Ahead of last weekend’s Academy Awards, Bournemouth University (BU) welcomed double-Oscar-award winning visual effects artist and filmmaker, Dr Paul Franklin.
Dr Franklin visited campus on Friday 28 February 2025 to share career insights with students from the National Centre for Computer Animation (NCCA). As co-founder of DNEG and creative director of beloFX, Dr Franklin’s movie credits include Harry Potter and The Order of The Phoenix and Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire. He has worked for over a decade with director, Sir Christopher Nolan, including designing and supervising the visual effects for Nolan’s Dark Night trilogy and winning Oscars for his work on Inception and Interstellar.
Speaking before his guest lecture on Friday, Dr Franklin said: “I always enjoy visiting BU. I love the passion that the young people have here, and I benefit from seeing their extraordinary new ideas and new ways of thinking. I was previously an external course examiner for BU, which I found incredibly rewarding. Over the years I have also met people here that I have ended up working with in the sector – there continues to be a very strong Bournemouth alumni network out there.”
In 2012 Dr Franklin was awarded an honorary doctorate from BU, saying: “Receiving my honorary degree from BU in 2012 was a fantastic honour. I cherish my connection with the university and actively seek to stay in touch with the course leaders and to find out what’s going on.”
Dr Paul Franklin pictured standing next to Saf Efstathiou, Principal Academic in the Faculty of Media & Communication at BU.Asked how the sector has changed over the course of his career, Dr Franklin said: “The biggest difference is the scale. Back in 1990, VFX was a specialist thing which could only be afforded by most expensive movies. If you watch something like the original Jurassic Park, there are only about six minutes of computer animation, and you don’t see the dinosaurs that much. A movie like that today would have hundreds or thousands of VFX moments and it’s hard to think of a film without some component of computer animation. The size of the industry has grown, and I believe that the demand for talent will continue to grow. We have heard talk for a long time of how AI and machine learning will reduce the need for filmmakers, but it hasn’t happened yet. I still believe we need artists who know how to project their ideas onto the screen and to make truly great movies.”
When asked for his advice for current students or recent graduates at the start of their careers, he said: “It is challenging and competitive and there is a lot of noise. You need to rise above to make yourself stand out. At the end of the day, it’s a creative process and we need people who show initiative and insight and who understand what we are trying to create for the screen. Learn how to work well in a team, because you can’t work in isolation, and watch a lot of films, not just those heavy on VFX, to learn what it takes to make them great.”
Dr Franklin was appearing as part of a series of guest lectures and masterclasses for students studying courses within the NCCA.
For further information about the BA (Hons) Computer Animation & Visual Effects course, please visit the BU website.
For further information about the NCCA, please visit the BU website.
