BA (Hons) Animation

We encourage you to be innovative, creative and push the boundaries of storytelling and artistic style. You will receive a grounding in the fundamental skills of animation, with the opportunity to develop more specialist skills from the second year of study. 

• You will develop your own distinct style and voice, as well as enhancing your technical and creative knowledge by studying the modules within this programme.
• Our excellent facilities include dedicated animation and sound studios, graphics studios, computer suites and a suite of Cintiq stations. You will be supported to master professional tools, such as TVPaint, Maya, Photoshop, Premiere Pro, Substance Painter and After Effects.
• Our supportive and collaborative studio culture creates a nurturing atmosphere that aims to encourage professional development. Teaching is delivered primarily through demonstration and practical workshop sessions, providing hands-on experience in drawing, script writing, idea generation, visual communication, pre-production, audio production and digital 2D and 3D animation practice.
• Access one-to-one support from the Leicester Media School Drawing Centre to perfect your drawing skills and meet like-minded artists.
• Work on a major project tailored to the animation industry, which will give you the chance to enter national and international competitions and festivals.
• Exhibit your work at the week-long DMU Degree Show, one of Leicester’s biggest art and design shows, where final-year students have the chance to meet talent scouts and win industry prizes.
• Enjoy developing your skills in a vibrant studio culture and preparing for a future in the animation industry by using our specialist facilities and software.

Recent graduates are working as animators, VFX technical directors, lead technical runners, compositors, modellers and designers, with companies such as Brown Bag, Studio SOI, Cloth Cat, RJDM, Double Negative and Disney.

Year 1

• Block 1: Introductory Sessions
• Block 2: Animation principles
• Block 3: Visual thinking and communication
• Block 4: Project 1

Year 2

• Block 1: Advanced animation
• Block 2: Animated communication
• Block 3: Project development
• Block 4: Project 2

Year 3

• Block 1: Pre-production 1
• Block 2: Pre-production 2
• Block 3: Animation production
• Block 4: Post-production

Note: All modules are indicative and based on the current academic session. Course information is correct at the time of publication and is subject to review. Exact modules may, therefore, vary for your intake in order to keep content current. If there are changes to your course we will, where reasonable, take steps to inform you as appropriate.

Structure

• On this course, you will benefit from block teaching, you will focus on one subject at a time instead of several at once.
• Teaching is delivered primarily through lectures and practical sessions, with access to keynote lectures and support from industry mentors. Practical classes provide hands-on experience of both drawing, idea generation, pre-production and digital 2D animation development. Tutorials are used to provide feedback and a framework for ensuring you see improvements in your work. Additional learning materials are also offered online.
• Assessments include regular screenings of artwork and reports for peer, tutor and industry critique. You will be encouraged to produce festival ready animation and a showreel for employment, guided by experts from the animation industry and the teaching team. Industry representatives make regular visits to give presentations and review showreels.

Contact hours

• You will normally attend around 12-16 hours of timetabled taught sessions each week, and are expected to undertake at least 24 further hours of directed independent study and assignments as required.

Our facilities

• Our sophisticated, specialist facilities include industry standard 2D animation software, recording and sound studios, life room, and computer suites with Cintiq stations. Access to these facilities throughout your course, as well as lectures and practical workshops, will give you professional insight for a future career in the animation industry.  

Graduate Careers

• Our graduates are working as animators, producers, high-flying VFX technical directors, lead technical runners, compositors, modellers and designers working on TV series and films.
• They are working with international companies like Double Negative, Ubisoft (Shanghai), Jagex, MPC, The Mill, Blue Zoo, Character Shop, RJDM Animations and Ragdoll Productions and have worked on major films including ‘Batman: The Dark Knight Rises’, 'Les Miserables', 'Superman Man of Steel', 'Thor: The Dark World', 'Ex Machina', 'The Hunger Games: Catching Fire' and ‘Total Recall’.

Placements

• Work-based placements are one of the best ways to boost your skills and experience, and can often lead to your first graduate role.
• They are the perfect means of discovering how your studies relate to the real world, and provide an opportunity to improve your confidence and make contacts to help you get ahead in the job market.
• DMU’s dedicated Placements Teams can help you by providing access to hundreds of opportunities, giving one-to-one CV advice and interview preparation, and offering training sessions and support from a dedicated tutor.