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DIGITAL ANIMATION WITH ILLUSTRATION DEGREE BA (HONS) - Structure

AWARD:         Bachelor of Arts Honours Degree

DURATION:   3 Years (Full Time)

AWARDED BY: University of Central Lancashire

 

MODULES:

YEAR 1

Fundamentals of 2D Animation (20 credits) – working in 2D (both traditional and digital) you will put together a portfolio of very short, animated clips demonstrating the 12 principles in action

Year 1 Animation Project (20 credits) – combine the lessons learned in Fundamentals of 2D and create your first original short film, animated in 2D and roughly 30 seconds in length

Pre-production (20 credits) – scriptwriting, character design, expression sheets, turnarounds, backgrounds, and layouts, storyboarding and animatics: everything needed for animation minus the animation, in other words

History of Animation and Illustration (20 credits) – lectures focusing on the history of animation and illustration, giving context to the skills learned in other modules and how these emerged historically

Fundamentals of Illustration (40 credits) – the first semester focuses on technical drawing skills (anatomy, proportion, line of action, perspective, colour theory, etc) and the second on creating a portfolio of creative works

 

YEAR 2

Fundamentals of 3D Animation (20 credits) – an introduction to Maya, focusing on how to utilise the 12 principles within a 3D animation environment

Year 2 Animation Project (20 credits) – draw on the lessons learned in Fundamentals of 3D to create a movement-oriented short film; an obstacle course animated in 3D, roughly 30 seconds in length

3D Modelling (20 credits) – learn the fundamentals of 3D modelling in Maya, allowing you to build basic 3D environments in which to set your 3D animations

Post-Production and Motion Graphics (20 credits) – work with an industry partner, who will set a brief and, after a semester of teaching focusing on editing, post-production effects, and motion graphics, pitch your response to the brief back to that industry figure

Contemporary Animation and Illustration (20 credits) – a continuation of the History of Animation and Illustration module, only now it’s focused on the contemporary moment, current issues, and trends

Applied Illustration (20 credits) – construct a portfolio of illustrations in response to weekly briefs in semester 1, with a storybook/comic project in semester 2 introducing long-form illustration

YEAR 3

Honours Project (40 credits) – your chance to develop your specialism, working on a project you design in collaboration with the module lead

Year 3 Animation Project (40 credits) – your final year film is based around a piece of audio found by you, of roughly 30 seconds length, that can be animated in either 2D or 3D

Motion Capture (20 credits) – learn how to capture actor’s performances in our industry-standard motion capture suite at Futureworks Studios, MediaCity, and then integrate this capture information into your 3D animation projects

Personal Portfolio Development (20 credits) – a module focusing on getting you a job: everything from CVs, websites, showreels and portfolios, to how and where to network, interview practice and how to find work as a freelancer

WHAT ARE CREDITS?

As a guide, 20 credits typically represents around 52 hours of tutor contact time (e.g. lectures/workshops/feedback) and 148 hours of self-study time (usually over the course of a semester). These numbers may increase or decrease depending on the nature, length and level of the module, especially towards the end of the course.