Pathway in the Master Audiovisual Arts
60 ECTS / 1 year / English, Dutch
Campus Brussel / Sint-Lukas
Campus Brussel / Sint-Lukas
Animation in Brussels
Academic Master / International Master
Dive deeper into the enchanting world of animation! Within our master animation programme, you will further develop your artistic, narrative and technical skills with which you will learn to create a unique, personal project in order to discover your own voice as an artist.
Curriculum
The Master programme is a one-year, full-time arts education programme. Its goal is to build the profile of an independent and professional animation filmmaker whose understanding of contemporary cinema culture is based on a strong sense of aesthetics and ethics. The individual practice is the point of reference throughout the programme and leads to a graduation project that includes both a master project (an animated short film, audiovisual art work, etc.) and a written essay.
You can follow this programme both in English and in Dutch.
Master project and master thesis
For your MA graduation project, you develop your own artistic project. By the end of the academic year, you present it to a jury of internal and external experts to prove that you are ready to be a critical and innovative animation filmmaker and visual artist. You contextualise your work by writing a thesis with which you situate your work within or in opposition to existing literature and discourses. You critically reflect upon your practice, methodology and ideas. This proves that you can orient yourself within the field of the chosen artistic discipline.
For your master graduation project, you rely on the advice of your tutors. Nevertheless, with your master’s project and thesis, you prove that you can work to a large extent independently.
Studio & critical practice
The MA atelier offers a platform for discussing your work through one-on-one meetings with tutors, group discussions, and presentations to peers. You will also engage with experts in your field through guest lectures, study trips, and portfolio reviews, helping you to elevate your practice to a professional artistic level. You will attend five seminars led by industry professionals, visit museums, and collectively attend the international animation film festival ANIMA in the heart of Brussels. By the end of the year, you will organise an exhibition with your classmates to showcase the process of your graduation projects. The master atelier and studio practice lectures will expose you to contemporary critical thinking within the animation and audiovisual cultural world.
Video
Master animation compilation
Discover LUCA’s workshops
In our audiovisual workshops you enter a professional environment where image and sound come together.
You work in spacious film studios equipped with sound absorbing materials, suitable for both large-scale productions and intimate recordings. Combined with the camera, lighting and audio equipment available through the equipment lending service, you have everything you need to realise your audiovisual ideas both technically and creatively.
From recording to editing and colour grading: all spaces and equipment are tailored for students who want to develop their audiovisual projects with strong technical and creative skills.
As a LUCA student, you have access to every workshop across all LUCA campuses.
Welcome!
Discover the graduation projects of the past years
What do you need?
The MA programme is an intensive one-year course, and we strongly recommend that students begin with a well-prepared and thoughtfully developed project proposal, as well as a solid foundation in animation skills. The programme is structured to guide students through every stage of their project: the first semester is dedicated to developing and refining the proposal, preparing a production pipeline, and carrying out pre-production work. The second semester then focuses on the execution and production of the project. Throughout the programme, students benefit from mentorship and guidance from experienced lecturers and industry experts in the field
Interested in this course?
Where do you have class?
Facilities & campus life
The programme provides an extensive and professional infrastructure to realise your work. On campus, you can use:
- an advanced computer park with powerful workstations,
- a fully equipped film and stop motion studio,
- sound & mixing studio, including a 5.1 surround system and
- editing rooms and a colour grading room for professional post-processing.
In addition, the LUCA lending service offers access to high-quality camera, audio and lighting equipment. For digital production, you will have access to a wide range of professional software packages and drawing tablets, including:
- Adobe Creative Cloud
- DaVinci Resolve, ProTools
- TVPaint
- Maxon One
- Cinema 4D
- Dragonframe
- Wacom drawing tablets
- ...
These facilities support you in every step of the creative process, so that you can realise projects of professional quality. For this support, you pay a fixed surcharge of 300 euros (additional study costs). Depending on the specificity of your projects, you may have to incur additional costs to realise them. Of course, you determine how much these costs are; they are not imposed by the course.
Campus St-Lukas Brussels
Kwaliteit is de drijfveer van LUCA
Als de grondhouding van het beleidsplan inhoudt dat ‘kwaliteit onze drijfveer’ is, en dat elk aspect van het beleid hieraan kan worden getoetst, dan wil LUCA ontegensprekelijk een sterke kwaliteitscultuur uitbouwen en voeden: een cultuur die vertrekt vanuit vertrouwen in mensen met talent en expertise, en die gericht is op waarderen, inspireren en verbeteren.
Het formele kwaliteitskader voor opleidingen binnen LUCA kreeg de naam KOPERA wat staat voor: Kritisch de Kwaliteit van Opleidingen met Peers in Eigen Regie Analyseren.
LUCA vertrekt voor KOPERA vanuit een visie op kwaliteitszorg die vertrekt vanuit vertrouwen en gericht is op waarderen, inspireren en verbeteren.
Tijdens de zesjarige KOPERA-cyclus ontvangt elke opleiding een panel van kritische vrienden die de invulling van de kwaliteitskenmerken nagaan en bekijken hoe de opleiding bijdraagt tot het algemene LUCA-beleid.
Het sluitstuk van KOPERA is de uiteindelijke borging van de opleidingskwaliteit. De kernvraag daarbij luidt: "heeft de opleiding een goede kwaliteitscultuur die de ‘plan-do-check-act’-cirkel volgt?"
Van elke opleiding publiceert LUCA een kwaliteitsfiche. Je kan deze terugvinden op de pagina 'Kwaliteitszorg'.
Further studies and career
Start your career as an animation filmmaker
Start your career as an animation filmmaker
After your studies, you can enter the dynamic and versatile field of animation. During your studies, you will not only have developed solid technical and creative expertise, but also important skills such as self-reliance, the ability to collaborate and taking responsibility - both for your own work and for the productions of others. These are essential qualities for the further development of your career.
Where you end up depends on your personal preferences and ambitions. What is certain is that the quality and originality of the portfolio you have built up during your studies will determine the opportunities you get and the direction in which you can further develop your talents. Do you want to work as an animator, or does the role of story-boarder or art director appeal to you more? Clearly positioning yourself is essential if you want to work for domestic or international animation film studios. Or perhaps you dream of starting your own studio or building an independent artistic practice? That is also a feasible option. Former students have shown in the past that successfully setting up your own studio or practice is definitely within reach.
Thanks to the broad structure of the programme, you are excellently prepared to look beyond the animation world. Our alumni have proven that the knowledge and skills they acquired during their studies also enable them to develop successful careers outside the animation world, for example as a media artist, illustrator, graphic novelist or game designer. The programme offers you the freedom and foundation to develop your creativity in various artistic and creative directions.
'After an internship, I started at Beast Animation and worked on various stop-motion series, commercials and short films, as an animator and sometimes as a set dresser or designer. I have also worked at other studios, including in Germany. I also do illustration projects or motion design, for various publishers, advertising agencies and studios ... And in between all these projects I try to keep time for my own work, such as a children's book and a new film.
Mirjam Plettinx
'I work as a freelancer for several production houses and carry out assignments as an illustrator, motion designer or art director. In addition to these commercial assignments, I also work in the art circuit. Like my thesis "Yves", "I love Hooligans" is an animated documentary. With the help of the Flemish Audiovisual Fund, I also participated in '12 minutes about Peace '.'
Joost Janssen
'As a freelancer, I do assignments such as directing and producing motion graphics and video, graphic work and illustration. I also teach as an Animation Film teacher at the academies in Brussels. Meanwhile, I keep doing my own work. For example, with the support of the Flemish Audiovisual Fund, I finished the screenplay for my next short film. '
Maarten Vrancken
Visit us
Are you curious about our approach to art education? During our open days, you will get all the information you need, visit the campus, talk to our teaching staff and students ... Still not convinced? Visit our graduation show! During this, on-campus two-day art festival you can experience first hand how good our students really are.
Curious about the results of the MA programme?
Interested in the films created by our students? Check our streaming platform!
Staff
The core team of our programme consists of various animation artists and researchers in the arts, each with their own specialties and personal visions of what animation can be and could become. Our teachers are passionate and inspiring professionals, including Yves Bex, Karolien Chromiak, Jürgen De Blonde, Emma De Swaef, Guido Devadder, Imge Özbilge, Sine Özbilge, Ewin Ryckaert, Elke Van Damme, Frederik Van de Moortel, Geert Vandenbroele, Karel Van Gucht and Soetkin Verstegen.
Guest speakers play an essential role in our curriculum and ensure that we are closely aligned with the rapidly changing field. Every year, we invite both nationally and internationally renowned producers, filmmakers and organisations to give masterclasses and workshops, in which they share valuable insights into their expertise and creative processes, and explain how they can support you in your future career.
To further deepen these insights, we offer our students the opportunity to visit (inter)national animation film festivals, such as Anima in Brussels and Leuven Kort. These visits, combined with following masterclasses, form a valuable and inspiring experience that contributes to their development as animators, filmmakers and artists.
Video
© Yves Bex (docent) - Dry Sea (trailer, 2020)
Interested in this course?
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