Animation (BA Honours)

What you will gain: At Middlesex, you won’t just learn to animate: you’ll also become a fully-fledged filmmaker and storyteller.  In our state-of-the-art studios, we'll help you develop your skills in every step of the filmmaking process, including concept art, pitching, storyboarding, scriptwriting, character and effects animation, sound design and editing. 

• You will learn from award-winning animation directors who work closely with industry partners to share their knowledge and facilitate specialist workshops and lectures. Partners include art and design agencies, animation studios, visual effects companies, content providers and games developers.
• The work you create with us will become part of your animation portfolio, which will help showcase your skills and experience to our industry network and beyond. You will leave ready for a career at one of the top animation studios in the UK or abroad.
• We have an excellent record of placing our students on Master’s programmes such as the Royal College of Art and the National Film & Television School, and some go on to undertake practice-based PhDs.

What you will learn

• You will have the opportunity to experiment with a broad range of styles and processes, including traditional and digital 2D animation, stop motion, and 3D computer graphics. You’ll get to study all of the software and skills needed to succeed in these different forms of animation, as well as their underlying technical principles and artistic applications. 
• In class discussions and lectures, you'll learn about the history of the medium and discover new approaches to animation practice.
• In our state-of-the-art animation studios, we'll help you develop your animation skills including scriptwriting, character development, video and sound editing.
• We'll help keep you ahead of the latest technological innovations and trends with regular workshops with guest speakers, such as award-winning directors Joanna Quinn, Kitty Taylor and Merlin Crossingham and prolific voice actor David Holt.

You will learn to:

• Develop your own ideas and turn them into compelling and emotive screenplays
• Develop strong and believable animated characters that your audience can empathise and engage with
• Explore and experiment with image making as a means to developing a personal visual language
• Effectively use film language to communicate concepts, characters, personality and emotion
• Plan and manage all aspects of animation production and deliver on time according to an agreed schedule
• Use film editing techniques to effectively convey concepts and narrative
• Use sound recording and editing techniques to create professional soundtracks for your films
• Research into and think critically about cultural products and contexts.

Why choose Animation BA Honours at Middlesex?

• If you aspire to work in animation, this degree will enable you to develop your creative and technical skills, ensuring you gain the experience you need to work in today's highly competitive and exciting animation industry.
• In our high-spec animation facilities, you will use the latest software and work alongside specialist technicians with extensive professional experience. Our facilities feature stop motion studios, 3D printing, puppet and model making, and a brand-new 80-workstation digital media workshop.
• We have excellent industry connections and our graduates go on to work at some of the top animation studios in the UK and abroad including Aardman Animations, Netflix, Blink Ink, Lupus Films, Tiger Aspect Productions, Blue Zoo, Passion Pictures, Spa Studios and IOD Productions.

3 Great reasons to pick this course

• Student satisfaction- Our Animation BA regularly receives top marks for 'overall satisfaction' in the National Student Survey
• World-class animation facilities- with access to digital and traditional studios and darkrooms and industry standard equipment
• Our graduates go on to work at some of the top animation studios- including Aardman Animations, Lupus Films, Tiger Aspect Productions, Blue Zoo, Passion Pictures, Spa Studios (Klaus), IOD Productions (Isle of Dogs)

About your course

• We aim to build you up over the course of three years, from learning the basic fundamentals of the art form, all the way up to producing fully formed, professional-quality films and portfolios. Throughout this course, you will study a broad range of animation practices and industry-standard tools including: Traditional 2D: Drawing, painting, mixed media; Digital 2D: Adobe Animate, After Effects, ToonBoom Harmony and Storyboard Pro, TV Paint and Adobe Photoshop; Stop Motion: Dragonframe, puppet, claymation, cut out sand and paint on glass and pixilation; 3D Computer Animation: 3D scanning and printing and Cinema 4D.

Year 1
We begin in the first year with simple but engaging exercises designed to teach the core principles of drawing movement, and introducing students to the industry-standard software they’ll use to bring those drawings to life.  You will develop a personal approach to animation and learn to apply an understanding of film language, narrative and the technical processes of animation to the creation of your own animation sequences. You will learn about changing practices in the history of animation and explore and experiment with different forms of graphic media.

• Techniques and Practices I (30 credits) - Compulsory
• Creation and Ideation (30 credits) - Compulsory
• Techniques and Practices 2 (30 credits) - Compulsory
• Animation Production (30 credits) - Compulsory

Year 2
The second-year focusses on taking these principles even further to create compelling characters, performances, and narratives. We also begin to introduce students to the realities of studio practice, preparing them for work in the animation industry with an emphasis on collaborative projects and more challenging creative briefs. 

• Developing Characters & Narratives (30 credits) - Compulsory
• Expanded Animation Principles (30 credits) - Compulsory
• Collaborative Animation Filmmaking (30 credits) - Compulsory
• Animation Industries (30 credits) - Compulsory

Year 3
The third year allows students the freedom to develop their own major projects, which will serve as dynamic showcases of their skills. Students can choose to direct a complete film or specialize in a particular aspect of animation production.  You will consolidate your skills to a professional standard and fully prepare for a career in the animation industry, identifying potential career paths and preparing a graduation show reel, portfolio and promotional material. You will research and write a contextual dissertation that connects to your practical areas of interest.

• Professional Animation Production (30 credits) - Compulsory
• Critical Animation Research (30 credits) - Compulsory
• Major Project (30 credits) - Compulsory
• Portfolio & Showreel Development (30 credits) - Compulsory

Teaching

• Our teaching style is thoroughly interactive, combining demonstrations of important animation techniques with engaging intellectual discussions, one-to-one tutorials, and supervised studio-based practice. We aim to provide you with a boutique learning experience, tailored to your own creative interests and career ambitions. Our academic team includes multi-BAFTA winning directors, leading animation researchers, dedicated technicians, and skilled working animators with credits at Warner Bros, Nickelodeon, Channel 4 and the BBC

Our specialist facilities are recognised as among the best in the country and include:

• Industry standard applications including Cinema 4D, Adobe Creative Suite, TV Paint, Cel Action, Pro Tools and Dragonframe
• State-of-the-art sound recording studios for voice-overs and sound effects
• 12 individual Stop Motion studios with a range of industry-standard cameras, lenses and lights
• State-of-the-art digital print out facilities
• Large numbers of studio and lab computers
• A brand new 80-workstation digital media workshop
• Traditional darkrooms
• The Sheppard Library with over 75,000 books
• Media and Visual FX studio
• Digital Media Workshops.

Our recording studio houses industry-standard equipment, with a dedicated technician on hand to train and provide support. You can also hire specialised equipment for your assignments. There is a wealth of specialist technical help with professionals dedicated to helping you achieve excellence in our workshop areas.

Student support

• We offer lots of support to help you while you're studying including financial advice, wellbeing, mental health, and disability support.

Additional needs

• We'll support you if you have additional needs such as sensory impairment or dyslexia. And if you want to find out whether Middlesex is the right place for you before you apply, get in touch with our Disability and Dyslexia team.

Wellness

• Our specialist teams will support your mental health. We have free individual counselling sessions, workshops, support groups and useful guides.

Work while you study

• Our Middlesex Unitemps branch will help you find work that fits around uni and your other commitments. We have hundreds of student jobs on campus that pay the London Living Wage and above. Visit the Middlesex Unitemps page.

Financial support

• You can apply for scholarships and bursaries and our MDX Student Starter Kit to help with up to £1,000 of goods, including a new laptop or iPad.
• We have also reduced the costs of studying with free laptop loans, free learning resources and discounts to save money on everyday things. Check out our guide to student life on a budget.

Careers
How can the BA Animation support your career?

• With our focus on teaching industry-standard software and mimicking studio workflows, our graduates have gone on to hold roles such as animation director, producer, key animator, storyboard artist, art director, model makers, layout artist, background artists, character designers, and motion graphic designer. 
• In addition, our students have found great success as independent filmmakers, accruing numerous BAFTA nominations and appearances at major international film festivals. 
• Our course has very strong links with the UK animation industry, including studios like Aardman, Tiger Aspect, Lupus Films, Fonic Post Production, The Brewery VFX, Passion Pictures and Blue Zoo. The course has developed a reputation for the high calibre of its graduates: London-based studios like Lupus Film are making Middlesex their first port of call when seeking young animators, with our graduates making up a substantial portion of the crew on some of their most acclaimed recent films. 
• Middlesex has strong links with art and design employers. Our industry partners sponsor final-year students and give visiting lectures. Hundreds of art and design agencies, organisations and other employers attend our final-year degree show each year. Animation at Middlesex will prepare you for a career in many areas of the animation industry, with roles including:

Graduate job roles and employers
Our students have gone on to work in roles where animation skills are highly valued, for example, creating visuals for live music tours, concerts, events, theatre productions and operas. The BA Animation also enables entrepreneurial students to set up their own business. To name a few of our alumni and their work:

• Fatma Rikabi Sukuri (2022) - Production assistant at Scanline VFX
• Camrhon Mitchell (2021) - Stop motion animator on Aardman Animation’s feature film ‘Chicken Run 2’
• Sofia Negri (2020) - Animator for Pearly Oyster Productions and Walt Disney Company
• Luke Ramsey (2020) - Animator for The Brewery VFX
• Gemma Schnable (2020) - Animated film ‘Dysmorphia’ won the animation category for the #poweryourbreakthrough competition.
• Lydia Byron (2019) - Motion designer at Procreate
• Ryan Fairbanks (2018) - Colourist on ‘The Tiger Who Came to Tea’, Lupus Films, assistant animator at Studio AKA.
• Rhiannon Loki Fellows (2018)- Motion graphic designer at Mindful Education
• Rizwan Rafiq (2018) animator at Tiger Aspect, Hoopla Studio, Blinkink
• Gabija Zygaite (2018) - Designer at Eikon Group Limited
• Erica Hodne (2017) - Animator on ‘Mr Bean’, Tiger Aspect Productions
• Anna Pereira-Finn (2017) - Colourist on ‘The Tiger Who Came to Tea’, Lupus Films
• Giulia Riva (2017) - Clean up artist on ‘Klaus’, The Spa Studios, currently background artist at Gigglebug Entertainment
• Sofja Umarik (2017) – Owner of Elklore Animation. Directed ‘The quiet power of introverts’ | BBC Ideas, ‘The Quiet Power of Leadership’ in collaboration between BBC Ideas and Open University.
• Adara Todd (2016) - Production assistant on children's television at Tiger Aspect
• Eleonora Quario (2015) - Assistant animator on many productions such as 'Ethel & Earnest' (BBC) and Wes Anderson’s film 'Isle of Dogs'
• Rute Simōes (2022) - Assistant animator at Lupus Films

Most recently, 2021 BA Animation graduate Kate Mercer’s animated film ‘Walden’ won the Exceptional Merit award at the Nature Without Borders International Film Festival, and two of 2023 graduate Anna Maria Leventi's films have been selected for the London International Animation Festival

MDXworks

• Our employability service, MDXworks will launch you into the world of work from the beginning of your course, with placements, projects and networking opportunities through our 1000+ links with industry and big-name employers in London and globally.
• Our dedicated lifetime career support, like our business start-up support programme and funding for entrepreneurs, has put us in the top 10 UK universities for students who want to be CEOs and entrepreneurs (Hitachi, 2021).

Global network

• You’ll study with students from 122 countries who’ll hopefully become part of your global network. And after you graduate, we'll still support you through our alumni network to help you progress in your chosen career.

Work placements

• Placements and internships greatly improve graduate employment prospects, and those who take part achieve excellent academic results through applying their learning in a professional setting.
• We encourage all our students to undertake work experience during their studies whether through part-time work, volunteering or other means. The Animation department also organises live projects with industry practitioners so you can experience working on professional creative briefs.