THE UNIVERSITY of EDINBURGH

DEGREE REGULATIONS & PROGRAMMES OF STUDY 2022/2023

Timetable information in the Course Catalogue may be subject to change.

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DRPS : Course Catalogue : Edinburgh College of Art : Design

Undergraduate Course: Animation 3A: Animation For Clients (DESI10095)

Course Outline
SchoolEdinburgh College of Art CollegeCollege of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences
Credit level (Normal year taken)SCQF Level 10 (Year 3 Undergraduate) AvailabilityAvailable to all students
SCQF Credits20 ECTS Credits10
SummaryThis course is designed to introduce students to the role of an animator working in the context of commercial design. Working for external clients on live projects, students will develop a sense of how to operate in a service capacity, solving problems for others. Students will be expected to choose projects, and/or source project, to assemble a portfolio of animation projects developed for others.
Course description This is an advanced animation course that focuses upon interaction with clients and or commissioning bodies, defining parameters and identifying constraints to negotiate viable project briefs, ultimately enabling delivery of an animation driven response to a client's needs.

The course will cover:

Developing a structured brief with clients
Project planning and project management
Modelling dependencies and developing contingencies
Methods for negotiation and conflict resolution
Technical workshops in subjects including pre-visualisation of ideas, distributed rendering, asset sharing and version control, external referencing of assets
Workshops in pitching and presentation techniques
Project documentation

Past examples of projects where 3rd year animators have operated in this way may provide an indicator of potential projects; these include the following: films for charities, music videos for record labels and local/national bands, educational videos for government, working for broadcasters such as the BBC, theatre productions, and VFX work for feature films.

Documentation of collaborative process, development of ideas, research, and self-reflection will come from the ongoing design journals submitted alongside completed projects.
Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
Pre-requisites Co-requisites
Prohibited Combinations Other requirements This course is only available to students on a Degree Programme in the School of Design
Additional Costs Students will be required to provide:

Drawing and painting materials (pens, pencils, crayons, charcoal, markers, paper, sketch pads for example.)
Sculpting materials (wire, modelling clay, balsa wood for example.)
Animation supplies (Peg bar, animation paper and cels for example.)

The list above is an example, and is by no means exhaustive.
Information for Visiting Students
Pre-requisitesOnly available to visiting students in the Design School
High Demand Course? Yes
Course Delivery Information
Academic year 2022/23, Available to all students (SV1) Quota:  9
Course Start Semester 1
Timetable Timetable
Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) Total Hours: 200 ( Lecture Hours 5, Seminar/Tutorial Hours 15, Supervised Practical/Workshop/Studio Hours 20, Feedback/Feedforward Hours 1, Formative Assessment Hours 1, Summative Assessment Hours 1, Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4, Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours 153 )
Assessment (Further Info) Written Exam 0 %, Coursework 100 %, Practical Exam 0 %
Additional Information (Assessment) 100% Coursework, comprising:

33.33% Development and presentation of project proposals

33.33% Reflection - Online design journal and self-evaluation

33.33% Resolved projects and associated development work - Sketchpads, drawings, storyboards, animatics


This course will comprise multiple projects, usually, but not exclusively, two. The nature of those projects will be determined by the students themselves through a process of selection from available externally sourced projects,
or by sourcing their own. Students will receive verbal feedback during each project, but they will receive written feedback upon a portfolio submission of all available projects in a formative assessment that takes place in the
middle of the semester, and a final portfolio submission for summative assessment at the end of the semester.

Relationship between Assessment and Learning Outcomes:

LO1 is assessed only through Project Proposals
LO2 is assessed only through Design Journal
LO3 is assessed only through Resolved Projects

All Learning Outcomes weighted equally.
Feedback 1. Group presentations and crits for verbal feedback from peers and staff at the midpoint of projects, feedback will be given verbally;

2. Documentation of individual feedback and indicative grades via VLE for formative assessment at the midpoint of course; usually week 5;

3. Documentation of individual feedback and final grades via VLE for summative assessment at the end of course;

4. Self-evaluation is also carried out by student at formative and summative submission points and hosted on VLE;
No Exam Information
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
  1. PITCH: Communicate animation project proposals to external clients persuasively and professionally.
  2. ADAPT: Demonstrate the ability to respond to client feedback and refine animation project proposals.
  3. MANAGE: Demonstrate the ability to resolve animation projects in a timely manner.
Reading List
Dunlop, R. Production Pipeline Fundamentals for Film and Games. Focal Press (2014)

Lyons, N. & Wilker, M. Interactive Project Management: Pixels, People, and Process (Voices That Matter). New Riders (2012)

Manzini, E. & Coad, R. Design, When Everybody Designs: An Introduction to Design for Social Innovation (Design Thinking, Design Theory). MIT Press (2015)
Additional Information
Graduate Attributes and Skills Organisation, evaluation, problem solving, self-reflection, critical thinking, collaboration, negotiation, analysis, contingency planning, adaptability
KeywordsAnimation,Film,Live projects,External clients,Project management
Contacts
Course organiserMr Jared Taylor
Tel: (0131 6)51 5964
Email: jared.taylor@ed.ac.uk
Course secretaryMr Hugh Black
Tel: (0131 6)51 5926
Email: hugh.black@ed.ac.uk
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