What it’s about:

Animation majors learn a broad range of animation techniques, both traditional and contemporary. Your training covers a broad range of drawing, sound, acting, film, and storytelling skills, along with current software applications.

What the study of this major is like:

Do you enjoy telling stories? Do you love to draw? Do you visualize the characters and settings in some of the works you read? If so, animation might be a good major for you. The field of animation offers many ways to use your imagination, including writing stories, designing characters, and re-creating the worlds that the characters inhabit.

As an animation major, you’ll first receive a firm grounding in the principles of art, and you’ll explore a variety of ways to develop and tell stories. You then learn the techniques (practical as well as creative) of cinema and how to apply these techniques to both traditional and computer-assisted filmmaking.

As you advance in the program, you are introduced to various animation software packages (for example, 3D Studio Max and Maya for three-dimensional modeling and animation; Flash, Photoshop, and After Effects for compositing; Toonz for digital ink and paint). These and other software systems become part of your toolkit as you gain experience in making your own films. You’ll finish with a fourth-year thesis film.

Your courses consists of lectures and demonstration, accompanied by many hours of practice in and out of the classroom. Early in the program, you concentrate on drawing, a skill that will help you master the more advanced techniques taught later on. Ideally, animation programs challenges you to enlarge your visual vocabulary and storytelling abilities. To do so, you should have a passion for your studies and a willingness to work long hours outside of class-qualities that will serve you well in the professional world.

All strong animation programs emphasize a solid foundation in art while also teaching skills and techniques that are in demand in the real world. Because there are a number of specialization within the animation business (for example, storyboard artist, character designer, and 3-D modeler), programs may differ in the concentrations they offer.

As you progress through the major, your assignments will become more complex and instructors will review your work periodically to see how well you are integrating the skills you have learned with your creative ideas. At some colleges, passing these reviews is a requirement for continuing in the major. Your final project, the thesis film, along with a portfolio, will serve as your “resume” in the industry.

Career options and trends:

Art director/production designer*; storyboard/concept artist*; background/layout designer, character designer, 3-D animator (computer)*; 2-D animator, stop-motion animator, game designer, production coordinator.

Jobs are increasingly freelance in nature, with staff hired from project to project. Some portions of productions are being outsourced overseas. Developing multiple skills will give you a competitive advantage, particularly during economic downturns. In addition to film, television, advertising, and advertising productions, there are opportunities in the creation of computer games and in Web design.

Source: CollegeBoard 2012 Book of Majors