Kiwi's Dream Best Anim at "Deux Cans" Fest

Kiwi's Dream wins Best Animation at "Deux Cans" Fest

Congratulations to the makers of "Kiwi's Dream", which has won Best Animation at the "Deux Cans" Film Festival (formerly the Beer Town Festival) in Burton-on-Trent. 

Directed by Paloma Zhu and produced by Daniel Rowe, Kiwi's Dream was based on an original concept by Freddie Belsom about an origami kiwi who dreams of flying in the clouds.

Evgenia Golubeva Pitches "Saskatoons"

"Saskatoons" by Evgenia Golubeva

Escapee Evgenia Golubeva will be at Cartoon Forum this year to pitch her new comedy series "The Saskatoons", an original TV series aimed at young audiences. 

Cartoon Forum is Europe's biggest TV pitch-fest for animation, and takes place in Toulouse, France, from 20-23 September.

If you have an idea for an animated TV series, Cartoon Forum is the place to pitch it.

Meet "Bittersweet" from QC Animations

 

Congratulations to Charlotte Gimbird who has just released "Bittersweet";  her first fully made-in-Maya music video at QC Animations.  QC Animations is Charlotte's YouTube Channel based around the world of Minecraft, the world's most popular video game.  The channel was created by Charlotte, who is a second year undergraduate student at Escape Studios, studying the Art of Computer Animation.  QC Animations has over 90,000 subscribers, with hundreds of thousands of views every month. 

Malloe Wins Best Production Design in Tokyo

Malloe wins Best Production Design

Congratulations to the makers of "Malloe", which has won "Best Production Design" at the Tokyo International Film Festival.

"Malloe" is a short film about two children who find a very unusual creature - one that is very fond of marshmallows.  It was animated in Maya, edited in Premiere Pro, and rendered in Unreal Engine.

"Malloe" was directed by Eilin Berrio Pena, edited by Ross Green, and produced by Nickoel Izharudin.  Art Direction was by Paloma Zhu, and the project was overseen by Animation Programme Leader Michael Davies. 

"Malloe" has won multiple festival awards. 

Little Gestures Wins Best VFX at Argenteuil

Little Gestures wins Best VFX at Argenteuil Int'l Fest

Many congratulations to the makers of "Little Gestures", which has won an award for Best VFX at the Argenteuil Film Festival. 

This is the latest award for "Little Gestures", a short story about an artist's maquette which comes to life. 

The film was directed by Richard O'Hanlon and Daniel Brand-Sinyinza, and produced by Nickoel Izharudin and Dominic Strachan. 

Webinar with MPC's Ross Burgess 15 Sept 2021

MPC's Ross Burgess

Join us on Wednesday 15 September for a "Behind the Scenes" webinar with MPC's Head of Animation Ross Burgess, who will introduce our students to developments at MPC Episodic, and explain how our students and graduates can take advantage of opportunities in the fast-growing animation industry. 

 
MPC Episodic has contributed to many animation and vfx projects including Star Wars: The Mandalorian, Pennyworth and Lisey’s Story, as demand for streaming content has created a production boom in the UK. 

There will be a Q&A to follow. Note that this event is open only to enrolled students at Escape Studios; you can sign up here. 

Jerich0 Hon Mention for Best VFX at LIMFF

"Jerich0" wins Hon. Mention for Best VFX at LIMFF

Many congratulations to the makers of Jerich0, which has won an Honourable Mention in the category of Best VFX at the London International Film Festival.

This award is the latest festival honour for Jerich0; directed by Sarah Andrews, produced by Matt Wight; original music by Alexandra Harwood. 

Animation Taster Day Mon 27 Sept at 5pm

Taster Day with Lee Caller

We're running a free online Animation Taster at Escape Studios on Monday 27 September at 5pm, taught by short course animation tutor Lee Caller.

Taster Classes are a great chance to learn about character and creature animation, and find out what an animator's job is all about.

You will learn how to use Autodesk Maya and get a hands-on introduction to 3D Animation techniques. No prior knowledge of Maya - or any software - is required.

Alma Wins Best Sci-Fi at Art Film Fest

Alma wins Best Sci-Fi at Art Film Awards 

Congratulations to the makers of "Alma", which has won Best Sci-Fi at the Art Film Awards. 

"Alma", is the first fully motion capture CG short film created at Escape Studios; it was directed by Rola Hafez, co-directed by Francesco Cordari and Alexandra Megerdichian, and produced by Emmanouil "Manos" Zervoudakis. 

Toonboom Harmony is back on 9 November

Our 2D Animation evening class in Toonboom Harmony is back on 9 November 2021.

Learn the fundamentals of 2D animation over 10 weeks, one evening a week using Toonboom Harmony, one of the leading software packages for the creation of 2D animation.

In recent years 2D animation has experienced a significant revival, both in the UK and overseas, as Studios such as Blue Zoo, Aardman Animation, and Brown Bag Films adopt the software.

Escapee Ross Green Animator at MPC

Ross Green

Congratulations to Escapee Ross Green, who has started work at London VFX house MPC, responsible for hits such as The Lion King and The Jungle Book.

While studying the Art of Computer Animation at Escape Studios, Ross co-directed the award-winning VFX short "BoxBots", a short animated comedy about a boxing match between two plastic figurines, who must fight for the "World Plasticweight Championship".

Ross also contributed to many other animated films, including "Malloe", "Hotel Aloha", "Hat Shop" and "Pet Shop", all of which have gone on to win festival awards. 

Kiwi's Dream Wins Best VFX in Tokyo Fest

Best VFX at the TIMFF

Congratulations to the makers of "Kiwi's Dream", which has won Best VFX at the Tokyo International Film Festival.  

Directed by Paloma Zhu and produced by Daniel Rowe, Kiwi's Dream was based on an original concept by Freddie Belsom about an origami kiwi who dreams of flying in the clouds.

Kiwi's Dream was filmed on location in London, with cinematography by DOP Clement Gharini. The project was overseen by Animation Programme Leader Michael Davies. 

You can find the list of winners at the official Instagram page.

PR6001 Studio Project Starts 20 Sept 2021

Award-winning Kiwi's Dream

Our third year animation students will soon be welcomed back to our High Holborn Campus, as we return to in-classroom teaching.  

Their first module is PR6001, The Studio Project (worth 60 Credits) which runs for the whole academic year.  It is a group module in which our animation students work together in teams to create short films - often winning festival awards.

Students collaborate to work together to a defined brief, designed as closely as possible to simulate working on a live client project. 

The Studio Project Module is broken up into two projects; the first is the VFX Project.  To see some fine examples of award-winning VFX Project work, check out Kiwi's Dream, BoxBots, Little Gestures,  Home Sweet Home and Jerich0.

Steve Edge Director at Tiger Aspect

Steve Edge

Many congratulations to Escapee Steve Edge, who has joined Tiger Aspect Productions as an animation director.

Tiger Aspect is a leading UK animation production house, responsible for hits such as Mr Bean, Danny & Mick, and Captain Underpants.  Tiger Aspect Productions is located in Shepherd's Bush, London.

Steve studied animation at Escape Studios, on our animation short course, and used the training to launch his career.  Like Escapee Rich Jeffrey, Steve has used his skills to become an animation director. 

Slushy Wins Hon Mention at The Rookies

Slushy "Hon Mention" at the Rookies

Congratulations to the creators of "Slushy", which has won an Honourable Mention in the category of Best VFX at The Rookies.

Directed by Callum Wylie and produced by Jess Hiles, "Slushy" is a short animated film about two frozen soft drinks who fall in love.

Slushy has won multiple festival awards.

Storyboarding Returns on 11 Nov 2021

Francesca "Chess" Adams

Our evening class in Storyboarding with Francesca "Chess" Adams, series director and story board artist at Blue Zoo, is back on Thursday 11 November 2021.

Our next evening class in storyboarding is scheduled to be taught online, and runs for ten weeks.

Chess brings her long experience of working on shows like Digby Dragon and The Go Jetters, reflecting the big increase in animated content being created in the UK.

There is also a growing trend towards digital storyboarding tools such as Panel Forge, which speed up the storyboarding process.

The Crash Wins Best Short Sci-Fi at Berlin Fest

The Crash Best Short Sci-Fi at Berlin Flash Fest

Many congratulations to the makers of "The Crash", a short film created by VFX students at Escape Studios, which has won "Best Short Sci-Fi" at the Berlin Flash Film Festival.

"The Crash" is a sci-fi VFX short written and directed by Lewys Rhodes, and produced by Daniel Rowe, who earlier this year produced the multi-award-winning short film "Kiwi's Dream".   

Animator Paul Harrison Joins Escape Studios

Paul Harrison

We're delighted to welcome back veteran animator, tutor, VFX Supervisor and 3D generalist Paul Harrison, who will be teaching our third year undergraduate animation students.

Paul brings a wealth of animation and VFX experience to Escape Studios; he has worked for clients including The Mill, DNEG, Prodigious, Smoke and Mirrors, Mainframe, and the BBC.

Paul is also a comic book artist and writer, and a content creator for children’s media. He is the creator of the Urban Squirrel series of comics. 

"Punch" Wins Best Micro Short at Vesuvius Fest

"Punch" Best Micro Short at Vesuvius Fest

Congratulations to the makers of "Punch", an animated short film created at Escape Studios, which has won Best Micro Short at the Vesuvius Film Festival.

"Punch" was written and directed by Niccolo Smaldone, and produced by Stevie Stedman.  

"Punch" is a short story about a mysterious creature in a city park which tries to tempt a young boy away from the distractions of his mobile phone. 

Simone Costa MoCap Animator at ILM

Simone Costa

Many congratulations to Escapee Simone Costa who has joined Industrial Light and Magic (ILM) as a Motion Capture Animator.  

Motion Capture is a growing part of the animation industry, increasingly embedded into our animation course at Escape Studios. 

At Escape Studios, Simone contributed to four award-winning animated shorts: Kiwi's Dream, Malloe, Animal Lover and Nefertiti. 

ILM is one of the world's leading animation and VFX houses, pioneers in VFX and also software development.  Simone will be using ILM's own proprietary software for facial capture animation.