Animation

The BFA Animation program is under the Film Artistic Department. Animation is magical – it can speak across cultural, age, gender, and language barriers. Because animation uses our own imagination, its images and narratives have a unique power to move people to laughter and tears—sometimes at the same time. From implementing crowd scenes in a movie or television commercial to creating vast landscapes for a video game, artists use animation in nearly every aspect of today’s entertainment industry.

NAFTI’s Animation BFA degree program guides students through the same production pipeline used in professional studios, that is, from storyboarding, sketching, and visual development to modeling, character animation, and final compositing. The computer animation program begins by exploring the art concepts behind the drawing, sculpting, and other traditional forms of expression. As the students prepare to take their artwork from page to screen, they also learn the foundational animation principles behind computer-generated characters, objects, and environments. Courses focusing on relevant topics such as storytelling and communication are designed to further round out their skill set and ongoing portfolio.  Courses provide students with opportunities to showcase their talents and develop their professional skills.

The faculty includes some of the best artists in the industry, who bring knowledge and experience in multiple disciplines straight from the studio into the classroom. Mentors include directors, fine artists, photographers, special-effects artists, writers, character designers, and advertising specialists.  Students not only learn innovative drawing techniques, methods of storytelling, and storyboarding, but also professional software such as Adobe Photoshop, Flash, Adobe After Effects, Adobe Premiere Pro, Toon Boom, Maya, and Director. Students are also immersed in hands-on experience, whether they are studying traditional, stop-motion, or computer animation.