MA Animation
Manchester, United Kingdom
MA
DURATION
2 years
LANGUAGES
English
PACE
Full time, Part time
APPLICATION DEADLINE
EARLIEST START DATE
Sep 2025
STUDY FORMAT
On-Campus
Key Summary
Our MA in Animation is designed to provide you with the knowledge and skills to apply innovative and efficient production processes to your animation projects which could be 2D, 3D Stop Motion, or hybrid of techniques. You will explore traditional production skills, but the course will encourage you to experiment with cutting-edge creative industry developments and new ways of storytelling in collaboration with game and digital technologies.
The course is to help you develop contemporary storytelling and transmedia techniques within your body of work, and/or to deepen your knowledge of a specialist role in a Creative Industry (e.g. Storyboard Artist, Art Director, Character Designer).
As a future-facing program of study, we will encourage you through collaboration, to explore contemporary ‘ expanded cinema’ (i.e. Extended Reality (XR) experiences, Projection Mapping, and Immersive Installation, Theme Park Rides) and offer opportunities to see the value of your transferrable and potentially entrepreneurial skills.
Underpinning the curriculum you will be challenged to investigate and apply sustainable and ethical practices to your productions and processes and explore diversity and inclusivity in their story worlds and characters.
You'll study in MediaCity: one of the fastest-growing creative technology centers in the UK (Wired, 18 January 2021). Furthermore, The Greater Manchester region is one of the key areas of UK animation industry production, with an ecosystem of large to small companies – from globally leading companies such as Factory and Mackinnon & Saunders, to smaller boutique studios like Kilogramme and Flipbook Studio, with our Media City campus and CBBC’s HQ being at the heart of it. The Region has excellent industry networking opportunities with the Manchester Animation Festival and other regional networking groups like FilmHubNorth.
You will:
- Have access to a wide range of state-of-the-art animation resources and equipment
- Be part of a vibrant community of peers and tutors to help develop and explore your practice, challenging you to experiment, collaborate , and embrace new technologies
- Be encouraged through collaboration to produce professionally executed work to take to the next stage of your career
- Develop industry contacts in Greater Manchester, one of the key areas of UK animation industry production
The program will be delivered across three trimesters using a combination of practical workshops, lectures, and tutorials. Through practical and theoretical modules, you will gain confidence and an in-depth understanding of the technologies and techniques used in effective Animation Production and Visual Storytelling.
You will have access to a wide range of state-of-the-art animation resources and equipment including a specialist Stop Motion Room, Wacom Cintiqs, Makerspace, Digi Lab with XR facilities, and craft workshops at New Adelphi. Computer Labs have industry software such as ToonBoom Harmony, Autodesk Maya, and Dragon Frame.
If you study part-time your modules will be split across two years.
Trimester One
- Animation Exploration
- Professional and Cultural Contexts
Trimester Two
- Pipelines and Technologies
- Exploring Collaborative Practice
Trimester Three
- Major Project
Our MA in Animation is designed to provide you with the knowledge and skills to apply innovative and efficient production processes to your professional animation projects as you go forward in your career.
Graduates showing strong academic and research skills can pursue a further academic research path through our doctoral (Ph.D.) programs on a full-time or part-time basis subject to a satisfactory proposal.
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