Program Overview

Foundation Studies prepares you for a successful transition to degree-level study, providing a pathway to the first year of study of a bachelor’s degree at Murdoch University.

This course is suited to you if you:

• Need an entrance qualification for Murdoch University
• Want to accelerate your university preparation after Year 11, or equivalent
• Want to change your degree stream after Year 11, or equivalent

Course Structure
For Foundation Studies you will complete eight units over two study periods, studying a combination of core and elective units. The units you will undertake will be determined by your chosen degree. All students must complete the two English units and at least one unit from each Discipline Group.

Each unit of study builds concepts from an introductory level through to university entrance level. The units are designed to develop your learning techniques as well as bridging gaps in your unit knowledge.

• English
  • Essential Australian Studies
  • Introduction to Academic Communication
• Mathematics
  • Introductory Mathematics
  • Mathematics for Science
• Science and Technology
  • Information Technology for Academic Studies
  • Computer Science
  • Physics
  • Chemistry
  • Biology
• The Arts
  • Introduction to Media
  • Media Production
• Business and Legal Studies
  • Accounting
  • Management
  • Economics

Leading to: Bachelor of Creative Media
Dive in to the professional side of design, games, apps, videos, documentary, drama, film, television and much more with a Bachelor of Creative Media at Murdoch. 

Start-ups need graphic designers to make what they’re offering the world stand out. Community and conservation groups need amazing photography to capture their stories. Hollywood blockbusters and independent films rely on outstanding sound design and visual effects to make an impact with audiences.

These are just some examples – the ways you could work in creative media across the world are limitless.

Take your Bachelor of Creative Media in a direction you’re most passionate about. You might explore games art and design processes, learn about animation, 3D modelling, concept art, and designing for mobile and virtual reality platforms.

You could also develop your skills as an image creator and learn the latest digital imaging techniques with a major in graphic design or photography. You might go behind-the-scenes and work in the world of screen production or sound.

You can also combine this course with another discipline – for example by combining it with a Bachelor of Communications. This means you’ll graduate with two qualifications and even more professional skills and experience to kick-start your career.

Major: Games Art and Design
Take your passion for video games to the next level and develop the creative thinking and production skills that you need for a career in the games industry.

In this course you’ll level up your knowledge of games art and design processes, production concepts and industry-standard tools and techniques. By creating games and mods you’ll learn about animation, 3D modelling, concept art, and designing for mobile and virtual reality platforms.

This major allows you to explore different areas of specialisation to suit your dream career path, so you’ll learn what’s involved working as a: concept artist, games designer or technical artist.

For roles in concept art, you’ll learn how to bring your ideas to life, building skills in 2D illustration and character design. For roles in games design, you’ll learn to construct virtual worlds, as well as techniques for level design and developing high-concept gameplay. In production art, you’ll learn to create characters, props and terrains, and will explore production art processes for 3D modelling, animation and texture painting. Games Art and Design student Rhianna translated their passion for gaming character creation into course assignments - hear all about their journey.

Depending on the area you choose, you can learn how game designers create games and gamified systems around systems of play, how concept artists transform ideas into visuals, or how production artists create characters, props and terrains. This allows you to gain the benefits of the fundamental concepts in digital art workflows and design, as well as the relevance and experience of working with industry best-practices.

3 reasons to study Games Art and Design at Murdoch

• Learn from academics who are international games production experts who have worked for Disney Interactive, Universal Pictures and Storm Bunny Studios.
• Have access to some of the latest technologies and facilities including a dedicated games computer lab, VR headsets, green screen studio and interactive audio suites.
• Follow in the footsteps of some of our other Murdoch graduates who have gone on to work on Furious 7, Fantastic Four, The Hobbit and more.

What you’ll learn
Build the knowledge and skills you need to meet your career or study goals. Here are some of the things you’ll learn:

• Advanced 3D character animation
• Mobile app and interaction design
• VR, platforms and publishing
• Critical games play and design
• Digital painting