Sweet Heart Hon Mention for Best VFX at LIMFF

"Sweet Heart" Best VFX (Hon. Mention) at the LIMFF

Congratulations to the makers of "Sweet Heart", which has won an Honourable Mention for Best VFX at the London 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.  It has won many festival awards.

Tendai Mande SweatBox TD at DNEG

Many congratulations to Escapee Tendai Mande, who has recently started a new position as a SweatBox TD at DNEG.

While at Escape Studios, Tendai contributed to the short animated film "Street Ratz", which has won multiple festival awards.  Tendai worked on the film as Editor, Second Director, and Lead Pipeline Supervisor. 

DNEG is one of the world's leading animation and VFX houses, pioneers in VFX and also software development.  

"Jelly Cars" Hon Mention Best Cinematography

Jelly Cars Hon. Mention for Best Cinematography at TIMFF

Escape Studios is proud to congratulate animation tutor Lee Caller whose short film Jelly Cars has won an Honourable Mention for "Best Cinematography" at the Halicarnassus Film Festival. 

This is the latest award for Jelly Cars, a short comedy about a cartoon car trying to find a parking space.  Jelly Cars has won many festival awards.

Aaron Hopwood Animator at Chinese Room

Aaron Hopwood

Many congratulations to Escapee Aaron Hopwood, who has started work as a Games Animator at Chinese Room, a games animation studio based in Brighton, Sussex.

Aaron graduated from Escape Studios with a first-class degree in the Art of 3D animation, and later became a Studio Assistant at Escape Studios, helping to train and guide the next  generation of animators.

at Escape Studios, Aaron was the animation lead on Jericho, and co-directed the short film Minuet. Both films have won multiple festival awards.

Stevie Stedman Studio Assistant at Escape

Stevie Stedman

Many congratulations to Escapee Stevie Stedman who is currently working as a Studio Assistant at Escape Studios.

Stevie took our MA in Storyboarding & Previsualisation, graduating with a Distinction. While at Escape Studios, Stevie has written, directed and produced a number of award-winning films, such as "Hat Shop", which Stevie wrote and directed, and which has won many festival awards.

Studio Assistants at Escape Studios help to give our students classroom feedback and solve technical problems; we couldn't manage without them.

"Seeker" Wins Best Trailer at Onyko Fest

"Seeker" wins Best Trailer at the Onyko Film Festival

Congratulations to the makers of "Seeker"  which has won Best Trailer at the Onyko Film Festival.

 "Seeker" is a short sci-fi film directed by Rassoul Edji and produced by Tosin Ogunleye.   Seeker is about a giant robot running amok in suburban England. It has won many festival awards. 

Burger Royale Best Editing at Halicarnassus

Burger Royale wins Best Editing at Halicarnassus

Congratulations to the makers of "Burger Royale" which has won "Best Editing" in the Short Film category at the Halicarnassus 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 only to find that he is on the menu. It has won over a dozen festival awards.

Introducing "Spitfire"

 

Introducing "Spitfire", a new short animated film created at Escape Studios. "Spitfire" tells the story of the inspiration behind the legendary WW2 aircraft, and its creator R J Mitchell.  "Spitfire" was directed by Christopher Mardsen-Carleton, produced by Conall Ferguson and edited by Jessa Timog-Santiago.  It is currently being entered in film festivals. 

Mafia Mix-Up Wins "Five Stars Award" at BIAFF

BIAFF wins 5 Stars Award

Congratulations to the makers of "Mafia Mix-Up", which has won a "Five Star Award" at The British International Animation Film Festival (BIAFF).

Mafia Mix-Up was written and directed by Jake Lee, and produced by Emmanouil "Manos" Zervoudakis. 

This is the fourth festival award for Mafia Mix-Up.

"Russell" Wins Best Student Film at DSFF

"Russell" wins Best Student Film at the DSFF

Congratulations to the makers of Russell, the short VFX film created by students at Escape Studios, which has won Best Student Film at the Dreamer's Short 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. This is its fourth festival award. 

71 Escapees on Oscar-Nominated Films

Escapees at The 2022 Academy Awards

No less than 71 of our Escapees worked on this year's Oscar-nominated films. 

Take a look at the infographic on the left to see which films our Escapees worked on.

For example, 36 Escapees worked on the latest intallment of the Bond series - No Time To Die

Rookies 2022 - Deadline 1st June

2022 Rookies Now Open

At Escape Studios we encourage all of our students to enter The Rookies Awards, the international competition for young creatives. The deadline to enter this year is 1st June 2022.

The Rookies was founded in 2009 to "showcase the most talented student designers, illustrators, film makers, animators, developers, digital artists, and launch them into the career of their dreams."

This year the deadline is 1st June 2022, so there is plenty of time to polish your work and enter the competition.

"Vivi Ossa" Best Micro Short at Dreamachine

Vivi Ossa Best Micro Short at Dreamachine Fest

Many congratulations to the makers of "Vivi Ossa", which has won "Best Micro Short" at the Dreamachine Film Festival.

Directed by Callum Walters and produced by Matthew Wight, Vivi Ossa (Latin for "living bones") is a short film about a museum visitor who brings ancient bones to life through the power of music. Vivi Ossa has already won many festival awards.

Nickoel Izharudin Producer at Framestore

Nickoel Izharudin

Congratulations to Escapee Nickoel Izharudin who has joined Framestore in London as a VFX Production Coordinator.

Nickoel took our integrated MArt in 3D Animation and, while at Escape Studios, produced a number of award-winning short films, such as Little Gestures, Hotel Aloha, Quarantine Chorus, and Malloe; all four shorts have won multiple awards in international film festivals.

Framestore is one of the UK's leading animation and visual effects houses, responsible for multiple blockbuster hits.

Alma Wins "Five Stars" Award at BIAFF

"Alma" wins Five Star Award at the BIAFF

Congratulations to the makers of "Alma", which has won a "Five Stars" Award at The British International Animation Film Festival (BIAFF).

"Alma", is the first fully motion capture CG short film created at Escape Studios. It was directed by Rola Hafez, produced by Emmanouil "Manos" Zervoudakis, and overseen by animation tutor Amedeo Beretta.

Alma has won many festival awards.  

"Gnomes" Best Creative at Halicarnassus

Gnaughty Gnomes wins Best Creative at Halicarnassus

Congratulations to the makers of Gnaughty Gnomes, which has won "Best Creative" at the Halicarnassus 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 fourth festival award. 

When Group Projects Go Bad

Don't let it come to this

What happens when a group project goes wrong? Unfortunately this is a common occurrence; group project work often goes wrong, sometimes badly wrong. So how do we fix it? 

Group projects are something we do a lot of at Escape Studios.  Animation is a team sport - almost all of our graduates will end up working in teams along side other artists on group projects in commercial studios.

Shelley Page Industry Marking 31 March

Shelley Page

Animation industry veteran Shelley Page will return to Escape Studios tomorrow to give our second year animation students industry feedback on their short film projects, and also carry out industry marking. 

Shelley has been working in feature animation since 1986, with credits including "Who Framed Roger Rabbit?", "Shrek 1-4", "Shark Tale", "Madagascar", "Kung Fu Panda", and "How to Train Your Dragon". 

Shelley is currently Key Talent and Artist Liaison at Locksmith Animation in London.   As always, engagement with industry is very much at the heart of what we do at Escape Studios. 

Kiwi's Dream Wins "Best 19-21" at INDIs Fest

Congratulations to the makers of "Kiwi's Dream", which has won an award in the "19-21 Category" at the INDIs film festival in Leeds.

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, many festival awards. 

Nine Ways to Create a Great Pose

How do you create a great pose in animation? Creating great poses is a necessary skill for all animators to learn. In the video above, we suggest nine ways that an animator can create a great pose - the key starting point for a great acting scene.