Vision on!
Fri, 15 Jun 2012 13:35:00 BST
Graduate James is shortlisted for awards ceremony boosting his movie business ambitions
JAMES Lashmar (pictured) has designs on a career in the film world, helping to produce stunning visual effects for major movies. But as he works towards his dream, the University of Huddersfield graduate’s success in a succession of design industry awards is giving him the opportunity to make valuable contacts.
He was among the winners at the recent 2012 Sh! Awards, in Leeds, a celebration of the most creative student talent to emerge in Yorkshire. For this, James – aged 27 – entered a showreel with highlights of the projects that he developed during studies for his recently completed BA degree in Multimedia Design.
And now he has been shortlisted for one of the categories in the prestigious Big Chip Awards.
Established since the 1990s, these are the biggest digital awards outside London and the second longest running in the UK. They celebrate the work of the best talent to emerge in the North of England.
The 2012 ceremony takes place in Manchester and James is one of five nominees in student category, appropriately named the Little Chip Student Awards. He impressed judges with an animation that was originally created for the D&AD Awards in London. It is a visually-stunning 3D film themed around clouds and it runs for 30 seconds – although it was the product of about seven weeks’ painstaking work.
One of the best aspects of making the Big Chip shortlist is that it will provide James with an opportunity for networking with industry insiders. His aim is to seek work in London, now the world’s largest centre for post-production work on movies.
“It will be tough, but you need to have perseverance in this industry. You can’t beat hard work,” says James, who grew up in Stainland, near Halifax, and had a number of jobs, including IT work, before enrolling on a University of Huddersfield degree course that helped him express his creativity.
“Design is something that is inside you,” says James, who won the Interactive Media category at the 2010 Northern Design Competition. “It is not just a job. You have to live design to be good at it.”
