Animation

With a toolkit that mixes the creative and the technical, an animator does all this and more. Whether working in the artistic or commercial worlds, animators produce the moving images for anything from film and broadcast media to digital platforms and video games. Our BA (Hons) Animation course brings together key aspects of contemporary professional animation practice to help you prepare for an exciting range of careers, from animation to concept art to games development.

As an animation student you will be part the School of Digital Arts, a vibrant community that offers the chance to explore every aspect of what it means to work in the digital arts. You will work across a range of creative practices – just as the professionals do – to collaborate on cross-disciplinary group projects, alongside photographers, sound engineers, filmmakers, games and media professionals. And, just as we mirror industry practices, we also work with industry-standard tools – learning within a brand new, purpose-built building that comes equipped with the latest emerging technologies for animation, filmmaking and more.

With a wide variety of units, on this course you will explore techniques, approaches and styles, as well as delving into the practicalities of working in the creative industries. You will have a mix of taught sessions and practical assignments, giving you the opportunity to work with a variety of digital artists and creative specialists – not only helping you develop your skills, but also your industry network. The course also features a series of guest lectures, letting you hear from high-profile professionals from a range of animation practices as well as the wider field of digital arts. Offering a window into professional practice, these lectures give you the chance to develop industry-relevant understanding and insight drawn directly from seasoned professionals’ extensive experience.

Manchester offers an ideal setting as an animation student. The second largest digital hub, Manchester has a long-established history of animation and is home to Cosgrove Hall Films – creators of numerous children’s animations and whose company founders were both students of Manchester Metropolitan University. Today the city has a thriving industry, with a significant TV, film and digital production presence at MediaCityUK, which is home to the BBC, ITV and a host of independent media companies, all of which you some inspiring opportunities.

With a course that’s built on our local heritage and that makes the most of our industry links, you’ll have the chance to develop the skills, build the network and gain the experience that rewarding careers are made from.

Features and benefits:

The programme has excellent links with industry, which offers opportunities to access industry professionals through varying means such as live briefs, panel events, portfolio reviews and/or university projects. These will vary.

As part of the School of Digital Arts you will be encouraged to innovate through interdisciplinary study and collaboration to become a highly creative and employable professional to allow you to compete successfully in this rapidly growing field.

You will be offered opportunities throughout the course, to contribute to the production of an animated film allowing you to develop core creative, design, narrative and cinematographic skills desired by potential employers in the animation industry.

The course is designed to allow you to specialise, if you so wish, in one specialist area of the animation process allowing you to collaborate with others refining your individual artistry.

You will have access to professional creative studios containing industry standard software, hardware and making facilities supporting 2D drawn, 3D CGI and stop motion techniques. All students will be offered the opportunity to try each of these, prior to specialising.