Why Choose
UEL
With a campus based university in London, the University of East London's Animation programme focuses on providing every student with the attention and care that they need to understand how to progress into the professional world of Animation. Our location in East London and proximity to studios in Soho and Central London has allowed us to build strong links with animation employers. We introduce students to a range of animation skills, supported by one-to-one to academic and technical tutorial support, ensuring that our graduates are confident professionals entering the industry of animation, in any capacity that they choose. By maintaining small cohorts of students we are able to ensure that every student has enough studio space, and plenty of access to our highly qualified staff. Email us on animation@uel.ac.uk to find out more about the programme. You can also email us to arrange a visit to the campus meet with staff and students. We look forward to hearing from you!
Our Facilities
We encourage students to work collaboratively not just within the programme, but also with students from other parts of the university, and as part of this we arrange workshops, where students may work with students from sound design, graphic design, journalism, illustration, game design and the film courses. Learning at UEL is informed by the student needs and we aim to ensure that every student is able to fulfil their potential. We have several lecture and studio spaces, as well as wood, print and ceramics workshops where you will be able build sets for stop-motion animation. You can book equipment such as Wacom tablets, Cintiqs, HD cameras, Tascam recorders, Boom microphones and all the equipment you may need during your Animation degree at UEL. You will be trained to use Adobe Creative suite and TVPaint to create your work and will be supported by a dedicated animation technician, and a wider team of Art, Design and Film technicians. The University's IT Department ensure that software and the studios are function at the highest levels. Take a look around our studio spaces below, and the area around the university!
What You Learn
YEAR 1
YEAR 2
YEAR 3
TERM 1
TERM 2
Character and Sound Design
Animation History
Animation Principles
Animated Documentary
Animated Fiction
Collaborative Practice 1
Backgrounds and Sequences
The Animation Industry
Professional Practice 1
Contextual Studies 1
Film Packaging and Distribution
Final Animation Project
Production
Professional Practice 2
Story and Editing
Contextual Studies 2
Collaborative Practice 2
Final Animation Project
Pre-Production
Final Animation Project
Post-Production
In year one you will be taken through a step-by-step process of animation production from story and idea development to animation to character design and sound design through a series of exciting projects. Find out more about each project by clicking on each of the project posters below
PROJECTS IN YEAR 1
 What is Animation?What is Animation introduces students to contemporary and historical examples of the traditional and expanded forms of animation. Students will look at examples of animation produced from all around the world and get an overview of the skills required to produce and work in the field of animation |  Tall Tales and Short StoriesThis project introduces students to writing for animation and has been designed to help students find their own voices as animation filmmakers. It will equip them with the skills of generating and developing ideas into scripts that can be made into animated short films. Students will be introduced to key concepts in the theory and history of writing and filmmaking, which they would be encouraged to engage with while developing their own process of writing for animation. |  Cut to The ChaseCut to the Chase: Editing for Animation introduces students to assembling and editing stories into animatics. By the end of the project, students will be expected to have completed an animatic for a short animation film that is ready for production. |
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 People We Know: Character DesignPeople We Know is a two-part project that students begin in their first year of the Animation BA at UEL. This first part has been designed to equip students with the skills required to build plausible characters for animation. The project will also introduce them to formats, such as module sheets, expression sheets and animation bibles that used within the industry. |  All Sound on the Animation front: SoThis project helps students understand the connection between sound and image. It provides a basic introduction to recording, designing, laying and mixing different types of tracks to create the sound track for an animation film. |  Animation 101: Principles of AnimatiThe emphasis of Animation 101 is to introduce students to the Animation production process. Through this project, students are introduced to a range of animation production techniques from 2D animation to stop-motion, while while gaining the associated technical expertise and software skills in each part of the process. |
In the second year, students are able to apply all of the skills that they learn in the first year through the production of two animated short films. They are taken through the process of crafting and animating an animated documentary, and an animated fiction or experimental film. In the second year students are given time to experiment and try out different animation techniques, and understand exactly where their interests lie within the field of animation. They also make their websites through the Professional Practice module, and learn how to pitch and present their ideas to clients and employers through live briefs and studio visits.
PROJECTS IN YEAR 2
 The animated documentary project follows on from the character design project and is the first of three animation projects that student complete during their BA in Animation at UEL. In this project student choose interview and edit recordings of interviews with people in the local community to create an 1-minute long animated documentaries. |  In the Short Fiction film project, students make one-minute short films about any subject of their choice. They are guided through the project through one-to-one tutorials, and also through classroom presentations. |  The Professional Practice module in the second year introduces students to production practices in the animation Industry. Aligned with the practice module, and taught by a visiting member of staff who works in a studio, this module ensure that students understand the production process. In the module, they also begin to package their work in a website, in order to prepare for internships over the summer. |
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 Contextual Studies In this module students examine various International historical and contemporary examples of animation, and how they have been produced, exhibited and viewed within various socio-cultural and political contexts. |
The the final year, student have the opportunity to present all of the skills that they have gained through the first and second year through a animated short film that is about 3 minutes long. This film maybe fiction, non-fiction or experimental. Alongside the production of the final major project, students are sports and prepared for their professional life after university through the professional practice module and contextual studies.
PROJECTS IN YEAR 3
 Final Major Project In this final third year project, students are able to showcase their areas of expertise and specialism through a three-minute long animated film. The films are shown to potential employers and clients and also circulated within the international animation film festival circuit. |  Students are encouraged to compete an internship over the summer. The professional practice module in the third year allows them to reflect on improving the ways in which they present their work for future employers and clients. They continue to be supported by a professional from the animation industry who ensures that they not only follow industry-standard animation production processes, but also presentation methods and formats. | Contextual Studies In the final year students are required to contextualise their final film projects, to understand the socio- cultural and political contexts within which their ideas have been developed. The contextual studies project in the third year allows students to make the connections between theory and their own practice. |
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