Projects are the core of audiovisual production. Every film, television series, commercial, or digital content is developed through a structured project that involves creative, technical, and economic decisions. These projects aim to deliver audiovisual products that meet artistic goals, production requirements, and market demands, while optimizing resources, time, and budgets.
Project management is a discipline that provides the principles, concepts, tools, and techniques needed to effectively plan, execute, and control audiovisual productions. Its application in the audiovisual field helps improve workflow coordination, decision-making, risk management, and the overall success of productions, from development through post-production.
This course introduces the fundamental principles of project management within a framework specifically adapted to audiovisual and film production. The course focuses on the three key project constraints: scope, time, and cost, as they apply to the different phases of audiovisual projects, including pre-production, production, and post-production.
Through practical approaches and real examples from the animation and audiovisual industries, students will acquire the skills, tools, and methodologies necessary to define, plan, and manage animation projects efficiently, ensuring both creative and production viability.
Titular Professors
Professors
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- Understand the basic concepts of project management.
- Understand the role of the project manager/producer.
- Define projects and understand their impact on the animation industry.
- Use the resources and tools necessary for the different stages in the design of a project.
- Enable students to define and plan a simple project.
- Understand the project management triangle (scope, cost, and time).
- Introduction to Project Management: Overview of the course, rules, and the importance of the animation producer profile.
- Animation Production Framework: Management methodologies, industry language, and the project life cycle.
- Team Dynamics: Development of soft skills, team-building strategies, and the creation of a Team Charter.
- Project Initiation: Phase management strategies and the development of the Pitch.
- The Stages of a Project: Detailed study of Development, Pre-production, Production, and Post-production.
- Project Scope and Planning: Defining requirements, planning importance, and Work Breakdown Structure (WBS).
- Roles and Responsibilities: Analysis of technical and production roles, from Executive Producer to Assistant Producer.
- Resources and Industry Tools: Identification of project needs and use of tracking software like Autodesk Flow (Shotgrid).
- Project Scheduling: Learning to structure activities, milestones, and phases in a production timeline.
- Cost Management and Funding: Creating animation budgets, finding funds, and managing financial contingencies.
- Stakeholders: Identification, analysis, and identification of key project stakeholders.
- Risk Management: Identifying and planning for potential project risks.
The methodology of this course combines theoretical sessions with practical workshops based on simulated animation and VFX (visual effects) production scenarios. Through a learning-by-doing approach, students will actively participate in the management of animation and visual effects projects, experiencing workflows similar to those used in professional studios.
The course aims to develop an understanding of project management applied to animation and VFX productions, while also fostering key management, organizational, and communication skills, which are essential in these highly collaborative environments structured around production pipelines.
Special emphasis is placed on hands-on learning, allowing students to make decisions related to production planning, scheduling, budgeting, asset management, and team coordination.
Learning activities include readings inside and outside the classroom, group exercises, practical assignments, guided discussions, and both individual and group projects and presentations. This approach helps students build confidence and practical skills to manage animation and VFX projects within a creative, technical, and collaborative production context.
(*) Students are expected to behave appropriately in class. The basic principle of this behavior is RESPECT. (**) Students must complete the 2 tests (otherwise, they will automatically fail the course). A minimum grade of 5 is required in each section for it to be taken into account.
Students must complete the 2 tests (otherwise, they will automatically fail the course).
A minimum grade of 5 is required in each section for it to be taken into account.
HSAA: Highly Significant Assessment Activity
Activities that, due to their characteristics (weight, mandatory nature, workload, etc.), are very relevant within the overall assessment system.
Examples: exams (progress checks, midterms, official examinations), mandatory practicals, projects or assignments with a significant impact on the final grade, etc.
MSAA: Moderately Significant Assessment Activity
Activities that, due to their characteristics (weight, mandatory nature, workload, etc.), are less critical within the assessment system. Examples: occasional continuous assessment activities, optional practicals with a moderate weight in the final grade, etc.
Use of AI tools
If AI tools are used in any activity, a paragraph must be included in the activity description indicating how AI was used and which prompts or instructions were provided to obtain the results. Failure to do so will constitute a violation of academic honesty policies.
BERKUN, S. 2008. Making Things Happen. Sebastopol: O' Reilly. HEAGNEY, J. 2011. Fundamentals of Project Management. New York: Amacom Books. VVAA. 2013. A guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge. Newtown Square, Pennsylvania: Project Management Institute.
Producing Animation – Catherine Winder & Zahra Dowlatabadi. The Art of Animation Production Management. The Animator’s Survival Kit – Richard Williams. The VES Handbook of Visual Effects. Creativity, Inc. – Ed Catmull & Amy Wallace
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