Help make movie magic and TV thrills! Our highly-practical Special Effects for Film and TV degree explores a wide range of specialist skills for the creation of physical and digital effects for film and TV. With fantastic facilities and industry-experienced staff, we’re dedicated to preparing you for a career bringing imagination to life.

Key information

Award:

BDes (Hons)

Mode of Study:

Full-time

Duration:

3 years

Location:

University of Bolton

UCAS code:

W623

Start date:

To be confirmed

Course Details

Television shows, films, music videos, commercials and theatre productions all rely on the magic of special effects to enhance their storytelling. Our BDes (Hons) Special Effects for Film and TV course is ideal if you wish to combine design creativity, physical model-making skills, special prosthetic make-up effects, and cutting-edge 2D and 3D computer modelling and prototyping in the creation of special effects for all these platforms.

Our unique course has been created to allow you to explore and develop both design and problem solving skills and apply them to the art of creating special effects for film and television. It’s designed to offer specialisation while still nurturing an understanding of the entire landscape of special effects.

Large scale film and TV productions use both physical and digital effects, so our intensely practical approach allows you to gain hands-on experience of a broad range of special effects disciplines and techniques.

Several elements of the course are delivered by industry practitioners. Our staff are very hands on, skilled, friendly and enthusiastic, prioritising one-to-one support and industry-focused development.

Highlights

You don’t have to worry about the cost of the materials needed to complete your studies – we provide these for you. This means you can concentrate on learning how to use expensive industry-standard materials, like silicones and resins, rather than worrying about how you are going to pay for them!
Neill Gorton, multi-award winning artist/designer and founder of the world-renowned Millennium FX company, is our Visiting Professor of Special Effects. His astonishing range of professional experience, knowledge of cutting-edge techniques and industry contacts brings enormous benefits.
We’re committed to helping develop your employability and career network. During your time with us you’ll have the opportunity to attend lectures from the likes of award-winning make-up artists Nick Dudman and Neill Gorton, many FX studios like KMFX, and model-makers like Artem.
We’ll encourage you to research, analyse, design and develop special effects techniques so that you can take an idea from a brief or script scene and find the most time-efficient, cost-effective and visually impressive way to turn that vision into reality.

Key Features

The course is designed in collaboration with professional special effects artists and studio directors. This ensures that the content is industry-relevant and includes the latest techniques, materials and innovations.
Course assignments and projects mimic industry pipelines and standards so your experience is a realistic preparation for a career in special effects.
Alongside your special effects skills and knowledge, we’ll support you to develop a broader understanding of production design, including concepting, cinematography and composition. This will help you appreciate the roles, skills and expectations of other professionals working in the industry.
Our dedicated staff team have a wide range of professional experience, industry knowledge, technical expertise and academic credentials, offering you a variety of perspectives and broadening your horizons.
We offer a warm and friendly environment for your studies, with relatively small class sizes, purpose-built teaching facilities, and access to industry-standard materials.
By choosing to study with us, you'll have the chance to enjoy Bolton's many shops, bars, restaurants and leisure facilities. Manchester, one of the UK's most multicultural and lively cities, is less than 20 minutes away by train. Not forgetting, the North West of England is renowned for its beautiful countryside, coastline and heritage. This makes Bolton an ideal base from which to explore some of the best cultural and outdoor activities the UK offers.

Any subjects are acceptable at Level 3. Relevant creative subjects are preferred.
You should also have five GCSEs at grade C or above or grade 4 to 9 (or equivalent), including English and Mathematics.
You'll be required to attend an interview and provide a portfolio of appropriate work. You'll be expected to present your work and demonstrate your experience. This will usually take the form of a portfolio of recent effects-related (or project-based) work. The quality of your portfolio will be judged alongside traditional UCAS point-bearing qualifications to determine the success of your application. Special consideration is given to applicants without the above qualifications who have a strong portfolio.
If English isn’t your first language, you’ll also need IELTS 6.0 with no less than 5.5 in any band (or equivalent). We also accept a range of other English language qualifications – please visit our English Language Requirements web page for more details.

Where changes are made to material information contained in this course description or a decision is taken to suspend a course between the offer of admissions and enrolment, we will inform applicants at the earliest possible opportunity and will outline the various options available to the applicant.

A special effects graduate will be able to demonstrate and combine creative skills with high levels of technical ability. The degree offers a wide spectrum of opportunities, ranging from the highly accurate engineering approach of the product modeller, to the imaginative and inventive solutions of a creature or character designer.

A wide range of transferable skills will also be gained including team work, planning and organisation, working to briefs and deadlines, communication both oral and written, presenting work and changes, critical analysis and logical thinking.

What can I do with this qualification?

The most prominent employers of special effects artists are film and television companies where you might work on a film or television show in production or post-production. Some special effects professionals choose a specialty area, such as prop making, costume, special make-up effects or model-making.

This degree equips graduates for business careers in the areas of film, commercials and television special effects production. Graduates may also be employed in special effects or find employment in the many creative industries and entertainment industries rapidly developing in the UK, such as animation, makeup, animatronics, prosthetics, model-making, and robotics.

Alternative career options

A graduate could find additional work opportunities creating displays or multimedia presentations for a museum, or working for a company that creates and sells effects-based products, such as prosthetics, costumes or props. Graduates may also use the qualification to enter a range of other careers, bearing in mind that postgraduate study and/or relevant work experience may be required. These include:

Advertising and marketing communications
Animation
Fashion and textiles
Games
Photo imaging
Publishing
Teaching
Arts management

Course fees

Important note regarding tuition fees for the 2023-2024 academic year: EU nationals who meet residency requirements (have settled or pre-settled status) may be eligible for 'Home' fee status. If you do not meet these residency requirements, overseas fees will apply. Irish citizens living in the UK or Ireland will be eligible for 'Home' fee status under the Common Travel Area arrangement. Please read the student finance for EU students web page on www.gov.uk for information.

The fees for a student's course of study will be set for the normal duration of that course subject only to inflationary increases – measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI) recorded in March each year to take effect for subsequent start dates.

Bursaries

Click here for more information about the scholarships and bursaries available to University of Bolton students.

For details of how to apply for this course, please choose your status from the options below:

Course application details are unavailable at present

We use a wide variety of teaching and learning methods to help you achieve your potential, and you can expect our blended style to include lectures, seminars, tutorials and critiques, self-directed learning, e-learning and laboratory/workshop sessions, as well as online learning.

Lectures are used to introduce the core course content, while seminars allow you to explore subjects in greater detail. Practical skills and techniques are gained through technical introduction and support, workshop sessions, demonstrations and activity-based assignments. Tutorials allow you to ask any questions you have, ensuring you understand the topics covered in lectures and workshop sessions.

Guest lectures and visits give you opportunities to engage with and learn from respected professionals working in the special effects arena. Our highly practical and project-based approach promotes active learning, and our specialist facilities create realistic industry-like learning environments. Our project modules encourage you to interact and collaborate with students specialising in both your own and other areas of special and visual effects, helping to give you a taste of working on group and multidisciplinary projects.

Personal and independent study is essential and you should expect to devote a significant amount of time to activities such as project work, background reading, preparation for seminars and tutorials, research, design and creative thought.

In terms of assessment, you can expect assignments, projects, case study, quizzes, interviews and presentations. As far as possible, we set project-based coursework that simulates professional situations. These pieces contribute to your final mark and allow you to demonstrate that you’ve met the learning outcomes.

Modules

The modules listed below may be a mixture of compulsory and optional. You may not have the opportunity to study all the modules shown as part of the course.

Design
Fabrication
Realisation
Team Project
Mouldmaking
Advanced Fabrication
Advanced Realisation
Advanced Project
Technical Research
Industry Project
Major Project

Assessment methods

Level	Assesment method
Level one	Coursework 23%, Practical exams 77%
Level two	Coursework 8%, Practical exams 92%
Level three	Coursework 30%, Practical exams 70%

Learning activities

Level	Learning activity
Level one	Guided independent study 65%, Scheduled learning and teaching activities 35%
Level two	Guided independent study 65%, Scheduled learning and teaching activities 35%
Level three	Guided independent study 65%, Scheduled learning and teaching activities 35%

Disclaimer

The university will use all reasonable endeavours to deliver your course as described in its published material and the programme specification for the academic year in which you begin your course. The university considers changes to courses very carefully and the university will minimise any changes. Please be aware that our courses are subject to review on an ongoing basis and changes may be necessary due to legitimate staffing, financial, regulatory and academic reasons. The content of course modules and mode of associated assessments may be updated on an annual basis. This is to ensure that all modules are up-to-date and responsive to employment and sector needs. The published course material and the programme specification contain indicative ‘optional modules’ that may be subject to change due to circumstances outside of our control. For this reason, we cannot guarantee to run any specific optional module.