Bournemouth University’s second annual BFX Festival has proved a hit with the press recently. The five-day festival, which was attended by over 1,000 people and saw some of the world’s biggest computer visual effects companies descend on the town, was covered by radio, on TV and online.
The BBC’s South Today programme hailed Bournemouth as “a fitting place” to stage the festival, due to the reputation of its National Centre for Computer Animation (NCCA), from which many of those working in the industry having graduated from.
Speaking on South Today, Senior Lecturer at Bournemouth University and Festival Director Sofronis Efstathiou said: “Bournemouth University and Arts University Bournemouth have been here for 25 odd years now, effectively creating some of the best graduates who go off and work in those [creative] industries”.
The festival also featured on the BBC South’s lunchtime news, where Efstathiou drew attention to some of the movies that BU graduates have worked on, including Gravity, Maleficent, Guardians of the Galaxy, and more.
BBC Radio Solent also covered the Festival, with Steve Harris meeting some of those that worked on films including The Lego Movie, before interviewing Efstathiou, along with several current BU and AUB students.
Commenting on Disney’s recent Maleficent release, Adam Twycross, the NCCA’s Postgraduate Computer Animation Course Leader, described the exhibition as “taking people all the way through the production of a classic animated movie (Disney’s Sleeping Beauty, 1959) and a modern, visual effects-based blockbuster.”
Online, the Festival also received attention from UK Wired, a local parent blog and the Do More magazine, who highlighted the Festival’s screenings of The Lego Movie and Frozen. Bournemouth Echo recommended the event as one of their ‘Things To Do’ weekend features in addition to a feature article on the Festival.
Video game animation was also a major feature of the BFX Festival, with gaming sites Gamasutra and Battle Royal With Cheese covering the event. “I was astonished by the quality of speakers and their presentations this year…” added Efstathiou.
