Students from the National Centre for Computer Animation (NCCA) have produced bespoke animations for four local charities, as part of the BFX competition.
Five groups of students have produced 30 second animations based on briefs submitted by the four charities: Bourne Water Dragons, The Dorset Children’s Foundation, Footprints Project, and The Space Youth Project.
Students worked on the animations as part of the BFX competition, which takes place each year as a part of the annual BFX Festival.
Students are mentored throughout the design process by industry professionals, helping the next generation of animators and visual effects artists develop vital skills. This year's mentors included a number of NCCA alumni who have taken part in the competition in previous years and are now working within industry.
Mentor Brenda Ximena Roldan-Romero, who is now working at MPC Episodic as a 3D animator, guided conversation around creative animation development while Serban Ungureanu, a Development/Lighting Artist at Industrial Light & Magic (ILM), aided students as a lighting and look development mentor.
Dr Oleg Fryazinov, Principal Academic for Computer Animation, said: “Both students and charities heavily benefitted from the BFX competition. Charities got the finished animations that served their mission and values and at the same time appealed to a wider audience.
“The students who participated in the competition not only were able to add the high-quality piece to their portfolio and the experience of working with external clients to their CVs but also benefitted from mentor support from industry professionals."
Feedback from the charities about the animations included: “I cannot thank everyone involved enough for all their hard work in creating our beautiful animation. We love it!” and “Fantastic to have direct contact with the students and follow how the animations were developed. Such a great learning experience."
The students' final animated creations will now be judged by peer-review, mentors and professionals, and the charities and their communities. Voting will take place across five categories: best-animated piece, the best impact on the community (the community award), the best design, the best character animation, and the best look development.
The winners will be announced during a special session at the BFX Festival on Thursday 4 November at 6pm.
The BFX Festival is the UK’s largest visual effects, computer games and animation festival and will take place from 2-7 November 2021, with talks and technical masterclasses delivered by some of the biggest studios from around the world.
This year, BFX Festival talks will be delivered at BU's Talbot Campus. BU students will be invited to attend talks in person while the public can buy tickets to attend virtually. Masterclass spaces will be limited and available to the BU community, as well as the public, to attend in person. The talks will also be live streamed and accessible to everyone to view online.
To find out more about the BFX Festival, and book early bird tickets, visit: www.bfxfestival.com
