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!
Behind the scenes at Cinesite - See you there?
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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!
Cutting it in VFX - The Mill Explain What it Takes
As Escape’s Recruitment Manager, it’s my job to know exactly what employers are looking for when they’re hiring candidates. The thing to remember is that it’s different for every company – you have to tailor your showreel and CV to the position and company you’re applying for (Tips you can check out here). We place lots of escapees and freelancers at The Mill and last week, I caught up with Claire Anderson their Talent Manager, who explained exactly what it takes to cut it at their company. For those of you eager to secure a position, pay attention and check out the interview.
Escapees in far-flung places
It turns out that our escapees are never prouder than when they are wearing an ‘escapee’ T-Shirt, as you can see in this photo of Mentored VFX Course student Ricardo Vianna. Whenever I’m out and about in Soho, I’m always surprised by how many escapees stop to tell me that they continue to wear their T-Shirt, even after we have placed them in jobs. Some have mentioned that they’ve even taken them on holiday. All of our Classroom and Mentored Course students get a T-Shirt and they are becoming a bit of a phenomenon – well, put it this way, it’s very easy to spot our graduates when out and about in the industry. It turns out that one of our students has a picture of herself standing outside the pyramids with it on! (Picture coming soon…).
New Employment Legislation - How This Will Impact Your Business
Over the last month the Recruitment team here at Escape have been working hard to make sure that our Freelancers and Clients are fully compliant with the new UK employment legislation that comes into effect on October 1st 2011.
More Job Success for our Escapees
Seems like August was a great month for many of our recent graduates, who were quite literally snapped up as soon as they finished their courses.
Dom Davenports Writes for The Guardian About Careers in the Creative Industries
With the launch of our Creative Futures report, we have been giving the topic of 'Jobs in the Creative Industries' a lot of thought lately. We have been talking to many professionals in sectors as diverse as Graphic Design, Architectural Design, Web Design or VFX. Ultimately, the majority of men and women we have been talking to are interested in getting tips and advice on how to get better jobs and further their careers. Seems it's quite a hot topic. So much so that Dom - our CEO - was asked to write a piece for The Guardian about what young professionals needs to do to improve their changes of getting a job in the creative industries.
It's All About The Showreel
Starting out in VFX can be difficult for junior artists, but the best place to start is your showreel. It needs to be compelling and to demonstrate all the technical skills that you possess.
The CG Industry Needs You
A few weeks ago, I wrote about how buoyant the VFX industry is and how Senior NUKE Compositors are in high demand. Well, the surge in demand for mid-level and senior artists is continuing. With some of the biggest releases for 2011 and 2012 (films like The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn and War Horse) being worked on in London's Soho, the post houses have never been busier.
Animation Escapee Becomes a Ninja
Another escapee from our Character Animation Course has just secured a position in the games industry. Congratulations to Pedro Cabeleira who began an internship this week at Ninja Theory in Cambridge, working on Cinematics for one of their new games.
CWJobs Speaks To Escape Studios About Becoming A VFX Artist
A few weeks back, CWJobs spoke to our Recruitment Manager, Garreth Gaydon about the best way of getting a job in the VFX industry when you're first starting out. The feature which you can read in full here discusses the high demand for jobs in the VFX industry and the kinds of first jobs that will enable you to get your foot in the door and make it as a VFX artist. It’s a tricky industry to enter because it is both highly creative yet technically very demanding which requires a serious amount of skill and creative ability.
Do Universities Need To Teach Basic Job Skills?
An announcement by Edge, the education charity, caught my eye this week. It said that universities should now be required to teach employment skills as part of degree courses. According to its latest study, employers now believe too many graduates are unfit for the workplace.
Are You Satisfied with Your Job?
It’s such a great feeling when you attend a packed out event and the people pouring in turn out to be our former students. And that’s exactly what happened a couple nights ago. I attended a PFTrack event organised by our Technology Team, and it was a storming success. The room was packed with over 50 people – all craning their necks to get a better view of the speaker.
Lots of the attendees at the event were escapees who we didn’t just train but placed in their current jobs. It was great to catch up with Jacob Flint who studied our VFX Course last year and so refreshing to hear that he’s just as excited about working at The Mill today, as he was when we first placed him there. That’s a pretty rare thing these days.
Job satisfaction is massively important, and if you are not entirely happy with what you are doing, then I would encourage you to ‘shop around’ and find out what’s out there. Doing so doesn’t have to be that taxing either. If you follow us on twitter or use our RSS feed you’ll be first to hear about new jobs, daily. Because we work with nearly all of the major names in the industry, most of the jobs that are out there come through us.
So, if you’re stuck in a rut, or just fancy a change, we might just have the right thing for you.
Looking for a Summer Internship?
Are you looking for something to do this summer? Ever heard of StudioAKA? They are a London based multi-BAFTA winning animation production company, known world-wide for their amazing innovative work. And they may want you for the Summer!
They are looking for a bright spark to work in the field of DB & pipeline development (within June to August).