AN OSCAR-WINNING special effects expert will help launch a new film studies degree at Oxford Brookes University.

Eynsham-born Ben Morris was part of the Oscar-winning special effects team from Framestore CFC, who won an Oscar last year for best visual effects for the film version of Oxford author Philp Pullman’s The Golden Compass.

He is to give a guest lecture on Wednesday to promote Brookes’ postgraduate MA course on Popular Cinema.

Mr Morris, 38, a former pupil of Bartholomew School, Eynsham, will give a masterclass and speak about his work on The Golden Compass to an audience of film studies students and the public.

Senior film studies lecturer Dr Daniela Treveri-Gennar said: “We’re delighted that Ben is coming to share his insight into the very fast-moving world of special effects.

“It’s the first of a number of high-profile guest lectures with experts from the film industry that will complement both our undergraduate programme and our new MA.”

As well as the Oscar, Mr Morris and his team won American Emmy and BritishBafta prizes for the digital effects, which included the giant polar bear Iorek, voiced by Sir Ian McKellen.

Last July he returned to his old school to hand out awards to pupils.

The new MA course, which will start in September, covers the history and theory of popular cinema in the US, Europe and Asia.

Students, who are invited to apply for the new course now, will have the opportunity to work with a host of key figures in the cinema world, including Nick Goldsmith, producer of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.

Also lined up are Son of Rambow, East is East and Atonement producer Paul Webster, wildlife cinematographer Paul Stewart, who won an Emmy for the BBC’s Blue Planet documentary series, and new creative fellow Simon West, director of Lara Croft: Tomb Raider and Con Air.

The course can be taken either full or part-time, with opportunities for work placements in the film industry.

Tickets for Mr Morris’s lecture, which takes place at Freud’s, in Walton Street, Oxford, at 6pm on Wednesday, must be reserved in advance.

To book tickets email lucy.morris@brookes.ac.uk or call 01865 483575.

For information about the course, see http://ah.brookes .ac.uk/filmstudies/ fbardsley@oxfordmail.co.uk