Course: BA (Hons) Animation Production
I've always had a passion for drawing since I was young. I was always getting told off for doodling all over my maths homework. With my love of drawing and a childhood deeply rooted in Disney Films, I narrowed down my interests to animation in my teens.
I feel like with drawing and animation, you’re constantly learning from observing life, so it never gets boring for me. There is always something new to learn or explore with animation.
I remember watching all the AUB animated graduate films I could find online and just thinking how stunning and high quality they were for student films. They were leagues better than many other universities I was considering and I knew I wanted to be where those films were being made.
I really look back fondly on as having some of the best times of my life! Studying something I was so interested in with like-minded people and tutors was a great experience. I loved the collaborative nature of the animation course, which made everyone on it feel part of one big family. I still am really great friends with many people I met on the course.
The facilities at the university, as well as the animation studio space were great. The layout of the studio in particular really encouraged a welcoming teamwork environment.
At the time I was graduating, Framestore were setting up an office in University House for new graduates to help start their careers in the VFX industry. When I found out they were hiring I did as much research as I could on them and the work I would be doing there.
I was fortunate to get a position with them, which was a great first step into the industry as I got to start working directly on projects.
Working on Gravity was both a challenging and very rewarding experience. It was one of the first projects I started working on as a graduate, and I felt like I’d gone straight into the deep end in terms of film work. They were definitely pulling off some tough technical feats in the production, such as the kind of difficult camera work I was producing on the film at the time.
It involved about four different live action cameras that all had to work together, which was something that hadn’t been attempted at the company before! It was great though, as everyone working on it felt like they were making something really special and visually outstanding! I have to admit I was pretty star struck whenever I saw Alfonso Cuarón (the director) in the office.”
