Animation Program

Animation Program Head: Beomsik Shim

Degree Name: BFA in Art, Option in Animation 

Catalog Description:

The BFA in Art, Option in Animation, provides students with the essential knowledge and skills needed to succeed in the field of animation for film, game, and media arts. The degree option offers a curriculum with an emphasis on foundational principles, storytelling, and experimentation.  
The degree option in Animation begins the training using traditional methods and evolves to digital media. As students progress through the curriculum they may also experiment with alternative techniques for narrative and non-narrative films.

This degree option provides students with thorough experience in animation production and filmmaking to grow their artistic visions and develop the professional skills needed to succeed in the field of animation and media arts. This degree option culminates in a showcase, which introduces our graduates to professionals in the field of animation and media arts.

Students wishing to study Animation at CSULB are first admitted into the BA Studio Art degree option or as a Pre-Art major. In this degree option, students may focus on Animation. BA students may then choose to apply to enter into the BFA program in Animation. The BFA program has limited enrollment, and the selection process is competitive. To enter the BFA program, a student must:

  • Have earned a 3.0 or better grade point average in your major, a 2.5 GPA overall.
  • Submit a digital portfolio for formal evaluation. Please check the BFA Animation Portfolio Guidelines.
  • Students must begin the application through the School of Art advising center to receive a link to SlideRoom and proper instructions.

Student portfolios are evaluated on formal skills as well as the demonstration of imaginative problem-solving and a willingness to take creative risks.
We have two tracks for students to apply to where students will take courses with assignments geared specifically to these goals: 

Animation Track 

Students in this track will focus on creating a body of work involving moving images. The Animation Track’s curriculum covers Pre-Production, Production, and Post-Production in both traditional 2D & 3D and experimental filmmaking approaches. Experimental filmmaking includes inventive non-traditional methods of animation using a variety of materials and methods, such as stop-motion, AR/VR, and various interdisciplinary filmmaking techniques.  

Pre-Production Track 

Students in this track will focus on building skills for working in the pre-production phase of film, television, and game projects. Some examples of pre-production art are character, prop, and environment design, storyboards, layout, background painting, visual development, 3D digital modeling, and pre-visualization.
Once students are accepted into the BFA in Art, Option in Animation program, they will advance their studies as a cohort. All these course schedules are very carefully planned with a set curriculum and scaffolding approach. Its goal is to culminate student skills and knowledge at the appropriate time based on professional practices. This learning environment allows them to replicate the collaborative team environment where students must navigate different work habits and pipelines and come together to produce a project.