Animation (MA)

Shape your own creative animation projects and choose to concentrate on a particular animation technique or a personal artistic assignment - ideal preparation for a career in 2d or 3d animation. 

Overview

• Throw yourself into your own full-scale artistic project on this creative Master’s degree in Animation, with a portfolio of industry-standard software at your fingertips. 
• You'll delve into the intricacies of 2D or 3D animation, directing your own creative exploration and developing your vision as an artist and animator. Enjoy support from our expert industry professionals too, drawing on their experience working for Disney, Sony, Framestore and Double Negative.
• This MA Animation degree enables you to focus on shaping your own creative projects, with the chance to choose to concentrate on a particular animation technique or a personal artistic assignment. 
• You'll graduate not only having expanded your artistic abilities in exactly the ways you want to, you’ll have honed them into a valuable professional skillset ready to take on careers within 2D or 3D animation.

Eligibility
This course accepts UK, EU, and International students.

Course highlights

• Develop your artistic flair and explore new 2D and 3D animation techniques and storytelling skills on your project, using traditional and digital techniques
• Design and direct your own artistic project and ideas with complete freedom, and have the opportunity to fully explore a concept you've always imagined bringing to life
• Access the industry-standard software you need, such as Autodesk Maya, Adobe Creative Cloud, TV Paint, and Wacom Cintiq Drawing Studio, or light boxes and rostrum cameras for traditional animation
• Have the chance to develop your skills further through extra modules in areas such as visual research, 3D modelling, narrative and storytelling
• Take part in extracurricular skills workshops on techniques including ZBrush sculpting and character animation, and join us for film/animation nights 

Modules
Each module on this course is worth a certain number of credits.

• You need to study modules worth a total of 180 credits. For example, 4 modules worth 30 credits and 1 module worth 60 credits.

What you'll study (full-time)
Year 1

Creative Context and Practice - 30 credits

• In this module, you’ll develop the foundations for a coherent body of work based on your defined programme area.

Professional, Academic and Research Development - 30 credits

• Get ready for your Master’s studies and future career with this thought-provoking module.

Project Design and Development - 60 credits

• Realise your Master’s project vision with this impactful module.

Project Evaluation and Resolution - 60 credits

• Finish your Master’s degree by giving your final project the polish it needs.

Changes to course content

• We use the best and most current research and professional practice alongside feedback from our students to make sure course content is relevant to your future career or further studies.
• Therefore, course content is revised and regularly reviewed.  This may result in changes being made in order to reflect developments in research, learning from practice and changes in policy at both national and local levels.

How you'll spend your time

• We recognise that you'll probably be juggling more demands when you do your Master's degree, as you may be working or you may have family responsibilities.
• We'll give you as much indication here as we can of how much time you'll need to be on campus and how many hours you can expect to spend in self-directed study, but please note that these indications are always subject to change. You should receive your full timetable several weeks before you start with us.

Teaching
Teaching on this course includes:

• Lectures
• Seminars
• Workshops

You'll be introduced to key topics and expected to do independent study to develop your skills and projects to a proficient level, supported by scheduled activities.

You can access all teaching resources on Moodle, our virtual learning environment, from anywhere with a web connection.

Assessment

• You'll be assessed through written portfolios and practical projects.
• You'll be able to test your ideas and techniques informally before doing assessments that count towards your final mark.
• Feedback is available on all practice and formal assessments so that you can improve in the future. You'll receive detailed written feedback on summative assignments, while formative feedback may be written or verbal.

Careers this Master's prepares you for
After you graduate, you could pursue roles such as:

• 2D and 3D animator
• Concept artist
• Director
• Compositor
• Creative director
• Modeller
• User Interface (UI) designer
• post-production technical director

Alternatively, you could go on to a practice-based postgraduate degree (PhD) or go into teaching (with further training).

Career support
You'll benefit from:

• Networking events
• 1-to-1 appointments
• CV and cover letter advice
• Interview preparation and practice
• Workshops to enhance your employability skills
• Recruitment events, including the Student and Graduate Opportunities Fair
• Support starting your own business

Supporting you

• Master's study is more focused on independent learning than undergraduate study, but you'll get lots of support via video, phone and face-to-face from teaching and support staff to enhance your learning experience and help you succeed. 

You can build your personalised network of support from the following people and services:
Types of support

• Personal tutor
• Student support advisor
• Academic skills tutors
• Creative skills tutors
• IT and computing support
• Academic Skills Tutors (AST)
• Wellbeing and mental health support
• Disability advice and additional support
• Library support
• Support with English