Course summary

You are a creative storyteller with an obsessive passion for animation. You want to develop your technical skills and you love working with the latest technology. If you think this applies to you, then you should apply for this course. This degree is an amalgamation of animation and illustration. When we created the course we spoke to our contacts in the industry and asked them what the course should cover. As well as both 2D and 3D animation, the industry wants people who can draw and they seem to be in short supply. For that reason, in the first year you will gain a solid grounding in illustration for animation. The drawing skills developed in this year will lay a strong foundation for the digital work to come. Using light boxes and rostrum cameras you will explore the traditional methods of animation, including the twelve principles of animation that have guided generations of animators. Creative thinking, storyboarding and story structure are all covered and within the first year you will put everything into practise with your own 30 second traditional animation. In the second year you will transfer your animation skills into 3D. Using the industry standard software package Maya, you will learn how to recreate the 12 principles in 3D space and create your first short film in 3D. You will learn 3D modelling, including how to make props and characters from scratch, as well as video edition and motion graphics. An industry-set brief is introduced in the second year to give you real world experience working for a client. You will also continue to illustrate, producing a set of creative responses to briefs and, in the second semester, a graphic novel or illustrated story book. In the third year your teaching will become more self-directed, allowing every student to pursue their own creative path. You will create a short film, made in the medium of your choice, and an honours project which could be anything from modelling to illustration, animation to concept art. Your learning journey will be guided throughout by tutors who have worked in the industry so that your projects, as well as being personally rewarding, will also provide you with a professional portfolio and showreel for the time you graduate. Motion capture is also taught on third year, as are interview skills, networking and how to land your first job in the industry. The main activities within the programme will take place within a classroom/studio/online setting. This will allow you and the staff to develop a mature and informative relationship concerning your study. Not only is this a supportive and welcoming environment but it mimics the professional arena where you will be expected to organise your working patterns based upon set goals. It is important to note that this is not a distance learning / online course. Online activity will be a part of the course in addition to onsite studios and labs as it is an important transferable skill you will need in industry. Students leave the programme being highly employable, and our course stats reflect this.