The programme was designed following a layering structure with the following configuration:

• 1. Each semester will focus on one specific format:

  • Semester 1 in LUCA, Genk, will be dedicated to fiction/narrative;
  • Semester 2 in Aalto, Espoo/Helsinki, will be dedicated to expanded/experimental animation and visualization;
  • Semester 3 in Lusófona, Lisbon, will be dedicated to documentary.

  In the fourth semester, students will be allocated to the schools according to their area of interest (7 students per school).

  Each of these formats will cover the following:

  1. The first semester will focus on narrative and it will deal with all the formats and genres of fiction, from the short film to serialized TV content. Specific attention will be given to the development of narrative formats for differentiated audiences;
  2. The second semester will deal with expanded uses of animation and experimental approaches. The focus will be on technologies and CGI.
  3. The third semester will deal with documentary and aims to position students within the format of documentary from a historic and analytical perspective, namely as regards exploring the possibilities of its language and strategies for the critical representation of realities. 
• 2. In each semester, there are a number of subjects dealing with each of the four defined disciplinary tracks:

  1. Artistic expression;
  2. Animation techniques and technologies;
  3. Animation production and management;
  4. History and Critical Reception of Animation.

  These different subjects have equal weight in the programme and they are focused on delivering competences in the defined track. In terms of techniques and technologies, each semester will deal with one specific technique and technology in which the host school is specialized.

• 3. Both discipline specific and transversal skills are covered by the curriculum. Each track deals with a specific body of knowledge:

  1. Artistic Expression concerns the core individual expressive process and research skills. This track is dedicated to the individual development of the student artistic and creative voice, namely in the context of his/her dissertation development;
  2. Animation Techniques and technologies includes traditional animation techniques (i.e. stop-motion or 2D drawing) and digital animation technologies, such as 3D modelling or MOCAP.
  3. Animation Production and Management concerns all production related skills, namely financial and project management ones but also the development on an entrepreneurial outlook. It also includes the study of the different business models emerging in the context of animation production and distribution and the opportunities they entail.
  4. History and Critical Reception concerns all the critical and historical dimensions of animation that inform a literacy of the language. Teaching and learning methods will include the analysis of the cultural, political, economic and social content of films that deal with the specific issues discussed each semester as well as the context in which they were produced.
• 4. In each semester there is one subject named “Research-based Animation Film Production” dedicated to the development of the individual thesis.

  This implies the student experiments with all different formats and techniques in all semesters.

  Students will be required to apply to the programme already with a main topic of interest enunciated that must correspond to an issue of cultural and societal relevance they are interested in exploring throughout the programme. This assures that right from the start students are motivated and engaged with the topics they are working with and that cultural awareness and civic engagement are assured right from the start.