A show reel by final year Animation students from Northumbria University, Newcastle will be shown to an audience of industry experts at a special degree show screening next week.
Featuring work from 26 Undergraduate and nine Masters students, the film will be premiered at the Tyneside Cinema and includes a mix of 2D, 3D, game and experimental projects.
With previous graduates going on to work with top design, visual effects and animation studios, the event gives students the chance to meet potential employers and showcase their skills.
Paul Dolan, Senior Lecturer in Animation at Northumbria, said: “This is the fourth year we have held the Animation Gala and it is one of the highlights of the year for us and the students. Seeing their work on the big screen is a great way to celebrate three or four years of hard work.
“Each year we invite members of the animation industry to attend, as well as friends and family, and this is a really valuable opportunity for the students to make contacts which will hopefully lead to opportunities in future.
“One of the elements that makes the Animation courses at Northumbria so unique is the variety of the techniques taught and the combination of creative, conceptual and technical skills the students gain. This really comes through in the students’ final projects – there is a great mix and some incredibly creative ideas, we are very proud of the work produced.”
Northumbria Animation Graduate Showcase 2017 from Northumbria University on Vimeo.
The Animation course teaches students cutting-edge techniques and computer-based animation skills using industry standard software, as well as practical project management skills and critical analytical thinking, with previous graduates now working in animation, film, motion graphics, computer games and graphic design.
Finlay Crowther graduated in 2014 and is now a 3D artist at visual effects and creative content studio The Mill, in London. He has worked on a variety of well-known projects, creating CGI elements for adverts such as John Lewis (Man on the Moon 2015) and Waitrose (Home for Christmas 2016), as well as for Nike, Shell and Virgin Media.
Finlay, originally from Huddersfield, said: “I chose to study at Northumbria because it's Design School had a very strong reputation and I was very impressed by the facilities when I came to visit.
“The Animation course itself specifically helped me build a very broad skill set, not just in 3D but in other aspects of design such as cinematography and creative problem solving. This has really helped me in advertising where I’m working on jobs in a small team with a quick turnaround. Presenting my work in front of my class and tutors also helped improve my confidence and made me more accepting of feedback to improve my work.”
Graduate Tim Adams is now a Senior Paint artist at ScanlineVFX in Vancouver where he leads a team working on DC Comics’ Justice League films. This follows a year at MPC where he worked on Disney’s Jungle Book and two years at Double Negative, both in London.
Tim said: “I was drawn to studying Animation because of the existing students on the course and the work they were creating. Their enthusiasm and passion towards animation was very inspiring. The fact that you could dream up a concept and then build it yourself in a 3D application meant there were no real limits and you could create anything you wanted.
“I was very impressed with Northumbria’s facilities, there was everything from stop motion studios to computer suites with vast rendering power to create some wonderful 3D work. I was introduced to VFX during my second year when we had a module based on creating visual effects that could be integrated into live action footage.
“I think studying at Northumbria taught me that everything starts with a strong foundation and solid idea. The course taught us the fundamentals of Animation but allowed us to explore and develop our individual passions.”
This year’s Animation show reel will be available to view at Northumbria’s annual creative degree showcase event REVEAL, which takes place across Northumbria’s city centre campus from 15 June to 1 July. Exhibitions from Northumbria’s Architecture, Interior Architecture, Fashion, Fashion Design and Marketing, Fashion Communication, Fine Art, Graphic Design, Interactive Media Design, 3D Design, Design for Industry, Film and TV Production and Interior Design courses will all be on show alongside the work of the Animation students.
For more information about REVEAL visit https://www.northumbria.ac.uk/about-us/news-events/events/2017/06/reveal-2017/
