Computer Animation Arts

Alma has featured on the group blog a few times now, but hey, 'Happy Halloween'!

Picturesmith are a London-based animation studio specialising in mixed media, stop motion and 2D. They are currently looking for a full-time 2D animator with experience in After Effects, Illustrator and Photoshop. See HERE for full details!

Not strictly animation focused, but I know that many of you are keen photographers too, so I just thought I would flag up this competition - with BIG prizes at stake!  The winner of each category will receive £1,250, with the overall winner receiving a prize of £15,000. Prizes will be presented at an awards ceremony in London on 3 July 2019. Wellcome Photography Prize 2019 'We invite photographers and other image makers from all disciplines to enter the Wellcome Photography Prize, which celebrates compelling imagery that captures stories of health, medicine and science. Previously the Wellcome Image Awards, our newly relaunched competition will reward pictures that show the importance of health in society and the impact health issues have on people and communities worldwide. We’re looking for entries that can captivate people with stories of science and medicine, and start conversatio...

ACCESS:VFX "is a cross company initiative that promotes diversity and inclusion in the VFX and Creative industry. Many VFX companies, educational establishments and industry organisations have come together to create initiatives & events to help raise awareness and champion the important issue, helping to bring about change. Our partners include, The Mill, Third Floor, Framestore, DNEG, Next Gen, Blue Zoo, Escape Studios and many more." ACCESS:VFX are holding a few different events for anyone that has an interest in the creative industry in particular - VFX, 2D and 3D animation. The first being a VFX Careers Fair on the 30th October 2018 @10:00 - 12:00 at Westminster Kingsway College which includes stalls from studios, organisations and collectives such as: The Mill, Blue Zoo Animation, DNEG, Framestore, Escape Studios, Jellyfish Pictures, and The Foundry. Get your tickets for free HERE! The second being a collaboration between ACCESS:VFX and The University...

This is you... A message for our hard-working third years who are preparing their draft thesis for this Friday... I just wanted to wish you a productive last few days and to give you a further bit of an encouragement.  Remember, the more you get done, the more helpful I can be, and the more complete and 'final' you make your drafts, the more I can really see what your intentions are and if you're nailing your arguments.  Planning and delivering an 8000 word research-based academic document is not to be sniffed at; you're doing a difficult thing, so well done - and keep going. You're required to hand-in a paper-copy to Campus Registry between 4-5pm and a digital copy through Turnitin.  Turnitin has been set up to 'not remember' your drafts, so there's no danger of self-plagiarism when it comes to the final submission in January. I will read and annotate your drafts as soon as humanly possible.  When I'm ready to feedback, I'll publi...

At Tuesday's  What If Metropolis ('WIM') briefing @ 2pm / Lecture Theatre 1, you'll once more encounter Computer Animation Arts' 'mysterious blue box' and everything about the way this brief works will become clear and your next creative adventure will begin in earnest! If you haven't done so already, download the brief from myUCA.  By way of preparation, I want you all to spend some time looking at the brief and likewise these examples of previous student work, which should demonstrate quite clearly the relationship between concept art and the creation of highly original digital sets in Maya.  Also included in this post is the date and requirements of your first OGR - which takes place very soon after the briefing. You need to think about your time management from the outset, as you have a lot to do in seven short weeks! Meg Robson Vanlig / Concept painting / Meg Robson Vanlig  / Digital set / Meg Robson Crit Presentatio...

Acting class date change Dan's acting classes will now take place on Wednesday 7th and Friday 9th November . Please make a note of the new dates and don't forget to share them if you feel someone may have missed this post. 

The video essays below created by Tony Zhou (Every Frame a Painting) and Evan Puschak (The Nerd Writer) explore physical comedy and the staging of gags/action for film. Including, the importance of characterisation, physical performance, readability, using a single/static camera, selecting the correct camera angles, clear staging, and editing. These video's illustrate many of the fundamental elements you will encounter in making your film for the Collaboration project (and beyond). Please take the time to watch them either as a group or on your own. Buster Keaton: The Art of the Gag "Before Edgar Wright and Wes Anderson, before Chuck Jones and Jackie Chan, there was Buster Keaton, one of the founding fathers of visual comedy. And nearly 100 years after he first appeared onscreen, we’re still learning from him. Today, I’d like to talk about the artistry (and the thinking) behind his gags.- Tony Zhou / Every frame a painting".  Jackie Chan: How to Do Acti...

Thom Yorke talks about his soundtrack for the remake of Dario Argento's extraordinary horror film, Suspiria... Suspiria 2018 trailer

Study Guides Just a quick reminder that there is a very useful bank of resources available on myUCA, that you should all take some time to familiarise yourselves with... the guides cover aspects such as planning, time management, writing skills, presentation skills etc.  Go and have a look! Find the full list  HERE

This is message for our hard-working first years in their final few days before their first crit presentation and submission!  We know you're very busy and feeling the pinch and we know you're nervous about Friday, but there are things you can do to feel less nervous and take more control! 1) Make sure you're looking at the information we've provided you and you're paying attention to it. The information is there to make your lives easier and your goals crystal-clear.   For your convenience, I'm including here the links to the original post re. your submission requirements, the advice and guidance re. What is an 'Art Of', and the examples of previous student submissions. Submission requirements @  https://ucarochester-cgartsandanimation.blogspot.com/2018/10/fao-caa-yr-1-invisible-cities-2017.html What is an Art Of? @  https://ucarochester-cgartsandanimation.blogspot.com/2018/09/fao-caa-year-1-invisible-cities-2018.html Previous student su...

 Staff absence Unfortunately, I am unable to make into to University today. However, anyone wishing to contact me can either send me an email directly (apostings@ucreative.ac.uk) or create an @Alan post on their blog. Year three Maya class tomorrow will take place as normal.

GLAS Animation Festival 2019 now open for submissions!  'GLAS Animation Festival takes place March 22-25, 2018 in the historic city of Berkeley, California, just a quick ride away from San Francisco. We are introducing new ideas and expanding the scope of animation by bringing new voices, new talents, new themes, and a new generation of independent filmmakers and curators to the United States. We highlight fresh voices in independent animation while curating special programs of the most significant periods of animation history that serve as an inspiration for contemporary animators. At GLAS Animation Festival we have a complete competition program for best Narrative, Non-Narrative, Undergraduate, Graduate, and Commissioned short films.' Full details on how to submit  HERE

Firstly, I wanted to congratulate you all on uploading your project schedules and submission inventories.  I hope you found the process of forecasting the future of your film projects to be useful and it has stopped things from feeling too 'floaty'. Floatiness is the arch-enemy of all year 3 projects! I now have another goal/milestone/deadline for you in our shared quest for graduation greatness! We'd like you to submit your '2nd Pass Animatics' to your blogs on Friday 9th November .  Many of you had '1st Pass Animatics' as part of your original Premise submissions, but lots of things will have changed since then - tweaks, revisions, problems found, problems solved and so on - and we're all keen to know your stories are being as told as effectively, dynamically and creatively as possible. Your 2nd Pass Animatic should be your very best effort to commit to the nitty-gritty of your storytelling.  If there's a structural problem in your fi...

What follows are instructions for your crit presentations and reminders of what you need to present and submit on Friday, 19th October.  Please use your network of creative partners to ensure that everyone has seen this information and understood it.  Any queries, please leave a comment and I'll clarify. A new CG animated adaptation of Italo Calvino’s Invisible Cities is in pre-production. In response to the source material allocated to you at the briefing, you have been commissioned to produce 3 fully-resolved concept paintings of one of Calvino’s fantastical cities. You have been asked to visualise your chosen city in three different types of shot: 1) Exterior Establishing Shot 2) Exterior Low Angle Shot 3) Interior Establishing Shot Your concept paintings should be 16:9 and painted digitally. You are asked to maintain a comprehensive blog archiving and annotating your creative development for the duration of the project. You should use th...

Newly founded design studio in London -  PandaLove Design Studio 'PandaLove Design Studio is looking for a highly motivated and multi-talented 3D Character Animator. If you are enthusiastic about cutting-edge digital products and joining us on an unusual and exciting journey to innovate and transform the digital landscape, then PandaLove would be an ideal environment for you.'  Full details and how to apply  HERE!

Collaboration OGR Requirments Overall: The main goal of the group OGR is to bring together all of the different 'strands' of your project into a unified presentation and demonstrate that your idea works. In addition, by presenting your work as a 'team' for the first time you are demonstrating how successfully you've been able to collaborate so far. There are several 'stands' to this project, all of which you should include in your OGR even if they are in the early stages. These include... - A Script and Storyboards/Animatic (rough): This is your ideas in both an early written and visual form (some of you are using a 'post-it-note' approach to develop both of these). This is one of the most important aspects of your project so try not make this OGR submission a 'first draft' submission. Take time to rework and refine each 'skit' and where possible try to consider the short as a whole. For example, if you are using ...

I've been following Jean-Denis Hass's Spungella blog for years now... A tip-top resource, full of practical advice re. character animation and workflow.   I suggest you add his blog to your reading list and follow him on Twitter etc... 

Deadpool 2 (PG-13 Re-release) Ryan Reynolds shared a picture (above) of Deadpool on Twitter this week. In the photo Deadpool is seen taking on the role of the Grandfather (played by Peter Falk) in a recreation of The Princess Bride (1987). Fred Savage, who played the young boy in the 1987 can be seen reprising his role too. There hasn't been any official announcement yet but its thought to be a shot from a PG-13 re-release of Deadpool 2 scheduled for the December. If this is the case it is likely that Deadpool 2 (PG-13) will use the same narrative framing device to account for the adult sequences being cut from the original film. 

One to visit if you get a chance! Design/Play/Disrupt - Explore the design and culture of contemporary videogames This exhibition provides a unique insight into the design process behind a selection of groundbreaking contemporary videogames. Design work, including concept art and prototypes, feature alongside large-scale immersive installations and interactives. Full information  HERE On until 24th February 2019.

'They're here!' As of this week all our new first years are present and correct - and this is the complete list of their blogs for your reading list.  Note No 19 - Sandy E - who joined us on Monday. Be sure to add everyone to your reading lists and support them all 'little and often'. Coyle Loughran @ https://thegravevelgra.blogspot.com Vincent Lange @ https://vincent-lange.blogspot.com Ren Beaument @ https://beaumontanimation.blogspot.com Victor Njue @ http://vknjue-animation.blogspot.com Karris Palmer @ http://karrispalmer.blogspot.com Ted Stapleton @ https://tedsuniblog.blogspot.com Ksavera Jurkute @ https://ksaverajurkutecomputeranimationarts.blogspot.com Molly Barker @ https://mollysuniartblog.blogspot.com Thomas Dent @ http://caatom.blogspot.com Grace Sansbury Chance @ https://sansburychance.blogspot.com Shannon Fisher @ https://shannonfisheranimation.blogspot.com Ting Zhao @ http://tingzhaoucarochester.blogspot.com Sandy T @ http://tserepian...

It's already the beginning of week 3 of the Autumn term.  As of tomorrow - Tuesday, October 2nd - you have 100 days until the submission of your Minor project - Thursday, January 10th. 100 Days = 14.2 Weeks = 3.2 months This isn't a long time in CGI terms, but it is a transformative amount of time in terms of future-proofing your Major project and thus ensuring your final animation is industry-standard and festival-ready (or put more simply still - bloody amazing! ). You're now required to do two things: 1) Devise and publish to your blog your Minor Project Schedule - a week-by-week breakdown of the next 100 days as it relates to your project's workflow.  Your schedule should be as detailed as possible, with activities, outcomes and deadlines very clearly indicated  Your schedule should be a professionalised document and your best attempt to timetable your Minor project from start to finish. Your Minor Project Schedule will be available...

We're organising an 'Animation Careers' event at Rochester on Wednesday October 31st (which is the Wednesday of Reading Week), with invited speakers, course alumni and so on.  We'll provide more details soon, but this is just an announcement so you 'save the date'.  More on here soon.