The latest Oscar winners will be announced this weekend and more than forty graduates from Bournemouth University have contributed to films nominated for this year’s Academy Awards.
Former students from the National Centre for Computer Animation and the Department of Media Production at BU worked on some of last year's biggest films, including Wicked, Dune: Part Two, Conclave, Gladiator, The Apprentice and Alien Romulus.
The positions held by BU graduates across the nominated films include Digital and Visual Effects Artists, Animation Directors, Camera Operators and Graphic Designers.
DNEG, a company co-founded by BU honorary graduate Paul Franklin, was the lead Visual Effects partner on Dune: Part Two, which has been shortlisted in the Best Visual Effects category. Earlier this month they won the BAFTA in that category.
Robyn Luckham, studied at BU and is now Animation Director at DNEG,. He said: “It’s a great privilege to be part of the team, and to get another nomination for the our work in the Dune franchise. Part Two took the work to another level, and everyone on the team stepped up to meet it. To have been able to contribute to the animation of such iconic creatures and battles is a dream come true, and to see that work acknowledged by the outstanding filmmakers at the Academy is very humbling.
“I studied Bournemouth University undergraduate and masters courses from 1997 to 2001 and the passion, teamwork, and skills that I learnt there have been a staple throughout my entire career. The people I worked with at Bournemouth as students are now heads of departments, supervisors and animation directors at some of the biggest visual effects houses in the world, producing some of the best effects in the history of film and television."
Professor Paula Callus, Head of Computer Animation at BU, said: “It is always exciting to read the Oscar nominations each year and to see just how many former students have contributed to these exceptional films. It shows the calibre of our graduates and how hard they work that they are now so successful across the industry. We wish all those involved the very best of luck as the awards season gets underway.”
The winners of the 97th Academy Awards will be announced at the Oscar’s ceremony, scheduled to take place on Sunday 2 March.
