Pay onlineMichael Rollinson
A Teesside master’s led Michael to a successful and satisfying career in animation.
MA Computer Animation
Why did you go to Teesside University?
Teesside had a reputation of being an outstanding university for computer animation and I wanted to be a part of it.
What was the master’s course like?
It was an excellent course. It was great to meet like-minded people who understood that I wasn’t actually mad when I went home and kept working! You really can't switch off as you walk out of a lecture. You need to be motivated, optimistic and always ready for a challenge. Studying the MA Computer Animation provided me with an amazing opportunity to develop myself while developing my animation skills.
What happened next?
I studied figurative sculpture and anatomy at the Florence Academy of Art, and then I freelanced on minor projects while developing a portfolio before landing a job as a character modeller on the satirical animation ITV show, Headcases at Red Vision. After another job in the industry I moved to Darkside Animation as a lead character modeller on The Kitchen Games – the UK's first British-funded full computer graphics animated feature film (due for release next year).
I still get to build character (and sometimes set and prop) assets for pitch work and TV work. We recently completed a Network Rail project from concept to final delivery in around two weeks! I built the main train station, its interior set plus the smaller station – all in one long day...
