Animation BA Honours

Course content

What will you study on the BA Animation?

On this course you will study a broad range of animation practice including:

• Traditional 2D: Drawing, Painting, Mixed Media
• Digital 2D: Flash, After Effects, Cel Action, TV Paint and Adobe Photoshop
• Stop Motion: Puppet, Claymation, Cut Out, Sand on Glass, Paint on Glass and Pixilation
• 3D Computer Animation: Cinema 4D and Motion Capture

In your first year you will develop a personal approach to animation and learn to apply an understanding of film language, narrative and the technical processes of animation to the creation of your own animation sequences. You will learn about changing practices in the history of animation and explore and experiment with different forms of graphic media.

In your second year you will further develop your animation practice and begin to identify specific areas of interest. The second year of study gives you the opportunity to refine your technical and problem-solving skills. In the Digital Cultures module you will be introduced to a range of concepts regarding animation in games and play, particularly in relation to computer games.

In your final year you will consolidate your skills to a professional standard and fully prepare for a career in the animation industry, identifying potential career paths and preparing a graduation showreel, portfolio and promotional material.

What will you gain?

You will learn to:

• Research and develop your own ideas and turn them into compelling and emotive screenplays
• Develop strong and believable animated characters that your audience can empathise with
• Explore and experiment with image making as a means to developing a personal visual language
• Effectively use film language to communicate concept, character, personality and emotion
• Plan and manage all aspects of an animation production and deliver on time according to an agreed schedule
• Use film editing techniques to effectively convey concepts and narrative
• Use sound recording and editing techniques to create professional soundtracks for your films.

Modules

This module will introduce the core issues in the history of animation and computer graphics. You will survey the changing practices, aesthetics and accompanying theories and enable you to develop research skills and engage critically with the topic.

This module gives you an exciting foundation in the Fundamentals of Animation. We explore visual storytelling in detail and the importance of experimentation, research and development in Animation film making. You are methodically taken through the technical principles of analogue and digital 2D Animation, Stop Motion and 3D Computer Animation and learn a range of industry standard software relevant to animation production, in a way that is accessible, creative and rewarding. Alongside the core teaching, there are many exciting intensive workshops involving collaboration with students from BA 3D Animation and Games, and BA Illustration.

This module investigates contemporary workflows in the Animation industry through a series of intensive workshops, including individual and group work. This includes a deeper exploration of film language and the importance of characterisation in story development and design. Building on the skills developed in Year 1 you will work on a challenging Advanced Animation Skills Workshop and a collaborative Mixed Media Animation Workshop. As the year progresses you will collate and present your investigations in a Two Minute Animated Film. This curriculum aims to be varied and surprising, encouraging the nurturing of individual art practices and group working. Through this succession of technical and artistic experimentations, you gain the confidence to begin approaching studios while establishing your own collectives and professional networks.

This module aims to introduce a range of theories and concepts relating to games and play. You will further develop an understanding of academic research methods and the module will include an examination of psychological and cultural aspects of computer games.

This module combines group and individual projects and aims to reinforce, extend and consolidate previously acquired skills and knowledge to achieve a confident, independent approach to animation practice at a professional level. We invite established creative industry professionals to set live briefs and help you to hone your skills as emerging animation professionals. You can choose direct your own Graduation Film, working as an independent animation director or alternatively form a partnership or collaboration with other students from your cohort. During your final year you will cultivate highly articulate analysis, evaluation and discussion with an explicit critical understanding of current animation practice. Identify potential career paths and anticipate the expectations of the animation industry in the presentation of a graduation film and show reel, portfolio and promotional material.

This module aims to enable you to identify and deliver a research project that is the product of sustained and creative engagement both with a range of research resources and an area of studio-practice. The module will consolidate skills of project identification, research organisation and development, time management, written and visual analysis and the presentation of a critical argument/thesis. The module further consolidates the development of skills required for autonomous learning.

You can find more information about this course in the programme specification. Optional modules are usually available at levels 5 and 6, although optional modules are not offered on every course. Where optional modules are available, you will be asked to make your choice during the previous academic year. If we have insufficient numbers of students interested in an optional module, or there are staffing changes which affect the teaching, it may not be offered. If an optional module will not run, we will advise you after the module selection period when numbers are confirmed, or at the earliest time that the programme team make the decision not to run the module, and help you choose an alternative module.