Kingston College BTEC Digital Art, Animation & Games Design student, Angel O’Malley, gained a fantastic Triple Distinction*, equivalent to 3 A* at A Level. She says: I chose to study a BTEC in Animation because I’ve always loved to animate my own projects - I loved animating even before I actually started studying animation! Throughout secondary school I spent all my free time animating my own little characters and cartoons. Because Kingston College was only down the road from me, there was no doubt I knew where I would be studying for college!
“Taking my course in animation and games design has lead me into some fantastic opportunities. Whilst still studying at college, I’ve also had the opportunity to work as a freelance animator. Last year, I animated the title sequence for a documentary titled “Extra-Ordinary Tales of Essex Road”. The director had reached out to me because she had links to one of the tutors who thought my work was exceptional enough to hire me. I’ve gained other bits of freelance work through my online portfolio which I had created in college. I also worked on a great little bumper animation advertising my client’s (a popular French model) new restaurant! My freelance opportunities have been an absolute blast and I’m very proud of what I’ve achieved!!
“My favourite part of the course was the final major project. Everyone had total creative freedom, so my twin and I teamed up together to create a fully 2D hand-animated short film. The project ended up being five and a half minutes long… we worked our butts off on it for months, but seeing the final result made it all feel worthwhile!
“My advice to anyone thinking about joining the course? Go for it! I have learned so much throughout my time at Kingston College. Although I loved animation before I started college, I've improved massively. It’s been really fun getting to do what I love every single day - and that is being creative! It beats the living daylights out of maths, science, and all of the other subjects I had to learn in Secondary school.
“Once I have completed my course, I am planning on going to University for the Creative Arts in Farnham. There, I want to further study animation, hopefully gaining useful industry links and improving my animation skills even more.
“I am so pleased to say that I’ve been able to spend the last two years studying something that makes me so happy. Although I admit that I am nervous about university, I feel that as long as I am passionate about what I’m doing, I’ll enjoy it!”
