Julia Bracegirdle
| Post Nominals | SFHEA |
|---|---|
| Biography | I am the Programme Leader for MA Animation, a Senior Lecturer on the BA (Hons.) Animation programme and a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. I’ve had two careers, the first in the animation industry where I worked on eight 2D animated feature films in studios such as Warner Bros. Feature Animation, Amblimation (later Dreamworks), Illuminated Films and Munich Animation; credits include Space Jam and Help! I’m a Fish. From 2000-2010 I worked in TV animation, specialising in development and production, notably in the pre-school animation sector where my credits include Charlie and Lola. My second career in higher education began whilst at Warner Bros. where I worked as an animation supervisor, manager and talent scout. This led to industry guest masterclasses, notably at The Animation Workshop (TAW) Denmark where I am still an external curriculum consultant, and regular guest lecturer specialising in ideas, design and storytelling; and known for the innovative Short, Short Film project, where students make very short films for a pre-school audience using experimental methods - to date, more that 80 films have been made. I also devise and lead short CPD courses at the The Open Workshop, Viborg and at the Lego Design Academy where my work involves experimental approaches to design and ideation. My career at UWE has built on my creative and management experience in industry, and my own HE backgrounds in Fine Art and Art History. I have been responsible for UG and PG programme design and the foregrounding of a process-based, practice led approach that has led to accomplished, distinctive and award-winning work by our students. This has included site specific Visual Music events with the Royal Academy of Music and UWE students. Curriculum design for animation is one of my research interests and this has led to external consultancy for course design and accreditation, participation in events such as Training the Trainers (VIA University, Denmark), Society of Animation Studies pedagogy Special Interest Group. |
| Research Interests | Research Interests • Pre-school animation: narrative characteristics, ethics and compliance. • The designed character: the impact of technologies and visual culture on why characters look the way they do. • Art direction and production design. • Animation and Art History • Animation pedagogy |