As award season rolls in, it’s a good time to look back over the most notable projects of 2011. To save you from trawling the net looking for the best and worst of last year’s CG offerings, check out Stash's Best of 2011 list. Separated into categories such as Best Cinema and Television Commercials, Best Music Videos, Best Broadcast and Title Design and many more, it’s a great way to see some extremely inspiring work from the top studios across the world.
Joseph Kelly
joseph@escapestudios.com
Film vs. Digital "Side by Side"
I’ve written many blog posts about the advancements of technology and my desire to cling on to the tools and traditions of the past, mainly due to my inability to pick up new technology quickly and efficiently. Well, there’s been a movement in the film industry over the last 5-10 years which certainly reflects this trend. It’s no secret that film is becoming a thing of the past, and that more and more major movie projects are being shot using digital cameras. For the purists this is a big shame, as they want to cling on to the heritage of the film industry, and believe that film is still the best medium. However, like so many forms of technology the advancement into a digital format has made things easier for those people without the classical training or money required to shoot in traditional methods. It also allows for new methods in film making, in particular stereoscopy. Certainly for visual effects, the use of digital cameras and the kinds of digital rigs available now have made large scale effects movies that much easier.
New Term Dates & Brand New Maya Core & Compositing Evening Classes
We're over half way through with our first set of course offerings in VFX and Compositing and it has been an exciting ride. We'll be offering both of our 12 week daily courses again in 2012. We've set up our spring, summer and fall start dates for our Visual Effects Production and Compositing for Production courses so you can start your planning right away.
Stu Schwartz Talks About His Internship at The Mill
Our First US Escapee Mug Shots
Our first set of students just hit the mid-way mark of their courses so we decided it was high time we subjected them to a long-standing Escape Studios tradition, that consists of capturing their photos before they start pulling their hair out coming to grips with the more complicated side of the VFX pipeline.
January's Free Tutorial: Exploring the Mechanics of Bird Locomotion (Part 2)
Escape’s animation tutor, Alex Williams takes us further into the exploration of the mechanics of bird locomotion. In the second session of this two-part tutorial, Alex further breaks down the apparently complex motion of animating a bird in flight into simple parts. He provides the pieces of the puzzle needed to:
Special Event: How to Succeed in a Growing VFX Industry
Join us on Saturday, February 4, 2012 for an exclusive presentation Do you have what it takes to make it in VFX? Pam Hogarth who has done placement and recruiting in the industry for more than 15 years will share this interesting case study and we'll have experts from Escape Studios on hand to answer all your questions. From how to map a carreer path to succeed in VFX, to discussing the changes in the industry--you'll find out what you can expect when searching for a job in the area.
Classes Off to a Booming Start in LA
In Rick’s compositing course, our students have already made great strides. They are currently working on Keying and Rotoscoping - finishing up the section of the course which deals with the core skills for a junior. Next, the students will start to work in ‘real world’ scenarios, which will help them to become problem solvers. They’ve completed work on the NUKE interface and are now focusing on the art of compositing, and the techniques to approaching problems. After the break they will be working on color correction, 3D in NUKE and CG compositing. They're all very excited to start shooting their own footage and putting together multi-pass composites.
Escape Studios Top Five Holiday Flicks
Here are the flicks we plan to take in this holiday season—time permitting. Some have excellent visual effects to offer. MPC, Framestore and Bluebolt worked on the visual effects for Sherlock Holmes, Weta Digital for Tintin and Digital Domain and Method did the VFX work for The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. You’ll find the work of ILM in Mission Impossible and Framestore and The Third Floor had much to do with the VFX in War Horse. Do click through the links to see the other work presented by these VFX houses. Many of these groups have members on our advisory board and we are proud to be associated with them. They do good work.
Golden Globe Animated Feature Contenders Posted…
It’s one of those things—finding out who’s been nominated for a Golden Globe in the Animated Feature Category. Everyone has an opinion. This year offers up some interesting fare. The following made the list:
Escape Studios LA Completes First Week of Classes
November 7 was our first day of classes here at Escape Studios LA. We’ve enrolled 14 students in our courses and they’ve already begun to learn the basics of Maya and NUKE. It’s clear that the students are learning a ton and enjoying the intensity of the courses. We can’t wait to see what our new students will be able to produce once they complete the next eleven weeks. I’m sure their demo reels will give us a taste of their talents.
November's Free Tutorial: Exploring the Mechanics of Bird Locomotion
Ever wonder how to make an animated bird fly? It does look complex - doesn’t it? Now is your chance to find out how to make that fluid motion of flight look real. Alex Williams, Escape Studio’s character animation instructor will walk you through the mechanics of bird locomotion in this two part tutorial.
Creativity at the Click of a Button
Technophobe! I guess that’s what you would call me. I’m Escape LA’s very own resident technophobe. My love for all things classic, retro and inherently old fashioned, and my inability or unwillingness to adopt the new digital era is one that causes a lot of amusement amongst the rest of the LA team. And you can imagine why! In a company which serves the visual effects industry, one of the fastest moving and most technically driven industries in the world, I stick out like a sore thumb. Don’t get me wrong, I love keeping up to date with the latest aspects of the industry and talking to students about all the cool things happening in visual effects, but when it comes to most stuff I’m a bit of an old fuddy duddy (yes I do wear cardigans – and not in a trendy way!!)
How Do You Like to Learn?
One of the things we discuss a lot here at Escape Studios is education, after all that is the field we specialize in. Everything from how and what is taught in elementary school to the way education is structured in colleges and universities, as well as the general approaches towards teaching the skills that support our industry. All of us have very strong views about where we think education is successful, where it falls short and how it can be improved. And as people involved in education we think it’s important to think not only about what we teach but how and why.
Escapee Carlos Conceicao Lands Internship at The Foundry
Our UK team recently released a story about one of our compositing escapees - Carlos Conceicao - landing an internship at The Foundry. This got me thinking about the actual spectrum of jobs that are available to people who study with us. There is an expectation that the majority will go on to work for companies in the VFX, Animation or TV industry. And yet Carlos has just demonstrated that you can actually go on to work in the software industry, for companies who develop the tools that are used in the media and entertainment sector. They are many such companies. Most of you will have heard of the largest ones like Autodesk, but there is a plethora of other companies and a constant flow of new comers too. This
Classes in VFX & Compositing Starting November 7, 2011 in Santa Monica
It’s official! Intensive classroom courses in Visual Effects Production and Compositing for Production begin on November 7, 2011 at our Santa Monica Academy. These courses are intensive - they run 12 weeks, Monday through Friday from 10 am to 5 pm. You can expect the following from each course:
Last Year's CG Whiz Winner Gives Tips for This Year’s Contenders
We just caught up with Stu Schwartz—last year’s CG Whiz winner. Here’s what he had to say about the experience and knowledge he’s gained and, of course, a few tips for this year’s submissions:
Free Training in NUKE, MARI and OCULA
Hosted at the Escape Studios’ facilities in Santa Monica, The Foundry is offering free training in NUKE, MARI and OCULA. Sign up today to train for free, connect with other Foundry software users and experience Escape Studios’ great new facilities.
Incredible VFX Scenes
3D World Magazine online have recently published a number of features about the best VFX scenes of all times. I have been reading them with interest and was mildly surprised when they posted a new article about Five More Incredible VFX Scenes. I did wonder if it was an after thought of if they had had to retrospectively add them as a result of reader feedback. Still, I thought it was worth a look.
Free Nuke Tutorial and Bonus Webinar
Finding a good tutorial takes time—especially one that gives you the right tools right away. So, to help ease the search we’ve bundled together a package that includes a tutorial on how to build a custom light wrap setup in NUKE along with a webinar video that will help you understand the key concepts of compositing.
Four Escapees Quickly Land Jobs After Completing Escape Courses
I have been spending some time in our London office over the past week and while I was over there, the team were pretty excited to hear about four recent graduates Konstantinos Panagiotopoulos, James Stuart, Massimo Pasquetii, and Mitch Crease who all landed jobs upon completing their courses at our UK academy.
Apprenticeship Spotlight: Derrick Sesson
We’ve highlighted the exploits of our summer apprentices and have yet another story to tell.
Escape Welcomes the Chaos
Much as we love our new space, we felt it was a bit selfish to keep it all to ourselves, and as we have so many friends in the industry we thought it was time share and spread the love.
Escape Studios Hosts First LA Open House
After weeks of waiting we have finally moved into our new Santa Monica campus, and we’re enjoying every minute. The school is almost complete, but we just couldn’t wait to show people around. That’s why we were so thrilled when earlier this month we held our first LA open house event and got to show prospective students our brand new space. Everyone enjoyed it so much that we’ve decided to host an open house event every two weeks for the rest of year.
Esc-Ape to the Movies!
Last week a few of the members from the Escape team took a group outing to see one of this summer’s biggest blockbusters, The Rise of the Planet of the Apes. It’s a movie we had been discussing at the school quite a bit since the first sneak previews were released some months ago. Surprisingly, it felt like a movie that didn’t have a great deal of general hype and one that many people I spoke to had not considered. Among the three of us there was Tad, a seasoned planet of the Apes fan, Stu, a reasonable newbie to the franchise and budding CG artist, and myself, kind of somewhere in the middle. I think we can say it was a big success. Tad and Stu will be writing shortly to share their thoughts with you, but in the meantime, here is my take on it.
Apprenticeship Spotlight: James Brady
We have been catching up with another of our Summer Apprentices. Here is what James Brady, Junior 3D Artist at The Mill, had to say.
Bringing Captain America Down To Size
So feeling a little behind on the recent group of blockbuster movies (I still haven’t seen Harry Potter 8) I decided to get in early this time round and went to see Captain America: The First Avenger on the opening weekend. I have to confess to being very excited about this film, even to the point where I may have over hyped it and much like the previous movie from the Avengers collection, Thor, it never quite managed to live up to my expectations. However, putting that to one side, what certainly didn’t disappoint was the excellent effects work carried out by a host of houses, namely Double Negative, Cinesite and last but certainly not least fellow Santa Monica residents Lola.
Open House Days At Escapes' Santa Monica Campus
We’re very pleased to say that our Santa Monica campus is nearly complete, and we’d like to share the excitement by inviting you to come down to our very first Open House on Friday 22nd July. The Open House will not only give you a great chance to see the facility but you’ll also get to meet the staff, learn more about our classes, see examples of student work and discuss potential routes into the industry.
The Game Is Over... For Now
So we finally reached the final episode of Game of Thrones and none of us are quite sure what we’re going to talk about in the office anymore, except work of course! Yes, Game of Thrones fever spread to Escape Studios, with Dom, Tad and myself all very much enthralled by HBO’s latest big budget drama. Many a lunchtime has been spent discussing the plot, characters and effects work, and it looks like we weren’t the only ones. The show is estimated to have grossed 8.3 million viewers per episode, which is some achievement. All in all the visual effects work has been impressive, and restrained, which has helped to give the series a much grittier and grounded feel. The introduction of the dragons in the very final scene hint at a more fantastical story to come, but I’ve been informed by those who’ve read the books that the magical element still remains very understated.
Female Director Hits Big With Kung Fu Panda 2
Dom and I were having a chat in the office the other day about Kung Fu Panda 2 and the question came up, "who's directing?" After many blank faces and scratching of heads, a quick look at IMDB revealed that the director was Jennifer Yuh Nelson. Unsurprisingly, none of us had heard of Jennifer Yuh Nelson before, partly because this is her first major directing role, but also because she is the first female to direct a major animation movie.
So When’s the 3D Bit?
I’ve resisted blogging about anything related to stereoscopy for fear that the subject has been done to death. But as my two most recent visits to the cinema were to see Thor and Kung Fu Panda 2, both in 3D, I couldn’t help but comment on how it affected my viewing experience. As someone really looking forward to both movies, neither of them quite lived up to my expectations. Thor was certainly one of the better comic book movies of recent times, but I think I prefer my heroes to be a little more grounded in reality. Kung Fu Panda 2 really upped the stakes in terms of the quality of animation and visuals, but felt like it lacked the simplicity of the original.
Kids Meet Aliens… But Not a Flying Bicycle in Sight
So, we all know what happens when kids meet aliens. Lots of screaming, followed by skittles, weird dressing up moments, and then a chase with some angry FBI agents and bikes that fly!!! Surely there’s nowhere new and exciting to go with this one??
Definitely Not Run Of The Mill
Our friends at The Mill have just released their fantastic new TV and Film demo reel for 2011, featuring work from Doctor Who, Prime Evil and the Chronicles of Narnia: Voyage of the Dawn Treader. After moving to the US I haven’t had the chance to catch up on the latest Dr Who series, but after seeing the work here I was really blown away. The Mill are playing a big part in making it harder to distinguish between the quality of TV and commercials effects work, with that of the bigger budget movie projects. Let’s hope they keep up the good work!!
Color In Motion
I was recently putting together a slide for Tad's Introduction to VFX presentation, when I was amazed by the similarity in color palette between the movie posters I was collating of VFX blockbusters from the last 5 years. The colors black, blue and green all featured very heavily, and it got me thinking about the choice of color palette when putting together a poster, or bigger yet, a movie.
Here We Go Again… And I Can’t Wait!
And so it’s begun... Surely the most anticipated movie in the last decade has finally started production. The Hobbit is underway! I really can’t contain my excitement for this film, although I’m not sure it can ever live up to the hype. I remember how anxious I got waiting for each installment of Lord of the Rings, so god help anyone around once we get close to the release of the first of the two Hobbit productions.
Woody Woodpecker's Secret
Whether I liked him or not, I remember Woody Woodpecker as a staple in my Saturday morning cartoon lineup. But what I didn't realize is that I was getting a lesson in Modern Art.
Animated Prologues: The Way of the Future, or Just Old Tricks?
I recently stumbled upon a collection of 2D flash animations released just before Zach Snyder’s Suckerpunch which acted as introductions to the different worlds inhabited throughout the movie. I found them an interesting piece of additional media and they certainly sparked my interest. However, it wasn’t until I saw the new short for the Priest movie that I realized there could be something more significant to these animations, and I began researching into the idea of the ‘animated prologue’.
Do We Want To Be Saved… Again?
Seeing as I recently blogged about the rise and influence of comic book movies in the film industry, and the current industry trend of remaking movies and franchises, I thought it only fitting to point you all towards Empire Magazine’s recent article on ‘Superhero Movies, The Boom And Bust Cycle’.
Pixar Heads To Scotland With Brave
So the latest news is out regarding Pixar’s next venture, and this time they have decided to take a more classical fantasy approach with Brave, the story of a young girl hunter set in ancient Scotland. Pixar has previously avoided the more cliché fairytale approach but perhaps with Disney now pulling the strings, and the recent success of Tangled and DreamWorks' How to Train your Dragon, it was only a matter of time until we saw Pixar tackle a more traditional story. The big news is that the film will also star a very notable British cast, including the likes of Billy Connolly, Emma Thompson, Robbie Coltrane and Julie Walters.
Can Lightning Really Strike Twice?
After recently reading an article about the city of Detroit planning to build a statue of Robocop, to commemorate their famous fictional law enforcer, I remembered that someone had told me a Robocop remake was in the cards. There are always lots of rumors about remakes but it really feels like the industry has gone to town on the idea of remaking a lot of our classic and not so classic movies. Among the many remakes being lined up for the near future are Akira, The Blob, The Dambusters, Dune, Godzilla, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Short Circuit, Warriors, The Thing, Total Recall and The Crow.
Oliver Jeffers' Introduces the 'Heart and the Bottle' iPad Picture Book App
I’m a very big fan of children’s books, in fact I’ve harbored a secret desire to be a children’s illustrator for some time. Certainly one of my favorite contemporary children’s book writer/illustrator, and one many of you may know, is Oliver Jeffers.
How to Make a Bang!
I’ve spoken to enough aspiring CG artists and seen my fair share of demo reels to know that one thing many of them share in common, is a love of explosions. Blowing something up in 3D is about as close to the real thing as most of us will get, and gives us a chance to unearth our inner pyro. But, it’s very easy to make a CG explosion look bad and forget that a good dynamics artist understands the world of physics, as well as the 3D tools he operates.
New Search Function Goes Live in Escape Studios' eLearning Platform
Over the past couple of weeks we've been busy working on our online learning system to bring to you a number of new features and enhancements.
The Power of the Comic Book Movie
I was taking a look at some upcoming movie trailers recently and realized there are a lot of comic book movies coming out this year. This also got me thinking how beneficial the big rise in comic book movies has been for the visual effects industry. Had we not re-discovered our love for super beings over the last decade, a huge amount of visual effects projects would not have been made. You could argue the advances in our industry have made these projects all the more possible, but either way they count for a huge amount of the annual work carried out by our friends and escapees at top facilities all over the world. Here’s a list of the movies arriving this year plus a couple scheduled for future release, and the post houses involved.
Free Tutorial--Controlling Occlusion
Designed by Escape Studios' instructors to help enhance your skills, this month's free tutorial looks in depth at the mib_amb_occlusion texture node and how careful use of two important attributes will aid in obtaining the perfect ambient occlusion pass.
One-on-one Studio Tours Underway at Escape Studios
We’ve got our new space under construction and we are getting ready to move in any day. In the meantime, we are spending some time with our friends at The Mill getting things set up so we can start teaching our classroom courses in April. Come over for a peek behind the scenes at The Mill or meet us for a look at our new location.
Two Free Tutorials—Kinematics and Cloning in the SpotLight
Designed by Escape Studios' tutors to help enhance your skills, these two tutorials provide information taken directly from our Character Animation Foundation and ZBrush for 3D Artists Courses.
VFX Artist Makes Acclaimed Movie all by Himself…
I really wanted to write about the new Gareth Edwards film Monsters, simply due to the huge amount of magazine and internet press it’s received since its recent release and Gareth being heralded as a new major talent in film. For those of you who don't know, the film covers the aftermath of an alien invasion and a couple’s journey to escape from an infected warzone in Mexico across the US border. More importantly the entire film was made with a cast of two and crew of five, with Edwards filming, directing and creating the visual effects. The fact that he was able to make an independent movie with large scale Hollywood effects by himself is not only impressive to those working in the industry, but also very inspiring to anyone wanting to start a career in film. I was also very intrigued to learn that the film was made using After Effects, Premier and 3ds Max, not the standard tools used for editing and effects in most high end film projects. Unfortunately, I haven't seen the film yet, but if anyone has we’d really love to hear your thoughts.
First Look at The New Adventures of Tintin
Could this be the first effective all performance capture movie?
CTN Animation Expo: Animation Industry Gathers to Chat, Draw and More…
I took some time out a couple of weekends ago to visit the second annual CTN Animation Expo at the Burbank convention center here in Los Angeles. Not only were all the major animation studios present, showing off their latest projects and hunting out fresh talent, but it was also great to see lots of freelance animators and illustrators exhibiting their work and taking time to chat to the many students and graduates that attended. Never have I seen more creativity crammed into one space! People were drawing in the lobby, in the corridors, in the parking lot, whilst they were eating, talking and even drawing others drawing!
Close Encounters of the Furred Kind
Some of you who’ve recently seen our UK blog may have noticed that we are taking part in the charity event, Movember, to help raise money and awareness for testicular cancer. Well, I am currently flying the flag for our US team as well, all be it on my own and very pathetically.
What’s Wrong with a Little Style Over Substance?
I’m a huge fan of 3D animation, in fact it’s the very reason I got into the world of CG and began working at Escape Studios. However after recently watching a fantastic 2D animated movie it got me thinking; when was the last time I was really excited by the style of a 3D animated film?
New Online Mentored Compositing Course
We’ve just launched Escape Studios’ Online Mentored Compositing course in the US which we are really excited about. Compositing is about mastering the art of illusion and this course will provide the training you need to become a confident compositor. In this current climate, it's more important than ever to make sure your skills are the best they can be which means knowing the latest techniques and software (Nuke) that will make sure you stay at the top of the pile. What's great about this online course is that it comes with a 12 month license upon enrolment!
Two Free Tutorials: Camera Tracking and Nuke
Camera Tracking Tutorial
Our Free Camera Tracking Tutorial will help you understand lens distortion and how to estimate focal length, how to spot it within the shot, issues that may arise and then how to remove distortion to ensure that the solution is accurate in the real world environment.
Aurora Jimenez Escapes to a Career in CG
Do you ever wonder what you might be able to accomplish in twelve weeks if you focus on something really intently? I wonder all the time...
Our Students' Work Stands on its Own Two Feet
I was poking around our new US website and hit on some newly posted student work. I thought I’d seen everything on the site because I’m on it every day but there were at least three new uploads that had been posted overnight.
Why should I be studying for a Masters in VFX Production in London when I’m a US 3D artist?
Here are three good reasons...
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