Launch of ISA
On 15th December 2005 the Irish School of Animation (ISA) was launched at Ballyfermot College of Further Education (BCFE), by Shelley Page, the European representative for Dreamworks Animation. The opening of the new school brings the first ever honours degree programme in animation to Ireland, validated by the University of Dundee.
History of Animation at BCFE
The history of animation at BCFE actually dates back to the mid 1990s when Don Bluth (former Disney employee and founder of the Dublin-based Sullivan Bluth studio) was involved in establishing the first ever animation department in Ireland at BCFE. Today over 100 students from across the globe study at the school, where a suite of three animation programmes are on offer.
ISA Programmes
The first animation programme, Animation Drawing Skills, is a one year foundation programme, which has a particular emphasis on the development of strong life drawing skills, the core element which differentiates the BCFE programmes from programmes available elsewhere. The two-year Higher National Diploma in Classical and Computer Animation builds on the skills developed in the foundation programme and includes modules in historical and theoretical analysis and script writing. Essentially its aim is to equip each student with the ability to take an animation project from conception to completion. The honours degree aims to integrate the students’ technical and academic skills and is largely self-directed. The programme involves the production of animated films and a researched dissertation.
ISA Facilities
The animation programmes at BCFE are primarily delivered in the College’s Arts Building with additional state of the art digital TV, film and sound production/editing suites at the college’s Media Building. Alongside these modern facilities, the animation department is staffed by lecturers with key academic knowledge and relevant industry-based experience.
The Animation Industry
The introduction of the first ever honours degree programme in animation at BCFE has come at the right time. The global animation industry is rapidly expanding while the film industry has also of late made great use of animation. Television programmes and advertisements have become more reliant on animation not to mention the computer game industry, which year on year grows to reach larger audiences. This rapid growth in the animation industry goes someway towards explaining why the number of jobs in the industry in Ireland has increased in the last few years. According to the IBEC Audio Visual Federation Review 2006, “The Irish animation industry has had an excellent year, with exciting growth both in local output and strong coproduction partnerships with producers in Europe. With more than an estimated 300 full-time and freelance animators currently working in the Irish animation sector, the industry is actually bigger than it was when the Sullivan Bluth US animation studio was based in Ireland during the early 1990s. However, now Irish animators are creating their own indigenous projects and raising their own finance from national and international broadcasters, rather than relying on projects created by a US studio.”
ISA Graduates
BCFE has in the past supplied quality graduates to games companies such as RARE and Lionhead in the UK, while other past graduates are founding members of animation companies such as Cartoon Saloon, Boulder Media, JAM Media and Brown Bag (who were nominated for an Academy Award for their production “Give Up Yer Auld Sins”). This tradition of industry recognition continues apace with three of BCFE’s recent graduates gaining acclaim, one winning an Annie award for character animation in a TV production, another winning the Dare to be Digital competition at the Digital Hub and another winning an Icelandic Academy Award.
Focus of ISA
With technology constantly evolving and the industry ever changing, the focus of the Irish School of Animation is clear – to bring strong visual representation to the tradition of storytelling in Ireland and to ensure that future graduates of the Irish School of Animation tap into this rich tradition and become the digital storytellers of the future.
