Animation Directing
Established: 2021
Educational Degree: Master of Arts
Duration: 1 year (2 semesters)
Form of Education: Full-time
Program Director:
Key Academic Team:
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Gospodin Nedelchev (Animation Directing, Visual Styles in the Animation Cinema), Prof. Simon Jon Andreasen (DDF, Copenhagen, Denmark – Multiplatform Projects Directing), Prof. Francisco Menendez (University of Nevada, Las Vegas, USA – Virtual and Augmented Reality Production Models), Assoc. Prof. Alessandro Nani (BFM, Tallinn, Estonia – Transmedia Communications), Prof. Dr. Marin Damianov (Animation Character Psychoanalysis), Dr. Penyu Kiratzov (Innovative Practices in Animation Cinema), Nelly Dimitrova (Screewnriting Film Analysis), Ivailo Seferov (Animation Software)
1. ABOUT THE PROGRAMME
The programme is oriented towards students who wish to deepen their knowledge in the field of animation films, to develop further their abilities for critical and creative thinking, to master teamwork and organizational skills. Students develop their own film projects, expressing their creative individuality and showing professional preparedness. It is a mandatory prerequisite that students have knowledge of English at least at level B2, as 50% of classes are conducted by lecturers from Denmark, Estonia, Israel, USA and others.
Besides NATFA graduates, the programme is also open to students who have graduated other higher educational institutions in Bulgaria and abroad. In this case, they have to follow up an enriched curriculum, consisting of additional electives and activities that provide specialized knowledge in the field.
The obligatory modules focus on animation directing, visual styles in the animation cinema, psychoanalysis of the animation character, animation software, innovative practices in the animation cinema, dramaturgical analysis, transmedia communication, multiplatform projects directing, virtual/augmented reality production models, non-formal educational approaches; etc.
2. EDUCATION
Education is only full-time, lasting one year (2 semesters). During the first semester students develop a visual concept for a short animation film (not longer than three minutes), including: director’s statement, storyboard, characters, sets. During the second semester the students develop and finalize the animation and the post-production of their project.
3. QUALIFICATION
Graduates acquire the educational qualification degree Master of Arts, with professional qualification “Animation Directing”. The graduated students may find jobs in all state and private film, TV or new media institutions, fully or partially having the purpose of creating animation screen products.
4. ADMISSION
When submitting their application, candidates must also submit a portfolio. It may contain scripts, essays, poems, short stories, plays, novels, paintings, drawings, photographs, films, original music, performances of songs and musical instruments, recordings of musical performances and other artistic materials of the candidate’s choice. Textual materials must be in a pdf format and not exceeding 5 pages. Images must be in jpg format. Audiovisual materials must be in mp-4 format and not exceeding a total duration of 10 minutes. Sound materials must be in mp-3 format and not exceeding a total duration of 10 minutes. The purpose of the portfolio is to show the applicant’s interests, artistic preferences, potential skills and mindset in as many details as possible. All materials must be uploaded in the Google Drive cloud space with a limit up to 3 GB.
The portfolio obligatory includes a detailed creative CV of the candidate as well as a conceptual project for a 3-minute animation film containing the script, the visual intentions explication and the storyboard.
Oral Exam
The Selection Committee interviews the applicants about the materials, included in their portfolio. The aim of the interview is to understand the applicants’ potential capabilities, interests, overall cultural knowledge and mindset, ability for independent thinking and artistic reflections. Candidates who receive a score lower than average (3.00) cannot participate in the final ranking.
