Image by Rachel Manory '20, BFA in Animation & Motion Media
Create believable realities out of fiction.
You're a creative. A storyteller. A problem-solver. Why not use your artistic talent and knack for technology to enhance concepts in film, gaming, advertising, healthcare, and more with a career in visual effects (VFX)? Get the education and hands-on training you need to join one of the fastest-growing specializations in the animation industry.
In our Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) in Visual Effects program, you'll integrate animation, film, design, and photography to hone your artistic skills that go beyond technical mastery of a medium. You'll pick a visual effects specialization based on your professional goals, such as 3D modeling, animation, compositing, lighting, or rendering. And in our state-of-the-art visual effects (VFX) facilities, including a 1,000 square-foot green screen room, virtual production studio, 3D fabrication studio, a render farm, a 130-seat screening room, and inertial and optical motion capture suits, you'll experiment with traditional and emerging techniques, from stop-motion to digital computer-generated graphics (CGI) as well as industry-standard software such as Houdini, ZBrush, Nuke, and Unreal Engine.
Create characters, environments, and elements that would be difficult or impossible to capture in real life, and make your visual narratives believable. A VFX artist must understand topics such as physics, biology, anatomy, and geometry to create convincing art solutions. At Lesley, our College of Art & Design is situated within a larger university that also has 25+ liberal arts majors and 45+ minors. That means you'll be able to study a range of topics that can enhance your practice. And with our reimagined general education curriculum, you’ll acquire knowledge and skills that today’s employers value, and that will get you ready to succeed in an increasingly complex, diverse, and global world.
Connect with industry trailblazers and get an inside view of the visual effects pipeline in a production studio. Through internships and apprenticeships, you'll go beyond the classroom as you collaborate with organizations such as Zero VFX, White Snake Projects, Northern Light Productions, Boston Children's Hospital, Massachusetts Digital Games Institute, or the Massachusetts Production Coalition. You can also work outside of the Cambridge/Boston area with national and international organizations such as Mind & Machine VFX in Los Angeles, Otoy in New Zealand and Los Angeles, or SideFX in Toronto.
Graduate with an impressive portfolio and be ready to break into a range of fields where VFX skills are in high demand.