Simone Giampaolo to Escape Studios 7 April

Simone Giampaolo

We're delighted to welcome back Oscar-shortlisted animation director Simone Giampaolo to Escape Studios on Thursday 7 April to give our second year animation students feedback on their film projects.

Simone Giampaolo is a veteran animator and animation director whose short film "Only a Child' was short-listed for an Oscar this year.  Simone is currently Creative Director at Jellyfish Animation in London. 

Simone will help guide our student projects, part of Module PR5001 in which our students create short films in teams.

Undergraduate Open Day Saturday 26 March

Open Day Saturday 26 March 2022

Escape Studios is hosting a new undergraduate open day on Saturday 26 March 2022, from 10.30am until 2.30pm, and again on Saturday 26 June 2022.

Escape Studios' Open Days are a chance to find out about our undergraduate degrees in Animation, The Art of Games and Visual Effects.  An Open Day is an opportunity for potential students to find out how they can follow in the footsteps of our award-winning alumni.

Escape Studios at the 2022 BAA Awards

BAA Awards 2022

Last night the UK animation industry celebrated the winners at the biennial British Animation (BAA) Awards at London's South Bank.

Escape Studios made a big contribution to the awards ceremony by animating a series of idents for the big night.  

In all our students animated around a dozen idents, which you can find here at our YouTube Channel.  

"Sweet Heart" Hon. Mention Best VFX in Tokyo

"Sweet Heart" wins Best VFX (Hon. Mention) in Tokyo

Congratulations to the makers of "Sweet Heart", which has won an Honourable Mention for Best VFX at the Tokyo International Film Festival. 

Sweet Heart is a short VFX film created by students at Escape Studios; it was directed by Liam Mann, co-directed by Shenaaz Suliman, and produced by Emmanouil "Manos" Zervoudakis.  "Sweet Heart" tells the story of two cake figurines who fall in love.  This is its third festival award.

Daniel Amor Animator at Trixter Film Studios

Daniel Amor

Many congratulations to Escapee Daniel Amor, who has recently started a new position as an animator at Trixter Film Studios in Germany. 

Daniel Amor took our 12 week animation course and quickly found a paid training contract as an animator with Technicolor Academy in London, alongside fellow Escapees Chan Sagoo and Melissa Coarezza.  

Later, Daniel went on to work at MPC, where he worked on the production of Andrew Lloyd-Webber's "Cats". 

Sebastien Foucan Teaches at Escape Studios

Sebastien Foucan

We're delighted to welcome Parkour founder Sebastien Foucan to Escape Studios on Monday 14 March at 10am.

Sebastien Foucan will be talking to our third year animation students about what makes a great action scene. How does an animator go about choosing the right action for the right circumstance?

Sebastien Foucan is the founder of the Foucan Academy and also one of the founders of the Parkour Movement, the athletic training discipline in which practitioners move in the most fluid way possible.

The VFX Festival Today - "Emerging Talent"

Ian Palmer leads a panel at the VFX Festival

The VFX Festival is Back! Today's event is titled "Emerging Talent" and takes place all day today Wednesday, 9th March.  The day is aimed at students currently studying within Higher or Further Education, with a focus on jobs, careers and employment. 

What are the crucial skills needed to find work in the industry today? What vacancies are out there, and how can students tailor their demo reels to meet the current needs of industry?

Shimmer Best 1st Time Director at Art Fest

"Shimmer" wins Hon. Mention for Best 1st-Time Director 

Congratulations to the makers of "Shimmer", a vfx short film created by students at Escape Studios, which has won an Honourable Mention in the category of "Best First Time Director" at the Art Film Awards. 

"Shimmer" was directed by Will Moss and produced by Aidan Callaghan, and tells the story of two glass figurines which come to life.  This is Shimmer's third festival award. 

Escape Studios 2022 BAA Awards Idents

 

The biennial British Animation Awards ("The BAA's") are back on Thursday 10 March - celebrating the very best of British Animation.  The BAAs take place every two years at London's South Bank, and this year they offered our students a special challenge - to animate an Ident for the Awards Ceremony at the BFI on 10 March. To see what our students came up with, take a look at our Ident Playlist here. The ident above was directed by animation tutor Lee Caller, featuring animation by Escape Studios' MA students Margherita Sartor, Ines Portela, Thomas Donnelly and Pietro Mingione. 

Russell Wins Best Super Short at UK Film Fest

Russell "Best Super Short" at UK Film Fest

Congratulations to the makers of Russell, the short VFX film created by students at Escape Studios, which has won "Best Super Short" at the UK Monthly Film Festival.  

Russell was written by Scott Middleton and Liam Martin, directed by Scott Middleton and produced by Gary Roche.  Russell tells the story of a curious hedgehog who dreams of flying.

"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. 

Planet Mars Wins Best Sci-Fi at Art Film Awards

Planet Mars Wins Best Sci-Fi at Art Film Awards

Congratulations to the creators of the animated mockumentary short  "Planet Mars", which has won Best Sci-Fi at the Art Film Awards. 

Directed by Sebastian Kuder, and produced by Katerina Zacharakis, Planet Mars was completed by second year animation students at Escape Studios. It has won many festival awards.

Feedback from ILM at Escape Studios

Feedback from ILM at Escape Studios

Last week ILM animators Juani Gueraldes and Felipe de Lanteuil visited Escape Studios to offer feedback on our third year animation students' projects. 

Juani Gueraldes and Felipe de Lanteuil are both Senior Animators at ILM, and kindly gave up their time to help our student animators develop their projects, and try to hit the highest possible standards. 

Student Counselling at Escape Studios

Student Services at 190 High Holborn

One of the most common questions we get asked by students at Escape Studios is what kind of counselling services are available?  We have two full-time counsellors, and students can request assistance by visiting Student Services' front desk at 190 High Holborn.

Students can seek counselling for all sorts of reasons. Perhaps they might be experiencing personal difficulties, or are having problems with their studies. Whatever the reason, we are here to help.

Hat Shop Wins Best Production Design in Tokyo

"Hat Shop" wins Best Production Design

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

"Hat Shop" is a short film set in a futuristic robot world. 

Hat Shop was created by our undergraduate animation students in their second year of studies. It was written and directed by Stevie Stedman, produced by Jess Hiles, and animation directed by Ross Green.  Cinematography and Production Design was by Jordan Coles.  

Hat Shop has won many festival awards. 

Jakob Parsons on Sound Design Tues 15 March

Jakob Parsons

We're delighted to welcome back sound specialist Jakob Parsons to teach sound design to our 2nd year undergraduate animators.  Jakob will join us on Tuesday 15 March at 9.30am.

Good sound design is a vital part of the film-making process. 50% of the experience of enjoying a film is audio, and yet when teaching film-making we tend to focus most of our attention on what we see with our eyes, sometimes neglecting the importance of sound.

• Animators might not always realise it - but we definitely need good sound design.

Box Bots "Best VFX" at Cinematic Film Fest

BoxBots wins Best VFX at Cinematographic Film Fest

Many congratulations to the makers of "BoxBots", which has won Best VFX at the Cinematic European Film Festival. 

Directed by Jordan Coles and Ross Green, and produced by Priya Shah, "BoxBots" is about a contest between two toys who compete for the "World Plasticweight Championship". BoxBots has won many festival awards. 

Industry Feedback with Max Howard 3 March

Max Howard

Animation Producer Max Howard will join us tomorrow Thursday 3 March at Escape Studios, giving feedback to our second year animation students on their short film projects.

Max is a veteran film producer and studio executive who has run animation divisions at Disney, DreamWorks and Warner Bros Feature Animation.

Industry feedback is at the heart of what we do at Escape Studios; it helps our students to connect with the commercial world, and represents one of the Five Pillars of the Escape Method. Our second year animation students are currently working in groups on their short film projects, part of Module PR5001. 

Storyboarding Taster Thursday 3rd March 5pm

Join us on Thursday 3rd March at 5pm at Escape Studios for a free online storyboarding taster, to see what it is like learning the art and craft of storyboarding at Escape Studios.

This free online taster offers a hands-on introduction to professional storyboarding techniques, techniques which are currently in demand as the animation industry continues to expand.

In this taster, taught by Escape Studios' tutor Iliana Franklin, you will learn to create a simple storyboard, and edit the images into a digital animatic with music and sound design.

"Russell" Wins "Best VFX" at Art Film Awards

Russell wins Best VFX at Art Film Awards

Congratulations to the makers of Russell, the short VFX film created by students at Escape Studios, which has won Best VFX at the Art Film Awards. 

Russell was written by Scott Middleton and Liam Martin, directed by Scott Middleton and produced by Gary Roche.  Russell tells the story of a curious hedgehog who dreams of flying.