Course summary
This unique and exciting one year full-time practical Postgraduate Diploma course aims to equip students with the skills and experience necessary to enhance their career in the field of professional model/prop making within animation or other media industries. "This is fabulous. What a fantastic project to work on. Good job all round. Bravo!" - Stanley Kubrick's daughter Katharina, on seeing the students' 2001: A Space Odyssey set build. Our students work in a fully-equipped workshop/studio environment and collaborate with those in other specialisms, such as animation, production design, digital effects and cinematography, to make several films and practical projects – with all production costs met by the School. All NFTS students can attend Masterclasses. Recent guests include David Fincher (Fight Club), Greta Gerwig (Little Women), Steve McQueen (12 Years A Slave), Edgar Wright (Hot Fuzz), Phoebe Waller-Bridge (Fleabag), Ben Wheatley (Free Fire), Rapman (Blue Story), Louis Theroux, Debra Granik (Winter’s Bone), Denis Villeneuve (Bladerunner 2049), Lynne Ramsay (You Were Never Really Here), Sam Mendes (1917), Asif Kapadia (Senna), Joanna Hogg (The Souvenir), Russell T Davies (Doctor Who) and Travis Knight (Kubo And The Two Strings). This course is industry recognised by ScreenSkills, the industry-led skills body for the UK's screen-based industries, and carries the ScreenSkills Select quality-mark which indicates courses best suited to prepare students for a career in the screen industries. The NFTS wants to encourage applications from the brightest and best talent out there, whatever your background. That’s why we have made scholarship funding available for this course – visit our scholarships available for diploma courses page for more information.
Modules
This is the only UK-based model making course located in a dedicated film studio environment. We intend to take advantage of that. We will be creating professional models, sets, props and puppets. Successful candidates will work individually, and as part of a team within a course comprising of challenging modules, workshops, and tutorials, some of which will take place online. Later in the year students will produce work on some of the animation graduation films.
Assessment method
Major project - The major part of the year will involve working on the NFTS Animation grad films.
Entry requirements
There will be no typical candidate for this course. Your background will almost certainly be in the Arts, and you may well be a recent graduate or Industry professional looking to further specialise. You will most likely have some pre-industry experience of model making or training in your chosen field and have a basic understanding and experience of workshop equipment and machinery. The ideal candidate should have a mixture of creative, technical, communicative, and problem solving skills necessary to work within a highly productive team. You will be expected to have your own tool kit and to expand on this during the year, at your cost. Your application should be supported by a brief outline of your interests in modelling, puppet making, sculpture, filmmaking etc, and show photographic examples of a selection of your best work with detailed notations. While many applicants will have a degree from a British or overseas university, we will consider applicants who do not have a degree if they have an impressive portfolio, a creative track record or an alternative qualification. If you are an EEA or International citizen, you must already be in possession of UK settled/pre-settled status or another visa which allows you to study for the duration of the course. If you do not already hold a UK status, unfortunately we cannot accept your application as we are currently unable to support a visa on our Diploma courses. If you have any questions, please email [email protected].
Fees and funding
Tuition fees
| England | £9800 | Whole course |
| Northern Ireland | £9800 | Whole course |
| Scotland | £9800 | Whole course |
| Wales | £9800 | Whole course |
Additional fee information
These are the fees for September 2022 intake.2023 Fees will be confirmed soon.
Students with EU settled / pre-settled status are still eligible to apply.
Provider information
National Film and Television School
Beaconsfield Studios
Station Road
Beaconsfield
HP9 1LG