Escape to Stuttgart!
Davi Stein meets Davy Jones!
This morning, Escape Relationship Manager Anita Gribble and Head of 2D Davi Stein, took students on a trip to the heart of the West End – to see the newly opened Double Negative facility in Great Portland Street, which opened just 3 months ago! As is always the case with our studio visits, everyone set off early with an unquenchable thirst for knowledge and a hunger for adventure.
Project Green Screen!
Most film lovers out there will be well vested in the work of legendary director and writer, Robert Rodriguez, and especially if you’re a fan of the grindhouse double bill, then it’s fair to assume that you are probably an owner of at least one Rodriguez DVD.
Check out this Stash!
A great mash up of some amazing VFX, motion and animation work collated by the guys at Stash. Titled ‘Stash 98: Another 100 minutes of motion brilliance’ this one and a half minutes of footage is a showcase collaboration of clips that are tantalising for the eyes.
Lovable Film, Despicable Me 2.
I loved the first slice of 'Despicable Me'. And it’d be an understatement to say I am excited about this new trailer and release of ‘Despicable Me 2’ this summer! On the site, you can see some of their 3D turntables of the CG car they designed that is amphibious, there’s also some concept art on there too.
Lee's App Of The Week: Zombies and Trains
OK I know I talk a lot about zombies and these days the topic of a zombie apocalypse is fairly meh BUT how could I ignore an app called Zombies And Trains?! This is the latest game app from Norwegian based Dragonhead Games and it is a corker!
A hell of a lot of animals!
Regardless of the controversy surrounding the recent Academy award for Best Visual Effects, given to Life of Pi last month, it is important to remember that R&H was not the only studio to have had creative influence to the film.
Conference on VFX, Animation, Videogames and Digital Architecture seeks work from Animators!
One of the beautiful things about the internet is the ability to translate any language to your own with the click of a button. Meaning we get to find out about more awesome events like this...
Lee's App Of The Week: Real Bokeh
I love me some bokeh and I've been searching for a super simple bokeh app that lets me jazz up my pics with the click of button. Finally my search is over, for I have discovered Real Bokeh. Available on the iPhone and Android
'Masks' - The most fantastically bizarre animation you'll see all year!
We reckon that this is quite simply on of the most excellent (and unique) animated shorts you’ll have seen in a while!
An animation by Patrick Smith, created entirely on the back of a pre written score by musician Karl Von Kries. This short shows a mad scientist that perfects a cloning process of a small grey population of people. Who in turn are edible to the larger, superior Masked folk. The little grey clones have a trick up their sleeve though, so make sure you watch until the end!
The animated short has won a number of awards in it’s time, and if you haven’t seen it yet – click away
PS4 commercial racks up 26 million views in February!
February’s most watched video was Sony’s Playstation 4 spot; it has been unveiled by Youtube in an insight to last month’s video statistics.
Escape Academy Tours, an Open Day for Open Minds…
So it’s that time again… time to tempt, entice and hopefully ensnare a fresh batch of enthusiasts to come tame the beast that is VFX, here at Escape Studios. Hosted by recruitment and training team Flora and Nick, today is all about giving our potential Escapees a feel for what life at Escape has to offer, from our accelerated Classroom courses to the oh-so important free tea/coffee and, of course, the after hours bar downstairs!
Lee's App Of The Week: Plants Vs Zombies
Y'all know I've got a zombie "issue". I've actually developed a theory regarding the outcome of a potential zombie invasion since I unfortunately live quite close to a hospital (a well-known breeding ground for the suburban undead, see episode 1, season 1 of The Walking Dead) which means my fortress would be hit by the first intense wave of walkers to roll out across the nation. I've obviously begun acquiring the usual zombie defence equipment; cross bow, machete and so forth, but it turns out the only thing I really need is...PLANTS.
Kinetica Art Fair - London
London is a bustling hive of culture over the weekends and if you’re looking for some activities to do over the weekend, then the Kinetica Art Fair is for you, if you’re a fan of moving, interactive art and sculptures then will truly have a whale of a time!
New Dates for our Compositing Taster Courses
Last week we released the dates for upcoming taster courses in Compositing. Due to popular demand we’ve been encouraged to add some additional dates for March.
Lee's App Of The Week: Jurassic Park Builder
Normally I come bearing apps of technical brilliance, photographic immensity and all-round-smarty-pants-show-off material. This week however, I bring you JURASSIC PARK BUILDER. That's right people, you heard me right the first time, JURASSIC PARK BUILDER. Where all of your T-Rex and Jeff Goldblum dreams can come true.
Science fiction concept soon to become reality!
Ever wanted to control things with your mind? Get a secret message over to your pals in a public place? If so, then the future is going to be very exciting for you.
Irish Producer nominated for 'Best Animated Short' Academy award.
You may remember our very own Paul Harrison recently wrote a blog post about the increasing success of Ireland’s animation industry.
Event for the animation and creative community: Monday 25th February.
This week we had a chat with our friends over at Made Visual Studio, who are screening an animated film about Monty Python legend Graham Chapman – (pretty awesome project right?) and its taking place next Monday, 25th of February at East London’s Rich Mix.