Undergraduate Course: Animation 3B: Experimental Animation (DESI10096)
Course Outline
| School | Edinburgh College of Art |
College | College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 10 (Year 3 Undergraduate) |
Availability | Available to all students |
| SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
| Summary | This course is designed to encourage animation students to think beyond the norms of commercial animation whether for consumption via cinema, TV or internet, or indeed to consider whether it appears on a screen at all. It requires thinking structurally and systematically about animated film and looking beyond established forms of narrative and characterisation, and encourages rigour in documentation and analysis of experiments. |
| Course description |
This is an advanced animation course that requires students to establish ways of working with animated film that enable them to develop a portfolio of animation tests. Working with methods and materials that are by now familiar to them, students will use these to develop a systematic range of experiments with content and structure.
The course will cover:
Developing a plan for experimentation
How to work iteratively
Documentation of inquiry
Conventions in film structure and cinematic grammar
Off screen animation
Site specific animation
Slow animation
Subliminal animation
Workshops in procedural and automatic generation of narrative
Non-linear animation, loops, boils and cycles
This course will comprise one project, with three distinct components, where students will be required to develop and present a plan for a series of animation experiments, carry out those experiments, document the individual experiments, and amalgamate those results into a film which communicates their inquiry to a larger audience.
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Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
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Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | This course is only available to students on a Degree Programme in the School of Design.
Equipment and software: Most equipment and software required will be provided by the School, but the Student will be expected to provide some specialist equipment including a laptop.
Materials: Students will be expected to fund the purchase of general art and design materials, such as sketchbooks, paper and pens. Students will be expected to fund the purchase of some specialist materials required by their course e.g. peg bars, plasticine, animation paper etc.
Course Organisers will support you in meeting intended learning outcomes while keeping material costs to a minimum, but students will be expected to fund optional material costs as necessary for their own project work.
Printing: Students are expected to fund occasional printing and binding of work.
To fully participate in this programme students are recommended to budget a minimum of £50 for each year of study
BA(Hons) Animation
Year 1 - £50.00
Year 2 - £50.00
Year 3 - £50.00
Year 4 - £50.00 |
| Additional Costs | Equipment and software: Most equipment and software required will be provided by the School, but the Student will be expected to provide some specialist equipment including a laptop.
Materials: Students will be expected to fund the purchase of general art and design materials, such as sketchbooks, paper and pens. Students will be expected to fund the purchase of some specialist materials required by their course e.g. peg bars, plasticine, animation paper etc.
Course Organisers will support you in meeting intended learning outcomes while keeping material costs to a minimum, but students will be expected to fund optional material costs as necessary for their own project work.
Printing: Students are expected to fund occasional printing and binding of work.
To fully participate in this programme students are recommended to budget a minimum of £50 for each year of study
BA(Hons) Animation
Year 1 - £50.00
Year 2 - £50.00
Year 3 - £50.00
Year 4 - £50.00 |
Information for Visiting Students
| Pre-requisites | Only available to visiting students in the Design School
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| High Demand Course? |
Yes |
Course Delivery Information
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| Academic year 2026/27, Available to all students (SV1)
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Quota: 0 |
| 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 )
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| Assessment (Further Info) |
Written Exam
0 %,
Coursework
100 %,
Practical Exam
0 %
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| Additional Information (Assessment) |
SUMMATIVE Assessment
The course has three components of assessment:
1 - Research Plan (20%) - submitted at the end of the course and evidencing Learning Outcome 1.
2 - Animation Experiments (40%) - submitted at the end of the course and evidencing Learning Outcome 2.
3 - Final Film (40%) - submitted at the end of the course and evidencing Learning Outcome 3.
All Learning Outcomes must be passed to pass the course, which means each assessment component (Research Plan (20%), Animation Experiments (40%) and Final Film (40%)) must be passed in order to pass the course overall.
SUMMATIVE Assessment details
The course has three components of assessment:
1 - Research Plan (20%) will set out the hypothesis and rationale for the experiments and should be approx. 1200 words
2 - Animation Experiments (40%) should consist of the research documentation, tests and findings (approx. 1000 words).
3 - Final Film (40%) consists of a short film capturing, demonstrating and reflecting on the experiments as a whole (approx. 3 minutes)
Resit Information
The resubmission assessments are the same as the original submissions for this course. |
| Feedback |
FORMATIVE
Formative feedback will be offered throughout the course and in a variety of formats, including written and/or orally at formative submission point(s), tutorials, and other activities.
SUMMATIVE
Final course grades and written feedback will be provided at the end of the course. |
| No Exam Information |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- PLAN: Demonstrate the ability to develop a planned, systematic approach to animation research.
- DOCUMENT: Demonstrate the ability to record and analyse evidence of planned experimentation.
- INFORM: Demonstrate the ability to communicate the results of research through animated film. 5. ASSESSMENT AND EXAMINATION INFORMATION
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Reading List
Rees, A. L. A History of Experimental Film and Video Palgrave Macmilan (2011)
Mercado, G. The Filmmaker's Eye: Learning (and Breaking) the Rules of Cinematic Composition Focal Press (2017)
Bowen, C. & Thompson, R. Grammar of the Shot Focal Press (2013)
Dobson, T. The Film Work of Norman McLaren John Libbey Publishing (2007) |
Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Project planning, research structuring, communication of complex ideas and processes, systematic |
| Keywords | animation,experimental,documentation of inquiry,research planning |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Mrs Laia Aubao Ponsico
Tel:
Email: laubaop@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | Mrs Carrie Parker
Tel:
Email: Carrie.Parker@ed.ac.uk |
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