Escape Blog

On one of my (out of work hours) trawls around the internet, I came across this little gem (if you can, watch fullscreen).

As you’ll see from the comments, it’s quite a stunner that’s caused a fair bit of debate. I’ll be honest, I thought it was a fake, or at least some quality compositing and grading, before I found this – the breakdown.

Conferring around the office, the first response was ‘what did he shoot it on?’ If it’s all CG, it’s a true work of art. All told, the visuals combined with the audio make for a fantastic short film from a true artist. My only concern is how on earth did he get it all rendered?

As I’m sure some of you would have seen, last week figures were released showing that revenues from UK videogames hit £1.73 billion last year – a whopping 44% higher than what was generated from UK films during the same time.

If you consider some of the huge cinema releases we saw last year, it’s no mean feat that it was only UK television that made more money than the video games industry.

Impressive stuff, but is it really a surprise?

I’ve said before that playing videogames is becoming a family past time – games consoles are now found in the family living room rather than banished to a “geeky” teenager’s bedroom. Gaming has a far reaching appeal, and I doubt that the growth of the gaming industry will cease any time soon. Interest in our games course, particularly since Sony veteran Simon Fenton came on board, has continued to grow. It’s great to see this exciting industry gaining rightful recognition – not just in terms of increased sales, but in the demand for creative talent which boosts the development of video gaming in the UK.

Would you rather spend two hours playing Modern Warfare 2 or watching Blackhawk Down?

I came across this the other day, and I’m not sure I’ve ever been more excited. Star Wars (the original three, we won’t talk about the new lot) has been a huge inspiration for so many people in the industry over the years, and to see how the graphics were done is fantastic.

It’s interesting to see how many of the principals we use were in place back then. Obviously advances in technology mean that different skills are needed now, but the basic elements of good design, an eye for detail and a desire to deliver a realistic experience for the viewer are still as true today as they were over thirty years ago.

Now for the embarrassing part: hands up who is old enough to have seen the original Star Wars at the cinema when it was first released (not the remastered versions)?

We have just made a great new free tutorial available to you all: Advanced Lighting for VFX Artists. This is ideal material for VFX artists who wants to improve your lighting skills.

It goes without saying that to produce convincing 3D and visual effects work, you need great lighting skills and an understanding of the various methods used in post-production. This advanced lighting tutorial explains how you can illuminate your scenes with sophisticated lighting techniques.

To access this tutorial all you need to do is register or login on our website and access our online learning centre. Once inside, select the ‘FREE AREA’ from the drop down menu in the ‘My Courses’ tab.

Would be great to get feedback from you on what you thought of this tutorial, so please post your comments here.

Oh, and by the way, we have a special discounted price on our Advance Lighting and Shading Online Courses… You can save up to 20% until the end of November.

All the talk of stop motion animation last week got me thinking, so I went in search of some great examples of this type of work.

This Western Spaghetti viral is awesome.

It’s clever and creative – making bubble wrap look like boiling water and turning a ball of string into cheese is truly inspired.

This is the work of Adam Pesapane, a 35 year old digital artist based in New York City who goes by the nickname PES. If you’d like to see more of his creations take a look at his YouTube channel.

Thanks to SickDamage.com for bringing this to my attention. Take a look at their site for more cool videos, including a second video by PES called Human Skateboard – once again, the piece of work is genius.

If anyone has seen any other great examples for us to feature then please let us know.

Now this is what we like to see – children getting involved in animation from a young age.

This week we heard that Tate is teaming up with Aardman Animations, the team behind Wallace and Gromit, to create a new film.  And,  they want children to help them brainstorm. Check out the video on our YouTube channel.

The Tate Movie Project’s aim is to introduce children to key aspects of film-making while teaching them some basic animation skills. I have to agree with a blog post I read on Boxwish – the thought of kids creating film is really original and should generate some amusing sound effects.

The entertainment factor is just one part of it. I think it’s a great opportunity to give young people a taste of this exciting industry. Who knows? We might see the children here at Escape in years to come.

The news got us thinking about other children’s movie projects out there which will spark interest at an early age – let us know if there are any in your area. Also, what other methods are out there to get kids interested in animation from an early age?

Towelling for grass, cotton balls for smoke and cling film for water – Wes Anderson has reverted to traditional forms of animation in his new film Fantastic Mr Fox.

I’ve spoken a lot about the future of 3D animation on this blog, but I’d like to highlight a great piece of stop-motion animation in Wes Anderson’s take on Roald Dahl’s Fantastic Mr Fox – starring George Clooney, Bill Murray and Meryl Streep.

In a recent interview, director Anderson discusses the effort he went to, relying on old techniques, and it really pays off. The animation was created here in London, where he steered clear of digital animation and used material to create effects – like towelling for grass, cotton balls for smoke and cling film for water where possible. I must say, while I’m one of the first to sing the praises of developments in film creation like advances in 3D cinema – it’s great to see a picture going back to basics and producing fantastic results.

The movie does look adorable and I agree with the opinion expressed on thepeoplesmovies’s blog that it was a bold move for a director to create animation in classic stop-motion style in the days of computer generated effects – however, it’s bound to be a hit. On top of the great production, the film boasts an impressive voice cast that is sure to be a pull with the audience.

There are very few other companies who are embracing stop-motion animation.  Aardman is another company which is still producing that quirky old-school feel when generating animations.

If you haven’t seen it yet check out the Fantastic Mr Fox trailer on our YouTube channel. What do you think? Is there still a place for old-school animation in today’s film industry?

Don’t know if any of you read the Guardian Games blog this morning, but there was an entertaining post about the coolest video games of all time.

I agree with Keith Stewart to some extent – video games don’t always lend themselves to social credibility, but there are exceptions to the rule. Personally, I’ve always been a fan of Raving Rabbids, because it’s a great way to connect with my kids and wife, and playing together on a night in rather than watching the goggle box, is much more fun.

However, times are definitely changing. Video games are no longer a niche pastime and going mainstream has made them more socially acceptable – an article just the other day highlighted that the video gaming activity is increasingly moving from the bedroom to the family living room. Guitar Hero for example, a “cool” title featured on The Guardian’s list, has far reaching appeal, with gamers of all ages enjoying this new form of entertainment.

The more we see games appealing to wider audiences, the more we’ll accept video gaming as a respected pastime. It’s no coincidence that Pac-Man, Dance Revolution and Guitar Hero made the “cool” list, but there were some glaring emissions. Let us know what you think: what would have made your top ten coolest video game list?

Our Games tutor Simon Fenton spoke to The Guardian a while back about his favourite and most influential Games. You can watch the interview with him here.

I’ve mentioned 3D movies before on the blog, but this week another article on the topic caught my eye. Pixar has said that it’s hoping 3D films will encourage people to watch movies at the cinema – rather than pirate copies or illegal downloads at home.

Something I didn’t talk about before was the advantage 3D films have of making illegal copies from cinema films virtually impossible. We all know that in the past, production companies have faced criticism from cinemas that are reluctant to install the equipment, such as new projectors, necessary to show 3D movies due to the expense. I can’t help but think they are failing to realise how these movies can help protect the cinema industry. 3D pictures will not only cut down on piracy, but cinemas will also be able to add a little more to the admission charges – increasing their ticket revenue – while offering customers a high quality viewing experience that can’t be replicated at home (for the time being at anyway).

I thought it was interesting to see Pixar relaxing its policy of revisiting past hits such as Toy Story and Cars – it obviously thinks that 3D movies will be able to attract larger audiences, providing the film is up to scratch.