Hong Kong PhD Fellowship Scheme Open to Escapees

Hong Kong PHD Fellowship Scheme

Escape Studios is delighted to support the Hong Kong PHD Fellowship Scheme for the Academic Year 2025-26, launched by The School of Creative Arts, Hong Kong Baptist University, and to encourage our recent graduates to apply.

"Checkmate" Wins Best Animation in Makizhmithran

 "Checkmate" wins Best Animation at Makizhmithran Awards

Congratulations to the makers of the short animated film "Checkmate", which has won Best Animation at the Makizhmithran Film Awards.  

Checkmate was completed as part of Studio Module PR5001, a collaborative module in which second-year animation students work together on short film projects.  

Checkmate was directed by Cara Masters and produced by Erminas Surgautas.  This is its fourth festival award. 

Never Cross the Line: The "180 Degree Rule"

180-Degree Rule

What is "Crossing the Line?", and why should animators never (or, almost never) cross it?

"Crossing the Line" is also known as the "180-Degree Rule", and it is one of the fundamental rules of cinematography.

Like most rules of film-making, the only way to really understand the 180 Degree Rule is to break it, figure out what went wrong - and then work out how to fix it next time.

Let's say you have a shot with two characters talking to one another. Draw an imaginary line between the two characters. This is the "line" that we should not cross.

Escape Studios 2024 2D Animation Reel

We're proud to present our 2024 2D Animation Reel.  Here at Escape Studios we've been expanding our 2D animation capacity for some years, starting with our Evening Classes in Toonboom Harmony, and now offering our undergraduate animation students a new 2D Animation Pathway, focusing on digital tools such as Toonboom Harmony, Adobe Animate and Blender.  The 2D Animation industry has been going through a renaissance, and we're proud to offer our students a chance to be a part of it.  This month we also became a formally accredited Toonboom Harmony Authorised Training Centre (ATC). 

Father's Blade Wins Best Trailer at Nawada Fest

"Father's Blade" wins "Best Trailer" at Nawada Fest

Congratulations to the makers of the short film "Father's Blade", which has won "Best Trailer" at the Nawada Film Festival.

"Father's Blade" was directed by Thomas Husband and produced by Hugo Whitworth; the editor was Alfie Williams and the lead animator was Brandon Rai.  This is the fifth festival award for Father's Blade. 

The Art of Walt Disney in the Animation Library

The Art of Disney Animation

We're delighted to add a new book on the Art of Disney Animation in the Animation & VFX Library.

This classic book, donated by animation tutor Kevin Richards, features some of the best artwork created for the Disney studio on classic films such as Snow White, Pinocchio, Mary Poppins and Bedknobs and Broomsticks, showing just how important a strong sense of design was to the Disney Studio during its first golden age.

Our students at Escape Studios grew up with the Pixar movies in the modern digital age, but it's still important to study the classical Disney era, and learn from the masters who designed and created the medium that we work in today.

Thanks to animation tutor Kevin Richards for the kind donation.

Why Animators Need a Great Acting Shot

Acting shot by Escapee Rich Jeffrey

Why do animators need a great acting shot on their demo reel?  Because nothing showcases an animator’s talent quite like a strong acting shot.  

A well-executed acting scene shows that an animator can approach a shot like an actor might approach a scene in a movie or a play. 

Acting shots reveal whether an animator can go beyond basic mechanics and deliver a performance.

Why Characters Shouldn't Look at The Camera

Bugs - stop looking at us!

One of the most common mistakes made by student animators is to have their characters talk directly to the camera, breaking the so-called "Fourth Wall".

Inexperienced animators often make this error. We pose out our character and we think - who is she talking to? I know - she's talking to me! But in a film, or a play, or a TV Series, the camera (ie the audience) is almost always an observer, never a participant.

Part of the so-called Willing Suspension of Disbelief is that the characters acting for us don't know we are there.

Sometimes characters will talk to the camera (like Bugs Bunny, left) but this is unusual. Mostly, on-screen characters look at each other, not at us. 

Harmony Evening Class Returns on 6 March 2025

Our 2D Animation Online Evening class in Toonboom Harmony returns to Escape Studios on 6 March 2025.

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.

The class is taught by industry veteran Iliana Franklin. 

Escapee Carolina Xavier Animator at Framestore

Carolina Xavier

Congratulations to Escapee Carolina Xavier who has joined Framestore, one of the UK's leading Animation and VFX houses, as an animator.

Carolina took our Master's Degree in 3D Animation at Escape Studios, studying with animation veteran Lee Caller.  While at Escape Studios, Carolina produced the award-winning short film "Flame".

Framestore is a leading VFX house, responsible for some of the biggest animation and vfx hits of recent years.  You can find Carolina Xavier's animation demo reel here.

New Coventry Marking Process at Escape Studios

Our Degrees are Validated by The University of Coventry

Since September 2024 our undergraduate degrees at Escape Studios have been validated by the University of Coventry, rather than by the University of Kent.  

With this change of oversight comes changes to the way we mark undergraduate work; the main change being to simplify our marking systems.  

Escape Studios Toonboom Harmony ATC

Toonboom Harmony ATC Certificate

We're delighted to announce that Escape Studios has been confirmed as an ATC (Authorised Training Centre) for Toonboom Harmony, one of the leading software packages for the creation of 2D animation.

2D Animation has been experiencing a revival, with many 2D productions being animated in the UK. 

In particular, Blue Zoo, Aardman Animation, Passion Pictures and others have chosen Toonboom Harmony as their principal 2D animation platform.

Animation Leads 2024 Box Office

There is a lot of doom and gloom in our industry these days, following strikes by both writers and actors, and anxiety over the looming threat of AI.  

Despite this, the animation industry continues to thrive, with 25% of box office success coming from animation productions in 2024 (see infographic left). 

Two of this year's biggest hits are Inside Out 2 ($1.6 billion worldwide) and just-released Wild Robot.

Animate a Sneeze With "Monty"

Animate a sneeze with Monty

In this beginner animation tutorial, we show how to animate a sneeze with Monty, the green pea.

A sneeze is an explosion of air, so we want a big anticipation, and then a big sneeze. 

For extra points, attach a hat to Monty's head, and animate it flying up in the air, spinning and landing again (you will need the Parentmaster plugin for this).

Clara Cornish Teaches Storyboards 20 May 2025

Our Evening Class in

Giles & Rupert's Prehistoric Predicament - Storyboards

Storyboarding returns on 20 May 2025.  This evening class in storyboarding is an online class, taught from 7-10pm, and runs for ten weeks.

Storyboarding is a growing area of the animation industry; one which has recorded significant skills shortages in recent years.

Our storyboard students have gone on to successful careers at studios such as Walt Disney, Brown Bag Films and Blue Zoo Animation.

Compositing Evening Class Starts 4 March 2025

Compositing Evening Class returns on 24 September 2024

Our next Compositing Evening Class starts on 4 March 2025.  Taught by our industry experts, this course teaches the art and craft of 2D VFX compositing for the visual effects industry. 

Compositing is the art of combining different images to create a single cohesive image.  Compositors are always in demand in the VFX industry, with high levels of employment among our Escapees.

Escapee Jessa Timog-Santiago 3D Animator at LIVR

Jessa Timog-Santiago

Congratulations to Escapee Jessa Timog-Santiago who has started work as a 3D Animator at LIVR, an XR (Extended Reality) company based in London. 

Jessa Timog-Santiago studied the Art of Computer Animation at Escape Studios, working on a number of award-winning films, including Good Soup, iCare, Freefall and Spitfire. 

Extended Reality is an expanding field encapsulating Augmented Reality (AR), Virtual Reality (VR) and Mixed Reality (MR).  

Meet the SA Supervisors at Escape Studios

Studio Assistants at Escape Studios.

Meet the Studio Assistant ("SA") Supervisors at at Escape Studios.  Jess Hiles, is our new Undergraduate ("UG") Studio Assistant Manager.  

Jess Hiles is a multi-award-winning artist with credits on many short films, including Slushy, Hat Shop, Tatty, Our Ocean, Street Ratz and Hotel Aloha. 

Where's my Classroom at Escape Studios?

Classroom Guide at Escape Studios

Where's my classroom? As Escape Studios expands, it gets harder to know where all our classrooms are located. 

To see where you are studying, see the map on the left, which shows which floor each classroom is on - and never get lost again. 

We moved into our new North Greenwich Campus in the summer of 2023, located in located in the North Greenwich Peninsula, right next to The O2, in the Design District.

Later, in the summer of 2024 we expanded into the Sixth Floor at 6 Mitre Passage, to house our growing student community. 

"Checkmate" Wins "Best Animation" in Milan

"Checkmate" wins Best Animation at Milan Gold Awards

Congratulations to the makers of the short animated film "Checkmate", which has won Best Animation at the Milan Gold Awards.  

Checkmate was completed as part of Studio Module PR5001, a collaborative module in which second-year animation students work together on short film projects.  

Checkmate was directed by Cara Masters and produced by Erminas Surgautas.  This is its third festival award.