MA Animation

"Due to the ongoing Coronavirus pandemic, examinations may be replaced by an alternative form of assessment during the academic year 2021/2022. Please refer to the Programme Specification on these pages for further details."

Why choose Herts?

• Excellent Reputation: Ranked 1st as the Best Animation School in the UK (7th worldwide - Rookies World School Rankings® 2020).
• Employment Prospects: Our animation students work as animators with Industrial Light & Magic, Creative Assembly, and Blue Zoo.
• Industry Connections: As part of the course, all students complete a live external agency brief with previous students working with organisations, including National Poetry Day and Promise.

About the course

• The MA Animation degree allows you to develop your 2D or 3D Digital Animation skills and knowledge to a more advanced level.
• You will produce a personal portfolio that, in approach, style, and vision, look to the forefront of current practices.
• The course allows you to extend your theoretical and contextual understanding of animation, audiences, and media culture.
• You will become familiar with the professional-level enquiry, research, creative invention, project planning, and management practices.
• The course is taught within a multi-disciplinary environment of discussion and exploration of ideas.

Why choose this course?

This award enables you to develop creative, practical skills in a range of digital processes that are used in Animation and related fields. Within this course, you can choose to focus on a particular area of animation such as 2D animation, 3D animation or combine the areas to create new forms and ideas from the fusion of techniques and styles.

Within 2D animation, you can look at traditional animation techniques and blend these skills and approaches with new digital media to form new content and formats. You will explore the rich heritage of 2D animation and the possibilities of experimentation, both in form and content, that traditional animation has actively encouraged.

3D digital animation has become the most popular form of animated imagery over the past decade. It is used by more experimental practitioners who question the appearance, form, and uses it has in present-day media. In this form, you will challenge your preconceptions of what 2D or 3D animation can do, which helps you become an innovator in the field. You will have the opportunity to explore the range of possibilities available to the practitioner, mixing technical knowledge of the subject with the creative freedom that an understanding of the theory and context of new media practices brings.

The postgraduate Animation programme involves induction, seminars, and social events for students and staff, allowing you to be part of a friendly and supportive postgraduate community of filmmakers, musicians, and professionals working in new media. Senior research staff and internationally renowned professionals work with postgraduate students, helping to develop original and challenging work. Your study includes ways of thinking about the cultural resonance of your work, the audiences it is made for, the nature of creativity, and the role of the cultural industries in a modern knowledge economy.

Through your study, you will develop a range of project management skills and an ability to identify and manage your own learning. You will consider the role of enterprise opportunities in commercial, professional, and social environments, as well as specialist modules in your chosen discipline area, and the programme includes shared modules with other postgraduate awards in the School of Creative Arts. This structure promotes cross-discipline discussion and maintains the enthusiasm and focus of discipline specialists. It enables you to develop key transferable skills of postgraduate study grounded in activities that have currency, relevance, and application for your future career and further academic study.

Student experience

At the University of Hertfordshire, we want to make sure your time studying with us is as stress-free and rewarding as possible. We offer a range of support services including; student wellbeing, academic support, accommodation, and childcare to ensure that you make the most of your time at Herts and can focus on studying and having fun.

Additional information

• Sandwich placement or study abroad year: n/a
• Applications open to international and EU students: Yes