Tag Archives: Oscar

Prime Minister highlights success of Bournemouth University graduates

Featured

Posted on by

Bournemouth East MP Tobias Ellwood took the opportunity to promote the work of Bournemouth University graduates during Prime Minister’s Questions.

Over 50 Bournemouth University graduates worked on the visual effects for the film Gravity, which picked up the Achievement in Visual Effects Oscar at the 86th Academy Awards on Sunday night.

During the session at the House of Commons, Mr Ellwood said, “In recognising British success at the Oscars, would the Prime Minister join me in congratulating Bournemouth University and the Arts University Bournemouth, as over 50 of their graduates helped with the design effects for that amazing British film, “Gravity”?”

The Conservative MP continued, “Does that not prove that Bournemouth leads the way in digital media, is a great tourism destination, and does amazing party conferences as well?”

Prime Minister David Cameron responded by saying, “As ever, my honourable friend is right about all those things. Bournemouth University has excellent courses that have helped to build up the British post-production and facilities industries, which are busy helping to create blockbuster films. It is very good news not only that are we winning Oscars for British films but that British studios are full to bursting point making movies.”

The conversation concluded with the Prime Minister saying, “The facilities and post-production industries are leading the world. We need to go on backing that industry, which is why my right hon. Friend the Chancellor has taken steps with things like helping the computer games industry, helping high-end television, and continuing to back the very important film tax credits that have worked so well.”

Gravity was not the only Oscar-winning film to have involvement from a Bournemouth University graduate as Vanessa Salas Castillo was part of the Disney team that worked on the film Frozen, which picked up the Best Animation award.

At least one BU graduate is also currently working on visual effects for The Hobbit trilogy – which was nominated alongside Gravity in the visual effects category at this year’s Oscars.

You can listen to the Prime Minister’s Questions session for 5 March 2014 again on the BBC website or watch the clip as it happened.

Bournemouth University graduates celebrating Oscar success

Featured

Posted on by

Bournemouth University graduates were celebrating last night as their work on the film Gravity was highlighted with an Oscar win.

Graduates and lecturers from BU’s National Centre for Computer Animation (NCCA) were part of the team that worked on the visual effects for the blockbuster.

Gravity picked up the Oscar for Achievement in Visual Effects at an eventful awards ceremony in Hollywood, Los Angeles hosted by Ellen DeGeneres.

The film picked up a total of seven Oscars on the night, including nods for Best Director (Alfonso Cuarón), Achievement in Cinematography and Achievement in Film Editing.

The movie, which also picked up high-profile awards at this year’s BAFTAs, stars George Clooney and Sandra Bullock, but the majority of the space-themed film was created digitally.

London-based effects house Framestore worked on the special effects for the film – with the help of around 60 alumni from BU’s animation and visual effects courses.

Adam Redford, a Senior Practice Fellow in Computer Animation at BU, was a senior texture artist at Framestore. He worked for around six months on the film, helping to paint some of the interior and exterior sets and props seen in the film.

Adam said, “”The NCCA at Bournemouth University has a great reputation for producing graduates that go on to achieve amazing success in the feature film visual effect industry all over the world.  A lot of the tools, techniques and processes used in the creation of the visual effects for Gravity are being taught in NCCA classrooms every day, this will give our students the necessary education and understanding of visual effects to enable them to achieve great success in the feature film visual effects industry of the future.”

Anna Swift, Recruitment & Talent Development Manager at Framestore, said, “We are so thrilled to be celebrating Gravity’s success, which is a testament to the commitment and skill of our talented staff, including Bournemouth University graduates”.

It is not the first time that NCCA alumni have had their work recognised with high-profile awards.

More than 50 graduates and former BU academics worked on the Oscar-winning visual effects for Avatar, while MA Visual Effects graduate Andy Lockley won an Oscar in 2011 for his work on the special effects for Inception.

The NCCA’s contribution to world-leading excellence and pioneering development in computer animation was even recognised with a Queen’s Anniversary Prize in 2012.

BU graduates’ work on film Gravity featured in 3D Total

Posted on by

The work of BU graduates on the visual effects for Oscar-nominated film Gravity was featured in an article in 3D Total.

London-based effects house Framestore worked on the visual effects for the film, which has been nominated for both the Oscar and BAFTA for visual effects, and the article highlights that a number of graduates from the National Centre for Computer Animation (NCCA) at BU hold key positions at the company and worked on Gravity.

The article includes interviews with NCCA graduates including Ian Comley, who is now Framestore’s look development lead and worked on making sure that the texture and lighting of the effects in Gravity were as realistic as possible.

He said: “My year at Bournemouth was packed with lectures ranging from cinematography, through animation and rendering to the mathematics for inverse kinematics.”

Also interviewed was one of Framestore’s resident paint and roto artists, David J Nolan, who completed the MA in Digital Effects at BU.

David, whose work on Gravity involved converting live action sequences to 3D formats, said: “Framestore decided to open an outpost office in Bournemouth, and I was hired as a junior paint and roto artist,

“This meant that I hit the ground running immediately after finishing at the NCCA and was able to put my new-found knowledge into practice, working on some very big projects.”

Another graduate featured in the article was Framestore’s digital modelling supervisor Ben Lambert, who helped oversee all of the visual effects for the film.

He graduated from the BA in Computer Visualization and Animation at the NCCA in 1999, and said his time at Bournemouth University was invaluable.

“The course gave me a very broad overview of all areas of 3D and animation,” he said.

“I think it’s important for artists to have a wide range of skills and versatility, it means they can work at both larger and smaller studios. I think the programming aspects of the course have surprised me with how much I’ve had to now use in my day-to-day job.”

Read the 3D Total article in full

Find out more about the National Centre for Computer Animation at BU