Following the CGA2017 and in preparation for the CGA2018, Crater Training Center was hosting the two days CGA Warm-up event on 11th and 12th of May with 9 presenters and 14 talks in Belgrade and Novi Sad, including the screening of a SF movie Ederlezi Rising

VFXSerbia had an honour to talk to Andrew Brassington, one of the presenters on CGA Warm-up, coming from Escape studios, the industry known school for visual effects. Find out about how is it to work and strive in the VFX industry in Andrew’s talk at CGA Warm up event.

Head of Strategic Projects sounds important, who is Andrew Brassington?
Ha! Yes – it sounds more important than it actually is! It basically means I look at a variety of things for Escape Studios that aren’t automatically within someone else’s remit and at the moment that includes Talent Development, facilitating External Projects, Industry Outreach and Apprenticeships
Can you tell our readers a bit about Escape Studios?
Escape Studios has been leading the way in education for the creative industries for over 15 years, with over thousands of alumni (dubbed ‘Escapees’) who have worked on everything from Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Ex Machina, Spectre, Doctor Strange, The Jungle Book and more!

Our students possess raw talent and big aspirations, we offer undergraduate, postgraduate and short courses in Visual Effects (VFX), Game Art, Animation, Motion Graphics and Production. We work directly with creative professionals and some of the world’s biggest studios to design and deliver all our courses.

Our tutors have worked in the industry and have been hand-picked from successful studios; they teach real-world tips and tricks learnt from on-the-job experience. We’re based in the hub of London’s creative scene and students work in an industry-style studio, to get a taste of what it’s like to work in industry!

We boast an impressive list of industry partners including Framestore, The Mill, MPC, DNEG, Creative Assembly, Cinesite, Electric Theatre and JellyFish Pictures (to name just a few!). The industry is extremely fast paced but here at Escape Studios we know our subjects inside out, our industry partners shape everything we do enabling us to always be on the pulse.

How would you describe the VFX industry to someone who would like to get into the VFX?
The VFX industry is an exciting place to work and it needs people with a variety of skills from CG artistry to computer scripting and engineering to production, management and leadership. It is a growing industry and in theory there is a job for anyone who is dedicated and has the right attitude.

VFX industry is constantly evolving, what are the latest changes in the curriculum for the recent VFX graduates?
VR and AR is something we are starting to incorporate into our Games courses and we are hoping to work with a major industry player next year with our 3rd year undergraduate students on their projects.
On the VFX courses we are doing more and more with Houdini and there is also a lot of demand for Hair and Fur simulations these days.

Escape Studios are known for streamlining the process of students moving from studies directly to the core of VFX in London, can you tell us about the collaboration with the industry?
All our our courses are designed with input from our Industry Partners. We have very good and close relationships with many companies in VFX, Games and Animation and we always try to get as much input from them as possible from the design of a course in its initial stages through to having industry visit and mentor our students when they are studying with us on both our Short professional courses and our Undergraduate and Postgraduate degrees.

What could our readers expect to hear at your CGA Warm-Up presentation?
I would really like to talk to people about the skills and attributes they need to have beyond their technical and artistic skills to make sure they fit into a company and also the importance of the so called soft skills. I also want people to understand that VFX is a business and not just a hobby!

Could you predict the VFX technology in the next ten years, is it close to the episode of Black Mirror?
It probably everything that people think its going to be……….and more!

As teacher/mentor, what would be your advice to the young artist?
Work hard, share your knowledge with others and be friendly!

Thank you Andrew! We wish you had a nice stay and great time in Belgrade.