GRADUATES from Arts University Bournemouth are hoping for success at the Oscars following their work on blockbuster space thriller Gravity.

A total of 10 graduates from AUB’s BA Animation Production and Film Production courses worked on Alfonso Cuarón’s blockbuster space thriller, Gravity, which received 10 Oscar nominations yesterday.

The film has also recently won best director at the Golden Globes, as well as being nominated for no less than 11 BAFTA awards, including best special visual effects, cinematography and editing.

Work on the film was led by world-leading visual effects company, Framestore.

Much of the film is photo-real CGI, with the only real elements often just Sandra Bullock and George Clooney’s faces.

Graduates from the Arts University Bournemouth were recruited by Framestore to work on the paint, roto and tracking for the film at Framestore’s satellite VFX studio, based in the Enterprise Pavilion at the Arts University Bournemouth.

The graduates were Hollie Taylor, Natalie Young, Alex Cameron, Stefan Ash, Jakub Jezek, Olga Valenta and Alena Nikitina from BA Animation Production and Lars Erik Eriksen, Juila Zahner, Sasha Izadpanah from BA Film Production.

Lars, who worked as a paint and roto artist on the film, said: “During my last year at AUB I was doing more and more VFX related work so when I heard Framestore were setting up an outpost on campus I had to jump at the amazing opportunity.

“Luckily I was offered a job and one of the first main projects I worked on was Gravity. It was the steepest learning curve I’ve ever had and such an amazing opportunity to be working on a Hollywood movie right on the AUB campus.”

Sasha Izadpanah added: “My specialism on the film course was editing and I was extremely lucky to have tutors like Bill Diver and Jonathan Turner.

“I had a well rounded experience – from the technical to the theoretical and I would not be where I am today were it not for the education they provided.

“I was lucky enough that during my second year Framestore opened up an outpost office on the AUB campus. Knowing this to be a great opportunity I spent a lot of my spare time getting as much experience in visual effects as I could during my third year to prepare me for the role they had.”

And the nominees are...

Like Gravity, con drama American Hustle also has 10 nominations for this year’s Oscars.

American Hustle was shortlisted in all four acting categories for its stars Christian Bale, Amy Adams, Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence and is up for best picture alongside Gravity.

Gravity is also shortlisted for best director and best actress for Sandra Bullock.

Steve McQueen’s 12 Years a Slave's picked up nine nominations, including best director and picture.

The film's stars Chiwetel Ejiofor, Michael Fassbender and Lupita Nyong'o were also nominated in the best actor, supporting actor and supporting actress categories.

British film Philomena is up for four awards, including best picture.

Captain Phillips, 12 Years a Slave, Nebraska, The Wolf of Wall Street, Dallas Buyers Club and Her are also among the nine films nominated for the coveted award.