RCA Animation at the Royal College of Arts has only one postgraduate course. From the professional overview on the homepage of the animation major on the official website, we can clearly see that "becoming a game changer" is the core of the RCA animation major. RCA animation major of Royal College of Arts attaches great importance to contemporary real problems. They advocate students to be based on the present and find solutions and outlets for social problems in animation.
Animation of Royal College of Arts
RCA Royal College of Art Animation Specialty Refined Branch
Although there is only one animation major, RCA still provides students with three detailed directions, namely experimental animation, documentary animation and narrative animation. Unlike CalArts, RCA is a professional classification based on the practical value of animation. Compared with the academic research highly emphasized by CalArts, RCA seems to focus more on helping students understand the practicality and instrumentality of animation.
In other words, in RCA's view, animation is more like a medium for spreading artists' ideas. What really matters is what it spreads, not the animation itself.
First, let's take a look at the direction of experimental animation. I don't know whether it is unintentional or deliberate. As the light of CalArts, experimental animation seems to be the most understated of the three directions in RCA. Even the concept of animation has been redefined as "moving image project".
But the other two animation branches of RCA are the highlights that really deserve attention.
Introduction to RCA Animation Professional Documentary Animation
It is a great thing to create such a creative and realistic branch of animation as documentary animation. RCA's concept of documentary animation itself is an innovation for the animation industry. In people's traditional values, animation was originally childish, synonymous with entertainment, and has nothing to do with reality.
In the introduction of documentary animation, RCA creatively proposed to combine animation creation techniques with academic literature research. It also gives a number of possible directions for students to refer to documentary animation, including long animation, non-linear interaction, information narration, etc.
In this creative way, compared with the detailed curriculum, I believe that students would like to see the effects of the works of students majoring in documentary animation.
JASON SONDHI's student work The Driver is Red
This is a very typical animated documentary. The author used ink to record a spy war plan during the Second World War. Although it is in the form of animation, the style of the film is documentary and mature, which does not make people think it is frivolous. There are many animations like this on RCA's official Twitter.
Returning to the RCA animation major colleges and universities to set this topic, the rest of the third branch narrative animation, at first glance, seems to have the same meaning as CalArts character animation? But in fact, RCA has said in the introduction to the official website that these are two academic schools with opposite research directions.
Introduction to Narrative Animation of RCA Royal College of Arts Animation
In the brief introduction to the direction of narrative animation in just two natural paragraphs, RCA has repeatedly emphasized the difference between the teaching focus of art school and film oriented film school. (CalArts: vaguely feel that someone is talking about me?) RCA's narrative animation direction focuses more on the study of narratology in dynamic images.
As we said earlier, in RCA's teaching concept, animation is just a carrier of ideas. What they really explore and explore is on the bridge of animation. What kind of ideas artists should express and how to express their ideas.
Curriculum of Animation at Royal College of Arts
The curriculum of RCA is very simple and clear, and it gives more macro concepts than specific subjects. This is also very consistent with the work first theory advocated by RCA as an art school.
Curriculum of Animation at Royal College of Arts
In the first year, the focus of students' study is the early theoretical knowledge training and a project production in cooperation with people outside the school. The second year of study is to fully serve the completion of the graduation design. Compared with CalArts, the most intuitive feeling is that there are fewer courses in literature research and thesis writing. In addition, it is worth noting that in the last semester, the school also provided a very humanized transition professional practice course for students from campus to society. If you want to know more about the animation major of the Royal College of Arts, please come to find free advice on natural light.
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