Course Description
Our degree courses with Foundation year offer the opportunity to prepare you for advanced study before you progress onto a full honours degree at the University of Westminster. Whether you do not feel ready for degree-level study, don’t have the right qualifications, want to change your subject specialism or return to study after an absence from education, we aim to encourage a broad range of students to undertake our Foundation year in order to progress onto their full honours degree with us.
The Foundation year is designed to give you the opportunity to explore new ideas, opening up new perspectives on the key debates within your chosen field. During the foundation year you will explore a range of creative disciplines and get a chance to develop in your chosen field, benefiting from workshops in our high end facilities and working with leading academics who will encourage you to become a confident and creative thinker. Core modules accelerate your academic and professional development and you will also You will also take modules within your chosen field, giving you the chance to develop a cross-disciplinary perspective on your course.
On successful completion of the Foundation year (Year 0), you will be able to move on to study for the Animation BA Honours degree over a further three years study.
Commercial animation is a rapidly growing and vibrant industry, encompassing a very broad range of rewarding and fascinating creative job opportunities. This exciting specialist course will enable you to develop your imaginative and creative skills, while giving you a sound knowledge and understanding of animation processes, techniques and critical theory.
The strong emphasis on creative practice will help to develop your skills in drawing and design, along with the imaginative development and innovation of ideas expressed sequentially. These skills, together with the professional practice aspects of the course, will ensure that you have the confidence and expertise to succeed in industry, whether as a designer, manager, producer or technician. You will also develop the transferable and cognitive skills necessary for lifelong personal and professional development.
Throughout the course there are opportunities for you to take part in external national and international competitions and film festivals. The course is delivered by a large team of experienced animation practitioners, staff and industry visitors, and you will work in dedicated specialist animation studios with facilities for blue screen, rostrum animation, CGI, drawing, stop-frame, ?lm, photography, set building, sound and video.
Successful animators need to be flexible and able to adapt to changing cultures and new initiatives, and the course seeks to reflect this fluidity. You will rapidly develop your own practice in animation, and you will be encouraged to work on shared initiatives. Based at the recently refurbished Harrow Campus – home to the Westminster School of Media, Arts and Design – you will work alongside students from film, photography, music, fashion and journalism, in a unique creative hothouse.
The teaching and delivery of the course is through high-level, tutor-guided studio practice, and actively promotes experimentation, reflection and the sharing of enthusiasms and influences. The unique integrated theoretical elements of the course provide a critical framework within which you can examine animation and related time-based practices, and will significantly support and inform your own practice. All modules are assessed through coursework, and we offer a range of methods including crits, submitted work, research plans and seminar presentations.
Course Content
YEAR 0
Subjects of study include (across 5 core modules):
- Introduction to Academic Practice
- Critical Thinking for Academic and Professional Development
- Art and Design Explorations
- Making and Modelling
- Seeing and Doing
There are no optional or elective modules offered at Level 3, as the focus is on the development of key academic skills through a broad understanding of Media and Design
Credit Level 3
YEAR 1
You are introduced to a broad range of concepts in animation and visual design, and you will work both independently and collaboratively. The practice and integrated theory modules are project-led, and all involve elements of research, problem solving and experimentation with processes and ideas.
Subjects of study include:
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Animatics
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Classic Narrative Animation Film Development
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Experimental Film Development
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Pioneers Bootcamp
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Production / Collaboration
Credit Level 4
YEAR 2
You are encouraged to take more individual responsibility for developing your ideas and approaches to animation, and to enter your work for external competitions and ?lm festivals. You will begin to develop your own individual approaches to animation production, so practical work has a higher conceptual demand, and you are encouraged to be innovative and experimental.
Subjects of study include:
- Adaptation for Animation
- Art/Science Collaboration
- Curating, Distribution and Dissemination
- Creative Encounters
- Digital Aesthetics
- Digital Pathways
- Documentary Development
- Media Explorations
- Scriptwriting for Media
- Transmedia Practices
Credit Level 5
YEAR 3
You will work on self-directed projects within both theory and practice elements of the course, enabling you to intensively focus on personal development, whether you plan to work as an independent animator or within a growing commercial context such as advertising, the animation games industry or interactive design. Integrated 'theory of practice' modules will ensure that you develop the skills and con?dence required to operate effectively in a range of professional situations.
The work produced at this level can be used as evidence in support of application to further study or professional commissions and employment.
Subjects of study include:
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Graduation Project Development
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Graduation Project Production
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Minor Project Development
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Production / Collaboration
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Research Presentation
Credit Level 6
Entry Requirements
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A Levels – DD
- International Baccalaureate – 24 points. We also welcome applications from students taking the IB Career related Programme
- BTEC Extended Diploma – PPP
- BTEC Diploma – MP
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Access – 48 UCAS tariff points from the Access course
In addition to one of the above, you should have:
- GCSE English Language grade 4/C – IB grade 4; GCSE Maths not required
If English is not your first language, you should have an IELTS score of 6.0 overall, with 5.5 in each component.
We also welcome applications from students who are taking a combinations of qualifications listed above. For further information, please contact Course Enquiries.
You may be required to bring a portfolio of practical work to interview.
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