3. UAL Level 3 Diploma in Creative Media Production and
Technology (Year 1)
Unit Grade
1. Introduction to Media Processes and Technical Skills
Passed
02. Introduction to Design and Research Skills in Creative Media
Production
Passed
03. Introduction to Professional Practice in Creative Media
Production
Passed
04. Critical and Contextual Awareness in Creative Media
Production
Passed
05. Investigating Audio Production and Technology
Passed Passed
06. Investigating Visual Production and Technology
Passed Passed
07. Investigating Interactive Production and Technology
Passed Passed
08. Developing a Creative Media Production Project
Passed
4. Fulford Secondary School
Year Subject Grade Awarding Body
2017 English Language 4 AQA
2017 English Literature 4 AQA
2017 Maths 5 Pearson
2017 Science B AQA
2017 Media Distinction Cambridge National 1&2
2017 Geography C AQA
2017 Art B Pearson
2017 RE E WJEC
2017 French D AQA
5. UAL Level 3 Extended Diploma in Creative Media
Production and Technology (Year 2)
Unit Grade
9. Characteristics & Contexts in Creative Media
Production
Passed
10. Engaging With an Audience in Creative
Media Production
Passed
11. Preparing for Progression in Creative Media
Production
Passed
12. Specialist Study in Creative Media
Production
Passed
13.Extended Project in Creative Media
Production
6. Name course Pros Cons Apply for Interview Offer
Norwich University
of arts
Animation
Film and moving
image production
Good range od animation options
Really nice staff/course leader.
Mandatory drawing classes.
Whole Uni is focused on Arts.
Nice town.
Smaller Uni in town centre.
Yes Yes Yes: Pass
Northumbria
University
Animation Good range of animation options
Really nice staff/course leader
Mandatory drawing class
Easy to get to on the train
Yes No Yes: merit
Teeside University Computer
animation and
visual effects
Good range of animation options.
Really excellent facilities.
Voluntary drawing classes
Staff friendly
Large campus and staff
friendly but didn‘t seem
intersted in anmation
moreabout the tech.
Yes Yes Yes: merit
Leeds Beckett Computer
animation and
visual effects
Close to home,
Nice part of leeds
No - -
Leeds Trinity Digital media (
virtual reality and
visual effects)
More computer based No - -
Leeds University Film, photography
and media
Close to home, nice city Too theory based No - -
York University Film and TV
production
No - -
8. Over this year there were a lot of external activities that helped guide my progression choices. At
the beginning of the year we had the task of creating a fanzine. I was a bit unsure what a fanzine
was and saw a poster in college for the Leeds Zine fair, so I went there to see what people were
creating. There was a wide range of subjects covered, some were informative and some were
funny stories. It was the funny stories that I was drawn to and this inspired me for my fanzine
project. I was able to use my experiences of volunteering with Beaver and cub scouts as inspiration
to create some of the humour in this project. I love some of the conversations that I have with the
Beavers and the funny things that they find important and used life examples in my work.
In both years during this course I have been to the Aesthetica Short Film Festival. In the first year I was a bit more
open to what I went to see and really liked all of the different ideas and stories. The second time I focused more
on the animation viewings and was surprised at the range of styles, concepts and ideas. It was really interesting to
see the different perspectives and how animation can be used in any genre and can inflict such a wide range of
emotions depending on the subject. I saw animations that covered dealing with illness, isolation, death,
happiness, autobiographical stories and all sorts of humour, some tragic and some funny. There is no norm when it
comes to animation and it can be in any style. There were some really interesting stories and uses of media for
example one animation the movement was created by oil painting which was really effective and not something I
had seen before. I was drawn to the freedom that this offers and realised I don’t need to worry as much about my
work looking really different to others work and also not to think about it as being wrong, it’s my style and I can do
what I want. This inspired me to try animation for my future projects.
For the second project I did a series of videos promoting the work of the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust. To try and find
out what people think about the environment I interviewed people in the street and asked them about their
thoughts on wildlife and environmental issues. The responses were varied and interesting and made me realise
that most people are unaware of environmental issues and a lot of people don’t care. In thinking about how to
use this information I took inspiration from the creature comfort videos created by Aardman and created
animated videos using the dialogue I gathered. I was unsure how to do the animation and so focussed on doing lip
9. A lot of university open days also helped guide my progression choices. I started to choose a university by searching on UCAS for
film or media courses. There were lots of options of courses, with some focusing on film, TV, computer graphics and general media
options. I felt that I wanted to do a creative course where I would learn practical skills rather than just theory. After researching a bit
more I saw that some Universities also did specific animation courses too so I chose a few to go and look around.
The first University I visited was Norwich University of the Arts (NUA), I registered for an open day and booked slots for the
animation course and the film and moving image production course. I went to the animation talk first and immediately realised this
is what I wanted to do. They talked about the twelve principles of animation and quite a few people in the audience seemed to
know what these were, but the course leader was also really encouraging and explained that they would teach you this but
obviously I searched it when I got home. The lecture was really inspiring and I immediately understood what the teacher was talking
about and how small changes to an image can make such a difference in creating a sense of movement and expression. It felt good
to be so excited to be there and I was actually sad the lecture ended.
This lecture was the reason why I wanted to do an animation for my FMP. The course gives you options of
trying 2D, stop motion, CGI, and the show case of the current students work included a wide range of
approaches which were really interesting to see. As part of the animation course they do mandatory drawing
classes which I also liked because my drawing skills is something that I feel I need to improve on. Also, they
have visits and workshops from current animators in the industry and work with places such as Blue Zoo and
Aardman. Then I didn’t really want to go the Film talk as I was so excited about the animation course and
realised that film wasn’t the right area for me. I changed my search to animation courses and explored other
options there and found Teeside, Northumbria and Leeds Beckett. I had already booked to go to Leeds Trinity
and Leeds Uni to look at more film based courses and I thought I would just go to compare facilities and other
options as Norwich was the first place I had been to. I went to visit Leeds Trinity to look at the film and
computer graphics courses this had really good facilities with a TV production studio but was very much TV and
film based. On the same day I also went to Leeds University to learn about their film course but they were very
text and theory based which wouldn’t have suited me. The good thing about this day was that it really made it
clear in my mind what I wanted to do, so it was useful to see these other options.
10. Then I went to Leeds Beckett which also had an animation course. This seemed like a good well resourced course but was mostly
digital, virtual reality and CGI animation and I want to try all forms. I also went to Teeside University which course wise seemed
good, it covered a lot of different ranges of techniques, is well funded with high quality technology and the people seemed nice but
I didn‘t like the location and they were very technology orientated mentioning a free Ipad every chance they got rather than
Norwich who talked more about animation itself and the principles and fundamentals. At NUA they explained that the technology
will change but as long as you have the fundamentals of narrative and character design down you are set to go and create things
that people will connect to and this has stuck in my mind ever since.
Northumbria University was the last one I visited and I really enjoyed it. There was a great range of options of animation (2D, stop
motion and CGI) and nice staff. The course leader was friendly and she seemed to know her students well and have good
relationships with them. I also saw the Richard Wiliams book “The Animators Survival Kit“ here and the course leader really
recommended it. I was glad when I went here as this could possibly be another option but I felt there was a quality missing which
NUA had which Northumbria didn’t. By going to all these different universitys I gained a lot of knowledge and a lot of questions
about areas which I didn’t think of originally.
So, I went back to NUA for another tour and animation talk to ask the questions raised by the other Universities. I also spoke to the
course leader who was really nice and had an obvious passion for the work which was inspiring to see. This helped me find out more
about the structure of the course and we talked about how I sometimes find it hard to create the images that I have in my head and
this can make me slow in my work he explained that it is good to try to see your image of what you want to create as a starting point
and not get too focussed on it. This seemed to make sense as a good way of approaching things and I tried to do this in my FMP.
While I think I will find computer based animation easier to do and I will probably end up doing this more I would like to be able to
try stop motion just to see if I can do it and I think it will also help my understanding of animation and movement.
11. I put NUA as my firm choice because overall I liked the atmosphere and staff which I
think is very important. I could feel a sense of passion there and I felt very comfortable
and inspired there which I didn’t feel as much in the other universities. At interview the
NUA staff were really interested in my portfolio and asked me lots of questions about
this and my inspirations for the work I had done. They also gave me advice on things I
could try for my FMP and recommended a YouTube tutorial to look at. NUA offered me a
conditional offer of a pass grade which I am really happy with as I am confident I will get.
I didn’t really feel the need to choose an insurance choice as all of the other offers I got
offered me a place on the condition I got a merit which is a higher grade so if I don’t get
into NUA I doubt my insurance choices would let me attend. However, I chose
Northumbria University as my insurance choice who gave me conditional offer of a
Merit. Ignoring grades I put this as my insurance choice because I did like the course and
the various options that came with it such as a year in the professional world.
Teesside university also offered me a conditional offer of a merit but I turned them down
because overall I didn’t like the atmosphere and at interview they didn’t seem too
interested in my work and I don’t think I would have done very well there.
I applied for 3 university’s and after various
interviews I got conditional offers from all three.
13. I’m Clara,
I decided I wanted to be an animator not long ago. I was originally looking at film or media courses, there
were certain things I liked compared to others in these courses and different elements I liked, but once I
saw the animation talk at NUA open day I just thought ‘yes’. It was everything I wanted to do.
And this is my story………so far
14. Ever since I was little I have always loved TV, films, audio books and stories.
There's just something about story's which I love, I can’t wait to finish them
to see how they end.
So, I went to York college to study a vocational ‘Creative Media Production’
course where I could start to learn how to create what I love watching.
I will start this portfolio with my latest project. A client project for the
Yorkshire Wildlife Trust.
This is me
15. Yorkshire Wildlife Trust:
3 animations for Yorkshire Wildlife Trust to
encourage peoples awareness of the environment.
16. The market seller above was
very passionate about the
environment but the two men
drinking coffee thought it was a
bit of an odd thing to be asked
about.
17. Mwgusbr (MOOG-ES-BR) is a fictional Welsh
legend which I created to support a film trailer I
made. I built a website explaining it’s origins and
characteristics.
21. Walk cycle
Dark coloursBig and small
designs
Hunger bar – lost as
the character runs,
food replenishes it.
Coin count
Detailed jungle
background
Coins to collect – buy
powerups and new characters
Comedic outfit –
several to choose
from
Food – meat is good
for energy – a future
option of poisonous
plants which depletes
hunger.
Settings button –
so the audience
can adjust to
what suites them
best
Obstacles – water,
lava, sinking sand
22. This is a turn based RPG
I called this
game ‘Chicken
run.’ It is a third
person view of
a chicken
running
through the
desert.
Experiments:
These are some experiments I did before I
started the videogame project so I could get a
good feel for what I would need to do for my
actual project.
