Pathway in the Master Audiovisual Arts
60 ECTS / 1 year / English, Dutch
Campus Brussel / Sint-Lukas
Campus Brussel / Sint-Lukas
Animation Film in Brussels
Academic Master / International Master
Dive deeper into the enchanting world of animation! Within our master animation program, 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 program. 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 program and leads to a master project that includes both a master project (an animated short film, audiovisual art work, etc.) and a written essay.
You can follow this programme in English and 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. In this way, you prove that you are ready to be a critical and innovative animation filmmaker and visual artist. You contextualize your work by writing a thesis with which you situate your work within or in opposition to existing literature and debates. 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 organize 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
Sorry, I Don't Understand, Natalie Feoktistova (2020)
What do you need?
The MA program 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 program 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 program, 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 program provides an extensive and professional infrastructure to realize 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 color 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 realize 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 realize them. Of course, you determine how much these costs are; this is not imposed by the course.
Campus St-Lukas Brussels
At LUCA we attach great importance to the quality of our courses
If the basic principle of the policy plan means that 'quality is our driving force', and that every aspect of the policy can be tested against this, then LUCA undeniably wants to develop and nurture a strong quality culture: a culture that leaves based on trust in people with talent and expertise, and which is aimed at valuing, inspiring and improving.
The formal quality framework for training within LUCA was named KOPERA, which stands for: Critically Analyzing the Quality of Training with Peers in Own Direction.
For KOPERA, LUCA starts from a vision of quality care that is based on trust and aimed at valuing, inspiring and improving.
During the six-year KOPERA cycle, each training course receives a panel of critical friends who examine the implementation of the quality characteristics and examine how the training contributes to the general LUCA policy.
The final element of KOPERA is the ultimate assurance of training quality. The key question is: "Does the program have a good quality culture that follows the 'plan-do-check-act' circle?"
LUCA publishes a quality sheet for each course. You can find this on the Education Quality page.
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 storyboarder 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 proven in the past that successfully setting up your own studio or practice is definitely within reach.
Thanks to the broad structure of the program, you are excellently prepared to look beyond the animation world. Former students 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 program offers you the freedom and foundation to develop your creativity in various artistic and creative directions.
'After an internship, I got 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 the 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 program 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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