Senior Lecturer Games Animation
Gavin Lewis is the lead for Games Animation BA (Hons) course, and teaches across the games courses. He has a background as a visual effects artist working on Oscar winning films, as well as a facial animation specialist for AAA games. In his current research he is creating a series of works that use motion capture to explore ideas around parenthood.
Bio
Gavin studied Fine Art (Intermedia) at Kingston Upon Thames, before receiving a full scholarship to do a Masters in Computer Animation at the renowned NCCA in Bournemouth. Following this he began his career as a visual effects artist, working on Oscar winning feature films including Tim Burton’s Sweeney Todd, George Miller’s Happy Feet, as well as Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. During this time he was able to work in countries including Spain and Australia, at some of the world’s top visual effects companies including Framestore-CFC, Animal Logic and The Moving Picture Company.
In 2009 Gavin started working within the games industry for facial-animation specialists Faceware, providing consultation to games companies including Electronic Arts and Crytek, advising on their facial capture process for games including Crysis II, and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, as well as attending motion capture shoots to act as facial capture supervisor.
Gavin has been teaching 3D Animation since 2011, and has specialised in Games Animation since 2015. In 2013, he won the University of West London Prize for Early Career Academics for his highly positive student feedback and innovative teaching approaches. Gavin is currently the lead for the UCA Games Animation BA (Hons) and is dedicated to supporting students find their creative passion, whilst helping them achieve a deep understanding of the technical tools that will allow them to realise their creative visions.
In addition to his teaching and research, Gavin is also a practicing artist and is currently producing a series of works that use motion capture to explore ideas around fatherhood and the different means of capturing and draw attention to our everyday reality.