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?

What is APEL? And Why Does it Matter?

APEL: route to post-graduate study

What is the APEL process, and why does it matter? APEL stands for "Accreditation of Prior Experiential Learning", and is the formal recognition of prior learning by UK universities.

Why is it important? APEL is the means by which students who do not have an undergraduate degree can gain entry onto a masters' level course, such as our master's programme in 3D animation.

For example, an animator with ten years' experience in the industry might not realise they can apply for our MA course in animation, because they need a BA first.  In fact, this would not necessarily be true.

We can consider a student's body of work, and their professional career, as a route into post-graduate study, permitting them to meet the necessary qualifications for entry onto a masters' programme.

UCAS Deadline 15th January 2019

UCAS - deadline January 15th

Thinking of applying to Bucks to study on our BA in Animation & Visual Effects? The official UCAS deadline is looming.

The UCAS deadline for undergraduate study (that's the BA course) is 15 January 2019, and it's always a good idea to get your portfolio in early.

Bucks New Uni Animation Demo Reel 2018

Check out our latest animation demo reel; this one is a compilation of the best work done by our undergraduate animation students at Bucks over the past year.  Congratulations to all our animators on their excellent work; standards keep rising at Bucks and this is very encouraging, as we strive to help more and more of our graduates break into careers in the animation, games and VFX industries. 

Academic Deadlines at Bucks New University

What happens if a student fails to meet an academic deadline at Bucks New Uni? Or, if a student hasn't yet missed a deadline, but thinks they might miss it? There are two online forms our students need to know about.

The first form is the Deadline Extension Form, which applies when a student needs more time to complete a project - but has not yet missed the deadline.  The Mitigating Circumstances form applies when a student - through no fault of their own - has failed to meet an academic deadline.

2018 Animation Masters' Demo Reel

We're proud to present the 2018 Buckinghamshire New University Animation Masters' Reel. All the work shown above was completed by our Masters' degree students, who study online at Animation Apprentice, which delivers the practical content for the master's degree at Bucks. Many congratulations to Lee Caller, Amedeo Beretta, Brendan Hobbs, Jeton Lakna, Jinng Hwee Tan, Olavo Lins, Oliver Canovas, Faye Robinson, Tim Milson and Victoria Bailey on their excellent work.

Stuart Sumida in London 12 December

Paleontologist and animal locomotion expert Stuart Sumida will be in London next week, and on Wednesday 12th December at 4.30pm he will be giving a free talk at Escape Studios at 190 High Holborn, London WC1.

Stuart occupies a rare cross-over space between science and entertainment, advising Hollywood studios on the development of movies such as "The Lion King" and "Spirit - Stallion of the Cimarron".

BYOA on Monday in London

Calling all Bucks student animators and recent graduates - "Bring Your Own Animation" is taking place on Monday 3rd December,

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

If you are a student, or recent graduate, who is working on a shot or an updated reel, bring your work on a USB or hard drive and get feedback from professional animators.

You'll also hear the local gossip and find out the word on the street; there is often useful intel like - who is hiring? This month is also the BYOA Christmas party, with free drinks provided by The Foundry.

Richard Williams at BFI Sunday 9 December

A Christmas Carol, 1971

Animation legend Richard Williams will be at the BFI in London on Sunday 9th December at 3pm, following a screening of his Oscar-winning adaptation of the Charles Dickens' novella A Christmas Carol.

The 22 minute made-for-TV short will be screened along with two other British animated classics: Raymond Briggs' The Snow Man and Father Christmas.

The event is a great opportunity to see some beautiful home-grown animation, and after the screening there will be a Q&A with directors Dave Unwin and Richard Williams.

And, if you are lucky, you might even get a chance to have your copy of "The Animator's Survival Kit" signed by the author. 

Bucks Grad Paul Amiras Layout TD at DNEG

Paul Amiras

Many congratulations to Bucks animation graduate Paul Amiras on his new position as Layout Artist TD at DNEG.

Double Negative is one of the UK's leading animation and visual effects companies, and now a global brand, with offices in Vancouver, Mumbai, Los Angeles, Chennai, Montréal, Hyderabad, Chandigarh, and Goa.

3D Layout is one of the first interesting and challenging parts of the production process, working closely with the director to establish the cinematic look and feel of the project.

Tomorrow is BlueGFX Expo in London

We're heading off to Blue GFX Expo 2018, taking place in London tomorrow, Wednesday 21st November.

Blue GFX Expo is an excellent annual event, and we enocurage all our students at Bucks to attend.

Masters Students Tackle Character Walks

"Monty" character walks by MA graduate Neil Whitman

Our masters students' first assessed animation exercise, the assignment brief for DA701 PR1 (the first practical assignment for the first animation module), is to create a scene based on character walks. 

Character walks are one of the most important parts of the animator's toolkit. Using the online materials at Animation Apprentice, students learn how to take a basic walk cycle and, with just a few tweaks, completely change the character's mood and personality.

The students' first assessed brief is to take these character walks and turn it into an entertaining scene. 

What Kind of Laptop Should Our Students Buy?

laptop computer - will travel

"What kind of laptop should I buy?" is a question that gets asked whenever we start a new class of Masters' students at Bucks.

Our online MA in animation is a purely distance learning course, and that means that our students have to provide their own hardware and software.
The main software we use, Autodesk Maya, can be downloaded for free from the Autodesk education site.