Animation and Graphics

Do you want to visualize your ideas through animation and graphics?

Have you seen some cool animated films, commercials, or video games and dream of being able to create something like this? In this program, you’ll learn to breathe life into lifeless objects and characters on screen, and create and communicate energy, humor, and emotions through movement.

Course content

You’ll learn to visualize your ideas through animation and graphics. You’ll learn to observe what you see, sketch ideas, draw, develop and create storyboards, and animate in both 2D (drawing), 3D (computer), and stop motion (physical objects and puppets).

Animation in 2D, 3D, and stop motion
Character animation
Drawing
Visual storytelling
Storyboards and animatics
Editing
Project presentations

The teaching

The year begins with basic training in animation and animation principles, where we animate simple objects like a bouncing ball, before gradually moving on to more advanced animations. Throughout the year, you’ll work in 2D, 3D, and stop motion. Film production consists of several phases, and in this program we go through all these phases from idea to finished product. In the pre-production phase, you’ll have the opportunity to develop stories, create storyboards and animatics. In the production phase, we produce the actual film, and in the post-production phase we add sound and edit the material we’ve worked with, then export it to a finished film. You’ll have the opportunity to work both individually and in groups. The year will give you a collection of self-produced animations and graphics. This can be valuable if you want to apply for further studies in animation.

You’ll receive solid instruction and guidance from teachers with diverse and relevant expertise and experience. We also like to visit relevant companies or educational institutions that work with animation and similar fields.

Equipment and software

As 2D animation tools, we mainly use Adobe Animate and Premiere. You’ll also get access to a range of other Adobe programs, such as Photoshop, Illustrator, and After Effects. For 3D animation, we use Autodesk Maya. When you start school, you’ll be able to borrow a drawing tablet that you can use all year to make digital drawing easier.

You must bring your own PC with minimum the following system requirements:

Windows 10/11, MacOS 13.x, 12.x, 11.x
Intel® 6th Gen or newer CPU – or AMD Ryzen™ 1000 Series or newer CPU
16 GB RAM
4 GB GPU dedicated memory (VRAM)
100 GB free disk space

Study trip: Japan

In spring, the program takes a trip to Japan, with special focus on Tokyo – the world’s largest city! The city is packed with exciting and memorable experiences and is known for its unique combination of the ultra-modern and traditional. Skyscrapers bathed in neon light stand side by side with ancient Shinto and Buddhist temples and gardens. In these streets, we get close to the culture, trends, food, and not least the anime universes that the country is so famous for.

Among the highlights are the Ghibli Museum, karaoke, temple walks, food markets, arcades, and the countless anime centers. The program varies from year to year, so a visit to an animation studio or an animation festival might be on the agenda. Since we travel in the spring, we might also be lucky enough to experience sakura (cherry blossom season).

Suggested day-by-day program:

Day 1: Fly from Bergen to Osaka
Day 2: Visit Tokyo Skytree and Senso-ji Temple
Day 3: Excursion to Akihabara and group dinner
Day 4: Visit Ghibli Museum and drawing in Inokashira Park
Day 5: Teamlab Planets (interactive art installation) + Small Worlds Tokyo (miniature gallery with animatronics)
Day 6: Tokyo National Museum and Ueno Zoo (sketching/croquis), karaoke in the evening
Day 7: Excursion to Kamakura; Hokokuji Temple and Tsurugaoka Hachimangu Shrine
Day 8: Suginami Animation Museum, Takeshita Street and Shibuya Crossing
Day 9: Free exploration of the city, group dinner
Day 10: Tokyo Anime Awards (Animation Festival)
Day 11: Hokusai Museum and Edo-Tokyo (recreated district from the Edo period)
Day 12: Return from Tokyo to Bergen

Line teacher Simon Furdal

Is an animator who has specialized in combining digital animation techniques and stop motion. Has worked on the feature films The Animals of Farthing Wood and The Solan & Ludwig trilogy. Worked in the props department at Qvisten Animation before becoming part of the animation team. Has produced the short film Warp which has been shown in many countries. Has also animated on several short films, commercials, and infographics.

Program teacher Christine Tjore Lervåg

Christine is an animator who specializes in stop motion & claymation. She has education in drawing from Einar Granum Art School, a bachelor’s in animation from Volda University College, and practical-pedagogical education from the University of Bergen. She has produced the short film “Remember, this is not over” which has been shown at Norwegian and international film festivals, and the film has been purchased by Filmbib. She likes everything that involves “fun and games” and always joins in for a swim.

Teacher Margunn Hindenes

Margunn is an animator with a master’s in digital character animation from Noroff Institute and Teesside University in England. She has worked as a 3D animator on major video games like Driver: San Francisco and Watch Dogs at the game company Ubisoft Reflections, and has several years of experience as a graphic designer and animator at TV 2. Margunn is also a certified climbing instructor and offers climbing as an elective subject.

This is what the students say

Getting the opportunity to study this program has been absolutely fantastic. I had some background from before and I’m a huge fan of animation. Seeing what happens behind the scenes of animations is extremely fascinating. Being able to work with this for a year and gain insight into different types of animation has been a highlight of my life so far. I’ve learned something in all styles and I now know the basics. I wish to continue working with animation. For me, it has always been a dream to travel to Japan – and that dream came true! It was one of the coolest experiences I’ve ever had!

I’ve learned a lot about animation and how to work on projects and processes. How you can reach a finished result by working step by step. I think 2D animation is fun and I’m going to continue with this. Stop Motion and 3D animation were nice to try out. A good subject teacher and a very calm atmosphere in the classroom – there’s no stress here.

Studying Animation and Graphics at Åsane has been incredibly valuable and educational for me. Throughout the year, I’ve had the opportunity to try out many different media and techniques. We’ve worked on storyboarding, 3D modeling, and stop-motion. We’ve developed our drawing skills, both on paper and using the digital drawing tablet that all students receive at the start of the school year. It was incredibly fun and rewarding to be able to use all our creative and technical skills in a larger project towards the end of the year! The study trip to Japan was a once-in-a-lifetime experience! Japan is a unique country to visit, especially with a fantastic class. The academic content was exciting, and we had many great cultural encounters and experiences.

An unforgettable journey – and an unforgettable year – that I’ll be longing to return to for a long time!

If Animation and Graphics is a program you are considering, I highly recommend it. This is a program that is open to everyone at different skill levels; whether you can already create art or have barely touched a pencil – the only thing expected of you is interest!

What I have personally loved about these studies is that you can shape them however you want – the assignments are quite open, along with guidance from passionate teachers who have professional experience in their fields. Not least, the social aspect is some of the best I have experienced – you will build a safe and fun network both within the class and beyond!

I started this without having done much animation before, but I got to try my hand at 2D and 3D as well as stop-motion. Trying such different techniques means you never get bored and can always look forward to the next assignment!

And finally, you will have the opportunity to travel to Japan on a class trip and experience all the sights and sounds of Tokyo. It’s both a social and educational trip where you’ll get to experience so many amazing and fun things!

Here, you’ll really develop your drawing skills, and you’re guaranteed to learn something new whether you’ve done this before or not! Don’t worry – apply for an amazing year with fantastic people!

Apply for a place at school now

Applications are accepted on an ongoing basis and processed in the order they are received. It is always a good idea to be early.