Special Effects Make Up and Prosthetics Design

Aliens, Monsters, Creatures, Repeat

Terrifying monsters, bizarre creatures, ancient beings – students on the BA (Hons) Special Effects Make Up and Prosthetics Design programme will graduate with the skills and knowledge to create memorable characters for film, television and theatre productions.

The programme aims to produce students who are excellent technical and creative practitioners, ready to step into employment within the industry and hit the ground running. Learners will acquire and hone a combination of skills required for them to succeed in the industry, along with the ability to use those skills independently and intuitively. Students will also develop a strong contextual knowledge and use it to support their creative projects, ensuring their practice has a thorough theoretical underpinning.

Students’ focus is on special effects prosthetics and character design for this fast-moving industry. Learners are exposed to industry-standard techniques, linking both artistic and creative expression while incorporating key workshop manufacturing fundamentals. Each level of study will engage and challenge learners to expand upon their skillset, using a variety of materials within specific professional contexts.

Self-promotion, marketing and employability skills are also instilled within our students, giving them the professional sensibility needed in a competitive and booming industry. Links with industry include regular seminars and portfolio reviews from leading professional effects artists, embedding industry expectations throughout and providing work placement opportunities. Furthermore, core elements of the programme include entering competitions and attending industry exhibitions and conventions.

By the end of the programme, students will have built a substantial portfolio of work to act as their industry calling card, ready for employment. They will emerge as confident, creative practitioners, able to create iconic characters, and be used to working on their own or as part of small teams, reflecting industry norms. In short, they will be technically competent, autonomous, innovative and employable creative practitioners.

This programme fits within the Faculty of Digital & Creative Industries at Grimsby, and students are encouraged to work on inter-disciplinary projects with undergraduates from different areas to simulate real-life experience in the creative industries.

Level 4:
Anatomy Study
Special Effects Make Up Artistry
Casualty Simulation
Life Casting, Mould Making and Workshop Skills
Character Transformation Techniques

Level 5:
Digital Design
Fundamentals of Prosthetics Creations
Creature Design and Fabrication
Prosthetics Design and Production
Initial Research Project

Level 6:
Experimental Project
Final Research Project
Industry Standard Project
Professional Practice

The assessment approach is designed to ensure the student’s breadth and depth of knowledge and understanding will be assessed summatively through essays, reports, annotations to visual work and presentations. The assessment scheme will incorporate opportunities for formative assessment and feedback via tutorials, discussions, presentations and critiques to ensure students are able to achieve module outcomes effectively.

As a creative discipline, the bulk of outcomes are practice-based solutions to briefs, and these will be assessed accordingly, through proposals, practical outcomes, sketchbooks, concept boards, and presentations. These will be accompanied by some form of log-book and evaluative statement, ensuring reflective practice feeds into the creative process and that students are able to demonstrate their ability to criticise, analyse and ultimately synthesise information and draw conclusions.

All students will be entitled to at least one formal formative feedback session per assessment, as well as more informal in-session guidance and group critiques, mirroring industry practice.