BFX Festival back in Bournemouth

BFX banner 2015BFX Festival 2015 is taking place at the BIC with some of the biggest names from the VFX, animation and gaming world.

At the heart of the festival is BFX Core, for anyone with an interest in VFX, animation or gaming. A host of presentations will take place from international studios such as Double Negative, Iloura, Pixar and more.

For the first time ever BFX will be welcoming Walt Disney Animation Studios, all the way from California, we expect a presentation on their latest work which could include Frozen, Wreck It Ralph and the smash hit, Big Hero 6. There’s also Aardman, the company behind Wallace and Gromit and Shaun the Sheep.

Frontier the team who created Elite: Dangerous, has built a uniquely diverse track record comprising of games series’. Find out from Frontier’s Chief Operating Officer David Walsh what it took to create this spectacular new multi-player instalment.

Running throughout the festival is the Walt Disney Animation Studios “Big Hero 6″ Concept Art Exhibition, to see the beginnings of the films ideas and design, a unique opportunity to see the journey from paper to screen.

The Workshops for BFX 2015 are set to be the biggest and best to date, from using Zbrush to acting for animation, there’s a host of different themes to get involved in. You will be tutored by some the best creative minds in the industry today!

Some of the workshops are free to the general public; others are included in the price of a Festival ticket, whilst some need to be purchased as a separate ticketed event. Workshops will take place on the 26 – 27 September 2015 and 3 – 4 October 2015.

Throughout the week there are a number of evening film screenings such as Interstellar and Mad Max:Fury Road for only £3. As a one off special event, film maker, Paul Campion is screening two of his films and presenting, The Devil’s Rock – Shooting a low budget horror film in 15 days, it’s completely free.

For more information and tickets, visit www.bfxfestival.com. Follow us on Twitter @BFXfestival.

BU graduates’ out of this world success on VFX for Gravity

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Graduates and lecturers from BU’s National Centre for Computer Animation (NCCA) have reached for the stars with their work on the award-winning visual effects for the film Gravity.

The blockbuster, which stars George Clooney and Sandra Bullock, won in a number of high-profile categories at the 2014 BAFTAs – including Outstanding British Film and Best Visual Effects.

The majority of the film, which is set in space, was created digitally – with the only real-life aspects often just being the two main actors.

London-based effects house Framestore worked on the special effects for the film – with the help of around 40 alumni from BU’s animation and visual effects courses.

BU graduate Sam Salek, who completed the MA in Digital Effects at BU in 2010, worked as a compositor on the film.

“When we started working on it, we all felt that we were working on something very special, yet no-one really anticipated the phenomenon it became,” he said.

He added: “The structure of the Digital Effects course is designed in such a way that by the end of it, you feel you have been through multiple projects and different scenarios, giving you valuable experience that you really appreciate once you start working in the industry.”

But it wasn’t just alumni working on Gravity, current BU staff also played their part. Adam Redford, 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 floating around in the space modules, like books and personal items.

“It always feels good to see the efforts of hundreds of visual effects artists recognised and praised, whether the films win awards or not,” he said.

“The NCCA gives students a well rounded education in all areas of visual effects and animation, whilst allowing them to focus and specialise in areas they find particularly interesting and rewarding.

“It also gives the students a good grounding in industry standard practices and software, and provides them with access to excellent feedback and mentoring from industry professionals.”

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.

Sofronis Efstathiou, Framework Leader for postgraduate visual effects and animation courses at BU, said: “It’s fantastic to see Gravity enjoying such success at the BAFTAs, and we’re really proud of the part that Bournemouth has played in the film’s creation.

“Framestore has an outpost studio across the road from BU and enjoys long-standing links to the NCCA.

“Many of our graduates from both the undergraduate and postgraduate courses are employed at all levels of the company, from Junior Artists to Supervisors, and a great many of our alumni were involved in bringing Gravity’s extraordinary visuals to the screen.”

Gravity has also been nominated for a number of prestigious awards – including Best Picture and Best Visual Effects – for this year’s Oscars.

Sofronis added: “The NCCA would like to take this opportunity to congratulate the entire Framestore team and wish them the very best of luck for the upcoming Oscars. Bournemouth will be watching!”