On Thursday, Year 12 and 13 Computer Science pupils travelled to London, to visit Industrial Light & Magic, the visual effects people behind Star Wars, Marvel Films and the new ABBA Voyage immersive experience!

Upon arriving in London we were able to meet with Amy, Emily and Margit who worked within ILM and to hear about how they bring their expertise to the job, as well as finding out about avenues to get into the industry. It was exciting to know that where we were seated would have been famous directors, producers and movie stars before us. They talked about the importance of honing your skills in a particular area such as compositing and how Python programming helps them develop the tools that they use to create the stunning effects we see in the cinema and on our TV screens. We were treated to an exclusive show reel as well. The pupils were able to ask lots of questions to our hosts and received fantastic answers.

After our lunch stop, as recommended by Walter, we were able to find out and use the new technologies coming out from Microsoft at their Experience Centre and, at the end, we were even able to play console games in their entertainment area! During our travel we also stumbled upon a light display art exhibition that was very cool to experience, having been at a visual effect studio. It was an eye-opening, educational day and was great to understand a bit more about the tech industry. This trip was part of the Cambridge Technicals in IT course that the pupils are undertaking and gaining experiences for meaningful industry engagement.   

Mr Hamilton
Head of Computer Science and IT Services