Wendy is a BA (Hons) Computer Animation Art & Design student and  attended the BFX Festival as a volunteer. She shares her experience of the festival and of studying in the National Centre for Computer Animation. 

As a volunteer, I attended the speaker series and three masterclasses during the BFX festival. My knowledge and skills have advanced through these masterclasses, including writing stories via a scriptwriting for animation workshop with Pop Paper City, acting as an animator with Ace Ruele, and understanding the basics of matte painting with Paul Campion. Bournemouth University provided an immersive environment and a full programme for both students and guests to enjoy. Each class chosen in our particular area of interest.

Equality and Diversity Panel

Courage was the first gift I received from the ‘diversity panel’, I have been influenced deeply by Amy Backwell (ILM) when she said to be persistent. There are lots of difficulties which artists or animators could meet in their journey, however, if we persist, this spirit could lead us to find our ally and build our creative work in the future. We have also been told to be positive and open to receiving feedback from our connections, as the more we receive, the more development we can make to our portfolios.

Scriptwriting for animation with Pop Paper City

In the masterclass ‘Scriptwriting for animation’, the artist came from the studio LoveLove Films and was a creator of the children’s show Pop Paper City. He mentioned eight archetypes of characters which could interact with each other in a world, and the difference between them could lead to conflicts in a story for building tension and plots. He led us to imagine some scenarios and we wrote short sentences for extending ideas in the class, allowing us to practice and apply skills we learned.

Paul Campion’s masterclass

‘Digital Matte Painting for VFX’ was a remote session run by Paul, after he introduced his old projects finished in 2D matte painting in photoshop. He emphasized that observation skills and the ability to study the real world are important for artists. He showed us several types of cameras and lenses for making good commercial photos in class.

Acting for animators

Ace Ruele was leading an impressive full-day performance class on the last day of BFX. In his session he wanted us to relieve ourselves and create idle for a player character. We practiced delivering emotion through our sound and exaggerated movements in each performance. We had a lot of fun imagining being a unique creature to look ‘stupid’ but keep looking ‘stupid’ in an art-based production process. His class brought me a lot of energy to be creative and show my inner self through my creations in my life.

The NCCA is a place not only to study animation but also meet lots of nice people. My classmates and I work together using the facilities in the Poole Gateway Building. We have a dedicated team of demonstrators who work with students helping us to find solutions for our projects. And of course, our talented lecturers who deliver exciting units and push us to explore more in the entire domain. I do not feel I am alone in the National Centre for Computer Animation, because I have also been supported by my fellows through learning, experiencing and adventuring.

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More about the BFX Festival