We all know the importance good VFX play in films. They can turn scenes of total disbelief into ones leaving you asking how on earth did they do that?
Escape on BBC Breakfast!
It’s been quite a busy morning here at Escape! Our CEO Dom Davenport was interviewed alongside Framestore’s Sir William Sargent at their motion capture studio by BBC Breakfast. The lovely Steph McGovern who presents the breakfast slot conducted the interviews dressed fully in motion-capture gear and Irish danced as the famous Harry Potter animated character Dobby!
Prime Focus World launch new web series 'Close Up'
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.
An even better glimpse of Iron Man 3!
Some of you may have been feeding off the trickle of teaser footage in circulation for the Iron Man triquel, coming to a cinema screen near us soon! And if you are one such person, you’ll be delighted to learn that a ‘full’ teaser trailer is now doing the rounds, showing off the abundance of action in store for us upon its release in April 2013.
Glowfrog At The VFX Festival
As you probably know Escape Studios organised and hosted the UK’s first VFX Festival last week with events, seminars and master classes taking place across London. The VFX Festival went down an absolute storm and was a fantastic platform to demonstrate the success of the UK’s ever-expanding visual effects industry.
Keeping it real – kudos to Peter Jackson
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.
We'll have a Heineken; shaken, not stirred
Riding on the excitement of the new Bond film, Skyfall, Heineken has a James Bond themed ad, featuring Daniel Craig. The VFX for the ad were done by none other than our good friends at The Mill, and the global TV and digital campaign will be activated across 32 markets and involves the participation of the film's stars, Daniel Craig and the latest Bond girl, Bérénice Marlohe.
Prime Focus World – Dredd 3D
Prime Focus World is the VFX house behind another big box office success, delivering 650 stereo VFX shots for “Dredd” in 3D. To put that into perspective for you, that’s 90% of the VFX for the entire movie. What’s more, this was achieved over a 24-week production period. A massive achievement on an epic scale!
Looper – the next Matrix flick?
Described as ‘this decades The Matrix’, the phrase alone has already set very high standards for it’s audience. Possibly a bold statement to make, The Matrix was pretty groundbreaking for it’s time. At first glance, the statement seems a cheap marketing gimmick, and one with little to support it. But if ever a marketing gimmick was doing it’s job right, it is now… because it definitely grabbed my attention and intrigued me enough to find out more about the film.
Honorary Academy Award goes to DreamWorks' Jeffrey Katzenberg
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has announced that Jeffrey Katzenberg, the 'K' of DreamWorks Animation SKG, is to be given an honorary Oscar at the Governors awards ceremony this November.
The Economic Impact of the UK Film Industry
Following a lot of doom and gloom surrounding the UK economy, it’s always nice to read something positive about an industry contributing towards economic growth. The BBC posted an article this week discussing an independent report examining the impact of the film industry on the UK economy. And we feel this report is just the thing we need to restore faith in the creative talent that exists this side of the pond, so it can be nurtured allowing the industry to flourish even further.
A guide to CG animations from 1964
We often take CG for granted in modern films—everything from sci-fi flicks to action-heavy blockbusters include plenty of computer generated visuals. But in 1964 the process wasn't quite so widespread.
Right up our street!
Good day film fans! Here’s something we saw online that is sure to tickle your pickle!
The VFX Festival 2012 - Get your tickets now!
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.
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.
Prime Focus Effects on 'Total Recall’... Part II
Following on from Part I... Of course, the challenging work didn’t stop there. The team was faced with a range of tasks, including the China Falls sequence, creating multiple Synths for the Synth bay as well as getting the reflective metal and shiny plastic surfaces just right. To tackle this, the team customised their pipeline to help make the workload all the more manageable. Alex continued saying...
Prime Focus Effects on 'Total Recall’... Part I
If a movie is a massive studio blockbuster, then the Prime Focus World visual effects team have most likely had some involvement in its making. Prime Focus was responsible for creating the stunning effects for titles such as Men in Black 3, Dredd 3D, Mirror Mirror and Total Recall…to name just a few! And of course, every new VFX project comes with its own challenges. Len Wiseman’s remake of Total Recall was one such project that allowed the team to flex their creative and technical muscle.
HaZ Dulull - Plenty o'Success!
Hasraf Dullul is part of a generation of VFX artists first inspired by the film ‘Bladerunner’, since this early awakening, Hasraf, or Haz, as he is more fondly known by his contemporaries, has assembled a portfolio of some considerable weight; it includes a number of prestigious awards and world renowned projects. Batman: The Dark Knight, Planet Dinosaur and NOVA – Life beyond Earth, not to mention numerous VES (Visual Effects Society) awards nominations!
The most recent fruits of his labour have flourished in the form of his own VFX driven short film, ‘Fubar Redux’, which has been fondly described as ‘Animal Farm meets Platoon’ quite an intriguing round up right? Be sure to check it out here, we think it’s marvellous!
Epic VFX Time
Today I discovered a VFX themed collaboration which includes one of my favourite Youtube faces, Harley Morenstein of ‘Epic Meal Time’, comes together with competitive gamer, filmmaker and part time VFX technician ‘Freddie Wong’, making for an outright ridiculous, (yet entertaining) couple of minutes…
The VFX aren’t going to blow your mind, that’s for sure. But there are some serious chuckles to be had, Morenstein’s narrative throughout kills it, as he recites VFX related jargon in his notorious one liner style. Fans of the Epic Meal Time and VFX alike will not be disappointed!
Today I discovered a VFX themed collaboration which includes one of my favourite YouTube faces, Harley Morenstein of ‘Epic Meal Time’. He joins competitive gamer, filmmaker and part time VFX technician ‘Freddie Wong’, making for an outright ridiculous, (yet entertaining) couple of minutes of VFX action.
Fubar Redux - A must watch!
Escapee Hasraf Dulull's fifteen-minute film is a true work of art! Set in an alternate reality with cats and dogs, it mixes some intense action with some serious drama, all emphatically enhanced by a unique animation visual style.