FM4127 Animation

Academic year

2025 to 2026 Semester 2

Further information on which modules are specific to your programme.

Key module information

SCOTCAT credits

30

The Scottish Credit Accumulation and Transfer (SCOTCAT) system allows credits gained in Scotland to be transferred between institutions. The number of credits associated with a module gives an indication of the amount of learning effort required by the learner. European Credit Transfer System (ECTS) credits are half the value of SCOTCAT credits.

SCQF level

SCQF level 10

The Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework (SCQF) provides an indication of the complexity of award qualifications and associated learning and operates on an ascending numeric scale from Levels 1-12 with SCQF Level 10 equating to a Scottish undergraduate Honours degree.

Planned timetable

To be arranged.

This information is given as indicative. Timetable may change at short notice depending on room availability.

Module coordinator

Dr P Flaig

Dr P Flaig
This information is given as indicative. Staff involved in a module may change at short notice depending on availability and circumstances.

Module Staff

Dr Paul Flaig

This information is given as indicative. Staff involved in a module may change at short notice depending on availability and circumstances.

Module description

This module will explore histories, theories and techniques of animation, beginning with proto-cinematic devices and concluding with the most recent digital effects. Between these bookends, animated works, from comic cartoons to anime epics, stop-motion experiments to Disney fairy tales, have proved some of the most innovative in film history. Yet animation has often been marginalised as an escapist or artificial outlier within that history, its drawn images opposed to photographic reality. This module will emphasise animation's vital importance for understanding and experiencing moving image media. It will do so by exploring a series of specific figures and forms of life in motion, including androids and animals, puppets and sex dolls, undead creatures and uncanny things. We will examine the moving image's intersections with life, death, motion and soul in a range of readings, screenings and assessments, which will include students producing and reflecting on their own animated works.

Relationship to other modules

Pre-requisites

BEFORE TAKING THIS MODULE YOU MUST GAIN AN AVERAGE MARK OF 11 FROM FM2002 AND GAIN AN AVERAGE MARK OF 11 FROM FM2003

Assessment pattern

Coursework = 100%

Re-assessment

Examination = 100%

Learning and teaching methods and delivery

Weekly contact

1 Seminar (2 hours, 11 weeks)

Scheduled learning hours

55

The number of compulsory student:staff contact hours over the period of the module.

Guided independent study hours

245

The number of hours that students are expected to invest in independent study over the period of the module.

Intended learning outcomes

  • Students will engage with an emerging area of interest in the discipline of Film Studies
  • Students will improve their research and writing skills, developed for both academic and non-academic audiences alike.
  • Students will examine specific aspects of animation in depth, assessing them through theoretical, technical and textual analysis.
  • Students will gain practical experience through experimenting with and analysing different animation techniques.