Master in Set Design

How to take advantage of the artistic and conceptual qualities of the scenography? What are the techniques and technologies associated with the set creation?

Many of the innovations in the international stage field of recent years have emerged from the set development. The contribution of design is key and opens a field of artistic and technical exploration focused on the production of first-line performances.

The Master’s Degree in Set Design is a professionally-oriented programme that promotes the discovery of a discipline linked to the performing and audiovisual arts in which the participants will be introduced to the design of immersive environments, addressing the set creation from a multi-faceted and contemporary perspective thanks to the complementarity of the two modules that form it. On the one hand, the Set Design Module explores the scenography from an artistic and conceptual side. On the other hand, the Set Techniques Module delves into the techniques and technologies related to the set creation. This aspect is an essential complement that allows a global and unprecedented training in the set design field.

From the designer’s perspective and with a technical and artistic approach, the master encompasses the theatre, cinematographic, advertising, musical fields and, in general, those events that require a physical support or any device for fiction. Thus, the content of the postgraduate course emphasizes the most technical, literary and poetic aspect in order to deepen and test the set supports and formats.

The master's degree explores the set arts from design in order to acquire the knowledge to direct and produce a set project for theater, film, television, advertising, opera or major events. The programme provides the students who have passed the programme with solvency with first-level internship agreements with companies, set designers and first level producers.

The main objective of the Master is to delve into set design as a design specialty linked to the performing and audiovisual arts, addressing the creation of space supports for theater, opera, circus, concerts, dance, important events, television and cinema, from an artistic and technical perspective.

• Acquire the ability to develop and direct a set project: from the interpretation of the dramatic text, cinematographic script, the opera libretto, script of a performance, to the space conceptualization.
• Know the main set plastics that make it possible to transfer the script to the space, by the hands of contemporary art scene professionals.
• Explore the implementation of this knowledge both in the field of set design for live performances and in the recorded performances.  
• This module corresponds to the current Set Design Postgraduate programme of ELISAVA- IDEC.
• Assimilate the technical functioning of different kinds of set spaces in order to know the features and potential of the spaces where the sets are inserted.
• Delve into techniques and technologies related to set design, with special attention in the differences between live formats and the recorded ones.  
• Know the building, assembly and set production guidelines that influence on the set design.

• Ability to apply the knowledge acquired and solve problems in multidisciplinary contexts related to the arts of live performances and audiovisual set projects.
• Acquisition and improvement of techniques related to different disciplines for both live and audiovisual performances.
• Mastery of work phases and professional planning of set design projects, both for direct and registered ones.
• Acquisition of representation and staging techniques.
• Approach to the different disciplines that take part in the staging, that is, set design, props, costumes, makeup, lighting, special effects...
• Mastery of the formalization of the previous projects necessary to design a set (direct and audiovisual)
• Approach to the different departments that take part in the work of a staging, and the relationship established between them.
• Use of the necessary resources and codes to communicate with the different agents involved in the process of set design and production (clients and related departments).