BA in Digital Animation
Birmingham, United Kingdom
DURATION
3 up to 4 Years
LANGUAGES
English
PACE
Full time
APPLICATION DEADLINE
Request application deadline
EARLIEST START DATE
Jan 2025
TUITION FEES
GBP 9,250 / per year *
STUDY FORMAT
On-Campus
* UK students: £9,250 per year | international students: £13,980 per year
Scholarships
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Introduction
This cutting-edge BA programme will develop your skills across Digital Animation practice conventions. You will be taught by established practitioners, who will provide their knowledge of 2D and 3D animation disciplines.
The course is part of Birmingham City University’s Film suite, designed to develop graduates with knowledge of the theory, practice and industry trends that will enable them to succeed in a rapidly changing industry environment.
What's covered in this course?
The course will help you establish the core art fundamentals, such as anatomy, gesture, pose, weight distribution, perspective, and composition and an understanding of how they underpin digital animation practice. You will also learn about the 12 principles of animation required to create engaging animation performance, whether you choose a Film/Television or Games/Interactive pathway. The course will introduce you to industry-standard project management and pipeline methodologies that mirror industry production procedures.
Depending upon the route you choose to take on the course (Film/TV or Game/Interactive) you will produce a range of assessed material including but not exclusive to:
- Storyboards & story-reels
- Animation foundation exercises
- Performance animations
- Specialist portfolios and showreels
- Short films, made collaboratively, demonstrating animation principles and pipelines
- Game animation sets demonstrated within the Unity and Unreal game engines
A key focus of this course is developing performance within character animation. You will develop acting techniques that will promote the development of your inner actor to project performance through your characters. You will also develop an understating of and demonstrate visual storytelling, with ‘show don’t tell’ philosophies.
While theoretical and practice-based considerations of animation techniques and principles remain a central focus of the award, the course also provides shared modules within the School’s film and games courses, offering wider collaborative opportunities which help provide core skills relevant to the industry.
Professional placement year
This course offers a professional placement year. This allows you to spend a whole year with an employer, between the second and third years of your degree and is a great way to find out more about your chosen career. Some students even return to the same employers after completing their studies.
The University will draw on its extensive network of local, regional and national employers to support you in finding a suitable placement to complement your chosen area of study. If you do not find a suitable placement, you will be automatically transferred back to the standard, non-placement version of the course.
Please note that fees are payable during your placement year, equivalent to 20% of the total full-time course fee for that year (£1,850 for UK students).
Why choose us?
- The School of Games, Film and Animation (formerly known as the New Technology Institute) opened in 2005 and is housed within the University’s Faculty of Arts, Design and Media. In this vibrant context, you’ll enjoy the benefits of outstanding resources, at the heart of a thriving creative community in our City Centre campus.
- You will be taught by tutors with over 30 years of experience within the UK and International Animation industries.
- The BA Digital Animation course is an employment-led programme, so your knowledge and skills will be up-to-date and relevant, making you industry ready upon graduation.
- Our teaching philosophy is practice-led and theory applied in the pursuit of excellence.
- We have a partnership with the BFI, which offers students free access to the BFI player.
- Top 5 for Animation and Game Design (Guardian League Tables 2023).
Curriculum
Year one
In order to complete this course you must successfully complete all the following core modules (totalling 120 credits):
- Art Theory & Practice
- Film Primer
- 2D Animation Principles & Production
- 3D Modelling Theory & Practice
- 3D Animation Production
Year two
In order to complete this course you must successfully complete all the following core modules (totalling 100 credits):
- Character Concept
- Character Production
- Performance Practice
In order to complete this course you must successfully complete at least 20 credits from the following list of optional modules.
- Collaborative Practice
- Work Placement
- Live Project
Core modules are guaranteed to run. Optional modules will vary from year to year and the published list is indicative only.
Year three
In order to complete this course you must successfully complete all the following core modules (totalling 120 credits):
- Animation Pipelines
- Professional Practice
- Final Major Project
Career Opportunities
You will learn of the range of skills which will be key to enhancing your future employability.
Specifically, you will learn to:
- Develop your own practice within a professional context that would enable future employment options in the Animation industry.
- Identify the relationship of theory to practice and effectively demonstrate it through your work.
- Produce animation shorts, an effective animation pipeline to a professional standard.
- Work independently and collaboratively.
- Be a self-motivated, organised and independent effective learner.
- Be confident in showcasing your work for critique and highly reflective of your processes.
You will also learn skills in a range of workshop practices in relation to individual development, including but not limited to the use of camera and photography, 3D printing, motion capture, sculpting and life drawing.
Professional practice guidance will teach you a range of skills such as CV writing; portfolio development, editing showreels, use of social media and other platforms for self-promotion, and presenting yourself and your work in a professional framework.
Placement
You will have the option of international exchange, and the opportunity to get involved in a range of live projects. Placements are not part of the curriculum but are encouraged and supported by staff should an opportunity arise.
In such an example, our students have worked closely with Flatpack Festival in programming some of the events, organised and ran animation workshops and volunteered throughout the festival.
Graduates and students were also involved in the production of a Rube Goldberg animation for Second Home Studios which subsequently won the RTS Best Production Craft Skills award.
Students have also participated in Animation Festival submissions such as Annecy, Encounters, New Designers, and the prestigious Royal Television Society Awards amongst others.
Students have been winning RTS Awards dating back to 1997 with more than a dozen winners and nominees.
The Jury Distinction was also awarded to one of our graduates for his outstanding Animation at the Annecy Animation Festival which was the highest accolade.