The thrill of creating the 'illusion of life' is always a rewarding one. If you love the thought of giving life to inanimate objects - whether they are hand-drawn pictures, a stop motion puppet, CGI model or found objects - this course could be for you. You'll join an exciting professional and creative community. Our approachable and experienced animation lecturers and technical staff will support you throughout the course. They'll be on hand to help you identify and achieve your goals. You'll focus on acting principles through the creation of professionally crafted animation using industry-recognized technologies. You'll create engaging, broadcast quality animated sequences, short films and stings. You'll learn about the art and craft of animation as well as the mechanics. You'll cover: Storytelling Character Performance Ideas Generation and Communication Development of Individual Style You'll learn through specialist lectures, technical demonstrations and seminars. These will introduce you to professional animation techniques, character design, camera, sound, lighting, editing, cinematography and film analysis. Regular visits from industry professionals will give you an insight into the level of proficiency expected after graduation. The level of proficiency expected during your course and after graduation. Recent visits have included Mackinnon and Saunders, Aardman Animations Lead Animator - Will Becher, and creative directors from Sky ARTS.

During your time on the Animation courses you are encouraged to form industry contacts through working on collaborative projects, live client-based briefs, attending and participating at film and animation festivals and an active involvement with the Student Careers Centre. Recent projects have involved students collaborating on short films, a variety of stings and motion graphics idents for broadcast channels including Sky Arts Sting 2013 & 2014 Competitions, the British Animation Awards 2014, The 11 Second Club and sofa.com `Filmed With Happiness Competition. Many of our recent graduates have gone onto be employed by international studios, notably: Aardman Feature Animation, Mackinnon and Saunders, Cosgrove Hall Films, Chapman Entertainment Studios, Ragdoll Productions, Oktober Animation, Cinesite, Double Negative, Rushes Post-production, ITV Studios and Cubic Motion. Others have gained work experience with Granada Studios, Barry Purves and other independent studios. Graduates have also gone onto to enjoy successes by forming their own independent animation companies. These include `Carse and Waterman' and `Stars and Heroes', both based in the Stoke area and whom the Animation courses enjoy ongoing relationships with. Graduates have also gone on to develop their own short films, participating in `Artist in Residence' schemes at the LightHouse Media Centre, Wolverhampton as well as internationally at summer school courses at Gobelins, l'ecole de l'image in Paris.