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Escola Nacional de Belas-Artes - CIEAM

Programme information

The CIEAM - Investigation and Studies Centre for Art and Multimedia is a unit of the Faculty of Fine Arts of Lisbon. In addition to its general purposes of investigation in Arts and Multimedia, the centre develops and studies new processes of creation and pedagogical methodologies in the fields of Animation Film (2D and stop motion), Comics, Illustration and Scriptwriting for these different media.
The CIEAM provides free courses and workshops to the students’ community and to the public in general (art students as well as professionals from the areas of Animation film, Comics, Illustration and Scriptwriting), giving students the space and technological assets necessary to follow the different courses, as well as other facilities (e.g. courses running on post-labour schedules).
Parallel to the free courses and workshops the CIEAM also articulates with the BA in Arts and Multimedia: a BA with a variant on Animation studies was created, and a Master in Animation is now organized to be started in 2009/10. 
 
School presentation
The CIEAM is a new investigation unit and is the result of a protocol between the Faculty of Fine Arts and the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation. For 18 years the CITEN - Centre for Image and Narrative Techniques, one of the Foundation’s educational and experimental centre, focused on a pioneer effort to convey knowledge and create a platform for experimentation in the areas of Animation Film, Illustration, Comics and Scriptwriting. Under the pedagogical coordination of José Pedro Cavalheiro and the technical coordination of Fernando Galrito, the CITEN has developed as one of the very few institutions where Portuguese artists, professionals and students, could learn and practice in such areas.
In 2006, in order to expand its objectives and reach a broader community, the CITEN was transferred by means of a protocol to the Fine Arts School, and in such context the CIEAM - Investigation and Studies Centre for Art and Multimedia was created. 
 
Degree category / length of studies
The free courses are annual, varying from 110 to 300 hours, and workshops are normally a week-length with approximately 30 hours. Free courses and workshops do not confer a degree, but a participation certificate.
BA (3 years) offers a specific variant of studies in Animation; MA in Animation (2 years).
 
Number of teachers
11 teachers on the areas comprising Animation, Illustration, Comics and Scriptwriting
 
Number of students
In the free courses and workshops (average 2008 numbers): 120 students
In the BA – variant on Animation studies (2008/09): 36 students
 
Number of foreign students
In the BA – variant on Animation studies (2008/09): 4 foreign students
 
Entry requirements
For the free courses and workshops: interview and portfolio evaluation, criteria depending on the course selected. 
 
Programme description
The 2D Animation Course is divided in two main modules, one of drawn animation (learning and exploration of basic principles of the representation of movement) and another of digital animation (comprehension of the different phases of directing a project in animation, assisted by digital tools).
The Stop-motion Animation Course is divided in four different modules: basic rules, animation and dramaturgy, directing, and project (conception, development and animation of collective film).
Along the three years of the BA study, three very specific subjects related to animation are being taught: Animation and Movement, Animation Techniques and Digital Animation.
 

Philosophy

The pedagogical approach in the CIEAM is transversal to all courses, be it Illustration, Comics, 2D Animation, Stop-motion animation or Scriptwriting – consisting in the exploration of narrative structures, forms and pictogrammes, aiming at the creation of individual vocabularies, an expression of the students’ own imaginary.
The BA in Arts and Multimedia - variant on Animation studies explores many of these principles, with an initially strong component of drawing, followed by a phase in which the students will be familiarized with the digital creation and production processes. We look forward, above all, to strengthening a movement language, not through the identification of subjects from their exterior characteristics, but promoting synthesis and exploration of movement as a language itself, autonomous in its form of expression.
The works’ development starts with the exploration of generic themes, after which the student is guided through the process of creation and production, from the initial concept to the final execution of the project in 3D animation, 2D animation assisted with digital tools, drawn animation, sand, cut-out or Stop-motion animation.