BA (Hons) Animation

Duration

3 years

Institution code

L28

UCAS Code

W615

Model of a green dinosaur against a dark background standing in front of a microphone. Its mouth is open as if it is singing.

Annie Nicholson

A model of seven terraced brick houses on a grey pavement, each with a different coloured door. The background is black and the text underneath reads: Thou art from this point come to Purgatory.

Daisy Lewis and Madgie Hall Dougherty

A collage of five models of anthropomorphic sea creatures creatures, all wearing clothes.

Ducky Hughes and Louis Edgar

A cartoon of a waterfall, running between rocks and grass, with green leaves in the foreground. Small creatures sit around, including a frog, two birds and two grey creatures with large tails.

Elise Illingworth

Five cartoon animals with human characteristics wearing a coloured robes and holding their hands as if in prayer. They are in a dark room with lanterns hanging in the background.

Endurance Nwanze Omobude, Evelyn Nwanze Omobude, Fahad Zia and Venus Au Yeung

Cartoon of a police officer with a moustache and blue skin, holding an orange. They are standing in the open doorway of a building with cracks in the walls.

Faye Craig

A very dark cartoon of a building on a hill in the rain. The building appears to be made of loose parts, including a rake and a metal hook.

Frank Lewis, Amy Craig and Karina Young

A cartoon of light brown masks in blue sand. The sky is a dark pink.

Harry Richards and Bethan Reast

Cartoon of a child wearing a white shirt, dark grey tie and a light grey pinafore. Their hair is back in braids, they have large brown eyes and they stare directly at the viewer. Other characters appeared blurred behind them.

Kahenya Kangethe

Cartoon of a person with long brown hair. Behind them stands another person wearing a dress of red, blue and gold with long black sleeves obscuring their hands. They are wearing gold accessories in their hair.

Karina Young

A soft toy model of a monkey wearing a red hat and apron, and blue gloves. They are leaning on a wooden food truck with a bored expression.

Kate Varley

A sketchy cartoon of a sea creature with sharp teeth, wearing glasses and an apron. Other sea creatures are sitting in tanks behind them.

Luke Mason

An illustration of a person sitting at a table holding a pencil and a small notebook. They are in a large room with bookshelves on either side, a red patterned rug on the wooden floorboards and arched windows at the back.

Matthew Bahktiari

A red and yellow mirror ball, the lower part of which has shattered into small squares. The upper part of the image is red, the lower part is largely yellow with the red, yellow and white squares of the shattered ball.

Oran O'Sullivan

An illustration of two people standing in front of a display of ornate dresses with long bridal veils. One person wearing a headscarf turns to face the other who is facing away from the viewer.

Zarwa Malik

The Course

Our specialist course is designed for passionate students focussing on a career in animation production. Join others who share your ambition of becoming a professional animator across film, TV, games or other exciting industries.

You will study practical and technical skills across a range of traditional and digital animation. By gaining a solid grounding in animation and related theories and concepts, you can make an informed choice as you begin to specialise in a chosen area.

Learning is reinforced by practical experimentation. Our hands-on programme nurtures creative collaboration, both at course level and across subject areas at the University. This can include live briefs and international competitions, helping you develop your specialism within animation.

The professional practice elements of the course are vital in giving you a broad understanding of the sector. Visiting professionals provide career development and industry insights, alongside supported work experience opportunities and fascinating studio visits.

As a result of our established industry contacts, visiting experts include animators, model makers, sound designers, scriptwriters, producers, and directors. Representatives from global brands such as Aardman Animation, Mackinnon and Saunders, Factory, Warner Media, Golden Wolf as well as independent animators Joseph Wallace, Lizzie Hobbs, Bianca Ansems and Maryam Mohajer have inspired previous degree cohorts.

Wherever possible, we encourage you to gain real-world experiences. We support you to network, collaborate, and find new career opportunities and clients, giving you the edge when seeking employment in this rapidly evolving industry.

BA (Hons) Animation Instagram

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How to apply for our undergraduate courses

The Structure

Develop a comprehensive understanding of the principles of animation, from idea generation to end production processes. Exploration of the animation cycle covers narrative development, worldbuilding, character design, storyboarding, background/layout, and innovative media and animation techniques. Learn skills across 2D, 3D computer-generated, and stop motion animation. You’ll consider the practical, conceptual, and theoretical pathways open to you as an animator.

Course Facilities

Equipment for BA (Hons) Animation students includes industry-standard professional production equipment, comprising of high specification PCs and Wacom Cintiqs. Industry standard software for 2D, 3D and stop motion animation is provided and the course has a dedicated stop motion studio and equipment that includes stages, cameras, lenses, lighting and grip equipment.

Students will have access to a wide range of resources with a drop-in facility so work can be undertaken, provided resource inductions have been completed. For Animation students this could include 3D resources housed in dedicated workshops providing students with a hands-on experience over five main areas; wood, metal, laser-cutting and plastics, casting, ceramic and glass; professional-standard, large-format digital printing and print finishing.

Animation students will also be able to borrow a range of photography equipment including digital SLR cameras for still and moving image, lighting, and a range of support equipment, which can be used in our lighting studios or off-site. Computer suites house networks of Apple Mac computers featuring regularly updated, industry-standard software for a wide range of creative applications that support all our courses and a purpose-built specialist library which includes including special collections of artists’ books, photobooks and illustrated books as well as the University archive. Self service facilities are available throughout, supported by a dedicated and experienced team of library staff.

BA (Hons) Animation

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Student Stories

BA (Hons) Animation

Hannah Watts

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Video showcase

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Accolades

Recent student successes include:

Royal Television Society - Student Award for Best Animation 2022
Royal Television Society - Student Award for Best Production Design 2022
Kodak/Nahemi Student Commercial Award – Craft Award for Animation 2021
Nahemi – Official Selection National Student Film Awards 2021
Royal Television Society - Student Award for Best Animation 2020
International Animation Challenge Winners 2020
Dogs of the Future – Winner of Andromeda Film Festival 2020 and selected Flickfair 2020

Career Opportunities

Our graduates work as industry professionals within animation companies and across the broader related industries. Graduate jobs include concept artist, character designer, production assistant, storyboard artist, animator, model maker, set designer, environment artist, 3D artist, CG, and visual effects designer. Graduates may also continue to postgraduate study.

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Course News

14 Nov 2023

Animation student films screened at BFI London

Read this article

13 Oct 2023

Animation student’s short film places in Best Shorts 2023

Read this article

11 May 2023