VFX Festival Lineup 2019

The Escape Studios' 2019 VFX Festival kicks off shortly at London's South Bank Centre, on February 6th, with many industry speakers coming to talk about the latest developments in Animation, Games and VFX.

This year participants include Framestore, MPC Film, Jellyfish Pictures, Blue Zoo, AXIS animation The Third Floor and Creative Assembly, all coming to talk about their latest work.

Meet Your Tutor - Nicola Brown

Nicola Brown: 3D modeling at Bucks

Nicola Brown is one of our newest tutors at Bucks. Nicky teaches 3D modeling (and much else besides) to our undergraduate students on the Animation & Visual Effects course at Bucks.

Nicky has over eight years of experience working as a freelance artist in the industry, including many years working as a layout artist and animator.  She also has a BA (Hons) in Animation, and extensive experience teaching animation.

We asked Nicky a few questions about her work, and also about how students and graduates can break into the competitive world of animation and visual effects.

BYOA in Fitzrovia on Monday 18th February

BYOA (Bring Your Own Animation) is back - taking place on Monday 18th February. As ever, we recommend that our students and recent graduates attend events like this one whenever possible.

BYOA is an animation event that takes place every month at a pub in London, generally on a Monday night. Next month the event is taking place at the Smugglers Tavern in London's Fitzrovia.

VFX Festival is Back February 6-7

Escape Studio's 2019 VFX Festival is just around the corner.  Taking place at London's South Bank Centre from 6-7 February, the VFX Festival is a great place to find out about the latest developments in Animation, Games and VFX.

This year the VFX Festival kicks off with the "Emerging Talent" event, aimed at students and recent graduates, which runs for two days, from February 6th to 7th.

Introducing Film Freeway

Film Freeway is an excellent way for students to enter short films into international competitions.

There are now so many film festivals that entering your film individually can be a huge task. Instead, indie film-makers (and animators) can create one upload to a single portal, and then apply through Film Freeway for as many competitions as you choose to enter.

Meet Your Tutor - Nicola Brodie

Nicola Brodie

Niki Brodie is our newest animation tutor at Bucks, and is currently teaching animation to our undergraduate students on the Animation and Visual Effects Course.

Niki graduated from Bournemouth University with a First Class degree in Computer Animation and Visualisation, and she also has a diploma in Fine Art from Central Saint Martins in London.

After graduation, Niki spent some 20 years in the animation and visual effects industry, working as a 3D character animator at Mill Film and later DNeg on films such as Gladiator, Harry Potter, Batman The Dark Knight and Thor The Dark World.

Mend the Gap with Film London on 4th Feb

On February 4th 2019 Film London is hosting an event in London titled: Mend the Gap: a debate on animation training and employment.

Here in the UK we have something of a disconnect between what industry needs, and what a lot of animation degree courses actually teach.  As a result, many animation studios often recruit young talent primarily from European animation schools, not from the UK. So what is the cause of this problem, and what can be done to fix it?

Meet Your Tutor - Dr Fil Ieropolous

Fil Ieropoulos: exploring the relationship between poetry and film

Dr Fil Ieropoulos is responsible for the delivery and grading of the  academic content of our Online MA in Animation at Bucks.

As part of our series of posts introducing our students to their tutors, we asked Fil to talk about his academic work in film and poetry, and how he combines the theory behind his creative work, and its practice.

Six New Year's Resolutions for Animators

Happy 2019

What should an animator's new year's resolutions be for 2019?

The animation industry is big business these days, and growing all the time. The small cottage industry I entered back in 1987 when I worked on my first film - "Who Framed Roger Rabbit" - has been transformed completely by technology and the huge expansion of the medium.

But the world of animation and visual effects is a competitive one, and animators need to be well-trained - and smart - to stay on top of their game.  So, what are some simple ways to maintain your edge in 2019?