Bespoke animated short films ‘Saved By the Cell’ and ‘A Way Out of the Woods’ close out seven-week residential competition at Bournemouth University.
DORSET, ENGLAND -- Student animators from universities across the country created the films as part of the BFX Competition, run by Bournemouth University. Eight teams took part in a seven week residential stay at BU and worked tirelessly to complete the brief and boost their CVs and employability. The animation was created using cutting edge VFX and animation techniques to tell a story, communicating specific key messages identified by the charities.
For the blood cancer charity, Anthony Nolan, it was The Mippets who came out on top with their animation, Saved By The Cell. The Tree Huggers were victorious with A Way Out Of The Woods for Dyslexia Action.
Both of the charities will use the bespoke animated short film created for them at no cost and worth an estimated £150,000 each. Accountancy firm Kingston Smith LLP, announced the winning animated films for the chosen charities the inaugural Creative Vision Award.
Nick Brooks, from Kingston Smith and a member of the judging panel, said, “We were thrilled at the exceptional quality of the animated films finalists, however the two winning entries stood out as they best captured the brief and demonstrated the best creativity, as outlined by our charities.”
Alexander Scott, Head of Marketing at Anthony Nolan, commented, “Young people are the most in demand as stem cell donors, but sadly we know that misconceptions about the donation process put a lot of them off joining the Anthony Nolan register. Thanks to the mind-blowing technical skills and passion of these talented students, we’ve now got a powerful asset to help us bust myths to young people, in a medium and style we know they will respond to. It’s a rare treat for our charity.”
“We feel very privileged to have been chosen as one of two charities to win an animated film dedicated to visualizing our charity’s message. Showing how our charity can support people through a visual representation is particularly appropriate for Dyslexia Action as a charity that provides help and support to those with dyslexia and other specific learning difficulties. We believe that this film will enable us to connect with people in a different way, which wouldn’t have been possible without this award,” agreed Kevin Geeson, Chief Executive of Dyslexia Action.
Geeson added, “We are thrilled to have access to such a high quality piece of work and would like to congratulate all of the students on the creativity and vibrancy of their entries. We are sure that this animated film will help Dyslexia Action in its aim to help children, young people and adults to reach their full potential.”
As well as the winning videos, other awards were given out to the eight teams to praise their hard work and dedication to the program. Best Character, Best Animation and Best Overall Achievement were awarded to the teams as well as The People’s Choice Award that was won on a public vote, it went to Team Mango who received the most views on YouTube.
Peter Truckel, Director of the International VFX Hub at Bournemouth University, said, “This year with the addition of two charities as part of the process, we have followed a more commercial pipeline and the teams have been fantastic is demonstrating their ability to produce work of such a high quality in such a tight schedule for a professional client. They’ve worked incredibly hard and it’s great to see their animations being recognised and rewarded by industry professionals.”
Source: Bournemouth University
Formerly Editor-in-Chief of Animation World Network, Jennifer Wolfe has worked in the Media & Entertainment industry as a writer and PR professional since 2003.
