Animation BA (Hons)

Course overview

From the outset, this course gives you the opportunity to create a highly creative portfolio relevant to your chosen area of creative practice.

Other benefits include the following:

• The course cultivates a form of teaching where students experiment, exercise and practise. Our students explore, experiment and design with both analogue (drawing and primary visual research) and digital technologies and generate outcomes in 3D and 2D.
• The Animation team fosters inclusivity in character development and narrative, drawing upon the traditions of cultures from around the globe, both contemporary, historical and mythological, with considerations of race, age, gender, disability and variety of body type.
• Our graduates could expect to work as 3D animators, 2D animators, riggers, modellers, character designers, environment artists, story boarders, animation directors, writers and comic artists.

Why you should study this course

• Professional practice is a key component of the course with scope to undertake placements and briefs that respond to the needs of the creative industries, both in the UK and abroad².
• A flexible approach enables you to individually develop your creative practice and portfolio towards a wide range of potential career paths.
• Opportunity to develop skills and experiment with a wide range of technology and traditional media.
• Teaching staff are industry experienced practitioners and/or research active. Staff have worked for a wide range of clients and on major arts funded projects. Staff bring this experience into the teaching environment through practical teaching activities and project work that is core to the curriculum - it also helps to maintain currency and professional alignment to course content. Staff maintain a continuous relationship with industry and have a significant and growing portfolio of collaborative and industry-focused projects that inspire student research and development activities (staff may be subject to change).

Careers and opportunities

Graduates could be expected to work as animators, graphic novel artists, environment artists and storyboard artists as well as pursuing careers in teaching and study at postgraduate level. In the past, graduates have returned to share their experiences and advice as visiting lecturers and have continued to support the next generation of Animation students.

After studying, students go on to work in the following areas: advertising, comic books, tv and film production, children’s picture books, artists, art direction, games art and animation, teaching and study at postgraduate level.