• Game Jam 2017!

    by Rachael Jones

    Game Jam 2017

    Last weekend (9th-11th June 2017) saw the return of our annual Game Jam! Our annual game design competition offers up and coming talent the opportunity to hone their skills, and brings together coders, game artists and project managers over one weekend to encourage creativity and ideas to develop a brand new game! This year’s event was in partnership with Gram Games, an entertainment company delivering engaging social games for mobile and the developers behind global smash hit games including 1010!, Merged! and Six!.  

    read more

  • Undergraduate Daniel Baidoo gets an animation internship at King Bee

    by Rachael Jones

    King Bee

    Congratulations to one of our first year animation students, Daniel Baidoo who has just landed a position as a freelance junior animator with King Bee animation, located in Elstree Studios in Borehamwood, just outside of London.  

    Daniel started off as an animation intern, a great start to his career in the animation industry. We asked Daniel a few questions about how he got the initial internship, and how he got his animation career off the ground so quickly.  

    read more

  • Animal Logic visits Escape Studios

    by Rachael Jones

    Animal Logic

    On Tuesday 9th May we were delighted to welcome Patricia Kung, Head of Recruitment at Animal Logic, to talk to our undergraduate and short course students. Animal Logic is one of Australia's leading animation and VFX studios, responsible for global box office hits like The Lego movie, The Lego Batman movie and The Avengers: Age of Ultron. Animal Logic have offices in Australia, Los Angeles and Vancouver; their new broad reach is part of the globalisation of the animation and VFX industries, as creative companies open offices all over the world, getting access to a wider pool of talent and the broadest possible range of tax incentives.

    read more

  • Mentored by Framestore

    Mentored by Framestore

    All of our courses are now mentored by at least one of our industry partners. The main idea behind the new mentoring programme is that we invite our industry partners in to mentor our students and help prepare them for the industry. Each course is mentored by an expert in the field and it's great for students as they get advice from professionals working in the industry today, and it helps prepare them for a career in the industry. Aikaterini Valma was among the group who were mentored by Framestore, and this is what she had to say about her time studying with us.

    read more

  • How To Break Into Character Design

    Designs for Boxtrolls by Luis Grane

    Character design is one of the most creative jobs on an animated film, allowing the artist to give free rein to their imagination, come up with great ideas and - best of all - get paid to do it. 

    But how do you break into this most competitive of fields?  We asked Luis Grane, an animator and character designer whose work can be seen on dozens of animated films including Prince of Eqypt,  Hotel Transylvania, Ratatouille, and Open Season, to talk about this work and how he broke into the industry.  

    read more

  • Getting Ready for September at Escape Studios

    The Animator's Survival Kit, the book we recommend for studying animation

    What kind of preparation should students do before starting with us on our BA/MArt in Animation in September? It's always good to do a little preparation and get a bit of a head start.

    Below is a brief list of stuff to get you under way. You don't have to do all of it, but tick off a few of the things on this list and you will be a making a great start on your animation career.

    read more

  • International Women's Day 2017

    International Women's Day

    Women in the Creative Industries #BeBoldForChange

    We're really proud of the achievements of the women we work with in the Creative Industries.  Many of our female Escapees have worked on inspiring projects including Dr Strange, Beauty and the Beast and Inside Out, so what better time to celebrate their successes, than on International Women's Day 2017!

    We asked our Head of Compositing Davi Stein, who has worked on The Matrix trilogy, and some of our female Escapee's to share their thoughts on women in the VFX, Animation and Games industries.

    read more