Graduate Panel at Bucks on Thursday at 3pm - Who's Coming?

A recent Graduate Panel at Bucks

Thursday September 25th is our latest graduate panel, where we bring back Bucks graduates who have made it in the creative industries to hear about the latest trends in creative media, and to help our students gain an early understanding of what it takes to launch their own careers. It takes place at 3pm in the Gateway Lecture Theatre. Talks like this can be vital in terms of bridging the gap between university and the world of commerce. So, who is coming on Thursday?

Ben Chalk

Ben is a Bucks animation graduate with two years studio experience as a designer working on projects from initial ideas, concepts & strategy right through to launch. Ben has been designing at United Agency for the past two years, and having been the creative lead for just over a year now is responsible for the overall visual design of all of the big campaigns, app designs & brand identity. Together with the development team Ben works collaboratively to help design and shape the user experience and user interface across an array of projects.

Gateway Building - our main media hub

Simon Fox

Simon is a producer/director/editor/media trainer, is experienced in all areas of programme making and production and has a wide variety of industry skills and experience. Production credits include being AD on the World Athletic Championships in Athens, which was broadcast live to an audience of 20 million and was commended in its home country of Greece. Simon helped set up the interactive newsroom at ‘The Telegraph’ newspaper and trained print journalists to adapt to a multimedia environment. For two years he was a producer/broadcast journalist for the BBC’s flagship technology programme Click, writing, producing, and shooting features for the show which is broadcast on BBC World and News 24 to a world audience in excess of 100 million.


Lorna Dean Gibbs

Lorna is a very experienced television professional who has worked as a director, vision-mixer, cameraman, P.A. and Technical Manger for over 30 years across all genres of live and recorded programming. More recently Lorna has specialized in news and sport output and currently work for the Premiere League (IMG) and several production companies that have covered events such as the Commonwealth Games, London 2012 Olympics and Wimbledon Tennis. As a director Lorna has worked for likes of ESPN, BBC World, IMG/TWI, Eurosport, Al Jazeera, Sky and Channel. Programme output over recent years has included Wimbledon Tennis Championships (2010, 2011, 2012), Bundesliga, Serie A, Erevidisie, International football, Europa Cup, Aviva Premiership Rugby, FA Cup football and an array of news output.


Barry Gross

Barry followed the Hollywood-trained Gaffer path through to the role of Director of Photography. Features have included Features Rage, Kick Off and The Lost. Barry has also produced commercials for the likes of Nokia, Penguin Books, Ch4 Paralympics and Sky Movies HD. US TV lighting credits included Bones, Chuck, and Desperate Housewives. UK TV credits included GlobeTrekker-Madrid, BBC4 Duffy-The Man Who Shot the 60s, and Saving Face.



Matt Harris

Matt works for Halo Post Production, who make factual and comedy TV. Programmes include Outnumbered, Mrs Brown’s Boys and Richard Hammond’s How to Build a Planet.



John Osborne

John is the CEO of Brassneck TV, the independent production company he founded in London in 2008. He has created and executive produced many hours of factual television, including Exposed, now in its third series on Sky Arts and sold to over 40 countries worldwide. His director credits include the Banff-nominated Sport Matters: One Night in May for Sky 1 and the History Channel's most watched UK programme Hillsborough Remembered. He has also produced a string of music and arts documentaries for the BBC and Channel 4.


Tammy Riley-Smith

Tammy Riley-Smith is an award-winning writer-director. Her debut feature, Delicious, starring Louise Brealey & Sheila Hancock, was premiered at the Busan International Film Festival in South Korea. It was officially selected for Vilnius, Miami and Nantes Film Festivals before its theatrical and digital release in summer 2014. It reached no.2 in the iTunes romantic chart, and is still listing in the top 100.

Her short film, Ain’t Misbehavin’, won the Kodak Short Film Prize, an award from Turner Classic Movies and was selected for 11 international film festivals, including Cannes 2001. Tammy won WFTV’s Directing Change Award in 2003, working as trainee director to John Madden on Proof, starring Gwyneth Paltrow and Anthony Hopkins. Previously she was a Development Executive at Working Title Films, Assistant to producer Alison Owen on romantic drama Moonlight and Valentino, and Director’s Assistant to Mark Joffe on romantic comedy, The Matchmaker.


To read about previous graduate panels, follow this link.

Miracles and Inspirations by Bucks Graduate Monika Dzikowicz makes the Official Selection of the Festival de Cine de Madrid

Monika Dzikowicz graduated from Bucks last year, and recently completed her short film Miracles and Inspirations, which has been entered in to short film festivals all around the world. Most recently the film has been accepted for the Official Selection at the 23rd Festival de Cine de Madrid, taking place in Spain in October of this year.

Visual Development for Miracles and Inspirations

Miracles and Inspirations is a short film completed by Bucks animation graduate Monika Dzikowicz, which shows what could happen if art could take us back to the times it was created in.

The film tells the story of the unusual friendship between a young girl and an ancient Roman sculpture of a woman. It explores themes of imagination, the creativity of children, and the inspirations we take from our memories and from everyday life.

The film was produced within the scope of the online competition - The Animation Talent Award  2013. It was designed, directed and animated by Monika Dzikowicz. Music was by Boris Nonte, and the Executive producer was Paolo Polesello.

To see the film, which runs about two minutes, see below:


 
Miracles & Inspirations - animated short film by Monika Dzikowicz from Animation Talent Award on Vimeo.

We strongly encourage all our students to enter competitions. Even if you don't win, you gain invaluable experience just by competing. There is nothing like a competition to make you raise your game and try harder; ultimately this is how digital artists improve their skills and forge successful careers in creative media.

You can read more about Monika's work here.  To see more work by our talented undergraduate students and recent graduates, see this recent post about the art of Sabah Masood. Also check out the work of Andy Thomas here, and see our latest commercial project for Rocketseed, our short film done for a global aid agency, and take a look at the excellent work of architectural visualisation specialist Krsytof Michalski, Alex Whitfield and the 3D artwork of Mike Swan.

Bucks Animation Graduate Ben Chalk Launches a New Campaign for United Agency

United Agency

Bucks Animation graduate Ben Chalk works for the design agency United Agency, doing digital and social campaigns for commercial clients. We asked him to tell us about his latest work, how he got started, and what advice he can give to our students at Bucks in order to forge a successful career in the world of design, animation and motion graphics. He has just finished the design work for a new campaign, The Great Outdoors app for Thomas Cook and Brand USA, which launched this week.

Design by Ben Chalk

Bucks: You do digital design for United Agency - what does that involve?

Ben: We are a social media-marketing agency, we come up with digital & social campaigns to support or promote artists, brands and products. My job is to come up with & design ideas for apps and microsites, I also get to work on short motions graphic animations or video work depending on the campaign.

Design by Ben Chalk

Bucks: What is your most recent project?

Ben: We have just launched a new campaign, The Great Outdoors app for Thomas Cook and Brand USA, which just launched this week.


Bucks: How did you first get the job with United?

Ben: Originally I did a three months internship after finishing my degree; which then progressed into a full time job.

Great Outdoors app for Thomas Cook

Bucks: What is the best thing about your job?

I love the variety. As an agency we get to work on projects for a number of different clients, which means each design and executions is different from the last. This keeps the job exciting and a lot of fun.

Great Outdoors app for Thomas Cook

Bucks:  What skills did you learn at Bucks, which helped you to prepare for a career in digital media?

Half of my course at Bucks [Animation, Games and Interactive Media] was interactive design, which has played a huge part in what I use every day.  Digital design doesn't just stop at the visuals, it extends further into designing the user experience and how people interact with the designs.

5. What advice would you give to a student at Bucks to get the most out of their time at Uni?

Go wild and make the most of your first year - then look for an internship, or some other way to get out and get some studio experience. Experience is the key - I wish I hadn't left it until I finished university.

You could also possibly submit live projects as University, doing work that would depend on client approval. After all, you would be working in exactly the same way as you would for real clients.

Ben Chalk

You can see more of Ben's work at www.benchalk.com. For our guide to internships and how to get them, follow this link.  To see the impressive work done by our students and recent graduates here at Bucks, check out SuperFergy in 3D by Anton Alfy, see the work of Jens Kopke,  Ben Gray's Moonbeam, and the architectural visualisations of Sabah Masood and Anton Alfimenko. Also take a look at the work of Andy Thomas here, see our latest commercial project for Rocketseed, our short film done for a global aid agency, and take a look at the excellent work of designer Monika Dzikowicz, architectural visualisation specialist Krsytof Michalski, Alex Whitfield and the 3D artwork of Mike Swan. And don't forget to see the simulation work of our students done in RealFlow. To see our student demo reel, click here.

Bucks Graduate Jack Strood talks about his new job at Firebird Films

Jack Strood recently graduated from the Animation Games and Interactive media course at Bucks, and right away found work at the Swindon based animation studio Firebird Films, where he is working on a number of new projects. We asked Jack to tell us about his job, and how he managed to start his career in animation so soon after leaving Bucks.

Jack's graduation film "A Spring in her Step"

Bucks: You are working at Firebird films; what are you working on? 

Jack: From the beginning of June, I started back at Firebird Films in Swindon. The first week consisted of a move to a bigger office space with a separate studio area. This was much better as we can be neat and tidy in one space and have the other space with the lights setup for product shots and animations.

One ongoing project that we recently finished and debuted at RadFest last weekend was '#TrainsPlanesAutos'. This project was a short trials bike sports film featuring Matty Turner that incorporated a slight bit of rotoscoping to coincide with the narrative.





So, in the last few weeks we were drawing the last pieces of animation, drawing the credits and editing together the 'Making of' documentary as well.
 
Last week we also worked on an animation test for a pitch we're making for Ford Motor Insurance. We used replacement animation of paper cut-outs of myself walking to a model Ford car. We also made our one foot signage out of lego bricks, that was pretty fun too!



Tester Pot Ford from firebird films Ltd. on Vimeo.


Bucks: How difficult was it for you to find work after graduating?

I was extremely lucky to know Ross Mackenzie (The Company Director) through the network of film makers through college, and he's been more than generous by asking me to come back and help on a few projects. In the position of getting clients, we are very aware that we have to produce a small test for free to attach to our pitch. Getting clients to agree to our crazy ideas is the struggle. I know a bunch of people who apply for every job hoping for an interview or even a call, but it's keeping the momentum going is the tricky part.

Jack Strood

Bucks: What sort of work do you hope to do in the future? 

To fill the working day with producing stop motion aired TV adverts or short films would be wishful thinking. Video editing comes with the territory, so enhancing skills in After Effects, Premier Pro CC and Dragonframe is a definite must. The next goal of ours is to film a stop motion promo ident for Firebird which is an ongoing challenge.

High Wycombe awaits our new students

Bucks: What advice would you offer to our new students starting in September who hope to find work in the animation business?

Follow what you love doing; the tutors at Bucks will see that and encourage your potential. If you can, ring as many studios as you can asking for work experience or even a five minute tour around their working space. It will put you in better form if they know what kind of person you are, if and when you ask them for more work.  Keep one eye on the current trends too, it might come in handy one day.


To see the impressive work done by our students and recent graduates here at Bucks, check out SuperFergy in 3D by Anton Alfy, see the work of Jens Kopke,  Ben Gray's Moonbeam, and the architectural visualisations of Sabah Masood and Anton Alfimenko. Also take a look at the work of Andy Thomas here, see our latest commercial project for Rocketseed, our short film done for a global aid agency, and take a look at the excellent work of designer Monika Dzikowicz, architectural visualisation specialist Krsytof Michalski, Alex Whitfield and the 3D artwork of Mike Swan. And don't forget to see the simulation work of our students done in RealFlow. To see our 2013 student demo reel, click here.

Bucks graduate Sonia Gill is a Bollywood star

Sonia Gill

Former student Sonia Gill has become a Bollywood star after being spotted while studying at Bucks. Sonia "juggles films and TV ads in India with her job in the parking department of Oxfordshire County Council". The odd thing is, Sonia did not study performing arts at Bucks. She did a law degree.

One of the best things about studying at Bucks is the huge range of talent here at the university. We have actors, sound designers, musicians, dancers, cinematographers - even talented actors hiding in the law department. 

In fact, we have all sorts of talented students at Bucks. We encourage all our students to seek out talent in unusual places. Collaborate, pool resources, work on short films and enter competitions to win prizes and get your work noticed.

Here at Bucks we offer our congratulations to Sonia on her career success.

To find out more, you can see Sonia's story featured in The Daily Telegraph, Daily Mail and Metro: http://metro.co.uk/2014/07/03/bollywood-star-spends-part-of-her-year-working-for-oxfordshire-council-4786310/

---Alex 

For more on the experience of studying at Bucks New University, come and visit us at one of our Open Days,  take a virtual tour of one of our animation studios, check out what our students think of our course, and see why we're ranked in the top 12 creative universities in the UK.  Also check out the Bucks Big Deal.

Calling all Bucks graduates....Bionic Group are looking for 3D modelers

Bionic Group at Pinewood Studios

Calling all Bucks graduates....Bionic Group are looking for 3D modelers to work at Pinewood Studios. The Bionic Group are looking for a talented Animation and Visual Affects graduate to join their growing team. The job will involve creating "technical animations for a range of leading contractors within the construction Industry". The role will be suited to "a promising graduate with an interest in construction, architecture, civil or structural engineering."

Pinewood Studios

The role will include mainly 3D modeling with the possibility of animating and compositing. An excellent knowledge of 3ds Max, and additional skills in AutoCAD, Revit, Photoshop and After Effects will be advantageous.

BIM

There will be an opportunity to learn BIM (Building Information Modeling), adding to your existing skill sets. This is for an immediate start based in our Pinewood Studios offices, Iver Heath (SL0 0NH).

The Bionic Group are leading specialists in the provision of multimedia solutions to the construction industry.

To apply: Please send your CV & covering letters across to jacob@thebionicgroup.com and kelly@thebionicgroup.com.

Make sure to quote the reference: Bucks07

---Alex

Calling all Bucks Graduates! Your alma mater needs your help....

The Wheel of Fortune

Bucks New Uni is looking for help from our graduates on the subject of career progression following graduation, with a focus on "Exploring the role of unplanned events". In plain, English - the role of luck.  How important are luck and chance in guiding the progress of our graduates' careers?

Participating in the project will involve taking part in an audio-recorded interview lasting approximately 30-40 minutes. You will be asked about your own career progression since graduating, and asked to reflect on the role of unplanned events in how your career has progressed. How much has your career depended on good planning - versus unplanned serendipity?


The project is being conducted by Dr Matthew Smith and Dr Piers Worth of the Department of Psychology at Buckinghamshire New University.

If you are interested in taking part in this study, or would like to find out more information, please contact: Dr Matthew Smith matthew.smith@bucks.ac.uk Tel. 01494 522 141 ext.4323

For more about the project, follow the link below:
http://www.linkedin.com/groupItem?view=&item=5865401402007785473&type=member&gid=7447747&trk=eml-b2_anet_digest-null-2-null&fromEmail=fromEmail&ut=17a3ct4sl5Jmc1

---Alex

Graduate Panel Friday 21 March 2014 - jobs, careers, and how to make it in a digital world

From left, Jude Winstanley, Jaffar Ali, Beaumont Lowenthal, Stephen Partridge, Scott Humphries, Andy Thomas and Thom Day

Yesterday, friday 21 March 2014, was our latest Graduate Panel, a regular event where we invite Bucks Graduates to come back to their university and talk about how they forged their careers in digital media. They all studied here at Bucks and each one of them understands better than anyone how to turn the skills they acquired at university into a successful career in the entertainment industry.

The panelists were:

Jaffar Ali

Jaffar Ali – Jaffar recently graduated with a BA (Hons) in Animation, Games & Interactive Media from Buckinghamshire New University. Having gained experience in creating photo-realistic 3D using post-production software packages to model, texture, light, render and composite, Jaffar recently got an internship with high end broadcast virtual set company Vizrt. Jaffar’s current skills base ranges from creating high quality still renders to having a fly through or 360° turn table camera animation.

Thom Day

Thom Day – Thom graduated in 2011 and is currently a Media Technician at ITV’s London Studios. As a Lead Assistant on a number of high-end productions, Thom is in charge of liaising with production and creating media logs for both production and post to follow media movements. This includes dealing with multiple workflows (Studio EVS, Live Broadcast and Entertainment fiction and non-fiction). Since graduating Thom has also worked at Molinare Post Production as an Edit Assistant, Platform Post Production as a Bookings Assistant and at Take One TVas a Production Assistant.

Scott Humphries

Scott Humphries - Since graduating in 2011 Scott has been touring as a live sound engineer. He is currently Production Manager at Little Touring and was previously FOH/TM for You&me Touring working with the likes of Charlie Simpson, Funeral for a Friend, Pop Will Eat Itself, We are Scientists and Wolf Gang. Scott has also worked as a Monitor Engineer and a Staff Engineer, and has worked for companies such as RNSS and SSE Audio Group.

Beaumont Lowenthal

Beaumont Lowenthal – At the moment Beau is working as a trainee editor on a remake of Far From the Madding Crowd, directed by (recently) Oscar-nominated Thomas Vinterberg and starring Carey Mulligan, Michael Sheen and Matthias Schoenaerts. Just before that Beau worked as a second assistant on POSH directed by Lone Scherfig, which stars upcoming actors Sam Claflin (latest Hunger Games), Max Irons (Jeremy's son) and Jessica Brown Findlay (Downton Abbey) and is coming to cinemas in September. Before that Beau’s first job was as an editing intern on The Look of Love directed by Michael Winterbottom, starring Steven Coogan. The next project for Beau is likely to be working on Joe Wright's Pan.

Andy Thomas

Andy Thomas - Andy Thomas is a talented artist who graduated from Bucks New University in 2002 and, since then, has forged a successful career in the digital arts. He now works for the global multi-national URS, running their digital media team. Andy runs a team of multimedia artists and technicians. They produce 3D Visualisations, animations, graphic design and photomontages for various sectors including Architecture, Landscape Design, Planning, Mechanical & Engineering, Ports, Railways, Roads, Aviation & airports, and Defence & Security.

Jude Winstanley

Jude Winstanley – Jude has worked on a broad array of content from straight factual, factual entertainment, children’s, entertainment and observational documentary; from Who Wants to be a Millionaire? to Bremner, Bird & Fortune to X-Factor Australia.

Jude is experienced in pre-recorded and live transmissions, studio and location based programming and hostile environments. Specialist skills include negotiating contracts, fees and clearance rights with talent, crew, production staff, archive materials, locations, publicity, schedule planning for all areas of the project (prep, production, post and delivery), advising on Health & Safety procedures to ensure safe working environments, Risk Assessments and tapeless workflows.

Stephen Partridge

Stephen Partridge hosted the panel, and opened the discussion by asking the panelists the first big question:

How did the panel members get started in the industry? 

Jaffar Ali had been looking for 3D roles when Bucks sent him an email about an opportunity at Vizrt, a global provider of virtual sets for broadcast companies.  At interview, they asked him how he would solve a problem on production? Jaffar explained that he would seek help from others in the building - just as he did at Bucks, when he would ask his tutors for backup and support on group projects when things didn't always go to plan.

Beaumont Lowenthal talked about how important it is simply to ring up your contacts and ask if there is work available. He did a lot of networking, which led to some lucky breaks, and in his case, luck and persistence paid off.  He contacted "hundreds of people", and got "five or ten responses". One of those contacts led to his current career.

Thom Day talked about how his early jobs often cost him more in travel expenses than he received in pay. But he got work out of these early gigs and the commitment paid off in the end.

Andy Thomas

Andy Thomas talked about the difficulty of finding work when he graduated in 2002, and the frustration of getting rejected or, worse, hearing nothing. His first job he thought "was a bit beneath me", but this ended up being "the best thing I ever did". On his first job he learned "the reality of collaborating on a group project", and the difficulty of finishing things on time and on budget - meeting deadlines is vital.

He also talked about how keen he was in the early days to learn "everything there was to know" about digital media, and recommended that students should do as many online tutorials as possible. Andy eventually ended up at URS, a global company, and pitched them the idea of building a hub of digital artists in-house to do all the 3D development work for URS. Surprisingly, "they went for it" and he now "runs a team of fifteen artists".

Thom Day started as a runner, and tried to do the best work he could to get noticed, to meet editors, "sitting in during lunch breaks and after work", to "get his face known", and eventually "got promoted to Avid assistant". He said you've got to be "willing to do the crap jobs" to get started.

Jude Winstanley warned against "aiming too high". Be ambitious,  but be realistic as well. You can move up the ladder once you are in, but don't aim too high at the start of your career. She reminded us that film and TV production is a freelance business: "there are no staff jobs".

The Unit List - Jude Winstanley's website. Free!

Jude also talked about www.theunitlist.com, a free website which helps place talent in jobs, and which she recommended all our graduates check regularly.


What makes a good CV?

Thom Day said you've got to get your CV to the right person, and make sure your CV looks nice, is short and punchy, and has all the main points at the top.

Make it good

Andy Thomas says he likes people who phone in and don't just email their CV. Three members of his current team got their job "by cold-calling". He does also run a test for candidates at interview - an AfterEffects test, to see if the candidates really know how to do what they say they can do. Lots of applicants don't really know how to do what is on their demo reel. Andy once interviewed a candidate who - astonishingly - showed him one of Andy's own online tutorials and presented it as his own work!

Scott reiterated that a phone call can be important. Sending out emails can be a "pointless" exercise.

Beaumont Lowenthal emphasised that you need to re-do your CV for each client; tailor it so that "you're not just sending out the same CV to each employer".  In the end though, "it's all about referrals". Recommendations count.

Jude Winstanley, who does a lot of recruitment, and is always on the lookout for fresh talent, complained about students with annoying answerphone messages, which made her want to move on to the next candidate. She said that CVs for TV production follow a certain layout - and that students should follow this. Key skills need to be right up there. Can you drive? Can you drive a lorry? Do you speak French? What cameras can you? Then, she wants to see your experience, in reverse order - most recent jobs at the top.


Should graduates accept unpaid work?

Jude Winstanley stressed the importance of not accepting unpaid work, which she described as "illegal" - although doing two weeks of unpaid work experience is permissible. Also, she added, students can be employed for free, but not graduates. Scott Humphries said he sometimes "took payment in microphones" when he started out, working for bands who he knew could not afford to pay him.

Learn to use it

What new technologies should undergraduates be aware of?

Thom Day said that a good knowledge of Premiere is increasingly necessary at ITV, not just Avid, which is gradually giving way to Premiere. Jude Winstanley said that Photoshop is now a requirement, and people don't get hired without it. She also recommended learning SEP, Avid, and After Effects.



(Editor's Note: For more on jobs and employability, read our guide to getting your first job. For posts on what studios look for in a great demo reel, try this link, hear what London's Blue Zoo has to say about finding work, and take a look at this video by Sony Pictures Animation. You can also watch Alex's ten minute video on creating a great reel, and read this post on the perfect demo reel. Also, check out our guide to animation careers here, and also take a look at this map of digital studios - a great place to start your search for work in the business. Learn the nuts and bolts of freelance life by reading our guide to invoicing clients, and our guide to putting together a great CV.)

Graduate Showcase - Jens Kopke on animation, awards, motion graphics and careers in digital media

Jens Kopke is one of our talented animation graduates from Bucks, who has since found work in his native Hamburg as a motion design artist at DeliPictures. His short film (shown above) was completed right here in High Wycombe and combined live action with visual effects and motion graphics, winning an honourable mention at the D&AD Awards. We asked Jens to talk about his film, what he has been doing since graduating from university, and what it takes to forge a successful career in digital media.

Bucks: Your student film at Bucks won a D&AD award - how did that come about?

Jens: First of all - I'm not really sure if an "honorable mention" counts as an award.  But the project came about like this: One of the modules in Bill Schaaf's course at Bucks allowed students to get credits for non-course-related activities like building up skills or entering the D&AD awards.  So I teamed up with Yonca Yilmaz, since entering D&AD was part of her Advertising course. After first getting the approval of our tutors, our enthusiasm helped us to keep to a tight schedule of seven or eight days from first drafts to final product.

We progressed really fast, but we only managed to get very little feedback from our tutors due to our short timing. Relying much more than usual on our own intuitions and experience, we focused on a final product that we both really liked. Without worrying about things like - how to impress the D&AD judges. Which, in the end, made us even happier, when we got the honorable mention from D&AD.

Bucks: What software did you use to put it together?

Jens: We used a combination of After Effects, Cinema4D and Photoshop.

Bucks: Did you collaborate with students from the film and TV department or did you put it all together yourself?

Jens: We did not collaborate with students from the film and TV dept, but we did have help from another student from the Advertising course, Dunja Opalko. Her talent with photography (and her own privately owned equipment) helped us to get some nice footage to work with.


Bucks: Since leaving Bucks, what have you been working on?


Navigon // Garmin: "The Navigon App" from DELI PICTURES on Vimeo.

Jens: During my studies at Bucks I successfully applied for a job as a Motion Design Artist in Hamburg, Germany, at DeliPictures, where I still work today.

Since then I have mostly been working on commercial projects like Navigon (http://vimeo.com/61517832) or Weight Watchers (http://vimeo.com/56621462). Luckily, at DeliPictures we are encouraged to experiment and work on self-initiated projects during work hours, such as this St Valentine's Day card that I created with a co-worker. (http://vimeo.com/59576403).



WeightWatchers Kampagne: Oliver Kahn from DELI PICTURES on Vimeo.


Bucks: What advice would you offer to any student at Bucks to get the most out of their time at University?

Jens: My advice would be twofold. Firstly, don't study to get a job, study to do something you really like to do. Secondly, what helped me most during my studies was getting out of my comfort zone and being interested in everything around me. Things like sitting in unrelated classes, using equipment you are afraid to damage, choosing projects that were way too big for me - and even failing from time to time - really helped to prepare me to handle difficult situations at work. In the end, Bucks New University had a lot to offer me.

(Editor's Note: For more impressive work done by our students and recent graduates here at Bucks, check out Ben Gray's Moonbeam, and the architectural visualisations of Sabah Masood. Also take a look at the work of Andy Thomas here, see our latest commercial project for Rocketseed, our short film done for a global aid agency, and take a look at the excellent work of designer Monika Dzikowicz, architectural visualisation specialist Krsytof Michalski, Alex Whitfield and the 3D artwork of Mike Swan.)

Graduate Panel Friday March 21st - how do graduates find work in digital media?

Last year's graduate panel discussion

On Friday March 21st we will be running a Graduate Panel from noon until 3pm for all our undergraduate students studying Film & TV Production, Animation and Audio & Music Production. The idea is to bring back some of our most successful alumni, those who have progressed well within their first few years of graduating and beyond, to share their experiences and make suggestions as to how our students might achieve that vital big break into their chosen field.

Who will be there? Our guests will be Bucks graduates, many of them working in animation and digital media, who will be returning to the Uni to share their insights into how they forged their careers. They were themselves students at Bucks, so they know better than anyone what it takes to turn a degree from BNU into a successful career in digital media.

Who is coming?
Among the returning animation graduates will be Jaffar Ali, who recently landed a paid internship at Vizrt. You can see an interview with Jaffar about his new internship here. Also attending is Andy Thomas, who has built a stellar career doing design and architectural visualisation for the multinational engineering company URS.

Why should you come along?
This 

Graduate Panel will be our third such event. We have had great feedback from previous panels, which have been full of helpful advice and guidance to students on how to forge a successful career. We encourage all our students, not just those in their final year, to make the effort to attend.

Free cakes! Yay!

Are there any freebies?
Yes! By way of a small bribe, there will be coffee and cakes laid on, so be sure to eat as much as you possibly can.

Where is it happening?
The event will take place on Friday at noon in N4.06. It is building number 4 on the map below, on the 4th floor.

To find out more about what you can expect, see our post about last year's Graduate Panel here. In the meantime, put together a list of questions for our panelists. How, really, did they get their jobs? Was it talent, connections - or just plain luck? Come along, ask the tough questions, and hear the answers.

---Alex

(Editor's Note: To see more about how we're taking active steps to help our graduates find work, check out our commercial project for Rocketseed, and our short film done for a global aid agency.

Steve

Student Showcase - Miracles and Inspirations by Monika Dzikowicz

Miracles & Inspirations

Monika Dzikowicz is one of our talented recent graduates from Bucks, who has made some excellent short film projects and is well on her way to becoming a highly skilled animation designer and director. Her latest project is the short film Miracles and Inspirations, which shows what could happen if art could take us back to the times it was created in.

The film tells the story of the unusual friendship between a young girl and an ancient Roman sculpture of a woman. It explores themes of imagination, the creativity of children, and the inspirations we take from our memories and everyday life.

The film was produced within the scope of the online competition - The Animation Talent Award  2013. It was designed, directed and animated by Monika Dzikowicz. Music was by Boris Nonte, and the Executive producer was Paolo Polesello.

Enjoy!

(Editor's note: to see more work by our talented undergraduate students and recent graduates, see this recent post about the art of Sabah Masood. Also check out the work of Andy Thomas here, and see our latest commercial project for Rocketseed, our short film done for a global aid agency, and take a look at the excellent work of architectural visualisation specialist Krsytof Michalski, Alex Whitfield and the 3D artwork of Mike Swan.) 

Breaking into the Creative Industries

We're famous again! Today the Daily Telegraph has run a piece on how students can muscle their way in to the creative industries, how to sustain a career in what is still a challenging job market, especially for recent graduates. It's a good piece, full of useful insights into what students need to learn in order to make it. Click here to read all about it.

We've picked up the pace a lot for our first year students this year, pushing them hard to aquire the right skills so that they can be picking up small freelance jobs by the middle of the second year. Our goal is to have all our students working as professional animators and digital artists well before they leave Bucks. That way, students not only leave university with the right skills, they also have the kind of real-world experience that can sustain them through the inevitably challenging early stages of establishing a career in the digital arts.

---Alex

(Editor's note: For more information on how graduates can find work and work as successful freelancers, read out our post on Portfolio Careers.  Also, check out our guide to animation careers here, and also take a look at this map of digital studios - a great place to start your search for work in the business. Learn the nuts and bolts of freelance life by reading our guide to invoicing clients, and our guide to putting together a great CV.)

How Do I Find a Job in Media? - Our Graduates Reveal the Secrets

How do graduates in digital media find that crucial first job? And the second? And how do you build a career? Last friday a dozen Bucks graduates who are currently working  in the creative industries came back to their alma mater to talk to our undergraduates about what it takes to find work. They They discussed many things, but the recurring theme was employment - and how to find it. Below are some of their tips for graduates looking to find work.


1. Turn up on time 
A number of members of the panel mentioned good time keeping as important, which is as much as to say - be reliable.

2. Don’t be a d**k
No-one wants to work with people they don't like. Be nice!

3. Don’t smell bad. 
Try not to smell like a hangover. 

4. Learn to blag it – but not too much. 
Be confident, and try to say "yes, I can do that". But don't promise to do anything you know you can't pull off. No-one likes to be let down, and Producers will not forgive you if you make them look foolish. Be protective of your reputation - it's a small industry. 

5. Surround yourself with people who like doing the same stuff as you do
Be part of a community of artists who enjoy doing the same kind of work. You will learn from them, and they will learn from you. You might even set up a company together.

6. Work for free or for low wages – but not for too long 
Be willing to do work for modest sums, or for travel expenses, or just for the experience - in order to break into the industry. Unpaid internships can lead to a job. 

7. Contact as many companies as possible
Expect rejection, don't take it personally. Do your homework, research companies that need your skills; offer to help them out for low wages or for work experience - it may lead to a job.

8. Offer to help out on a shoot
Film shoots always need bodies - offer to help out. Again, you'll probably be doing it for free, or for travel costs, but this can be great experience.

9. Create your own mystique.
Find the thing that you do well, and get known for it. Make people feel confident in what you do. Like the sound guy who walks into a room, taps on a table and listens for the echo. It means nothing – but it looks good

10. Watch out for what’s on your FB page
People looking to employ you will check you out, so make sure your public profile isn't embarrassing. Your hilarious views on politics may make your friends laugh but it might cost you a job.

11.  Be really good at what you do
This is the obvious one. If you are not confident in your work - who else will be? 

12. You’re only as good as your last job – and your next job.
As a freelancer you will be judged on the last thing you did. Make sure everything you do is completed to a high professional standard. 

13. Ask not what your client can do for you, ask what you can do for your client.
Clients are looking to you to solve their problems, not create more. Try not to be too needy or high maintenance. Be a problem-solver not a problem-creator.



(Editor's Note: To see more about how we're taking active steps to help our graduates find work, check out our latest commercial project for Rocketseed, and our short film done for a global aid agency. For more information on working as a freelancer, check out our recent post on Portfolio Careers.  For advice on careers, check out our guide to animation careers here, and also take a look at this map of digital studios - a great place to start your search for work in the business.)