Tis but 10 days until the much anticipated Oscars! Here at Escape we have a keen eye on who will be winning the prize for best VFX, there are some pretty heavyweight contenders and nominees are as follows…
The 3D Printing Revolution!
View Conference announces cash prizes for 2013 winners!
Our friends over at View Conference Italy, last week unveiled that they will be providing cash prizes for winners of their different awards. The prizes vary from top of the range tablets to a lump sum of 2000 Euros. The categories for application are as follows (complete with direct links)
Lee's App of the Week!
After a brief hiatus, Selby's App of the Week has returned - under the new married guise of Lee's App of the Week!
C (299,792 km/s)
The phrase ‘put your money where your mouth is’, is rarely put into practice. However, over the last few years, website kickstarter.com has bucked the trend by allowing generous and creative types to come together and put their money into projects that they genuinely believe in.
Break out of the Box with VFX!
I really like how Michael Rigley has used 3D in a very creative, non-conventional visual effects project for his thesis.
Animation Ireland
And how has this happened? Well a decade of tax breaks and investment basically. Tax breaks to aid production costs and funding for development prior to production from various sources. Very interesting given the impending tax breaks around the corner in the UK. Could this be a new dawn in film and broadcast for us here?
I was amazed by how many companies are turning out real quality work in Ireland. The tax breaks have not affected the passion for excellence. In fact I would say it has merely fuelled it - the companies are competing against eachother to produce the best work. And as the industry steadily grows there are now whispers of full length animated movies being made there.
If you are curious about what has been happening in Ireland check out the Animation Ireland showreel on their website...
Here's something you may not know. Ireland has a booming animation industry. No I didn't know that either until I went to the Cartoon Finance conference in Dublin last year. In fact the animation industry is doing so well, that in the face of the downturn, it has become one of their major exports. At the conference, it was quipped that the animators are now the ones with the proper jobs.
WFTV: Women in Technology Networking
A big thank you to the ladies from WFTV (Women in Film and TV) for organising a networking event last night for women who work in technical roles across film and television. Three of us (Davi Stein, Anita Gribble and myself) from Escape went along to see what was going down! We had a great time meeting women from lots of different fields. Among them was a DOP, a few editors and to our delight two effects TD’s from MPC.
Truly EPIC God of War trailer
We were enticed this week when we saw this epic live action trailer for Sony’s game ‘God of War: Ascension’, It was made by creative studio and production company ‘Imaginary Forces’, a firm who have worked on a huge amount of projects, spanning from commercial work to television and film,
Google Chrome, Powerade, Transformers, Minority Report, and Boardwalk Empire, are but a few of their accolades to date. Impressive stuff!
If the game is half as epic as this evocative ad, viewers will no doubt want to get playing right away!
JJ Abrams takes on Star Wars Episode VII
A giant robot, loud music, and plenty of explosions, what's not to like?
The office here at Escape is usually bustling with an array of different musical sounds, and it’s rare we fully agree on what radio station to keep on for more than an hour and a half.
Escape this Summer
While the days are cold, the nights are long, and we’ve seen the back of Christmas and New Year festivities, at one point or another, we all find ourselves daydreaming about the return of the summer sun. The smell of sun cream, the call of the beach, and the excuse to whack on a pair of shades, making ourselves look AT LEAST 20% cooler, is but a dream away at this, the tail end of January.
FINALLY, The Rock has come back, to the big screen!
Dwayne Johnson, known to most as wrestling icon ‘the Rock’, is to play the role of a snitch in his new movie, aptly named, ‘Snitch’, set for release February 22nd..
3D Printing on a HUGE Scale!
Here at Escape Studios we are naturally, fans of most things 3D, and personally I find myself intrigued by the growing phenomenon that is 3D printing.
Webinar: Kick starting your career in CG with Anita Gribble and Garreth Gaydon
Recruiters in any company will be sent hundreds of applications on a weekly basis, and when it comes to getting your application noticed, just try putting yourself in their shoes for a moment. For example, their first job is to sort through the good from the bad. Your challenge, should you choose to accept it, is to impress at a glance.
Using a Green Screen to help kick the habit!
Regardless of whether or not you’re a smoker, there’s a fair chance that you’ll be rather sick of the uninventive advertising, encouraging people to quit - that uses revolting images to repel people from indulging in the habit,
Total Rigging in Total Recall: Webinar
On 7th of February 2013, Escape HQ will be welcoming Jakub Krompolc, who is head of rigging at London’s Prime Focus world.
Jurassic Park 4!
Students who have entered the doors at Escape (and left as artists) draw their inspiration from a number of VFX pioneering films, many cite movies such as Blade Runner, Star Wars, and Lord of the Rings, as the reason they wanted to master the art of VFX.
The Stunning Effects of Life of Pi
Thanks to the kind people at Rhythm and Hues, who last month gave us some very informative industry info, Ang Lee’s Life of Pi has already made an appearance on the Escape blog. But now we've all seen it, and since it’s received 11 Oscar nominations (not bad eh?) we reckon it’s worth another mention!
London's VFX Artists become Superheroes!
VFX fans and readers of WIRED magazine will have noticed a special feature in this month’s edition, as Soho’s VFX teams are made into super heroes by, well, themselves.