A shy child seen from the bus window – Man with Umbrella, animated short film by Jishnav Iyer
4-YEAR UG Professional Program
Digital Media Arts
Program Overview
The Digital Media Arts UGPP program focuses on animation in its many forms and contexts. While contemporary visual culture is replete with digitally produced and manipulated animated images, we believe that the original works they all start on a piece of paper with the stroke of a hand. Tactile exploration and digital intervention are key to envisioning impossible worlds in animation. Commercial and artistic contexts of animation today abound in several forms of time-based media works, going beyond the rectangular frame. In the 4-year undergraduate course in Digital Media Arts (DMA), we encourage all kinds of media works that primarily emerge from a deep immersion into one’s social, personal, historical, cultural, and contemporary contexts.
Whether it is movements drawn by hand, models made to act, or interaction of live-action and computer-generated imagery (CGI), this is an opportunity to explore the new frontiers of time-based media formed by the interaction of time, movement, image, text, sound, and space. The program focuses on various 2D animation, open-source 3D animation, and manipulated moving-image practices.
Vision
Animation lies at the intersection of plastic/graphic arts, moving image practices, and virtual environments. It includes creative processes of static art, of individual artists as in a painter, illustrator or graphic novelist, and that of the filmmaker or new media artist. The Digital Media Arts course, designed with a choice-based navigation across different learning inputs, including those addressing intersections, provides a unique learning environment for the student. The focus is on authorship, on finding a voice and a practice of one’s own in any mode of working that might interest the student. We believe that the creative practitioner must cultivate a dynamic relationship with their own practice and the world at large, through unhindered imagination, playfulness, cultural innovation, and social responsibility.
At the forefront of all learning is an understanding of contexts. Students are taught the discipline of probing a thought, a situation, or an insight for a visual idea to form. Through research, storytelling, material driven, and iterative methodology, the DMA student is taught to turn inspiration into approaches that yield an authentic piece of work.
The vision of the course is to initiate the students in their journey of becoming leading animation filmmakers and digital media artists.
LEVEL
Undergraduate Degree
AWARD
Bachelor of Fine Arts (B.F.A)
DURATION
4 Years / Full-time
Last Day to Apply
15 March 2027
Course Structure
The curriculum comprises of different ways of learning as follows:
- Foundation introduces students to basic principles and tools of Art, Design and Technology as methods, tools and processes.
- Disciplinary Studios are learning spaces where students develop core disciplinary capabilities, while navigating a trans-disciplinary environment
- General Studies is a common and compulsory programme of study that integrates Humanities, Sciences, Maths, business and finance. Development and Policy Studies and also offers Languages (Spanish, French and German)
- Interim is an immersive introduction to practice in new and emerging areas of art and design and environmental exposure
- Electives are of three kinds – this program allows students to expand their skills, develop the interests as well as provide opportunities for travel exchange
- Internship/Apprenticeship is compulsory work experience done over the summer-break between the 6th and 7th semester
- Project based learning involves the application and synthesis of capabilities acquired. Two projects, pre-thesis and thesis, is culmination of the 4-year undergraduate program, which allows for demonstration of an integration of values, positions, capabilities and practice.
Learning Approach
Learning at the undergraduate level in Digital Media Arts involves:
- Inter-disciplinary and choice-based navigation where students can select courses as per their core area of interest
- Contextual learning through an immersion in broader socio-cultural contexts
- Exploration, reflection and critical investigation of personal contexts and experiences
- Understanding of the audience and the communicative modes of Digital Media Arts
- Thinking through doing, observing, acquiring skills in different storytelling mediums, innovating and re-designing narrative
Capabilities
Upon successful completion of this course graduates will have developed the following capabilities:
- Constructing narrative, meaning, feeling or thought in moving image
- Understanding the “language” of media art practice (animation, gaming, film/video etc.)
- Thoughtful creating of characters, situations, and scenarios
- Visual, aesthetic and performative sensibility (in constructing moving image)
- Spatial understanding – physical, sonic and/or symbolic
- Structural thinking – understanding natural, physical and digital environments and materials
- Creative problem solving and management of processes
- Inventive thinking, risk taking, approaching the unknown
- Keen observation, assimilation and expression
- Constructing viewer experiences
- Research – inquiry, probing and methodical investigation
- Focused understanding of a given context and how one relates to it
- Creative use of techniques and expertise in their application
- Ability to engage with diverse topics and bring about creative synthesis
- Autonomy, individual awareness and self-directed processes
FAQs
Digital Media Arts at SMI comprises mainly the fields of Animation and all forms of manipulated moving images. The course looks at 2D and 3D animation as a way of communicating and expressing ideas about oneself and the world as experienced. Animation can no longer be seen as an exclusive field but has to be considered within a broad practice of digital media and how one can push its boundaries into new frontiers.
The program is designed to give an overview of several aspects of animation filmmaking. The emphasis is on developing a holistic understanding of the possibilities in these fields.
The student can choose to develop skills in the interest of their choice and also combine skills from other courses offered across SMI. Hence, graduates with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in DMA can function in different roles in the media and entertainment, advertising, communication services, web design, and education and welfare sectors. They will be equipped to contribute to the animation practice’s design thinking, ideating and/or production processes.
The course at SMI gives high importance to context-based work. The context could pertain to social, cultural or environmental themes or be an enquiry into the personal and the content of one’s experience and art-making processes.
The program is designed to help students be better learners and pursue their own goals and areas of research. Situated in a multidisciplinary environment, there are good possibilities for comparing, acquiring and appropriating methods and processes from other disciplines into one’s practice of digital media
The program at SMI gives high importance to context-based work. The context could pertain to social, cultural or environmental themes or be an enquiry into the personal and the content of one’s experience and art making processes.
The program is designed to help students be better learners and pursue their own goals and areas of research. Situated in a multidisciplinary environment, there are good possibilities for comparing, acquiring and appropriating methods and processes from other disciplines into one’s practice of digital media
Yes, you will be able to pursue a Masters at SMI or in any place of study of your choice.
The capability sets equip and prepare students for a wide range of career opportunities:
- Undertake the making of independent or commissioned animated films
- Work in different capacities on any film or audio-visual production houses
- Work in any media organisation, including Television and Advertising agencies
- Specialise in a particular aspect of Media Arts such as CGI, VFX, post production etc.
- Pursue higher studies in an art-related field