Animation (with Foundation Year)

Why choose this course?

The Animation degree offers practical study, enabling you to bring characters to life. This specialised Animation programme will transform you into a versatile creative in the art of the moving image. Designed and developed from the ground up with employability at the core, you will develop skills in animation, motion graphics and design.

You will finish your studies with the professional skills and creative thinking strategies to pursue a career within animation studios, work as a freelance artist, or start your own studio.

You will:

• Learn the principles of visual communication and drawing and apply them to character design, background design, storyboarding and scene layout.

• Explore the principles of animation and develop a solid foundation for your future career.

• Develop ideas and work towards creating a short film to be submitted to film festivals, both nationally and internationally.

• Explore animation techniques to build up a professional show reel.

• Specialise and develop a final degree project that will push on the boundaries of your skills to ensure you stand out from the crowd in the job market.

You can also choose to study this course as a three year degree (without the foundation year) BA (Hons) Animation. UCAS code: 259B.

Key Course Features:

• If you have been out of education for a while or looking for a career change and undecided as to which discipline to choose, a foundation year is an opportunity to explore and develop core skills in art and design.

• Exceptional facilities, including a stop-motion studio equipped with Dragonframe software, professional camera equipment, and pre-rigged stages with grips, stands, and lights.

• Access to computer suites featuring the latest Adobe, Toon Boom, and Maya CG software.

• A free subscription to Adobe Creative Cloud for the duration of your study.

• Continued support, drawing upon our extensive knowledge, experience, and industry connections to provide you with everything necessary to evolve into an innovative storyteller and artist.

• Intimate and exclusive class sizes, frequent 1-2-1 contact, an open studio policy and flexible workspaces.

• Strong regional and national commercial links, opportunities for work experience, and regular industry interactions and are affiliated to Design bodies, for example D&AD, IOA, Manchester Animation Festival with an emphasis on competition briefs and collaboration.

• The conclusion of the course involves a formally curated gallery exhibition of your final project.

What you will study

YEAR 1 (FOUNDATION YEAR)
The foundation year will introduce you to the key elements of art and design, including graphic design, animation, illustration, photography, and film, applied and fine art. You will explore the creative thought process relating to various art and design disciplines, developing your ability to put ideas down on paper quickly. There will be a range of practice assignments that will increase your recognition of strong ideas and original concepts.

MODULES

• Visual Investigation
• Materials and Methods
• Creative Processes
• Progression Project
• The Skills You Need
• Contextual Studies

YEAR 2 (LEVEL 4) - Core skills
MODULES

Semester 1

• History & Context
• Visual Communication
• Digital Communication

Semester 2

• Social Design
• Story Telling: Theory and Practice
• Interactive Design

YEAR 3 (LEVEL 5) - Advanced skills
MODULES

Semester 1

• Motion Design
• Print and Production
• Critical thinking

Semester 2

• Creative Futures: Making a Living
• Design Project: Animation

YEAR 4 (LEVEL 6) - Specialism
MODULES

Semester 1

• Specialist Project: Animation

Semester 2

• Creative Futures: Professional Practice
• Live Brief

The information listed in this section is an overview of the academic content of the programme that will take the form of either core or option modules. Modules are designated as core or option in accordance with professional body requirements and internal academic framework review, so may be subject to change.

Teaching & Assessment

There are no set exams. Assessment is continuous and relates to all aspects of the programme, providing more carefully defined emphasis on formative assessment and feedback on your coursework throughout the academic year. We will advise you on your level of attainment and direct you towards a strategy for further progression as you complete assignments and modules.

There are varied formats of assessment to encourage your learning through group seminars, critiques and tutorials. This can be through group interaction with critical analysis where you will submit a range of work including sketchbooks, design sheets, finished artwork, screen-based work, technical/ production files, journals, essays and audio-visual presentations. There are reviews of work at key points before Christmas and before Easter and this provides time for you to reflect on your progress prior to a final or summative year end assessment.

TEACHING AND LEARNING

On this course teaching and learning is designed to support students from a variety of backgrounds with diverse needs and to promote the supportive learning environment and pastoral care the School of Art and Design provides. Timetabling is developed to help learning teaching and assessment methodologies and provide clear and effective feedback to students. Contact hours are 16 per week in year 1, 14 per week in year 2 and 12 per week in year 3.

The programme is structured to enable you to work in a multidisciplinary manner, to be flexible and enable you to develop individually. This is supported by a personal tutor / tutorials system that provides you with guidance throughout all aspects of the programme.

Wrexham University is committed to supporting our students to maximise their academic potential.

We offer workshops and support sessions in areas such as academic writing, effective note-making and preparing for assignments. Students can book appointments with academic skills tutors dedicated to helping deal with the practicalities of university work. Our student support section has more information on the help available.

In terms of particular needs, the University’s Inclusion Services can provide appropriate guidance and support should any students require reasonable adjustments to be made because of a recognised prevailing disability, medical condition, or specific learning difference.