BDes (Hons) Special Make-up Effects for Film and TV
Want to turn movie stars into monsters? Our Special Make-up Effects for Film and TV degree course focuses on helping you develop specialist skills and creative know-how. We offer fantastic facilities and industry-experienced staff dedicated to preparing you for a career in this ground-breaking creative industry.
Course details
From superheroes to sci-fi, and horror to history, many TV shows and movies need special effects make-up to enhance their on-screen storytelling. Actors can be utterly transformed into aliens, zombies, pirates and vampires, while more subtle make-up effects convince us of injuries, scars, tattoos or wrinkles. All these special effects are created by dedicated and highly-skilled make-up artists and our BDes (Hons) Special Make-up Effects for Film and TV course focuses on preparing you for a career creating these illusions.
We offer an intensely practical education in special effects make-up. We’ll lead you in an exploration of prosthetics and changing physical appearances, including aspects such as life-casting, clay sculpting, creating silicone masks, applying prosthetics, adding hair and colouring techniques. We’ll encourage you to experiment with materials, tools and techniques, and discover how prosthetics and make-up can combine with 3D computer graphics to create even more spectacular on-screen transformations.
This highly creative industry demands transferable skills too – communication, project and time management, team-working and entrepreneurship are all needed for success in this largely freelance profession. We aim to support you to develop these attributes, alongside the imagination, flair and curiosity that will enable you to push the boundaries of special effects make-up.
- UCAS points: 104
- Start date: 21/09/2020
- Location: The University of Bolton
- Award: BDes (Hons)
- UCAS code: W610
- Duration: 3 years
Course highlights:
- You don’t have to worry about the cost of the make-up and materials needed to complete your studies – we provide these for you. This means you can concentrate on learning how to use expensive industry-standard materials, like silicones and resins, rather than worrying about how you are going to pay for them!
- Neill Gorton, multi-award winning artist/designer and founder of the world-renowned Millennium FX company, is our Visiting Professor of Special Effects. His astonishing range of professional experience, knowledge of cutting-edge techniques and industry contacts brings enormous benefits.
- You’ll have your own personal bench space and locker in our dedicated special effects studio, providing a secure base for your studies. You’ll also have access to our fantastic range of SFX facilities, including our make-up studio, casting and moulding room, boutique film studio, and 3D workshop.
- We’re committed to helping develop your employability and career network. You’ll be encouraged to attend guest lectures that enhance your learning and help you make contacts in the industry. For instance, the award-winning make-up artists Richard Martin and Nick Dudman have recently shared their expertise with students on our SVFX courses.
- Alongside your special effects make-up skills and knowledge, we’ll support you to develop a broader understanding of production design, including concepting, cinematography and composition. This will help you appreciate the roles, skills and expectations of other professionals working in the industry.
- We’ll encourage you to research, analyse, design and develop make-up techniques so that you can take an idea from a brief or script scene and find the most time-efficient, cost-effective and visually impressive way to turn that vision into reality.
Key features:
- The course is designed in collaboration with professional special effects make-up artists and studio directors. This ensures that the content is industry-relevant and includes the latest techniques, materials and innovations.
- We’ll help and support you to develop a portfolio of work/show reel that demonstrates your skills in readiness to impress potential employers.
- Course assignments and projects mimic industry pipelines and standards so your experience is a realistic preparation for a career in special effects make-up.
- Our dedicated staff team have a wide range of professional experience, industry knowledge, technical expertise and academic credentials, offering you a variety of perspectives and broadening your horizons.
- We offer a warm and friendly environment for your studies, with relatively small class sizes, purpose-built teaching facilities, and excellent student support and library services.
- We prefer to keep lecture and practical classes relatively small, so that you have plenty of opportunities to us ask questions and get individual help, as well as benefit from the ideas and support offered by your classmates.
Entry requirements
- UCAS points: 104
- Start date: 21/09/2020
- Location: The University of Bolton
- Award: BDes (Hons)
- UCAS code: W610
- Duration: 3 years
Any subjects are acceptable at Level 3. You should also have five GCSEs at grade C or above or grade 4 to 9 (or equivalent) including English and Mathematics.
You'll be required to attend for interview and provide a portfolio of appropriate work.
The quality of the portfolio/interview is the primary basis on which applicants are selected; therefore special consideration will be given to applicants without the above qualifications who have a strong portfolio.
If English isn’t your first language you’ll also need IELTS 6.0 with no less than 5.5 in any band (or equivalent). We also accept a range of other English language qualifications – please visit our English Language Requirements web page for more details. Find out more
Career opportunities
A special effects make-up artist applies make-up on actors and performers to aid in the characters' theatrical transformations. As a graduate you will develop a range of key transferable skills which include the ability to communicate well, present ideas and concepts, work independently and as part of a team, work under pressure and to deadlines and plan and organise your work. You will also develop a range of creative skills and abilities such as good make-up application, an understanding of industry standard materials, an understanding of anatomy, development of sculpture techniques and an understanding of how to translate abstract design ideas into practical applications.
What can I do with this qualification?
This degree equips graduates for careers in film, commercials, theatre and television special make-up effects production. Graduates may work directly for a production company or theatre, or they may be self-employed. You could be engaged in a workshop-type environment or working on a large scale film or TV set as part of a creative team. Graduates may also be employed in special effects production for stage and could also find employment in the many creative industries and entertainment industries rapidly developing in the UK such as prosthetics and model making.
Alternative career options
- Advertising and marketing communications
- Animation
- Fashion and textiles
- Games
- Photo imaging
- Publishing
- Teaching
- Arts management
Professional recognition
Fees & funding
Home/EU fees
| Year of study | Total | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Entry year | 2020/21 | 2021/22 | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | |
| 2020/21 | £9,250 | £9,250 | £9,250 | - | £27,750 |
| 2021/22 | - | null | null | null | null |
International fees
| Year of study | Total | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Entry year | 2020/21 | 2021/22 | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | |
| 2020/21 | £12,450 | £12,450 | £12,450 | - | £37,350 |
| 2021/22 | - | null | null | null | null |
The fees for a student’s course of study will be set for the normal duration of that course subject only to inflationary increases – measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI) recorded in March each year to take effect for subsequent start dates.
The University is currently awaiting Government guidelines as to EU fee charges for students commencing study in 2019/20.
UK undergraduate tuition fees are subject to UK government approval and are subject to the outcome of the Teaching Excellence Framework.
Contact The University
Key facts
-
UCAS code:
W610 -
Course type:
Full-time -
Start date:
21/09/2020 -
Location:
The University of Bolton -
Award:
BDes (Hons) -
UCAS points:
104 -
Duration:
3 years
Contact us
Natalie Woods
Programme Leader
Email: N.Woods@bolton.ac.uk
Telephone: +44 (0)1204 903195
Enquiry Team
University of Bolton
Email: enquiries@bolton.ac.uk
Telephone: +44 (0)1204 903903
