Design for Arts and Entertainment

Certificate

Prepare for a career in scenography and learn to design for motion pictures, live entertainment, and cultural events. This certificate program will help you develop the skills needed to make set, prop, and costume design proposals. Upon successful completion, we will direct you to paid apprenticeships in Toronto’s vibrant entertainment sector through a policy of ongoing mentorship, including any additional professional development you may need.

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Industry and Careers

DGC film job titles include*:

1st Assistant Art Director (Set Designer) (additional training required)
2nd Assistant Art Director
Actual IATSE ADC 659 job titles include:
Art Department Coordinator (A tactical/management position. They work closely with the Art Director.)
Art Department Trainee (the Des A & E courses all contain portfolio outcomes to meet its requirements), leading up the ladder through union mentorship.
Art Director under Production Designer, or Art Director, Head of Department.
Costume Designer (additional training required)
Lighting Designer (additional training required)
Production Designer
Scenographer
Set Designer
Sound Designer (additional training required)

IATSE 873 and NABET M-700 UNIFOR job titles include*:

Costumer (additional training may be required)
Prop Maker (additional training may be required)
Set Dresser

Other areas of practice:

Art Exhibition Curator
Directorial Photographer
Event Planner
Fashion Show Director
Installation Artist (https://www.thecollector.com/what-is-installation-art/)
Stop Motion Animators (building sets)
Trade Show Marketing
Window Dresser/Visual Merchandising

*Note: Completion of the Certificate in Design for Arts and Entertainment does not guarantee the following job titles. This certificate will give you the skills leading to the apprenticeship applications in entertainment industry unions such as Directors Guild Canada (DGC) Art Department Caucus, National Association of Broadcast Employees and Technicians (NABET) Local 700-M of UNI [Fr. Unité; Eng. For], and The International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, Moving Picture Technicians, Artists and Allied Crafts of the United States, Its Territories and Canada (IATSE) ADC 659.

Who Should Take This Certificate?

Individuals wishing to pursue any form of stage design in: "page-to-stage" (live entertainment) or "script to screen" (motion pictures).
Professionals already working in another area of live entertainment or motion pictures wishing to deepen their collaborative skills with designers.
Artists and architects seeking a lateral career change, widening career opportunities, or simply enhancing their current practice.

What Will You Learn?

After completing this certificate, you will be able to:

Analyze scripts for the purpose of creating design proposals from sets and properties to costumes.
Apply principles of colour theory, painting, illustration, and sculpting
Utlize knowledge of theory and history of scenography
Apply mental rotation, spatiality, and spatial representation, including technical drawing for entertainment as well as thinking in scale and making scale models ("maquettes" as well as camera models)
Use SketchUp Pro software
Apply project management skills, including crewing, budgeting, and workflows
Utilize knowledge of scenery shifting and work safety
Follow sustainable practices
Design and/or perform art department roles in undergraduate 4th-year thesis films
Complete real space and virtual work-seeking portfolios