“At the University of Bolton, we take great pride in providing a quality, supportive learning environment for our students.” Professor George E Holmes DL | President & Vice Chancellor
“...tutors are very supportive and you’re not just a student ID number, at this university you are an individual with a name.” Ellisse Vernon | BSc (Hons) Adult Nursing
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.
Key information
Award:
BDes (Hons)
Mode of Study:
Full-time
Duration:
3 years
Location:
The University of Bolton
UCAS points:
104
UCAS code:
W610
Start date:
20/09/2021
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.
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.
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 to 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.
Want some reassurance or advice? Speak to one of our advisors. Email us at admissions@bolton.ac.uk or call us on +44 (0)1204 903 394.
Where changes are made to material information contained in this course description or a decision is taken to suspend a course between the offer of admissions and enrolment, we will inform applicants at the earliest possible opportunity and will outline the various options available to the applicant.
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
A graduate could find additional work opportunities creating displays or multimedia presentations for a museum, or you might work for a company that creates and sells effects-based products, such as prosthetics, costumes or props. Graduates may also use the qualification to enter a range of other careers including:
Advertising and marketing communications
Animation
Fashion and textiles
Games
Photo imaging
Publishing
Teaching
Arts management
Course fees
Home Fees
Year of study
Total
Entry year
2021/22
2022/23
2023/24
2024/25
2021
£9,250
£9,250
£9,250
-
£27,750
International
Year of study
Total
Entry year
2021/22
2022/23
2023/24
2024/25
2021
£12,450
£12,450
£12,450
-
£37,350
Important note regarding tuition fees for the 2021-2022 academic year:
EU nationals who meet residency requirements (have settled or pre-settled status) may be eligible for ‘Home’ fee status.
If you do not meet these residency requirements, overseas fees will apply. Irish citizens living in the UK or Ireland will be eligible for ‘Home’ fee status under the Common Travel Area arrangement.
Please read the
student finance eligibility 2021-2022 policy on www.gov.uk for information.
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.
For 2021-2022 entry, the maximum government approved undergraduate tuition fee for UK students is £9,250 per year.
The University is able to charge this fee subject to an approved Access and Participation Plan for 2021-2022 and its current rating in the Teaching Excellence Framework.
For details of how to apply for this course, please choose your status from the options below:
If you already have a UCAS application for September
If you have an application for September with UCAS and are applying through Clearing please ensure you have
received a verbal offer from the University by calling 01204 903030.
The online application form and guidance notes are available on the
UCAS website.
You can apply for up to 5 courses through UCAS (at the same or different institutions) for a fee of £24.
Alternatively, if you only wish to apply for a single course at a single institution then a reduced applicant's
fee of £13 is applicable.
You will need the following information to complete your UCAS application form:
You may apply directly to the University using the University's online application form. Please select your chosen
start date from the list below:
You should have to hand:
Details of the educational establishments you attended and dates
Your certificates for the qualifications you are using to gain entry to the course –
you will need to enter the completion date and upload copies
Details of any employment history including name, address, dates and role
Personal statement – this can be either input into the relevant field or uploaded separately
Details including e-mail addresses of two referees, at least one of which should be
someone who can provide an academic reference
Please make sure any documents you wish to upload in support of your application are in pdf or jpeg format.
Personal statements may be word documents.
Please ensure your data is correct at each stage of the application before you proceed to the next page.
If you use the back button at any time during the application, you should check the validity of the data
you have already input.
If you experience difficulties during the application process, contact the Admissions Team on 01204 903394
or admissions@bolton.ac.uk
The University welcomes applications from international students from all over the world.
We try to make the application process as simple and as fast as possible for our international applicants.
How you apply is determined by your current location and what you are choosing to study:
Apply direct to the University. Links for the next available intakes of this course are shown below.
Please click the link which will direct you to the online application form. Please read the user
guidance before completing this.
Apply via one of our approved in-country referral partners. A list of our partners may be found on the
International pages of this website.
Apply via UCAS for courses starting in September only – visit
www.ucas.com.
Should you have any queries please contact the International Team on +44 (0) 1204 903110 or email
international@bolton.ac.uk
Apply online: University of Bolton
BDes(Hons) Special Make Up Effects for Film & TV-20 September 2021 (Intake not currently accepting international applications)
University of Bolton Group Partners
Bolton College
University Technical College
University of Bolton
The University welcomes applications from our group partners and progressing students so we try to make our application
process as simple and as fast as possible. By selecting the link for your chosen course from the list shown below you
will be taken directly to our online application form. Please read the user guidance before completing this and ensure
you upload all supporting documents such as certificates and your personal statement when you apply.
Please ensure when you are asked to add a contact email address you add your college/university email account address
as well as your personal address. If you do not add your college address as your contact address we will be unable to
identify you as a partner and you will be referred to apply via UCAS, which incurs a cost.
We look forward to receiving your application and you continuing your academic journey with us!
We use a wide variety of teaching and learning methods to help you achieve your potential, and you can expect our blended style to include lectures, seminars, tutorials and critiques, self-directed learning, e-learning and laboratory/workshop sessions, as well as online learning.
Lectures are used to introduce the core course content, while seminars allow you to explore subjects in greater detail. Practical skills and techniques are gained through technical introduction and support, workshop sessions, demonstrations and activity-based assignments. Tutorials allow you to ask any questions you have, ensuring you understand the topics covered in lectures and workshop sessions.
Guest lectures and visits give you opportunities to engage with and learn from respected professionals working in the special effects arena. Our highly practical and project-based approach promotes active learning, and our specialist facilities create realistic industry-like learning environments. Our project modules encourage you to interact and collaborate with students specialising in both your own and other areas of special and visual effects, helping to give you a taste of working on group and multidisciplinary projects.
Personal and independent study is essential and you should expect to devote a significant amount of time to activities such as project work, background reading, preparation for seminars and tutorials, research, design and creative thought.
In terms of assessment, you can expect assignments, projects, case study, quizzes, interviews and presentations. As far as possible, we set project-based coursework that simulates professional situations. These pieces contribute to your final mark and allow you to demonstrate that you’ve met the learning outcomes. The course doesn’t include formal examinations.
Modules
The modules listed below may be a mixture of compulsory and optional. You may not have the opportunity to study all the modules shown as part of the course.
Introduction to Special Make-up Effects
Introduction to Prosthetic Design, Development and Application
Digital Concepts and Sculpting
Introduction to Hair and Postiche
History and Replication
Advanced Digital Concepting
Advanced Prosthetic Development and Application
Professional Portfolio
Technical Research
Industry Project
Major Project
Assessment methods
Level
Assesment method
Level one
Coursework 25%, Practical exams 75%
Level two
Coursework 23%, Practical exams 77%
Level three
Coursework 58%, Practical exams 42%
Learning activities
Level
Learning activity
Level one
Guided independent study 65%, Scheduled learning and teaching activities 35%
Level two
Guided independent study 65%, Scheduled learning and teaching activities 35%
Level three
Guided independent study 65%, Scheduled learning and teaching activities 35%
Disclaimer
The university will use all reasonable endeavours to deliver your course as described in its published material and the programme specification for the academic year in which you begin your course. The university considers changes to courses very carefully and the university will minimise any changes. Please be aware that our courses are subject to review on an ongoing basis and changes may be necessary due to legitimate staffing, financial, regulatory and academic reasons. The content of course modules and mode of associated assessments may be updated on an annual basis. This is to ensure that all modules are up-to-date and responsive to employment and sector needs. The published course material and the programme specification contain indicative ‘optional modules’ that may be subject to change due to circumstances outside of our control. For this reason, we cannot guarantee to run any specific optional module.
