Why choose this course?

The MA Animation programme at Kingston School of Art takes a creative and director-led approach to interdisciplinary moving image production. This course will give you the skills and attributes to thrive in a professional environment shaped by rapid cultural and technological change. It will introduce you to a wide range of interlinked and adaptable technologies and methods including 2D and 3D animation, virtual reality and augmented reality. You will use animation methods to interpret knowledge, stories, ideas and data into visual or experiential outputs that communicate complexity with empathy.

MA Animation supports the development of an individual practice informed by a culture that values research and collaboration. Research is seen as integral to the act of critical making through experimentation with physical, digital and virtual tools and technologies embracing a diverse range of multidisciplinary approaches.

Through tutorials, lectures, seminars, workshops and research projects, you will gain the critical tools, knowledge and confidence needed to contribute to the development of the subject and its practice. Every student will have the opportunity to complete an extended research project, typically a film.

What you will study

Through tutorials, field trips, lectures, seminars, workshops and research projects, you will gain the technical skills, critical tools, knowledge and confidence needed to contribute to the development of the subject and its practice. You will be asked to examine your own practice and identify existing practice-based research methods, which will then be developed by introducing discipline specific notions of rigour, originality, ethics, positioning and inclusivity. Modules have been designed and aligned to ensure that students are able to make intellectual links between practice, critical theory and real-world scenarios. In doing so, this programme prioritises the development of an individual practitioner and their creative work.

There is an emphasis on independent and self-directed learning where students are given autonomy to develop a practice that supports their aspirations and ambitions. Skills in critical reflection and analysis provide you with the tools necessary to make decisions about you practice and learning trajectory. Students are provided with the opportunity to initiate, propose, and realise an Extended Research Project (Capstone Project), typically a film, that is ambitious in scale and scope. Studio modules include development of animation skills, concepts and practice through project work and utilise the studio as a site for making. Reading modules focus on critical and contextual theory or issues and positioning practice critically. Presentation modules orientate students within a professional landscape and include preparation for employment through development of future skills and career planning. The three Studio modules are specific to MA Animation and the Reading and Presenting modules are shared with MA Illustration and MA Graphic Design programmes.

Teaching and assessment

Students will benefit from a variety of different learning and teaching approaches including brief-led project work, workshops that encourage creative experimentation and individual critical reflection. MA Animation embraces this approach through a peer-led learning, collaborative approach to animation production and discussion groups and seminars. We take a dialogic and discursive approach to learning and teaching, through peer-led learning, collaborative approach to animation production and discussion groups and seminars as well as opportunities to co-construct the curriculum. An elective range of assessment strategies and methods allows students to take responsibility for their own learning.