Course summary

Help make movie magic and TV thrills! Our highly practical BDes (Hons) Special Effects for Film and TV with foundation year degree explores a wide range of specialist skills to create physical and digital effects for film and TV. With fantastic facilities and industry-experienced staff, we’re dedicated to preparing you for a career bringing imagination to life. Television shows, films, music videos, commercials and theatre productions all rely on the magic of special effects to enhance their storytelling. Our BDes (Hons) Special Effects for Film and TV with foundation year course is ideal if you wish to combine design creativity, physical model-making skills, special prosthetic make-up effects, and cutting-edge 2D and 3D computer modelling and prototyping in the creation of special effects for all these platforms. This unique course begins with a foundation year that allows you to experience the various specialisms offered by the Centre for Film FX at the University of Bolton. Our foundation year aims to build your academic and creative skills and confidence so that you can make the leap to degree-level study smoothly. We’ll guide you as you explore a wide range of technical and creative areas drawn from across the spectrum of special and visual effects, helping you make an informed decision about your future career direction. At the end of the year, you’ll be able to choose between progressing with our BDes (Hons) Special Effects for Film and TV or transferring to one of our other fantastic Film FX courses. Throughout this degree, you’ll explore and develop your design and problem-solving skills and apply them to the art of creating special effects for film and television. This pathway offers specialisation while still nurturing an understanding of the entire landscape of special effects. Large-scale film and TV productions use both physical and digital effects, so our intensely practical approach allows you to gain hands-on experience of a broad range of special effects disciplines and techniques. Industry practitioners deliver several elements of the course. Our staff are very hands-on, skilled, friendly and enthusiastic, prioritising one-to-one support and industry-focused development.