My daughter has completed two years of her degree in visual arts in Riyadh. She would like to pursue a career in animation. Please suggest names of some of the best universities that offer a postgraduate course in animation in the UK, the UAE and the rest of Asia. Also, what about job prospects?
Rajan Mhatre, via email
Animators need to be able to tell stories with dramatic flair. They need to have a foundation in fine arts, motion design, timing and film-making. They should like working with people as nearly all work is team effort.
Some careers to consider are background animator, director, project manager or special effects animator.
The UK is a good place to study as it has many focused programmes that will cover 2D, 3D, art, design, communication, scripting and so on, providing expertise and professional knowledge in these areas.
As for career prospects, it is easy to see how animation rules the media and entertainment world today. With advancements in software technology and new cutting-edge gadgets entering the market, the demand for talented and qualified animators is only bound to increase. Animation is used in special effects, online, big screen, cell animations for advertisements and video games.
Your daughter needs to begin preparing her art portfolio with her drawings, computer designs, photographs and so on.
If your daughter were to consider an undergraduate course in the UK she could probably enrol without being required to do a foundation course, since she has already completed two years' study in visual arts.
As far as postgraduate study is concerned, some of the colleges in the UK offering such courses in animation are the Universities of Northumbria, Huddersfield, Portsmouth, Dundee and Bournemouth.
I don't know of any institute in the UAE that offers a postgraduate course, but in India there are several colleges that offer a postgraduate degree. These include the Picasso Animation College in Delhi and Indian Institute of Digital Art and Animation in Kolkata.
When considering a college you need to look at various factors such as what aspects of animation the course covers, as well as the faculty, location, alumni and so on.
