One Person. One Film.
The UCLA Animation Workshop is committed to excellence in defining, expanding, creating, and teaching animation. There are only 2 limitations: Imagination and Exhaustion.
First Year
The first year of the program is devoted to learning the principles of making a traditional hand-drawn, animated film.
The process begins with a series of classes that provide the student with the fundamentals of animation, exposure to different techniques, history, and critical analysis. This culminates with a 2-quarter class (FTV 181C Animation Workshop), in which the student completes an animated film with sound.
Second Year
The second year is devoted to creating computer animation; the film may be 2D, 3D, or a combination.
Students who wish to pursue hand-drawn animation use Cintiqs in our Lab, and work with a variety of industry-driven software programs. Those making 3D CG films learn to model, rig, shade, light, and animate using Maya. The principals of animation, and the pursuit of excellence in individual work so important in the first year, continue to be emphasized in the second year, while fully immersed in the digital realm
Third Year
The student forms a Thesis Committee and begins production on their thesis film.
Every thesis must be a project that showcases the student’s creativity as a filmmaker, but does not necessarily have to be a film (interactive projects or pitch bibles are other possibilities).
Master in Fine Arts – Graduate Division
The Film and Television MFA in Animation is a three to four year program that has been turning out innovative and accomplished artists for over half a century, never more so than in the past decade
deadline to apply is February 1, 2024 – – No longer accepting Applications for the 2024-2025 Academic Year