MFA
Animate your life.
The MFA in Animation degree is for students who are interested in creating original animated films and artwork as their main vocation. Students in the MFA in Animation degree will receive intense and rigorous training in the history, critical artistic issues, and fundamental principles that are necessary for animation artists.
OUr Faculty It’s the people of DePaul CDM that make our academic experience so unique. The faculty, administration, and staff of CDM represents a diverse accomplished group of scholars and professionals. DePaul CDM Faculty Members contribute to their respective fields of expertise through research, professional achievement, and most importantly, a commitment to teaching and to academic excellence. Our professors hail from the world’s most prestigious universities, write textbooks and perform cutting-edge research on a wide array of topics.
Shelby Johansen
3D Modeling Instructor
For the last 8 years Shelby has worked on many animated features such as “Shrek 4’ at Dreamworks, “Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs” at Sony, “Horton Hears a Who” at Blue Sky, “Planet 51” at Ilion, and “Bolt” and “Meet the Robinsons” at Walt Disney Animation Studios. She has been teaching animation for 3 years. She is currently freelancing while teaching at DePaul.
Why Depaul?
DePaul’s goal is to make you create so hard you can’t stop thinking about us. You’ll want to play it cool and ignore our e-mails, but deep down inside we know no one else can inspire you like we can. With an MFA in Animation from DePaul, you’ll finally get that teaching job you’ve been dreaming of. Your life will be complete, all due to a few year fling with an MFA. Although we may call for finacial support on occasion.
Course Requirements Year One
ANI 460 Animation Graduate Seminar This seminar will explore the animator’s role in contemporary culture, including careers in entertainment, art, game development and education.
ANI 422 Animation Styles and Techniques The history of animation is explored with a focus on inspiring the students’ own work.
ANI 425 Visual Storytelling This class focuses on storyboarding and animatics as key pre-production tools for animation, film, and game development projects.
ANI 421 Animation Mechanics Students in this course will rigorously investigate the foundational aspects of animation through traditional and digital methods.
ANI 440 Collaborative Short Animated Film Students will work in small groups to produce short animated films from concept to completion using the media of their choice.
ANI 466 Cinema, Animation and Art This seminar course focuses on animation and cinema from the standpoint of Modern and Contemporary art.
Year Two
ANI 540 Animated Short Film Part I This course and its continuation, ANI 541, will concentrate on facilitating the graduate students’ production of a short, independently animated project.
ANI 541 Animated Short Film Part II This course is a continuation of ANI 540 Animated Short Film Part I.
ANI 560 Graduate Teaching Seminar This seminar exposes students to effective methods and professional practices of teaching undergraduate and graduate students.
ANI 639 MFA Pre-Thesis In this course the MFA student will develop the concept and pre-production of their thesis animation through workshops, critiques and assignments.
ANI 640 MFA Thesis Animation This course is a three quarter class that will concentrate on the graduate students’ production, post-production and completion of their final thesis project.
Student Life Your college experience is about much more than just classrooms and information. The life you live outside of the classroom can be just as important when it comes to your ability to learn and grow. That’s why we’re very proud that we’re known for these two student traits: diversity and happiness (we’ve ranked No. 1 in both areas). When you add the city of Chicago into the mix, with its many opportunities for fun and service, you have a student life setup that can’t be beat.
jose hernandez
MFA Alumni
I dreamed of going to an animation school for many years and DePaul finally made this possible. The teachers are top notch professionals. They teach you to actually think like an animator, not just how to use software or simply move characters. I feel my animation being is pushed to the next level with every class.
Welcome to Depaul’s chicago campuses.
Magnefire Studios Animagic Studios
Daily Planet Rethink Studios
Calabash Animation
Leo Burrnet
Radar Studios
Loop
Can you really think of a better way to spend $75,000?
Filmmakers choosing this field often support themselves and fund their films by teaching college, which requires an MFA, so MFA in Animation graduates will be eligible to compete for tenuretrack teaching positions within the growing number of Animation programs around the world.
DePaul University College of Computing and Digital Media 243 South Wabash Avenue Chicago, IL 60604 312 362 8381