Character Animation Fall 2023 Class sign-up

Class sign-up takes place as follows:

Tuesday May 16, 2023:

A handful of Fall 2023 Character Animation classes began enrolling via Self-Service on Tuesday May 16, 2023.

Early August 2023:

Character Animation students will be preloaded into their required métier classes.

August 2023:
  • Monday August 7, 2023 at 10:00AM Pacific Time: Returning BFA2, BFA3 and BFA4 students will sign up for Character Animation elective / optional courses, such as Character Design, Visual Development, Advanced Story, Screenwriting for Animators, Cinematography, Life Drawing for Animation, CG Character Modeling, and more. The Character Animation program will provide details and instructions.
  • Tuesday August 8, 2023 at 10:00AM Pacific Time: Incoming BFA1 students sign up for Critical Studies courses, Character Animation BFA1 elective / optional courses, and any other courses of interest. The Registrar will provide details and instructions.
September 2023:
  • Thursday September 7, 2023: Course Advising Day. This is an opportunity to obtain approvals to register for any courses listed in Self-Service as faculty consent, or any courses that can't be added during online signup.
  • September 11 - 22, 2023: Add/Drop period.

Semester dates

Fall 2023 Semester: September 11 - December 17, 2023
Winter Session 2024: January 8 - January 19, 2024
Spring Semester 2024: January 22 - May 10, 2024

All semesters are on campus at CalArts, in person, including Winter Session.

Character Animation Program Policies – Enrollment & Required Classes

Auditing in Character Animation classes is not permitted.

Character Animation classes enroll exclusively via Self-Service. Character Animation classes don't enroll by permission of instructor.

Requests to be enrolled in specific Character Animation classes and/or sections are not permitted.

Changes to Character Animation required classes and/or sections are not permitted, with the exception of Film Workshop. 

  • If a student has an exceptional need to change Film Workshop sections, they must find a student to swap with, agree to it together, and meet with the program director to discuss the rationale. Swaps aren't automatically approved. This process can only take place during the Fall Semester Add / Drop period in September. For Fall 2023, the Add / Drop period is September 11 - 22, 2023. After that point, no changes to Film Workshop enrollment are permitted for the remainder of the academic year.

2023-24 Reviews

BFA4's: Graduation Reviews take place in November and December, 2023.

BFA2's: Mid-Residence Reviews take place the week of May 6 – 10, 2024.

Mid-Residence and Graduation Reviews are required by CalArts, and can't be rescheduled. Students must be available for their review. Review notes become part of each student's permanent electronic record. Read more here.

2024 Portfolio Day

The 2024 CalArts Animation Portfolio Day is planned to be primarily in person, with some studios participating via Zoom. The structure of the event will be the same as the 2022-23 academic year. Students' portfolios will be posted on the Animation Student Portfolios website, which will be updated for 2024.

Studios will review students' work on the website, and select students for callbacks / interviews. Students will also have the opportunity to book their own student-initiated appointments with studios prior to the event (first-come, first-served). We'll discuss the process more later in the fall semester.

Please be advised of the following dates leading up to Portfolio Day:

  • Monday November 13, 2023 by 9:00AM: Deadline to commit to participating in the 2024 Portfolio Day event, along with basic information (e.g. portfolio URL, thumbnail image, social media links, etc.).
  • Monday January 8, 2024 by 9:00AM: Deadline for resume and portfolio to be completed, ready for public viewing

Portfolio Day takes place on two days, as follows:

  • Tuesday February 13, 2024: Portfolio Day (studios participating in person)
  • Wednesday February 14, 2024: Portfolio Day (studios participating via Zoom)

2024 Character Animation Film Deadline

Friday April 12, 2024 by 4:00PM Pacific Time.

Read more here, including eligibility rules: https://2pop.calarts.edu/open-show/.

2024 Character Animation Open Show

Tentatively scheduled for Friday April 19 and Saturday April 20, 2024 (exact information TBD).

2024 Character Animation Producers' Show

Tentatively scheduled for Wednesday May 1, 2024 (exact information TBD).