Animation Taster with Lee Caller 29 March

Cartoon Truck Animation with Lee Caller

Our free animation taster is back! We're running an online Animation Taster at Escape Studios on Tuesday 29 March 2022, 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.

Miguel Teixeira Animator at Keyframe Studios

Miguel Teixeira

Many congratulations to Escapee Miguel Teixeira who is working as an animator at Keyframe Studios in London. 

Studying the Art of Computer Animation at Escape Studios, Miguel contributed to a number of award-winning projects, including producing and editing the multi-award-winning short film Golden Acorn. 

Miguel joins Escapee Conway Dobbs who started working as an animator at Keyframe in 2021.  

"Punch" Best Short Animation in Hollywood

"Punch" wins Best Short Animation in Hollywood Fest

Congratulations to the makers of "Punch", an animated short film created at Escape Studios, which has won Best Short Animation at the Hollywood Golden Age Festival. 

"Punch" was written and directed by Niccolo Smaldone, and produced by Stevie Stedman.  The original score was composed by Stuart Bramwell. 

Leonardo Bitti Animator at MPC

Leonardo Bitti

Many congratulations to Escapee Leonardo Bitti who has joined MPC as a junior animator. 

Leonardo took our MA in 3D Animation at Escape Studios, taught by veteran animator Lee Caller, and is now working for one of the world's leading animation and VFX companies.

MPC is one of the UK's longest-established VFX and animation houses; responsible for blockbuster hits such as The Lion King and The Jungle Book.

"Gnomes" Best Micro Short at Vesuvius Fest

Gnaughty Gnomes Best Micro Short at Vesuvius Film Fest

Congratulations to the makers of Gnaughty Gnomes, which has won "Best Micro Short" at the Vesuvius Film Festival. 

Gnaughty Gnomes is a short animated film made made by animation and vfx students at Escape Studios. Gnaughty Gnomes was directed by Antonia Palmer, produced by Hannah Sheppard and co-produced by Charlotte Gimbird.  This is the film's third festival award. 

Burger Royale Wins Best Editor at HEI Fest

Burger Royale wins Best Editor at the HEI Fest

Congratulations to the makers of "Burger Royale" which has won Best Editing at the HEO Film Festival.

Burger Royale is a short animated teaser/trailer written, directed and produced by Escape Studios' animation student Gary Roche.  

Burger Royale tells the story of a hungry customer who walks into a burger joint one night - only to find that he is on the menu. It has won over a dozen festival awards.

BA/MArt in 3D Animation Starts 26 September

Award-winning "Shimmer"

Escape Studios is still welcoming applications for our BA/MArt in The Art of Computer Animation, recruiting for September 2022.

Applications are through UCAS, and you can find out more about the course at the official site here.

Our BA/MArt in animation was first launched in 2015, and our first group of animation students graduated in 2019, going on to find jobs and success in the industry.  

In recent years our students have won hundreds of awards and prizes, and we have consistently been ranked in the Top 5 Animation Schools in the UK for the past three years.  

Kiwi's Dream "Best VFX" at Reels Fest

Kiwi's Dream Best VFX at Reels Fest

Congratulations to the makers of "Kiwi's Dream", which has won Best VFX at the Reels 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. It has won many festival awards. 

Storyboarding for People Who Can't Draw

For all our students storyboarding their short films we're recommending the video above by Russell Hasenauer titled "Storyboarding for People Who Can't Draw". It's a useful video because it helps to explain how the storyboarding process can be achieved even by students who don't draw well, or lack confidence in their drawing. Storyboarding is not chiefly about drawing - it's about how you juxtapose shots to tell a story, ideally clearly and simply.  Storyboarding is a vital part of the film-making process, and one which all our students need to learn. 

Iliana Franklin to Hear Story Pitches 4 April

Iliana Franklin

Escape Studios story and animation tutor Iliana Franklin will be hearing story pitches from our second year animation students on Monday 4 April.

Our second year students are working on Module PR5001, a Studio Project in which they work in teams to create short films.

On Monday 4th April our students will pitch story ideas for their second project in the module, with final delivery due at the end of May. 

Iliana will be offering feedback and support, helping the groups to decide which projects should move forwards and be selected for production. 

Motion Graphics Escape Studios Demo Reel

Animation at Escape Studios isn't just about character animation, it also encompasses the growing field of Motion Graphics. To see some of the excellent work done by our Motion Graphics students at Escape Studios, check out the demo reel above.

"Shimmer" Wins Best VFX at HEI Fest

Shimmer wins Best VFX at the HEI Fest

Congratulations to the makers of "Shimmer", a vfx short film created by students at Escape Studios, which has won Best VFX at the HEI Fest. 

"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 fourth festival award. 

2D Animation Taster at Escape on 21 March

2D Animation Taster Monday 21 March

We're hosting a free 2D Animation Taster at Escape Studios on Monday 21st March at 4.30pm. The taster is taught by veteran animator and storyboard artist Iliana Franklin, and will offer students a chance to explore 2D animation using industry-leading software Toonboom Harmony. 

2D Animation is currently experiencing a big revival, both globally and here in the UK, as Studios such as Blue Zoo, Aardman Animation, and Brown Bag Films adopt new software.

This free 2D Animation Taster takes place on Monday 21st March at 4.30pm via Zoom. To sign up, follow this link.

Golden Acorn Wins Best Trailer at Onyko Fest

"Golden Acorn" wins Best Trailer at Onyko Fest

Many congratulations to the makers of "The Golden Acorn", which has won an award for Best Trailer at the Onyko Film Fest.

"The Golden Acorn" is a movie trailer completed by 2nd year undergraduate Escape Studios Animation students, written & directed by Maciej Osuch, edited & produced by Miguel Teixeira. 

In The Golden Acorn a detective duo team up in NutTown to defeat an evil squirrel crime boss - two agents, one nutcase. 

Animate "Monty" Dancing Using Live Action

We've uploaded a new animation tutorial to our expanding Vimeo tutorial channel - how to animate a character dancing - using live action reference.

The purpose of the tutorial is to learn how to import live action reference footage into Maya and use it to create believable animation.

You can find the tutorial, which is free for all our students, at our Vimeo Channel.

Pet Shop Wins Best Trailer at HEI Fest

"Pet Shop" wins Best Trailer in HEI Film Fest

Congratulations to the makers of "Pet Shop", which has won an award for "Best Trailer" at the HEI Film Festival.

Directed by Shauna Ludgate and Produced by Emmanouil "Manos" Zervoudakis,  "Pet Shop" is a story about animals in a pet shop who long to find a home.  

Pet Shop has won many festival awards. 

How to Use Escape Studios' Online Library

For all our students at Escape Studios - don't forget about the Online Animation Library. The Online Library is where we keep digital copies of our books on animation and film-making.  Of course, we also have hard copies in the traditional animation library (ie actual physical books) on the Third Floor at 190 High Holborn, but the digital copies are arguably more useful as they can be accessed from anywhere at any time.  To find the Online Library, follow this link.

Escapee Aman Arora 2022 BAFTA Winner

Aman Arora: BAFTA Winner

Congratulations to Escapee Aman Arora and his team of Escapees (see below); Aman won a BAFTA in the category of Best British Short Animation for his work as VFX Supervisor on the short film Do Not Feed The Pigeons.

Do Not Feed The Pigeons is a short film about a group of lonely travellers in a coach station, directed by Antonin Niclass and produced by Jordi Morera. 

Aman Arora studied The Art of VFX at Escape Studios; he graduated in the summer of 2021 with a First Class Honours degree. 

Escape Studios "60-90 Second Challenge"

60-90 Second Challenge

Here at Escape Studios we're announcing "The 60-90 Second Challenge" for all our students. The Challenge is aimed at all our students who are interested in pitching ideas and telling stories. 

Why 60-90 Seconds? Because that is the optimum length for the short films made at Escape Studios. It may not sound like a lot of time to tell a story, but many of our most successful film projects, such as Jerich0, Seeker and Quarantine Chorus have been under two minutes long.

60-90 Seconds is the perfect length for our short stories because it allows our animators to focus on quality over quantity. 

"Russell" Wins Best VFX at LIMFF

"Russell" wins Best VFX at the LIMFF

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

Russell was written by Scott Middleton and Liam Martin, directed by Scott Middleton and produced by Gary Roche.  

Russell was created as part of PR6001, a Studio Module in which animation and VFX students join forces to create a VFX project over 12 weeks.  

Russell tells the story of a curious hedgehog who dreams of flight.