The Royal College of Art is the world- only wholly postgraduate university of art and design, specialising in teaching and research and offering the degrees of MA, MPhil and PhD across the disciplines of fine art, applied art, design, communications and humanities.
By reflecting on and engaging with contemporary practice, the Animation Department intends to move the medium into a new position in the art world and to find new audiences and new contexts. Animation has a special ability to straddle the commercial and the art world in a way that benefits both. From this position, it is possible to discern the needs and the possibilities of the future. They intend to build a research environment that is informed by, and useful to, both worlds.
The Animation Department is a vibrant environment which enables students to extend the study and practice of animation and to develop an individual voice. Narrative and non-narrative methods are encouraged and it is important to the department to select a range of approaches each year to encourage cross-pollination between different and challenging means of expression. Structure, pace and rhythm and the interplay between image and sound are key elements explored during the course. Additionally, character development, animation skill, directing actors, pace and timing remain important elements in the study of animation. Construction of images and the compositing of elements from many sources including live action, models, photos and textures is encouraged and supported, and there is the opportunity to combine new and traditional forms of animation to create exciting and original methods of image-making.
Creative-writing workshops develop and stimulate the students- creativity with the written word and extend their use of language as a creative tool. These writing skills help students towards successful funding applications after graduation. Story-boarding workshops are also offered to enable students to improve and reflect on the content and structure of the work. Creative approaches to editing are taught and are being developed through staff research.
Drawing is one of the core skills developed in the department and there are close links with the Drawing Studio. Specialist workshops have been devised to develop the skills of drawing movement and interpreting sound. Adapting an illustration style and refining lines and marks to find what is necessary to the communication of movement is an important issue for some animation artists, and the course offers an ideal opportunity to develop a personal style. It encourages students to be as creative and inventive with sound as they are with their visuals. There are opportunities to collaborate with sound designers and musicians outside the College particularly with students from the Royal College of Music and the National Film and Television School.
Research students are encouraged to question and reflect on their own practice and that of others at a deeper level. Through action research students can excavate the meaning behind their own images and sounds and those of others. This can result in finding new knowledge, developing new methods of working, and inventing ways of presenting and viewing animation. Animation Research students work alongside the Master- students and share access to facilities and technical support. They also benefit from the support and stimulation of school- and college-wide research events.
The majority of the students- learning is done through individual practice and tutorials with both staff and students. As well as a series of short practical workshops in the first year, students create a short film or a series of experiments to research and develop a particular aspect of their work. Specialist visiting artists and film-makers offer a range of approaches and critiques of students- work. Representatives from the animation industry and from other departments are also invited to give feedback on students- projects during the two years.
Films produced within the department are regularly screened at festivals worldwide and exhibited in museums and galleries, and many are licensed to terrestrial and satellite television. Many have won prizes for artistic achievement and on two occasions recently a graduation film from the department has won the BAFTA (British Association of Film and Television Arts) for the Best Animated Short. These are Dog, directed by Susie Templeton 2002, and Fish Never Sleep, directed by Gaelle Denis, 2003. Graduates include Richard Kenworthy of Shynola, Philip Hunt of Studio AKA, Brian Wood, author of the Cramp Twins series, Alan Smith and Adam Foulkes, directors of the wonderful multi award-winning Honda clean diesel engine (Hate Something: Change Something) advert, amongst many others whose work is regularly seen on TV, in music videos, at festivals and in galleries.