Framestore

Have you always wanted a career in this industry?

I started out as a graphic designer and was halfway through a university course when I realized that it wasn’t what I wanted to do. After much soul searching, I decided that I wanted to make movies.

How did you find out about Escape and what was it like?

When I started looking for a computer graphics course, Escape Studios kept popping up everywhere. They have a lot of industry connections and are well respected for producing good graduates. I wanted to study a 3D course in the UK and in comparison to a 3 year degree, 12 weeks at Escape meant that I could move forward a lot quicker.

I attended an open house day and liked what I saw. Seeing Escape gave me a great buzz. I signed up for the Maya training course and it was intense, but I’ve never been in an environment where everyone else is so keen to learn. All of the tutors have worked in the industry and their expertise made learning really easy.

What happened after the course?

I started as a runner at Double Negative, but then I was approached by Escape to work on a film that had been outsourced to their production team. It was a really great first job and it gave me a foot in the door. After that, I freelanced at the BBC working on a CG version of Jackanory.

What are you doing now?

I'm working at Framestore as an Animation modeler/Creature TD. I've been here almost a year and It’s fantastic. I was part of the team that created the armor for the polar bears in ‘The Golden Compass’ – which was incredible. ‘The Dark Knight’ was probably the most challenging movie that I’ve worked on. Escape’s courses really prepare you for what the industry requires, and so I always knew what would be expected of me.

What advice would you give to any prospective students?

If you’re interested in computer graphics, you need to ask yourself a question, ‘What do I want to specialize in?’ There are so many different jobs you can do and disciplines that you can work in. Escape Studios really encouraged me to think about this, even when I’d just begun the open house day!