Bucks Art Foundation Course Has Lift Off

Foundation course student work

One of the best things about studying at Bucks is the wide variety of creative work being done here at the university. Yesterday I was looking for a room on campus and I stumbled into the workshop of the Fine Art Foundation Course - where someone appears to be building a scale model of a WW2 biplane. How cool is this? It looks like someone is having a great deal of fun. In fact, the Foundation Course in Fine Art is one of our most popular and successful courses at Bucks, and a great way for a student to experiment in all different kinds of creative media. Which, apparently, includes building scale models of WW2 biplanes.

Performing Arts At Bucks Tonight

All in the best possible taste

This week at Bucks you can see two plays being performed, Fugee by Aby Morgan on March 24 at 7.30pm in the The Courtyard Theatre  (also playing on Thursday 26 March at 7.30pm in the BNU Drama Studio 1). The second play is Pornography by Simon Stephens, playing on Tuesday 24 March, at 7.30pm in BNU Drama Studio 1 (and also on 25 March at 7.30pm in The Courtyard Theatre). Both the plays will cost our students just £2 to attend - less than the price of a large cappuccino. So why should animation students go and see plays? Well, apart from the entertainment, it's all about the talent.

Multi-Million Pound Vizrt System To Be Installed at Bucks

Vizrt - bringing virtual studios to Bucks

Our dynamic Head of Department, Stephen Partridge, has secured a deal with Vizrt, creators of virtual sets, giving animation students access to a multi - million pound virtual studio system.  We believe our animation students are the first in the UK to gain access to this system as part of their studies!  Vizrt allows us to build virtual 3D sets, key out 'talent' from a green screen background whilst simultaneously tracking a camera, all in real-time!  This allows live broadcasts in a virtual environment and the only limitation is the imagination of the set designers!

Student Showcase - Abstract Animation Set to Music by our First Year Animators

Abstract animation set to music - by Sham Salim

Our new Animation and VFX course at Bucks is growing steadily, and our freshmen students are more dynamic and creative than ever, having made a stunning start on their first assessed animation exercise – an abstract animation piece set to music. We are proud to showcase here some of our students' best work. Part of the assessment involved collaborating with the sound design students at Bucks, helping our animators to take advantage of the stunning grange of facilities and talent available here at our High Wycombe campus. Film-making is rarely a solo venture, and working with other students who are specialists in their own field invariably helps our animators raise their game.

Bucks Animators Design Virtual Set for Watford Hornets

Hornets Show - Watford's online magazine

Bucks Animation and VFX students are in the process of designing a new virtual set for the Watford Hornets. Watford FC's involvement at Bucks New University includes working on the Club's online magazine programme, The HornetShow, with students studying BA (Hons) Film & Television Production; Audio & Music Production; and Animation & Visual Effects. 

Film & TV and Audio & Music at Bucks Join the Blogosphere

Gateway Building at Bucks - our modern media hub

One of the best things about studying at Bucks is the opportunity to collaborate across creative media with other departments.  Film & TV and Audio & Music are two of the most successful departments at Bucks, and both have now launched their own blogs, talking about what they are up to and the work that the students are creating. Their students have been producing short films (and even feature films) for years, winning awards, and offering animators a chance to collaborate and make even better films than they would achieve by working alone. To see more about what Film and TV are up to, visit http://www.filmtvbucks.co.uk/. To find out what Audio and Music are doing, visit this page. You can also see both blogs featured in the RSS feed at the top left hand corner of this blog - just click on their latest feed to find out their news.

Bucks rated Number One in the UK for Facilities Spend per Student

Number One for spend per student

Bucks New University is now rated Number One for facilities spending to support our students, according to The Complete University Guide. Why are we number one? Chances are, it's because of the very significant investment made in the state-of-the-art media hub that was built here just a couple of years ago.

The Gateway Building at Bucks has some of the best media facilities I have ever seen at a university, and I have taught at many schools and universities around the world, including CalArts, Gnomon, The University of the Arts at Bournemouth, The University of Kent at Canterbury, and the Animation Workshop in Denmark. All of them are excellent places to teach and study, but none have facilities that come close to being as impressive as the ones we have at Bucks. So what do we have to offer our media students?

Sound designer Scott Benson Explains How to Mix a Movie in 72 Hours, and How Sound Designers can work with Animators at Bucks

Bucks sound design student Scott Benson just recently finished mixing and editing the sound on a feature film  - all done within 72 hours. We asked him how he managed to pull of what looks like an insurmountable task, and also how our animators can get the best out of collaborating with sound designers to make great films here at Bucks.

Bucks Dance Expo on Thursday - come and support your fellow students

Thursday June 5th is the big end-of-year show for our Dance & Performance students at Bucks. The show is called Danceit@Bucks, and will take place on Thursday 5th June at the High Wycombe Town Hall at 7:30pm.

Student showcase - James Hatton takes Monty for a stroll

Recently our first year Animation and Visual Effects students completed their second formally assessed animation exercise. This time the project was to animate a series of walk cycles, combining different character walks into one shot. The brief included sound effects and music, collaborating with sound designers to create a miniature short film.

Many students came up with very imaginative work, understanding that as an  animator it is necessary not just to be technically good but also to be entertaining. Good animation combines creativity with technical prowess - after all, animators are actors with a pencil - or a mouse.

How do animators work with sound designers? Six rules for success

A sound designer hard at work at Bucks

One of our students' tasks in their first year of studies is to work together with a sound design student, collaborating together on an assessed project. But why collaborate? Why should our animators not do their own sound design? The answer, of course, is that when you join forces with other students who are experts in their fields, you tend to get a better result than you would achieve alone.

One of the very best things about studying at Bucks is the first-rate facilities that we have in the Gateway building, bringing together students of different disciplines to create excellent work. The tricky bit, however, is finding a way to work together successfully. But then, this is good practice for a career in digital media - almost all of our students' projects will be collaborations of one kind or another. Finding a way to get the best work out of yourself and your colleagues forms a major part of building a long and successful career.