Computer Animation Arts

Following on from my earlier post regarding writing your film reviews (and ultimately your essays), here is the link again for a guide to developing an academic writing style - See  HERE!

I just thought I would drop by with a few hints and tips for you, as you prepare to write your first film review... Some of you might be confused by what a CAA film review actually is; it's possibly easier to say what it ISN'T!  It is NOT you writing a 2000 word essay, recounting the plot of the film.  What we are looking for, is evidence that you have thought about how the film maker has used techniques to convey a message, or the relationship between the narrative and the environment; in 'Caligari', the use of the warped sets to depict the insanity of the protagonist, for example.  As you get deeper into the film programme, you might start to consider how the films use sound to build tension, or how editing techniques can enhance the viewing experience. You are asked to support your own ideas with quotes from at least 3  different published sources.  This means you will need to do some background reading; try and find sources that allow you to deve...

Get paid to represent UCA! Fully flexible, paid positions - represent UCA at: Open Days Career events Workshops Campus Tours... Gain valuable skills including: Confidence Time Management Teamwork Organisational skills Networking No minimum participation required - work to suit your other commitments! Excellent hourly rate of pay. Closing date for applications 2nd October For full details, and to apply, see  HERE

ScreenSkills is the industry-led skills body for the UK’s screen-based creative industries – animation, film, games, television including children’s TV and high-end drama, VFX and immersive technology. They work across the whole of the country to ensure that UK screen has access now, and in the future, to the skills and talent needed for continued success. They offer ... careers advice - see  HERE                   ... bursaries - see  HERE                   ... advice on freelancing - see  HERE ...and lots more! See  HERE!

Guru Live London BAFTA's annual festival of talks, workshops and masterclasses The place to be to learn from BAFTA-winners, industry professionals and up-and-coming talent! Take the next step in your career or simply share the passion for all things film, games and TV. 14th and 15th September There is still time to get your tickets for only £6! For full details, see  HERE

Open call for the Young Artist of the Year Competition ARTIST’S BRIEF 2019   Deadline for submissions 1 September 2019 (midnight) About the award Three unique organisations are collaborating to provide a significant platform and stepping stone for young artists. The new Robert Walters Group UK Young Artist of the Year Award in partnership with Saatchi Gallery will discover and champion exceptional artists who are representative of contemporary Britain. From an open call across the UK, we are seeking to discover 10 outstanding artists whose work demonstrates a strong and original voice, is of exceptional artistic quality. We’re looking for artists who represent the UK’s richly diverse population, and embody the experiences of their community. Artists who create bold, unique pieces of art that reveal their own perspectives and experiences and whom represent unique viewpoints and will help start new conversations in the UK art scene.   The ten shortlisted artist...

Created Academy are back with their series of 'Lates'... talks and workshops that get you up close and personal with industry! On the 13th June, they are hosting a workshop with MAINFRAME.  Get exclusive insights into the day to day world of working at a major studio, get your work reviewed by industry professionals and leave with a secret or two in your pocket. What you'll get...  Project X: From Brief To Delivery We’ll kick off with a talk by the pros at Mainframe. They’ll take you through how they brought to life one of their latest motion design projects, running through the whole process from the client brief to the finished article. There will then be a Q&A session where you can questions about the project. Portfolio Hustle And it gets better. You’ll then be paired up with motion design professionals who’ll give feedback on your work and advice on how to improve your portfolio. This event is FREE so as you can imagine, plac...

Coming up on the 20th June... Inside Bloomsbury Publishing for Animators and Video Editors   Step inside Bloomsbury headquarters as they talk openly about how they work with animators and video makers to create inspiring films about their books. Here's what you can expect...   'In a brand new event series, Inside Bloomsbury , we open up about how we create and publish our books by inviting key members of the Bloomsbury team to talk about what they do in more detail than ever before. In this fourth event of the series, we bring together members of our talented marketing team to talk about the way they use video content like animations, trailers and stories in their campaigns, especially on social media platforms like Instagram and Facebook , to engage with an author's readers and fans online.  We're delighted to have Trâm-Anh Doan , Head of Digital Marketing, joined by Anthony and Jason from Robot Ninja , a creative video collective, who ...

File hosting site has gone down Unfortunately, the site which hosts the downloads (scene files not the videos) on the Toolkit website has gone down with a technical fault. They are working hard to fix it but there is no estimated time for the maintenance. The site is American meaning that a lot of the repair work is happening overnight in the US which is during the day in the UK. If anyone is having difficulty downloading anything I will do my best to email you the files in the interim. Please send an email with your request. My address is: apostings@ucreative.ac.uk - Alan.

You've been asked to submit the three projects comprising Toolkit 1 to your blogs by 5pm on Monday 13th May .  Those three projects are Drawing with Maud, Animation  with Nat, and Autodesk Maya with Simon.  When Maud, Nat and Simon assess your projects, they're expecting you to have done your housekeeping in accordance with their respective briefs.  For your convenience then, I'm summarising those expectations here.  Project 1 / Drawing A final Scribd portfolio (or ISSUU...) of all archived drawings produced during your drawing sessions. Portfolio should be presented professionally and all drawings dated and compiled in chronological order. (This should include any extended studies you may have produced in response to photographs of your life-drawings) You should also ensure that all Life Drawing posts are tagged appropriately and consistently, so all your work can be gathered together under one label. You also need to include a short refl...

Graduating, or just not sure what to do in the summer break?  Drop by the foyer with your questions and speak to Jan Rowan, Careers and Employability adviser. Tuesday 7th May 12:00 - 13:30 Rochester Foyer

I have some more prizes to announce today in addition to that much sought-after Nintendo Switch! The nice people at Conductor Cloud Rendering have offered up three prizes for our very good cause: 1 x $100 Render Credits voucher! 1 x $300 Render Credits voucher! 1 x $700 Render Credits voucher! Visit the UCA Online Store to purchase your tickets today!

The Computer Animation Arts Tombola Of Dreams 2019 ...  Friday, 3rd May

I need to put some things in place to organise Easter access to the CAA computer suites - principally a register on the reception desk for all those students who will be working in CAA's rooms.  If you are planning to work on Campus during the Easter break (Good Friday/Easter Monday excepted, as the campus will be closed), you need to confirm your intentions via a comment on this post. Many thanks.

Dear all... I'd like to invite all of you for end-of-term drinks after the working day on Friday 12th April - and also to a celebratory screening of Marcus & The Mystery of the Pudding Pans in Lecture Theatre 1 before we leave for the pub.  We'll also screen Red & The Kingdom of Sound and some excerpts from the recent Romeo & Juliet performances.  It's been a busy time for the CAA course team and we're up for some show and tell!  I'll put some more information out nearer the time, but speaking personally, I'd like to see everyone make the effort to get out of the building (and out of their bedrooms) and enjoy some old-school inter-year group mingling!  We all need to blow of some steam at this point in the year so let's make an occasion of it! * *I'll leave a large wheel barrow outside the CAA office for all those chocolate eggs I know you've bought me! 

Mainly aimed at Games Modellers, this talk might be of interest to some of you... As part of the London Games Festival (2nd -14th April - see  HERE  ), there is a talk by Christian Paskota, a Lead Character Artist on Total War: Arena, on 11th April at 7pm. He will go over his practices of how to retopologize models for the games pipeline.  The talk will include examples of dos and don'ts, LODs, UVs for characters, modelling for prop swapping and best pracices to prevent clipping. The doors will open at 7pm, and the talk will be followed with Q&As, and a chance to network at the bar! Full details  HERE.

Seminar Wednesday 27th March Lecture Theatre 1 14:00 - 15:00 Brought to you by the Careers and Employability SPECTRA programme -  How to improve your Linkedin profile and use Linkedin effectively.

Online academy 'Created' have put together a really useful guide of events, meet-ups, seminars etc, happening this year in London. This is what they say - "Are you new to the creative industries? Do you want to get involved but not really sure where to start? The answer is simple: you have to get out there, make connections and join inspiring creative communities. You know, good ol’ networking. You might not know where to begin right now, but that’s okay: that’s precisely why we’re here to help you with our directory of events in London covering creative, graphic and motion design. The key to getting started is knowing where to go. So if you’re in London and have got a free evening, stick these in your diary. These events, meet-ups, groups, events and resources (which are either free or inexpensive) will help you gain new knowledge, make new friends and propel your career in the right direction." Find the list  HERE  !

Wednesday, 13th March is your Fantastic Voyage Online Greenlight Review  Your OGR is to be presented as a single Scribd presentation on your blog, beginning with your name, date, and project title. Your OGR presentations should be uploaded to your blogs on Wednesday, 13th March. Written feedback will follow as a 'comment' on your OGR post. Fantastic Voyage OGR Part 1: What do you need to present? Your chosen scenario.  Your chosen audience & supporting market research. Your visual concept influence maps Thumbnails/developmental drawings etc.  In addition, your OGR should evidence that you are up-to-date with your ongoing Toolkit 1 project work (life-drawing/Maya tutorials/Nat's animation exercises etc). Historically, students who use their OGR to manage their weekly tasks in this way manage their workloads more successfully. Use your social network to ensure everyone has seen this post - much appreciated. I look forward to some exc...

You have individual presentations starting on Thursday 7th March - see below. Thursday 7th March @ 2pm Ren, Louis, Odette, Terry, Tom, Shannon Thursday 14th March @ 2pm Vincent, Coyle, Katerin, Vic, Karris Thursday 21st March @ 2pm Liv, Grace, Edward, Sandy, Ting You will be presenting your essay subjects to your peers - essentially, giving a mini-lecture and presenting yourself as the 'expert in the room'.  This represents an opportunity to distil and articulate your ideas in advance of your written assignment submission - and to further polish your presentation skills in preparation for your client pitches for the new Fantastic Voyage project. You're expected to practice and prepare, and present yourself professionally .  It's your turn to be the tutor.  It's your turn to teach. Please note: you are not being asked to read your essay plan 'out loud'  - the challenge is for you to take your research and present your...