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, film, photography, set building, sound and video.

Core animation skills are situated centrally within the entertainment sector and graduates have gained employment in a diverse range of industry areas: Maria Lola-Edun has worked as a stereoscopic compositor for the Harry Potter and Star Wars films Martin Sears has a freelance career with clients including Zattikka (online games company), Endemol (TV production company), Sherbet (London animation studio) Stephen O’Connor designs games for iPhones and iPads Jason Ruddy is a character designer for Sony Entertainment Media Zoe Matzko is a flash animator for Hot Head Films Natalie Marco is a designer at the Morpheme Game Studio Patrick Warren is a renowned graphic novelist who has recently contributed to “Digital Anime Techniques” by Chi Hang Li, and “Comic Art Now: The very best in contemporary comic art and illustration” by Dez Skinn.