Ecole des Nouvelles Images
Since 2017, the Ecole des Nouvelles Images, classed in the top 10 animation schools in France in 2021 by Animation Career Review, has been raising the profile of Avignon internationally, thanks to the excellence of the teaching given, rewarded by many awards and nominations, from the Oscars to BAFTA and students joining prestigious groups.
In the beginning, Julien Deparis and an association
After having worked in film then held several positions in establishments teaching film professions, in 2017 Julien Deparis created the Ecole des Nouvelles Images in Avignon with the aim of constantly updating what is taught to meet companies’ expectations and needs, as they are continually looking for innovations. Professional teaching given by professionals for professionals.
Avignon was obvious for him, as heritage and culture is in the DNA of the city of the Popes, in addition to a perfect location with easy access for students who sometimes come from abroad to take the course there.
The School chose to have the legal set up of a non-profit organisation with a multiple governance model, including the founders, lecturers, students’ parents, employees, who all share the same passion, a philosophy of social and economic utility, an ambitious vision of animation professions based on excellence in order to prepare students to embark on successful careers.
Through the organisation and its partner, Airbus Hélicoptères, €100,000 are raised each year to provide financial support for students as grants (depending on means). Partnerships with La Banque Postale and BNP round out this provision, from which students can take out loans with preferential conditions.
Serving others
Each year, as part of their projects, the School’s students apply their skills to social initiatives, like Saint-Joseph Hospital in Marseille for example, for which a class made an educational film to inform, reassure, and support children and their families staying in hospital, about the care and operations, with the film “life in the operating theatre” and health education with “golden rules for risk-free sleep” (FR).
This year, the School will make a film for Avignon hospital, for those experiencing residual effects after having Covid-19.
Did you know?
Actions are part of the School’s community dimension, its non-profit vocation.
A school with a 5-year course
Did you know?
To enable students wanting to enrol at the school to prepare for the competitive entrance exam or bring themselves up-to-date, an intensive foundation year was created, with intensive teaching from September to April.
It all starts with an initial 3 years of studies: A core curriculum of knowledge in the 1st year enables the basics of animation to be acquired. In the 2nd year, working with 3D tools is increased with team projects. The 3rd year focuses on individual 3D productions and an internship in a company recognise knowledge and skills.
The second 2-year course: in the 4th year students choose their specialist area (the art of animation or computer-generated animation) applied through collective and individual productions before the 5th and final year, where, for 10 months, students produce what will be their best passport for joining the professional environment: their end-of-course film, assessed in a public screening before a jury of professionals.
Various job prospects, from film to industry
If film remains the “natural” sector after the course, there are also many job prospects in areas as varied as advertising, communication and industry, digital images now being everywhere in everyday life, like for example simulating your interior with your favourite furniture brand, car advertising, industrial, aviation and space innovations that are initially modelled, the medical field… A field of infinite possibilities in constant development.
It is more than a school, it is a pool of talents rewarded internationally
More than 700 official selections and more than 200 awards crown the excellence of the students’ work and teaching, including 3 films competing at the Oscars “Hors-Piste” (which finished in the final shortlist against giants like Disney or Pixar), “Grand Bassin”, “Wild Love”, and the 2 BAFTAs for “Best Student Film” won by “Hors-Piste” in 2019 and “Sous la glace” in 2020, or the first prize for best student animation film for “Sous la glace” at the Paris Image Digital Summit & Animago festival…