Animation & VFX MSc at Masters Showcase

Built upon current industry practices, our course trains the next generation of animation professionals, through a blend of creative and technical visual storytelling. Our students develop visual practice and reflect on their own creative journey whilst utilising our world-class facilities including a state-of-the-art green screen production studio.  

Showcase Spotlight: Moth To A Flame

Emma Calder’s short-animated film combines 2D and 3D animation to tell the story of a woman who is betrayed, and the revenge she enacts in her frenzied anger. It is set in a fantasy world heavily inspired by Disney's Maleficent and uses a cover of the song "Burn Butcher Burn" from the Witcher by Reinaeiry. 

Emma’s aim was to use expressive animation to elevate the power of the song and its lyrics. The song carries heavy emotional weight, so she animated closely to its climactic beats, drawing the audience further into the characters and the story.

Technically, the project explores a 2.5D pipeline, using frame rate, non-photorealistic rendering (NPR) and compositing in order to achieve a 3D output that is indistinguishable from 2D. Emma modelled her main character in Blender with NPR add-ons and animated a portion of the film in 3D. It was her first time working in 3D, and she gained skills in every section of the pipeline. 

With 2.5D on the rise across the industry Emma wanted a better grasp of the processes behind it. 2D has always been her preferred medium, so she is glad to see the shift back towards those techniques, now combined with 3D to make stylistic animation.