AAS College Thessaloniki
School of Art & Design
COURSES | BACHELOR
BA(Hons) Animation
«What is most important in animation is the emotions and the ideas being portrayed.» – Ralph Bakshi.
BA Animation & Games Art
The field of animation has experienced unprecedented growth in recent years. With new distribution methods and technologies, your work will have many paths to reach a worldwide audience.
During the course you will study drawing, the principles of animation and design, storytelling and narrative, design and the history, practice and theory of screen production. You will gain an understanding of creative and technical process using industry standard software in order to create interactive designs and computer animations.
As animation is a highly collaborative environment you will learn the principles and practices through teamwork, while developing your individual professional practice. The course enables you to enter the industry with a range of exciting and rapidly evolving platforms as well as facilitating numerous opportunities for employment in a rapidly growing area at an international level.
This course aims to provide you with specialist knowledge and skills necessary to develop and adapt your chosen career in the diverse creative practices associated with animation. The course aims to contribute, through the education of its students as adaptive and resilient designers, writers and thinkers, to the local, national and international practice of design in its current and future forms.
Duration:
36 months (3 years)
Educational form:
Taught
Education Variants:
Fulltime
Language:
English
October’s intake:
Classes Start Date:
6 October 2025
British Degree:
Bachelor Degree
STUDENT WORK
FACILITIES
AAS College is set in a modern, purpose – built university campus. Students learn in specially designed lecture rooms and theatre, laboratories, design studios and in flexible teaching spaces. Individual and group study spaces allow students to work alone or collaborate on projects. This course has dedicated graphics studios for workshops, group and independent working. They are equipped with projectors and screens and Macs or PCs or both. There are also campus digital media suites with software including: Adobe Creative Suite.
COURSE STRUCTURE
Year 1 (national level 4)
Year 2 (national level 5)
Final year (national level 6)
Year 1 (national level 4)
Fundamentals of Animation and Games Art (60 credits)
Learn the fundamental principles of animation using traditional studio practices in 2D drawn animation through weekly character-based exercises that will culminate in a short, animated sequence using Toon Boom Harmony software. Be introduced to the Adobe Creative Suite in a separate creative brief related to game design.
Attend weekly life drawing classes to enhance your figurative and imaginative drawing skills and engage in contextual and visual research to support and enhance your practical work.
Creative Exploration (40 credits)
Create short sequences as part of a team using a variety of traditional techniques such as Pixillation, Direct animation, Smudge ‘n Click, Cut-out and Stop Motion, building on the principles and skills learnt in semester 1 and exploring visual storytelling further.
Produce a short film for a student-led competition and public screening to showcase your first year’s work.
Continue to attend weekly life drawing classes looking at expressive and experimental drawing techniques.
Be introduced to 3D software and tools in a series of creative workshops and have the opportunity to collaborate with BSc (Hons) Game Development students and participate in local Game Jams.
Design Theories, Practitioners and Context (20 credits)
Gain an understanding of the wider application of design theory and principles as well as having the opportunity to study the context, development and theories behind your own chosen specialism. Debate and critically engage with the topics discussed.
Year 2 (national level 5)
Advanced 3D (40 credits)
Produce a collection of 3D animations culminating in an interactive, playable character. Produce a 3D digitally sculpted model and environment. Produce a short, animated lip-sync performance sequence working to a pre-recorded soundtrack.
Preproduction Practice (20 credits)
Follow the preproduction pipeline for creating either a pitch bible for a children’s tv series or a games document for a 7-PEGI game from visual and contextual research through concept art, story art, character design, environments, assets, linear and non-linear storytelling. Create an animatic or walkthrough to demonstrate your concept’s viability. Pitch your idea in a short presentation at the end of the module. Work individually or as part of a creative team.
Collaborate further with BSc (Hons) Game Development students.
Advanced Visual Effects and Motion Graphics (40 credits)
Create a music video for an artist of your own choosing either as part of a collaboration, or working alone. Study the application of advanced After Effects e.g. rotoscoping, tracking techniques, using green screen and keylight – and choose to apply any creative technique to your work. Explore the genre and contextual background to music and animation in film and games, to the title sequence as an art form as well as create an ident for yourself.
Help to organise a showcase of your work at a public screening at the end of the academic year.
Global Issues and the Ethical Designer (20 credits)
Continue to study the context, development and theories behind your own chosen specialism and support your practical work, helping you to focus on your choice of dissertation topic in Stage 3.
Continue weekly life drawing looking at environment and figurative drawing practice.
Final year (national level 6)
Professional Engagement (40 credits)
Work on a chosen live brief as well as a piece to showcase your skills and enhance your showreel/portfolio. Employability Day will enable you to meet successful alumni from this and other Design courses and hear about their experiences after graduating and tips on employability. Create a Professional Engagement Document, which will show how you have interacted over the past two years with industry professionals either through placements, social media, visits to festivals and studios or other networking events.
Focus on CV writing and interview techniques as well as the creative and technical skills required for your chosen specialism to enhance your employability.
Design Research project (20 credits)
Develop an in-depth investigation into a particular issue or topic that is relevant to you as a developing designer, or an issue inspired by wider society.
Utilize and build on your knowledge of various design and theoretical disciplines and techniques gained in previous THD modules, or from studying at other colleges.
Gain research and organizational skills through an introductory lecture, tutorials and discussion. Complete the module with a dissertation (3500 to 4500 words), supported by a clear central question and hypothesis relevant to the chosen topic. Research conducted in this module can be used as the foundations for your major final project in the module EXD300, although this is not compulsory.
Final Major Project (60 credits)
Build on the skills and knowledge, both technical and creative, that you have gained across all previous modules to create a piece of work that best reflects your specialism and will, hopefully, take you into professional employment. Choose to work individually or as part of a team.
Set up and exhibit your work in the final year Degree Show, which is open to the public and industry practitioners.
ASSESSMENT
Assessment is 100% coursework and you will be continually assessed throughout the course.
Assessment will be through assignments including design briefs (project work), competitions, presentations, seminars and group activities.
CAREER OPPORTUNITIES
On the BA(Hons) Animation & Games Art course we are aiming to produce animators capable of entering the industry in the creative department of it or working as artist animators, directors and games designers – amongst other things.
Many of our graduates have careers with major design consultancies and animation companies. Successful students may also wish to continue their studies on MA Degree to further enhance their knowledge and skills base, exploring new and innovative areas of design.
ENTRY REQUIREMENTS
Diploma and transcript from your high school
Evidence of your ability in English language
Portfolio
Passport
AAS Application Form completed
HOW TO APPLY
You should apply direct to the AAS College. We accept applications throughout the year, but advise you to apply early. We would like to receive application forms before 30th of August.
All candidates are required to submit the following documents:
1. A Fully Completed Application
AAS Application Form completed
A scanned copy of your passport
2. English language certificate
Certified Photocopy of English Language qualification(s).
Undergraduate applicants must have a fluent command of the English language which can be proven via the following examinations:
TOEFL: paper based 550 / computer based 213 / Internet based 79-80 or
IELTS: 6,0 or other equivalent qualifications.
Candidates who have not acquired an English language qualification at the time of the submission of their application form are required to submit it at least one month before the commencement of the course.
3. Diploma of previous education
International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma or six IB Subject Certificates, or A Levels obtained locally
Certified Photocopy of the Diploma of Secondary Education (High School Diploma), along with the final year’s academic transcript
Candidates who have not yet graduated from high school at the time of application, should submit the available academic transcripts from their current year of study, as well as a full transcript from the previous year of study
If the High School Diploma is produced in another language it should be translated and verified in English
4. Portfolio
You can send us approximately 20 examples of your work with a short written commentary. Most of this work
can be in the form of photographs on a CD or a PDF file. It is helpful for us to see examples of your original
drawings too.
submit your documents via email to: admissions@aas.gr
for large files use wetransfer.com
our response:
A member of our staff will contact you in 48 hours.