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SAE Institute Press Release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
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SAE support Raindance Film Festival and the future of independent film making


SAE Institute is sponsoring the Raindance Film Festival for the second year running. Not only did they sponsor the ‘Best Digital Short’ award, but they also presented a film making masterclass with Paddy Eason of Rainmaker Animation and Visual and Mark J. Blackman, an independent filmmaker.



Saturday the 6th October saw the Rex Cinema in Soho’s Rupert Street turned into a platform for two speakers from entirely different backgrounds in independent filmmaking to address a crowd of enthusiastic film fans.

Paddy Eason spoke at length about his work as a Visual Effects Supervisor. His main focus is to make CGI look completely invisible, something that he frequently illustrated during his talk with examples of his work on films such as Sleepy Hollow, Mission: Impossible 2, Chicken Run and the legendary Guinness Surfer commercial.

Paddy has spent 15 years working in film, and suggested that there’s never been more opportunities for people wanting to get into visual effects. “Companies are hungry for talent and are actively looking for graduates of relevant courses,” he concluded. “A good showreel will get your foot in the door, and digital artists with moderate experience can be earning upward of £250 a day.”

The second speaker, Mark J. Blackman, is an independent filmmaker, director and editor, and has succeeded by taking every opportunity that has come his way. Despite only graduating in Film Studies in 2004, Mark’s commitment has already seen him win two Promax awards as well as an award at the Houston International Film Festival.

Mark’s talk focused very much on the DIY approach, inspiring the audience to get out there and see what they can achieve. He illustrated his exploits with short films that had been made on zero budgets but with maximum creativity, as well as giving an invaluable insight into the progress of his first full length feature film, due to go into production next year.

After 12 days of screenings around the West End, the festival came to a close on Sunday 7th October with the Raindance Awards ceremony that saw SAE London awarding The Stronger with the award for Best Digital Short.

SAE London manager Matthias Postel, who presented that award, summed up the importance of the festival in his own words: "Our Masterclass at the Raindance Film Festival is like a reflection of what our Digital Film course caters for. On the one hand, more specialist aspects of the film industry, in this case Visual Effects, a subject that was brilliantly represented by Paddy. And on the other hand, the whole world of independent film making, which is especially relevant to the students on our digital film courses. Mark's talk really gave a good impression of how to make it as an independent filmmaker, which is what connects us to the Raindance Festival: Many of our students venture into independent filmmaking, and through our sponsorship and the Best Digital Short award we want to support the future of an industry that empowers individuals to realise their own vision."