Requirements BFA Animation | Storyboarding & Character Design

Bachelor of Fine Arts 2024 through2025

Animation

About the Program Untitled 1

Storyboarding and Character Design Concentration


Curriculum Requirements

Displaying Spring 2024-2025 Course Availability
  • In-Class
  • In-Class and Online
  • Online Only
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First Year

Fall Quarter

  • ANI 105 Motion Graphics Foundations
    or ART 105 Two-Dimensional Foundations
    or GD 105 Intro to Visual Design
  • ART 106 Beginning Drawing*
  • ANI 154 Digital Painting Workshop (2 credit hours)
  • ANI 206 History of Animation
  • Choose two (2) of the Following:
  • ANI 328 Animation Figure Study I
  • ANI 348 Animation Figure Study II
  • ART 218 Figure Drawing
  • ART 317 Advanced Figure Sculpture
  • ART 318 Advanced Figure Drawing

*Students may apply for portfolio review to substitute ART 206 Intermediate Drawing for the ART 106 requirement.

Liberal Studies Requirements

Winter Quarter

Liberal Studies Requirements
  • WRD 103 Composition and Rhetoric I

Spring Quarter

Liberal Studies Requirements
  • WRD 104 Composition and Rhetoric II

Second Year

  • ANI 220 Storyboarding I
  • ANI 240 Intro to Animation Production
  • ANI 327 Hand-Drawn Character Animation
  • ART 110 Beginning Painting
    or ART 206 Intermediate Drawing
  • HAA 101 Introduction to African Art
    or HAA 115 Introduction to Asian Art
    or HAA 130 Introduction to European Art
    or HAA 145 Introduction to Arts of the Americas
  • POST 110 Editing I
  • 1 Animation Elective
Liberal Studies Requirements
  • LSP 200 Seminar on Race, Power, and Resistance
  • 1 Philosophical Inquiry
  • 1 Historical Inquiry
  • 1 Arts & Literature*
    *NOTE: Arts & Literature requirements must be chosen from the following list:
    • Any HAA course with an Arts & Literature designation
    • ART 200 Art and Artists in Contemporary Culture
    • ART 220 Thinking Photography
    • GD 220 Histories of Design
    • ILL 206 History of Comics
    • MPOP 207 History of Cinema I, 1890-1945
    • MPOP 208 History of Cinema II, 1945-1975
    • MPOP 209 History of Cinema III, 1975-Present

Third Year

  • ANI 324 Storyboarding II
  • ANI 326 Visual Concept Development
  • ANI 345 Character Design
  • ANI 329 Storyboarding III
    or ANI 344 Visual Design for Games
    or ANI 349 Advanced Character Design
  • ANI 340 2d Animation Production
    or ANI 342 3D Animation Production
    or ANI 358 Advanced Stop Motion Animation
    or ANI 360 3D Motion Graphics
    or ANI 371 Animated Series Development
    or ANI 382 Digital Puppet Animation
  • ANI 375 Professional Practice for Animators and Game Artists (2 credit hours)
  • FILM 233 Cinema and Art
    or ANI 363 Cinema and Art for Animators
  • ILL 320 Making Comics
  • 1 Animation Elective
  • 1 Studio Art Elective
Liberal Studies Requirements
  • 1 Experiential Learning
  • MAT 120 Quantitative Reasoning
  • 1 Arts & Literature*
    *NOTE: Arts & Literature requirements must be chosen from the following list:
    • Any HAA course with an Arts & Literature designation
    • ART 200 Art and Artists in Contemporary Culture
    • ART 220 Thinking Photography
    • GD 220 Histories of Design
    • ILL 206 History of Comics
    • MPOP 207 History of Cinema I, 1890-1945
    • MPOP 208 History of Cinema II, 1945-1975
    • MPOP 209 History of Cinema III, 1975-Present

Fourth Year

  • ANI 341 Advanced Animation Production
  • ANI 394 Animation Project I
  • ANI 395 Animation Project II
  • 2 Animation Electives
  • 1 Studio Art Elective

Liberal Studies Requirements
  • 1 Religious Dimensions
  • 1 Scientific Inquiry Lab
  • 1 Social, Cultural, and Behavioral Inquiry

Major Electives

Students must earn a grade of C- or higher in all major elective courses.

Studio Art Major Electives

Students in the Storyboarding and Character Design concentration must take two (2) Studio Art courses from the following list as part of their Major Elective requirements:

Animation Major Electives

Students in the Storyboarding and Character Design concentration must select the 16 credit hours of Animation Major Elective courses from the following list as part of their Major Elective requirements:


Open Electives

Open Elective Credit Hours are required to meet the minimum graduation requirements of 208 hours. Open electives may be taken from any unit at DePaul.


Liberal Studies

The Liberal Studies program is the general education portion of the curriculum at DePaul University. Students must earn a grade of D or better in all courses taken to satisfy these requirements. The only exception is the Capstone course which is considered also a major requirement and WRD 103 and WRD 104 in which students need to earn a C- or better.

Students may choose to take some CDM courses that carry Liberal Studies credit but they cannot double count them if they are part of the major requirements. A complete list of courses that carry Liberal Studies credit can be found on the Liberal Studies website along with an overview of the Liberal Studies requirements for this program. Students can search for courses that satisfy a particular Liberal Studies requirement on campusconnect.

Students in the BFA Animation program must choose classes to fulfill their Arts & Literature learning domain requirements from the following list. Choose 4 credit hours.

  • any History of Art and Architecture (HAA) Arts & Literature course approved for A&L designation
  • GD 220 Histories of Design
  • ILL 206 History of Comics
  • MPOP 207 History of Cinema I, 1890-1945
  • MPOP 208 History of Cinema II, 1945-1975
  • MPOP 209 History of Cinema III, 1975-Present
  • ART 200 Art and Artists in Contemporary Culture
  • ART 220 Thinking Photography

Although students are free to take course requirements in any order they choose, provided they have mastered the course-specific prerequisites, it is strongly recommended that students follow these year-by-year suggestions, especially regarding the first-year major courses.

Courses offered in the student's primary major cannot be taken to fulfill LSP Domain requirements.

Degree Requirements

Students in this degree must meet the following requirements

  • Complete a minimum of 208 credit hours
  • Earn a grade of C- or higher in WRD 103, WRD 104, and all Major and Minor courses
  • Earn a grade of D or higher in all other Liberal Studies and Open Elective courses
  • Maintain a cumulative GPA of 2.0 or higher

Students who earn a cumulative DePaul University GPA

  • Between 3.500 and 3.699 will graduate Cum Laude
  • Between 3.700 and 3.849 will graduate Magna Cum Laude
  • of at least 3.850 will graduate Summa Cum Laude

For DePaul's policy on repeat courses and a complete list of academic policies see the DePaul Undergraduate Handbook in the Course Catalog.