Visual Effects (with Advanced Practice) MA

Teesside University, Middlesbrough

Course overview:

If you would like a career in visual effects for film and TV, then this course is for you. Create photorealistic 2D and 3D visual effects, assets and simulations seamlessly composited into shots for film, TV and 3D animation.

As well as giving you professional skills in key areas of the visual effects post-production pipeline such as previsualisation, modelling, rigging, scripting, tracking, technical animation, effects animation, lighting, look development and compositing, this course enables you to explore your own specialism in greater depth. Gain experience of the wider pre-production and production pipelines and emulate industry practice by working collaboratively in teams with students from other animation courses on industry-led briefs and short films. As well as dedicated studios featuring industry-standard VFX software, you have access to dedicated specialist camera and grip equipment, motion-capture studios, and a fully equipped sound stage including green screen facilities and motion-control cameras.

Professional accreditation

This course has been officially certified by SideFX and the school is a member of the SideFX Certified Partner Programme in recognition of our knowledgeable instructors, the high quality of student work, and our efforts devoted to connecting students to industry.

How you learn

You learn about concepts and methods primarily through keynote lectures and tutorials using case studies and examples. Lectures include presentations from guest speakers from industry. Critical reflection is key to successful problem solving and essential to the creative process. You develop your own reflective practice at an advanced level, then test and assess your solutions against criteria that you develop in the light of your research.

How you are assessed

The programme assessment strategy has been designed to assess your subject specific knowledge, cognitive and intellectual skills and transferable skills applicable to the workplace. The strategy ensures that you are provided with formative assessment opportunities throughout the programme which support your summative assessments.

There is a mix of practical work (usually in the form of a portfolio), poster and viva presentations, written reports, and professionally presented ‘breakdown’ videos commonly used in industry.

Formative feedback is typically given during lectures, tutorials and summative feedback using on-line methods.

Career opportunities

You have many opportunities to develop your professional skills, links with industry and meet with recruiters through our Expo Series, Animex Festival and Student Futures activities.

Graduates from our Visual Effects degrees have gone on to enjoy successful careers in studios around the world working on visual effects for film, television, animation and games.

Graduates have gone on to work in a range of areas including previs, modelling, rigging, production, effects animation, matte painting, tracking and matchmove, lighting, look development and compositing. They are working for companies including Industrial Light and Magic, Weta Digital, Double Negative, Moving Picture Company, Cinesite, The Third Floor, The Mill, Pixar, Digital Domain, Framestore and many more.