The University's philosophy is one of commercial innovation. Our NEwport based campuses are conveniently located between the two animation centres of Bristol and Cardiff, so Newport’s animation programme benefits from very impressive links with all the local studios, large and small, all of which offer work experience opportunities.
The University’s animation programme is one of the few UK Skillset accredited Animation programmes, and also benefits from being part of the Skillset Media Academy Wales, which is one of nine UK government backed Centres of Media Training. We enjoy continuous dialogue with members of the Animation Industry through studio visits, tutor master-classes and visiting lecturers who are currently active within the profession. We believe our students should see themselves as creative individuals who make meaningful statements through their animated film-making, and who stretch both the perception, and the boundaries, of animation.
Animation Direction & Production at the University is a well established programme that has been running for over 15 years, and during this time has built a strong reputation for producing professionally minded, talented and innovative animation filmmakers. Our ground-breaking graduates have continuously achieved festival and commercial success, fuelling the industry with individuals who can be found from (e.g.) Aardman, Dinamo & Beryl Productions through to Framestore, Rushes, Lupus films & WETA Digital. We attribute our success to a well-balanced education, which combines a strong foundation in animation timing and movement, software training and an in-depth theoretical and critical study of the language of film and animation., and actively encourage our students to engage with the world of moving image media through attendance at film festivals, our own extensive library of films, visiting speakers, and local screening events and exhibitions. Our animation students are also invited to explore, for example, sound in film, scriptwriting, trans-media and non-narrative film texts, which is what makes our students’ work diverse, intelligent, sophisticated and mature.
Year 1/Part 1
You will develop your observational skills through Drawing, Human movement (Life Drawing), Character Performance, Lip synching, software (Photoshop, Flash, Premiere, Maya, After Effects), Taster sessions in 3D Stop Motion/ CGi/ Motion graphics, Visual Language, Narrative Strategies, Film Form, Animation in context: Realism and Representation, Animation Pre-History and the emergence of the Studio System, Contemporary Practice, Critical analysis.
Year 2/Part 2
The sort of skills you develop during the second year include: Life Drawing, Working with Sound, Specialist Options, Professional Practice: group work, working to a client brief, time based design, presentation, studio practice, organisational skills/production skills, compulsory work placements, film form, further contextual animation: postmodern film, digital visual culture.
Year 3/Part 3
During your final year you will work on the completion of 3-minute films, created using any media, either as individuals or working in small teams. You will also look at pre-production, post-production, and a professional practice brief which includes a show reel and a work placement assignment. Your 10,000 word Dissertation will also form part of your final year of study.
A 
programme specification is available for this course.
Assessment
Throughout this course you will be assessed through a combination of written assignments and practical work.
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Matthew GravelleMatthew has met and worked with some of the world's most influential animators and filmmakers. He has collaborated on a range of projects, including award winning short films and commercial campaigns. Leonie SharrockLeonie is a practising artist, illustrator and animator interested in all aspects of communicating 'story'. Caroline ParsonsCaroline has been teaching at the University of Wales, Newport in the animation Department since 1998. |
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| Optional Items |
Costs |
| Specialist materials and learning resources |
£50-100 |
| Field trips and conferences |
£100 |
| Other |
£50 |
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As well as exceptional industry links – supported by the Skillset Screen Academy – the course’s ‘Animator in Residence’ scheme allows undergraduate students the opportunity to work with an experienced animator inside the University. Previous ‘Animators in Residence’, Leigh Hodgkinson and Matthew Walker, have won the prestigious Depict! Animation Award at the Encounters Festival. In addition students are encouraged to undertake work experience, field trips and to study abroad on exchange programmes.
Students have thepossibility to study abroad through the ‘Erasmus’ scheme. Work placements are facilitated wherever and whenever possible throughout the three years, and are an expectation of the ‘Professional Practice’ Briefs, with additional live briefs supplied by external bodies as part of the core curriculum.
Student Successes
Recent student achievements include winning the best graduation film at Annecy, receiving an Honorable Mention for Short Filmmaking at the prominent Sundance Festival and winning awards at the Ffresh Awards, the Royal Television Society National Finals, the Bermuda International Film Festival and the Best Student Film Award at Animated Exeter, and at the Celtic Media Festival.
Newport Animation graduates now work in a variety of roles within established animation industry companies, as 2D, 3D and Stop-Motion animators, TDs and renderers, on various projects in recent years, and many also apply the associated and transferable skills learnt on our animation course in other roles, for example: Assistant Producer at Lupus Films, Head of Research and Development at Dinamo Productions, Motion Graphics Designer BBC Bristol, Freelance Props and Animatronics maker, BBC Torchwood/ Dr Who.
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Newport Secures 6 more FFRESH nominationsFFRESH, the Student Moving Image festival of Wales has now announced nominations for a further three categories, with students from Newport University’s Film School again dominating the shortlists.
Newport Film Students Scoop Top AwardsAnimators, documentarians and fiction students from Newport Film School are celebrating their success at the 2011 Ffresh Student Moving Image Festival of Wales, a competition open to all Welsh University film courses and students. |
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Teaching takes place in studios equipped with computer linetesters, Cintiq screens, Dell workstations with Maya, Premiere Pro, AfterEffects, Flash, Photoshop, Illustrator, Toon Boom, Combustion and Encore software. |
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Where next?
Our graduates have progressed to international success on the prestigious animation festival circuit – winning awards at Sundance, Annecy and the British Animation Awards. Graduates can also progress to postgraduate study including the MA/MFA Animation course at Newport.
The skills obtained by our students enable them to fill a range of creative positions, from junior animator at studios such as Aardman, Calon and Framestore CFC, to establishing themselves as animation directors in their own right for companies such as Arthur Cox and Tandem Films.
This course is part of the Skillset Media Academy Wales, a partnership of the leading film and media schools in Wales, offering an exceptionally high standard of education that is endorsed by industry and approved by Creative Skillset. Our students benefit from close contact with the Academy’s Industry Panel, access to professional masterclasses and workshops, jobs and work placements, and the opportunity to promote work through an exclusive online network.
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The journey starts for Transform@Lab participantsFor nine hand-picked media graduates, the creative and physical journey from Wales to Budapest to Paris begins next week as the exclusive Transform@Lab cross-platform development programme is brought to life. |
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