Another escapee from our Character Animation Course has just secured a position in the games industry. Congratulations to Pedro Cabeleira who began an internship this week at Ninja Theory in Cambridge, working on Cinematics for one of their new games.
My Animation Talk at Annecy
The Animation Festival ‘Annecy’ invited me to give a talk about my career as an animator and to lift the lid on a few Animation Mysteries as well. As much as I love working at Escape Studios, it was great to talk about my life as a freelance animator and some of the jobs that have shaped my career like ‘Who Framed Roger Rabbit’ and ‘The Lion King’. It was also nice to see that people were interested in this too!
Zappar: A Total Geek Fest!
I thought it was going to be one of those 'office' moments when a colleague pulled some papers out of his bag and said "you must see this"... He is important, so I paid good attention...!
Annecy Animation Film Festival
Every June I look forward to heading off to Annecy, not for the sight seeing (although it is a very beautiful place) but for the Film Festival of course. Sadly however, I didn’t attend this year.
New 18-Week Visual Effects Animation Course Launched Today!
The new course announcements are coming thick and fast at the moment, having recently launched our new Compositing Professional course I'm really pleased to announce the launch of our new 18-week Visual Effect Animation Professional course.
Hold Me Clothes
Evgenia Golubeva recently finished our Character Animation course with us and has very quickly landed a commercials job at Partizan Lab in Soho on the strength of her excellent demo reel. She has also recently put together a short film titled "Hold Me Clothes", a stop-motion film written by her and animated in just one day at a recent film festival in Italy.
Augmented Reality... Kelly Brooks... Angels Fall...
OK, so hopefully the title got your attention, and we can get past the Kelly Brook distraction - she's currently "fronting" a new marketing campaign from Lynx "Angels will fall" which is all relevant, honest!
Back On The Road
The Escape University Tour starts up again this month after a short break for Easter. Last week, I was in Ipswich to speaking with students at the School of Arts and Humanities at University Campus Suffolk.
The Pixar Podcast
I stumbled across 'The Pixar Podcast' recently, I just thought I would share it with you in case you had not seen it.
Alex Williams to Host Special Animation Open Day in London
Our Character Animation Tutor Alex Williams needs little introduction. if you follow the world of Animation, you will have heard of him and his work. He is one of the most talented animators of the decade and has not only written books such as QC Cartoon Series, but also worked on well known titles such as The Lion King, Pocohontas, Looney Tunes: Back in Action, and most notably Who Framed Roger Rabbit. He makes quite an impression on most of the people he meets, and especially the students in his class.
Character Animation Escapee Tracey Chung Secures Job at Ragdoll Productions
If you’ve ever dreamt of becoming an animator, Tracey’s story should help you realise that your dream might be easier to attain than you think.
Amazing Mick Ebeling
I was sent a link to this the other day by one of the Fireflies riders in LA. Mick Ebeling has a great company and has done something pretty amazing with the resources he has to hand. Enabling a close friend suffering from a life destroying disease to use his creativity again after complete paralysis shows amazing resourcefulness and generosity.
Using 3D to Good Effects in Teaching
It’s not often that I see something that just makes me pause and wonder in amazement, but a few days ago, I came across a short video that did just that.
Our Grand Day Out at Aardman
On Tuesday we, our Recruitment Manager, Garreth Gaydon, and I were let out of the office for the day to go and visit Aardman! I have to say, it was awesome! Based in Bristol, it's a bit of a trek but well worth the effort. They are such a brilliant studio and it's every bit as cool as you'd imagine.
Professional VFX & Compositing Freelancers Are in High Demand
Are you looking for a job in the CG Industry? Here at Escape Studios Recruitment, we’ve never been busier. It’s a great time for the UK Post-Production industry and we have been inundated with requests for professional artists.
Just Another Comic Book Hero Movie? Maybe Not...
Ok, so there I was, happy in my comfort zone, knowing that the Green Lantern could never be a great movie and that nothing could ever live up to the comic book.
25 Years of Pixar Animation
I'm sure many of you will have seen the film medley that represents 25 years of Pixar Animation. Well, it's amazing to be reminded of all their fantastic work - not just the images and characters, but the stories also. They pretty much have it all. I would personally like to thank Pixar for The Incredibles, which for me is unsurpassed. Simply brilliant.
New Way to Sculpt and Model with 3D-Coat
It’s not often that I come across a new product that shows me a completely different way of working… We’ve been checking out 3D-Coat and have come to the conclusion that it might just provide something quite special in terms of modelling and sculpting.
University Tour Under Way
I have been out on the road over the last month visiting universities across the UK, as part of our university tour, and wanted to give you an update on my progress so far. It's been a bit of a whirlwind, but meeting up with such enthusiastic and creative people is never a chore - you come back full of ideas an imbued with the same enthusiasm
Kuro Dragon Produces Its First Kids TV Title Sequence
Last night I caught up with Stuart Howard, the Managing Director of a start-up VFX studio that’s doing some great work.