Undergraduate Course: Animating Stories (DESI10135)
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 | Animating Stories is designed to engage students with narrative form and structure and how these can be explored in and through animation techniques. Using either personal memory, literary adaptation or poetry, students will combine animation theory with practice to create and test their storytelling skills in preparation for later projects. Topics such as animation and metaphor, memory and adaptation will be studied to give greater context within animation to better understand how to create and produce original animation. |
| Course description |
Animating Stories will develop the students' understanding of creating and using narrative devices to produce animations which draw from either memories, adapted texts, or poetry. By using an existing story outline, students can experiment with form and technique and test it within a specific format. By combining lectures and workshops, students will consider what it means to re-imagine another author's characters; interpret poetry; confront their own ephemeral memories. What animation styles and techniques best suit the fluid nature of these stories? How can you develop an existing character for a new audience? Can sound affect the meaning of the visual? Students will address these questions through a short animated film and reflective journal.
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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.
This Course does not require any additional costs to be met by the Student beyond the yearly programme cost for materials. 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 | This Course does not require any additional costs to be met by the Student beyond the yearly programme cost for materials. 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 |
| 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 5,
Supervised Practical/Workshop/Studio Hours 8,
Feedback/Feedforward Hours 1,
Formative Assessment Hours 2,
Summative Assessment Hours 2,
Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
173 )
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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 two components of assessment:
1 - Film (70%) - submitted at the end of the course and evidencing Learning Outcomes 1 and 2.
2 - Reflective Essay (30%) - submitted at the end of the course and evidencing Learning Outcome 3.
Learning Outcomes are weighted as:
LO1: 35%
LO2: 35%
LO3: 30%
All Learning Outcomes must be passed to pass the course, which means each assessment component (Film (70%) and Reflective Essay (30%)) must be passed in order to pass the course overall.
SUMMATIVE Assessment details
The course has two components of assessment:
1. Up to 5 minute film (2 min 40 to 5 min) (70%).
2. 1500 word (1300-1500) reflective journal (30%).
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:
- Demonstrate a critical knowledge and understanding of using narrative forms and structures to create animation.
- Apply animation skills to execute a creative and original film using a range of techniques.
- Critically review your process and outcome through a reflective journal
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Reading List
Understanding Animation (1998), Paul Wells, Routledge, London.
The Animation Studies Reader (2018) Dobson, Honess Roe, Ruddell, Ratelle (Ed) Bloomsbury, NY.
Emotion in Animated Films (2019) Uhrig, M (Ed) Routledge, London.
'Now a Major Motion Picture: Film Adaptations of Literature and Drama. (2008) Geraghty, C. Rowman and Littlefield, Lanham.
Animated Recollection and Spectatorial Experience in Waltz with Bashir (2011) Landesman, O and Bendor, R. Animation: An Interdisciplinary Journal, Volume 6. Sage.
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Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Critical thinking, analytical thinking, communication, research skills, documentation
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| Keywords | narrative,adaptation,memory,storytelling,storyboards,scriptwriting |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Nichola Dobson
Tel: (0131 6)51 5964
Email: N.Dobson@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | Mrs Carrie Parker
Tel:
Email: Carrie.Parker@ed.ac.uk |
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