2nd year undergraduate students, who are currently working on their Specialism Module CR5001.

Wanderer Wins "Best Production" at HEA Fest

Wanderer Wins "Best Production" at HEI Fest

Congratulations to the makers of  "The Wanderer", which has won "Best Production" at Heart of Europe International Film Fest (HEI).

"The Wanderer" tells the story of a traveller who encounters a mysterious spirit that guards an ancient temple.  

The Wanderer was directed by Chiyoko Coyte and produced by Wiktoria Swierk.  Amy Husted and Ellen Hughes also contributed to the production design of the project. 

"Animators & Mirrors" with Disney Art Director Dorothea Schoentag on 8 March at the VFX Fest

Dorothea Schoentag

Escape Studios' VFX Festival is hosting an animation event titled “Animators and Mirrors” tomorrow 8th March at 3.15pm with Disney Art Director Dorothea Schoentag.

Dorothea Schoentag is an Art Director at Walt Disney Animation; her work includes “The Avengers”, “Tom and Jerry: Robin Hood and His Merry Mouse”, “Captain Jake and the Never Land Pirates” and many other projects. To sign up, follow this link. 

Steve Sole Teaches Production Design Jan 24

Steve Sole...and Mr Bean 

On Monday 24th January 2022 we welcome back designer & visual development artist Steven Sole to teach the fundamentals of Production design, starting at 9.30am. 

Steven will be teaching our 2nd year undergraduate students, who are currently working on their Specialism Module CR5001.

Steven Sole comes to us from Framestore and also from Tiger Aspect Productions, where he was Art Director on the hit series Mr Bean.  To see Steven's design work, visit his official site.

Street Ratz Wins Hon Mention at Tokyo Fest

Street Ratz wins Hon. Mention in Tokyo Fest

Many congratulations to the makers of "Street Ratz", which has won an Honourable Mention in the category of Best Production Design at the Tokyo International Film Festival. 

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.  Street Ratz has won many festival awards. 

Why Animators Need Production Design

"Street Ratz", Production Design by Austin Hill

Animators, as everyone knows, are actors with a pencil - or a mouse. But as well as performance, animators need to think about design and composition. 

It is especially important when working on an animated scene to consider the environment the character is inhabiting.  

One of the most common mistakes made by student animators is to combine a realistic character (say, a dinosaur or dragon) with a cartoony environment. The character and the set come from different worlds, and they don't always work well together.

Why Animators Need Colour Scripts

Finding Nemo Colour Script.

Colour Scripts are an important part of the animation process; they allow the director to get a feel for what the movie will look like, long before the animation and lighting is complete.

Our second year animation undergraduates are currently working on Studio Project Module PR5001, where students collaborate to work together on group projects.

Colour Scripts form an important part of the development of a short film.

An Evening With… Kevin McDowell on 16 April

Kevin McDowell

Our doors may be closed for now, but teaching continues, and our "Evening With..." events are still carrying on - now as online webinars. We can't serve beer and pizza, but we can still host events with the most talented and interesting stars of our industry.

On April 16th Escape Studios is proud to host an "Evening With... Kevin McDowell".

Kevin McDowell has been the Art Director for SEGA’s Massive PC strategy game series “Total War” for the past 20 years and has been working in video games for 23 years.

Kevin's games have sold over 27 million copies, and in 2012 he won a BAFTA for Total War: Shogun 2.