Here at Escape Studios, we know how you all enjoy getting to the heart of what makes up a stunning VFX shot. So imagine our delight when hearing that Prime Focus World have just released the first of a new behind-the-scenes web series, ‘Close Up’. And let me tell you, these nuggets of geekiness will not disappoint.

Very recently I came across a really cool web based app to create media applications for online. And it’s the kind of thing I felt needed to be shared with you all.

Okay so it’s 2012 and I’ve seen so much cannon fodder footage on the internet that these days, when surfing the web, I am indeed hard to impress.

Earlier this week we let you know that CandIT Media would be showcasing the WARP platform at BVE North on the 13th and 14th of November.

But who are CandIT Media?

Japanese art student Choo San, blew quite a few minds this week when she uploaded her latest side project to internet forums.

This Wednesday, October 24^th, we’re hosting a webinar with compositing tutor and Head of 2D at Escape Studios, Davi Stein. During her presentation, Davi will guide us through the core processes behind compositing, highlighting exactly what a compositor does, the range of roles available in the industry, and how Compositors are largely responsible for creating the CG magic we see on screen. As well as this, Davi will comment on the effects of some of the most recent changes in the industry to date.

As a design graduate with 7 years’ experience working within design departments in architecture and retail I spent what time I could learning how to model and animate to create short sequences influenced mainly by films I like. Although fun, learning that way means progress is very slow as is the rate of improvement - at least in my case anyway. I wanted to get better quicker and that's why I signed up for the VFX Production course.

For Years I've been fascinated by space, as a VFX artist it's the closest thing we have to observing epic film effects in real life. Every star, nebula or galaxy represents incredible pyrotechnics happening right in front of our eyes… albeit a few million years late some of the time. As an example, this is a picture I took a few years ago of M27, also known as the ‘dumbbell nebula’. This is the result of a supernova, a gigantic explosion in space - throwing off matter, the red stuff is mostly hydrogen gas, the greenish stuff is oxygen.

For those of you who didn’t know, New York Comic Con happened last week, and as promised, the largest celebration of pop culture on the east coast of America, brought awesome exclusives by the bucket load.

It seems that for the last decade, a whole plethora of films have been remade when the original should never have been touched. Classic cult offerings such as Assault on Precinct 13, Cape Fear, Death Race 2000 and even Clash of the Titans have all undergone a reworking, which some might say was wholly unneeded.