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Film animators give master class to students

Two University of Kent Computer Animation MSc graduates who recently finished work on The Tale of Despereaux, the $100 million Universal Pictures feature which will be released in the UK just before Christmas, returned to the University on 27 November to give a master class to current students on the MSc programmes in Computer Animation and Digital Visual Effects.

Liam Russell and Elwaleed Sulimann, both of whom are employed by Framestore CFC, the largest animation and post-production company in Europe, graduated from Kent in 2007. Since then, they have worked on the TV series Primeval and in the computer games industry before stepping up to work on The Tale of Despereaux, which was animated at Framestore's studio in Soho, London.

Fresh from a film whose lavish, cutting-edge production values mark a huge leap forward for UK animation, placing it in the Pixar and Dreamworks arena, Liam and Elwaleed brought their major-league expertise back to their former Department with an eight-hour workshop on how to use professional pipeline techniques in producing an animated pre-visualisation or 'pre-viz' (the 3D layout development of a storyboard or animatic which is the essential creative stage in modern CG animation and effects).

David Byers-Brown, who leads the Master's programmes in Computer Animation and Digital Visual Effects, said: 'This is what our Master's courses are all about - bringing current feature production skills from industry to our students in vivid and practical ways that will enable them to fit directly into the exciting professional arena that 3D graphics for film, TV and games constitute today.'

The Master's programmes in Computer Animation and Digital Visual Effects at the University of Kent are well-established and well-connected to the feature film industry. They consist of rigorous taught courses and group project production running from September to September each year. Graduates have found work in films, commercials, TV, games and architectural visualisation.

Contact: mediaoffice@kent.ac.uk

Story published at 12:03pm 3 December 2008