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BA (Hons)

TV and Film Set Design

Bring ideas to life using industry-standard methods of physical and digital model making, draughting and visualising for a wide range of genres. Also, students will understand the collaborative process of working within a production team by art directing short films. All of this and work experience will make you art department ready!

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Key Course Details

  • UCAS Code

    W461

  • Start Date

    September

  • Location

    Cardiff

  • Campus Code

    B

Fees

  • Home students

    £9,535*

  • International students

    £15,850*

  • Full-time fees are per year. Part-time fees are per 20 credits.

Immerse yourself in the exciting world of film and television production design by learning design processes, art directing short films and preparing to step into film and tv art departments.

Designed for

Combine your passion for art and design and love of film and TV into an exciting career. Follow in the footsteps of our graduates with credits on feature films and TV dramas. Chicken Run – Dawn of the Nuggett, Saltburn, Outlaws and Sex Education. If you’d like to follow in their footsteps then this course is for you.

Career paths

  • Art department assistant 
  • Junior Draughtsperson 
  • Assistant art director 
  • Art director  
  • Production designer 
  • Set decorator  
  • Buyer 
  • Standby props  

Skills taught

  • Pre-production design processes 
  • Concept visualising and storyboarding 
  • Scale model making 
  • Construction drawing 
  • Software and technical skills 
  • Set etiquette  

Student working on constructing a set

Course Highlights

Step into your dream job

Our graduates work across a wide range of roles within Art Departments or set decoration, props, standby props and petty cash buyers.

Graduate Success

We are proud to see our graduates in a wide range of productions, from Deadpool and Wolverine, to The Witcher, Paddington 3 and Eastenders.

Embedded Work Experience

Our students learn how to compile and understand how and who to approach. Recent opportunities have included Chicken Run Dawn of the Nugget, His Dark Materials, Doctor Who, Wicked and The Crown.

Outstanding facilities

Our students use a wide range of industry facing facilities. The design studios are prepared for model making and inventive design challenges, along with prop making large or small and 3D printers and laser cutters bring our creative projects to life. Students also learn how to operate the multi camera TV studio.

Industry connections

The course has been developed in line with industry needs. Masterclass events, visits to studios and engaging with a wide range of production designers, art directors and graduates ensures we continue this ethos.

Module Overview

Prepare yourself for the cut and thrust of working in a film or TV art department. All modules underpin the wide-ranging practical and theoretical knowledge needed to work within this exciting industry. Designing for a wide range of genres and practical art directing on short films will build your confidence and understanding of the complexities of production design, ensuring you’re industry ready.

Year One
Visual Studies TV and Film Design 
Practical Skills for Art Departments 
Modelling and Draughting for Art Departments 
TV and Film Set Design Projects 1 
Histories and Contexts in TV and Film Set Design 

Year Two
Production Design for Period Drama 
Production Design for Contemporary Television Drama 
Production Design for Feature Film 
Professional Practice TV and Film Design 
Critical Analysis for Production Design 

Year Three
TV and Film Set Design Minor Project 
TV and Film Set Design Major Project 
TV and Film Set Design Dissertation 

Immersive practical sessions teach you how to visualise concepts, create storyboards, produce technical drawings manually and using AutoCAD and make white card models. You’ll get to grips with scenic construction materials and processes and support second year short film projects.

Visual Studies TV and Film Design 
Explore core skills and design processes for producing mood boards, concept visuals and storyboarding for film and TV. Get to grips with Photoshop and Vray software.  
  
Practical Skills for Art Departments
Understand the materials and techniques used in scenic construction for film and TV through practical workshop instruction and making props for short films. 
  
Modelling and Draughting for Art Departments
Learn how to survey a location, understand scale and produce construction drawings manually and digitally. Create white card models and use Sketchup.  

TV and Film Set Design Projects 1 
Design for a series of multi-camera light entertainment briefs, understanding what it takes to design from a brief for a specific studio.  
  
Histories and Contexts in TV and Film Set Design 
Explore historical, theoretical, and artistic contexts for film and tv production design, enhancing your research, writing, and presentation skills.  

Apply your design skills across a range of drama design project modules where you will design for period drama, science fiction and fantasy. You will also gain practical art directing experience, working on short films with third year students on BA Film.

Alongside your dissertation you’ll use your skills to create ambitious and original design schemes aligned with current industry practices, designing for a feature film and a large non drama production. Showcase your work at the end-of-year Degree Show - your launchpad into the industry.

TV and Film Set Design Minor Project 
Design for a non-drama brief, typically a high-end TV light entertainment production, ensuring a connection with current TV trends and popular culture. 
 
TV and Film Set Design Major Project 
Produce the production design for a feature film. Create a detailed design scheme which reflects current industry practice for a large budget feature.  

TV and Film Set Design Dissertation 
Delve into your chosen specialist area, carry out thorough research and demonstrate deep knowledge and original thinking through a piece of extended writing.  

Course Highlights

How you'll learn

The design studios will be a base for imersing yourself in the design process through hands-on projects across various genres. Practical coursework is key to assessment, and you'll benefit from specialist demonstrations on a wide range of appropriate software including digital modelling and rendering. Interactive lectures and seminars will build contextual knowledge, assessed through written work and presentations. Collaborative projects with film students to produce short films mirror industry standards. A Graduate Showcase is your third-year highlight, showcasing your industry-ready portfolio. 

Teaching staff

You’ll be taught by a wide range of experienced staff, all with a great knowledge, experience and love of production design, many who currently work within industry. 
 
Masterclass events, and opportunities to meet current production designers and art directors are all integrated within the teaching and enhance the links with industry at every opportunity through the whole three years.  

Placements and work experience

Work experience opportunities are supported in the Professional Practice module of the second year. This module illustrates how to develop CVs, who to approach within an art department and what to expect. These placements are wonderful opportunities to understand how professional art departments work, understand the range of roles and fully experience the exciting working days within them. Many opportunities for work experience come directly to the course but understanding how and who to apply to is a very important process, which also supports your step into industry when you graduate. Many students are successful in a range of placements, and they provide a great resource for future employment.  

Facilities

You’ll mainly work in our design studios, which are a perfect resource for design projects and an array of other activities. You’ll also use our TV studios for filming,  and the fabrication workshop with 3D printers for more practical or challenging elements of model making or props and scenery. All of the facilities are supported by technical demonstrators or staff.  Based at the Cardiff campus, you'll be in the heart of a vibrant city with many production companies within walking distance and the opportunity to spot many productions being filmed. 

Careers and Employability

Graduate careers

This course is the first step toward entering film and TV art departments, first roles are generally as art department assistants, then with more experience becoming an assistant art director, art director and eventually a production designer. You might also thrive in practical roles like standby props, set decorator, or production buyer. Located in South Wales’ vibrant screen industry, many of our graduates start their careers here, while others find opportunities in London. Recent graduates have landed roles in productions like The Witcher, Deadpool, Young Sherlock, and Paddington 3. 

Industry partners

We work closely with Screen Alliance Wales, creating an amazing resource to enable work experience, placements and a platform to engage with industry. The partnership connects you to a network of production companies and studios like Bad Wolf, offering placements, studio visits and job opportunities. Our impressive alumni work across many roles within art departments as production designers, art directors, set decorators, production buyers, and stand by props. BA (Hons) TV and Film Set Design is an educational sponsor of British Film Designers Guild, giving you access to an exciting network and opportunities. 

Careers support

Our highly experienced team are part of an impressive network of designers and art directors; many are active in industry. They’ll help you understand the exciting and extensive opportunities with art departments, supporting you to find career paths to match your goals. Every student leaves the course with knowledge on how to develop a good CV, who to approach and a portfolio full of versatile design projects and potential. You’ll engage with a wide range of potential employers through masterclass events, work experience and studio visits, providing you with knowledge and support to step into industry with confidence.  

ENTRY REQUIREMENTS

UCAS Points: 96 (or above)

Typical qualification requirements:

  • A Level: CCC to include a relevant art and design subject.
  • BTEC: BTEC Extended Diploma Merit Merit Merit in a relevant subject
  • Welsh Baccalaureate Advanced Skills Challenge Certificate: CC in the Skills Challenge Certificate and CC at A Level with a relevant art and design subject
  • Access to HE: Pass the Access to HE Diploma with a minimum of 96 UCAS tariff points.

Additional requirements include:

The University normally requires a minimum 5 GCSEs including Mathematics/Numeracy and English at Grade C or Grade 4 or above, or their equivalent, but consideration is given to individual circumstances.

International applications welcomed:

We welcome international applications with equivalent qualifications of our entry requirements. For more details related to your country of residence, please view our dedicated country pages.

English language requirements

International applicants will need to have achieved an overall of IELTS 6.0 with a minimum of 5.5 in each component/TOEFL 72 overall and a minimum of 18 in reading, 17 in listening, 20 in speaking and 17 in writing or equivalent.

Equivalents can be located on our English Language pages.

If you have previously studied through the medium of English, IELTS might not be required, please visit our country specific page for further details. If your country is not featured, please contact us.

If you do not meet the English entry criteria, please visit our Pre-Sessional course pages.

Contextual offers

We may make you a lower offer based on a range of factors, including your background (where you live and the school or college that you attended, for example), your experiences and individual circumstances (as a care leaver, for example). This is referred to as a contextual offer, and we receive data from UCAS to support us in making these decisions.

USW prides itself on its student experience and we support our students to achieve their goals and become a successful graduate. This approach helps us to support students who have the potential to succeed and who may have faced barriers that make it more difficult to access university.

 

We're here to help

Whether you a have a question about your course, fees and funding, the application process or anything else, there are plenty of ways you can get in touch, and we'd love to talk to you. You can contact our friendly admissions team by phone, email or chat to us online.

 

Fees and Funding

UK Full-time Fee

£9,535

per year*
International Full-time Fee

£15,850

per year*

Further Information

Studying at university is one of the most significant investments you'll ever make. Whilst you’re studying, you’ll have two main financial obligations – tuition fees and living costs. There’s lots of financial help available from the University of South Wales and external funding sources, that may provide loans (which have to be paid back) and grants, scholarships and bursaries (that don't).

*Full-time fees are per year. Part-time fees are per 20 credits. Once enrolled, the fee is anticipated to remain at the same rate throughout the duration of your study on this course except as described below.

Please be aware that we may increase the maximum fee for home students on full-time undergraduate courses only where the Welsh Government increases the permitted level of inflation of fees. Fees for all students (including part-time, postgraduate and international students) may be amended in accordance with our applicable Fees and Debt Management Policy.  We will ensure that students are given clear, intelligible, unambiguous and timely information about our courses and costs in good time, ahead of the next academic year.

 

Fees and Funding Scholarships and Bursaries Cost of Living Support

Additional Costs

As a student of USW, you’ll have access to lots of free resources to support your study and learning, such as textbooks, publications, online journals, laptops, and plenty of remote-access resources. Whilst in most cases these resources are more than sufficient in supporting you with completing your course, additional costs, both obligatory and optional, may be required or requested for the likes of travel, memberships, experience days, stationery, printing, or equipment.

Cost: £150 (per year)

Cost: £150 

Cost: £300 

Cost: £100-£250

Media Loans

You can hire a range of equipment, for your assignments and practical work, for free from our Media Loans facility.

Media Loans

University Quality Assurance

At USW, we regularly review our courses in response to changing patterns of employment and skills demand to ensure we offer learning designed to reflect today’s student needs and tomorrow’s employer demands.

If during a review process course content is significantly changed, we’ll write to inform you and talk you through the changes for the coming year. But whatever the outcome, we aim to equip our students with the skillset and the mindset to succeed whatever tomorrow may bring. Your future, future-proofed.

student-25

USW Film Students Shine at RTS Cymru Awards

Students and graduates have secured five prestigious accolades at the RTS Cymru Awards, celebrating excellence in film and television. Their award-winning projects spanned drama, comedy, and factual storytelling, underscoring the university's commitment to nurturing creative talent.

Explore the Award-Winning Stories

Life at USW

Halls are a big part of your student experience and there’s accommodation at all three of our locations. If you don’t want to live near the campus, there are great transport links to keep you connected.

A student sat smiling and talking to friends off camera in Treforest Student's Union
Student Life
Exterior view of the University's Cardiff Campus.
Cardiff Campus
A double room at our Pontypridd accommodation featuring a large window.
Accommodation

How to apply

All applications for full-time undergraduate courses or foundation degrees should be made via UCAS. Take the next step: Apply through UCAS. You can apply to us directly for all part-time undergraduate courses, if you’re seeking advanced entry or you’re an international student. To apply directly, please choose the application form below for your preferred start date and mode of study (full-time or part-time.)

Advanced entry

If you already have a relevant qualification or experience related to the course you're applying for, you may be eligible to start at a later stage of the course. For example, students from partner colleges can ‘top up’ their qualifications to a degree by joining us in Year Two or Year Three of a course. This process is known as ‘advanced entry’, you can apply directly to the University for 'advanced entry' using the application forms provided above.

International admissions

International applicants can apply to us directly. If the University has an in-country team in your region, your application will be assigned to them for assistance.
 

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