BFA in Animation and Digital Arts

Highlights of Course of Study

Future home of the Digital Domain Institute
West Palm Beach, Florida

• Students learn in intensive workshops with accomplished industry professionals.     
• The majority of instruction is provided in one-on-one settings and in small groups with a low student to faculty ratio.
• Students are trained in digital production fundamentals and story development.
• Students are provided an opportunity to become certified in technical skills required by the digital media industry.
• Students learn to work with professional equipment and facilities.
• Students write and direct a minimum of three short films, and they serve in a variety of creative positions on other short films.
• Students are provided with internship opportunities and industry mentors upon graduation.
• Students graduate with creative works ready for submission to the festival circuit.

Description of Curriculum

The curriculum in production combines courses in digital motion picture production with a liberal studies core. The purpose of the Animation and Digital Arts program is to furnish the conceptual framework, the professional training, and the working environment for eventual participation in a profession that is a powerful influence in our culture. All courses in the major will be delivered at new facilities operated by the College of Motion Picture Arts in downtown West Palm Beach.

Click here for a sample course of study for the BFA in Animation and Digital Arts

FRESHMAN YEAR

Students who are admitted into the program as freshmen will spend their first year at Florida State’s Tallahassee campus, fulfilling a minimum of 30 credit hours of the FSU liberal studies requirements.

Students who are admitted as transfers into the major are required to have already earned 30 credit hours of the FSU liberal studies requirements (or equivalent). Transfer students will begin their studies at the West Palm Beach facility, enrolled full-time in the major.

SOPHOMORE, JUNIOR, AND SENIOR YEARS

All classes in the major will be delivered at the West Palm Beach facility. After their freshman year, if they have successfully completed 30 hours of liberal studies coursework, students will be required to relocate from Tallahassee to West Palm Beach. Transfer students will immediately commence studies in the major at West Palm Beach.

The Animation and Digital Arts Program is a project-centered curriculum. Students will make a series of short motion picture projects, culminating in a senior thesis experience. The emphasis of the curriculum will be in digital motion picture production, in such areas as: computer animation, visual effects, greenscreen, and motion capture technologies.

The major courses include instruction in writing, directing, visualization, digital cinematography, editing, sound, film history, aesthetics, and digital tools for motion picture artists.

CERTIFICATE PROGRAMS

In addition to the required courses for the BFA program, students will be enrolled in one or more certificate programs that provide technical training in digital media production. The goal of these certificate programs is for students to develop a professional level of technical proficiency in such areas as modeling, character animation, visual effects, illustration, and lighting and shading.

The digital media industry is a rapidly evolving field and these certificate programs will provide instruction in skills, methods and platforms at the cutting edge. FSU will be constantly refining these certificate programs to best serve its students in their development as digital artists in this dynamic industry.

For each certificate program, a separate diploma will be awarded that indicates the level of the student’s expertise in a given area of specialization. These diplomas will be awarded in addition to the BFA diploma that students will receive at the completion of the degree.

COST OF BFA IN ANIMATION & DIGITAL ARTS PROGRAM (Click here for cost of BFA in Production Program)

We encourage all of our students, both graduate and undergraduate, to investigate and apply for financial aid through The Office of Financial Aid at the university.