Step into the mind-blowing world of VFX with The VFX Festival! Escape Studios has created the first ever four-day festival exploring the breathtaking world of visual effects, held in London on 10th-13th October.
Celebrating a decade of UK visual effects, the festival will be packed with the most respected VFX talent, visionaries and companies who have helped shape the industry. Offering inspirational insight behind the clever trickery in this booming VFX industry, with an exciting four-day programme packed with insider knowledge and information, showreel demos, hands-on workshops and exclusive premieres, it's perfect for those with a creative talent or thirst to develop their VFX Career.
The VFX Festival 2012 - Get your tickets now!
VFX Union
A subject that started off as an online murmur, has gathered a considerable amount of momentum over the last few weeks, as many VFX artists and industry professionals have begun to campaign, (or at least talk about campaigning) for the unionisation of VFX artists.
Fuel VFX go into administration
Bad news down under this week, as the prolific Australian firm, Fuel VFX, has made a 'backs to the wall' decision to go into voluntary administration. Having worked on such films as Prometheus, The Avengers and Iron Man over the last few years, we can safely say the world of VFX will be missing this hive of talent!
A-level results 2012: top marks drop for first time in 20 years
A-level results 2012: top marks drop for first time in 20 years
The number of students awarded top marks at A-level has dropped for the first time in 20 years, suggesting the biggest decline in A grades since records began according to the Telegraph.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/universityeducation/9479182/A-level-results-2012-top-marks-drop-for-first-time-in-20-years.html
I’m not sure this is so sensational especially given that the overall pass rate increased for a successive 30th year but the papers have to report it all!
There are always lots of facts and figures banded about when it comes to results and I guess we can get a little lost in them all. However we do know the importance of getting good grades. There is no doubt that it is increasingly more difficult for graduates at any level to find work and the competition for jobs is at its highest level.
It’s also true outside of the mainstream, for our industry, VFX, students want to go to the best Uni’s to learn their trade and need the results to do so. They need to put in those extra hours, take on additional learning and finally focus on their show-reels… These are the ones putting themselves in the strongest position for work in one of the coolest industries on the planet (and beyond)!
Whatever your results today, we send you our best wishes and hope that if gets you your place in University or to whatever path you have chosen. Good Luck!
The number of students awarded top marks at A-level has dropped for the first time in 20 years, suggesting the biggest decline in A grades since records began according to the Telegraph.
Rock on...another escapee success!
Adam Esat explains, that like many video games industry professionals, the first seeds of inspiration were sewn as a child, playing the likes of The Legend of Zelda, Metal Gear Solid and Pokémon.
We soon found out that like the protagonists of his childhood inspirations, Adam had embarked on a pretty exciting journey of his own.
We caught up with this escapee in the wake of a recent poll from ‘develop online’, indicating Travellers’ Tales (His employers, and main producers of games under the Lego franchise) to be the number one UK game developer.
Adam explains that although he knew he wanted to enter he world of gaming, he didn’t quite have a clear cut vision so early on, and it took him three years at university to make a decision as to what he wanted to specialise in.
‘I loved 3D modelling most of all, which I dedicated my efforts to from then on.’
From here the foundations were set, and Adam could start stacking the building the blocks of his career. (If you’ll excuse the pun) Speaking of his time with us, he acknowledges the premium level of teaching and positive learning environment that Escape Studios has to offer.
‘The quality of the tutoring is what I consider to be world class; it truly was a creatively charged, collaborative place to study, which frankly made me strive to improve myself even more’
As with all of our success stories though, our resources are matched, if not trumped by the infallible commitment of our students, and it took Adam four patient months of meticulous alterations to his show reel before he felt it ready for job applications. These were four months though, that surely pale into insignificance now…
‘Since then I've been happily employed at TT, whilst also pursuing my personal work in my free time’
We asked Adam to dispatch some industry wisdom for our students and any potential VFX artists out there who may be reading his success story
I would say the most important thing is decide exactly what you want to do within the games industry, and focus on it, the key is to specialise. Work as much as you can on creating an awesome showreel targeted at the area you wish to specialise, It's incredibly competitive out there and if you want to succeed, you need to work hard. Show your prospective employer that you're the right person for the job and most of all that you want it more than anyone else.
Adam knows not what the future holds, as the industry is always evolving. But with a work ethic and skillset like his, we can be sure that this escapee has a very bright future.
Adam Esat explains, that like many other video games industry professionals, his first source of inspiration came as a child, playing the likes of The Legend of Zelda, Metal Gear Solid and Pokémon.
New Relationship Manager at Escape Studios
There have been some exciting changes at Escape Studios recently, and with that we are very pleased to welcome our new Relationship Manager, Anita Gribble. In this role Anita will have two main responsibilities. One is to work closely with post houses up and down the country to continue building on the industry coaching scheme we currently have for our full-time students. As well as this she will be helping to maintain our relationship with recruiters at a variety of post houses to further benefit our students.
Creative Skillset Short Course Approval
We’ve just had some exciting news from the lovely people at Creative Skillset. The creative industries’ sector skills council are currently running a pilot scheme for short courses that provide training in areas such as TV, film, radio, interactive media, animation, computer graphics, facilities, photo imaging, publishing, advertising and fashion & textiles. By making training in these areas more readily available, they hope to open up these industries and create a more diverse pool of talent right here in the UK. And we’re delighted to play a part in that ambition.
Escapee Showreel - Ewan Armstrong
Having previously worked in the games industry and studied Computer Games Art at degree level, Ewan Armstrong wanted to broaden his skill set to make the transition into film and TV media. Ewan made the decision to study at Escape because he saw an opportunity to fill the gaps in his knowledge on production rendering techniques, camera tracking and compositing, all while being in an environment closely linked to the VFX industry.
An Incredible Day at the VES Career Fair
Over the weekend we attended the London VES Career Fair & Tech Expo, and let’s just say it put Love Box to shame with the numbers who turned out for the event itself! Queues of aspiring VFX artists patiently lining up to speak to representatives from some of the world’s greatest post houses, including ILM, Framestore, Pixomondo, Method Studios, Cinesite, Prime Focus and Disney, really highlighted just how much competition there is to get your foot on the first rung of the ladder in the world of Visual Effects.
Game On
Want to know more about getting into the games industry while also getting some inside info from the biggest independent games developers? Then make sure you head to GameCityNights.org.
A New Studio for International VFX Company Pixomondo
Pixomondo has expanded their impressive global network of VFX studios yet again. Recently they established their twelfth facility at the Celtic Media Centre in Baton Rouge, Louisiana to service local film and commercial productions as well as provide support to the other international studios. With over 150,000 square feet of design-built stage spaces, the Celtic Media Centre is perfect for meeting the demands of any production. This is the largest studio facility in Louisiana state, and with the generous tax incentives currently in place in that region, this looks to be a great move for the Oscar winning VFX company.
Industry Coaching with The Mill
The current VFX Professional class were assigned The Mill as part of the ‘Industry Coaching’ scheme, which is a new initiative for us here at Escape Studios. The main idea behind the scheme is that we invite established post-production houses in Soho to mentor our students as they prepare to enter the industry as VFX artists. The VFX Professional course is our more advanced course for students who have completed the VFX Production course or artists already in the industry who are looking to further their knowledge in the field. For these students, getting advice from professionals working in the industry is golden, helping them prepare better for what is to come. Emmy Castelain was among the group during this visit, and this is what she had to say about their time at The Mill…
Who's That in the Spotlight?
Every month, Develop review the brightest and best courses and colleges in the world of Computer Graphics. And this week, we've found ourselves in the spotlight!
Escapees Day Out with Framestore, Part 1
Last Friday, 23rd March, the students at Escape Studios had a much deserved break from the studio in Soho. It was nice to finally catch a bit of sunlight as all of us have been cooped up indoors, out from this amazing weather. However, the blast of sunshine was short lived as we were to enter one of the largest VFX studios in Soho.
Work Experience Scheme: Brilliant Idea or Forced Labour?
I guess that few of you will have missed the media furore caused by the government's new Work Experience Scheme. It has been dominating the headlines over the past few days and every time I turn on the TV or radio, it seems there's another story about a well-known company 'dropping out' of the scheme.
@Escape_Studios Follow: @Indi_Pops
Five questions finding out more about our Twitter followers, how and why they got started and what they feel about the industry, with @TobyJOYdigital our Social Media Manager.
Free Download: An Artist’s Guide to a Career in CG
Are you an aspiring CG artist who’s trying to get your CG career off the ground? Are you working in the creative industry and want to transfer your skills to VFX? We know how difficult it can be to make decisions and chose the right path, but that’s where our Careers Guide can help. By revealing the many opportunities that exist within the CG industry, the guide helps you overcome some of the hurdles you might face when you start making career choices.
Electric Escapees
James Sindle first studied design at Kingston University, before training in CG here at Escape studios. Upon completion of his course James joined The Mill in 2007, he quickly then became a senior 3D operator leading multiple award winning commercials, before branching off last year with Lee Pavey, Dan Stanhope Marum and Giles Cheetham to form their own power house, the Electric Theatre Collective.
Escapee Amy Cuthbertson now Head of Tracking at Mill Film and TV
When Amy Cuthbertson finished her degree in Music Technology, she didn’t expect to find herself starting a career in CG, but that’s exactly what happened. Wandering around a careers fair, Amy spotted the Escape Studios stand, got talking about her love of animation and the rest is history, as they say.
Let’s hear it for the girls!
So many of our escapees succeed in getting jobs once they've finished a course with us, and it’s so good to hear that lots of them are very talented young women. As a result, we thought some congratulations were in order, starting with Evgenia Golubeva who accepted the role of Director at Animated Storyboards, a fantastic position and one which we want to wish her every success in!