BAU, Centro Universitario de Artes y Diseño de Barcelona

Master in AI for Cinema, Storytelling and Audiovisual Production

Module 1 – Critical Foundations of Creative AI for Film

This module establishes the theoretical and practical foundations for understanding how AI transforms cinematic language. Students develop a deep understanding of artificial imagination, new professional roles, and the transparency protocols necessary to work with AI responsibly and creatively.

• History of computational creativity. From generative art to post-cinema.
• Artificial imagination and ethical and philosophical frameworks: human-machine co-authorship and machine vision.
• Political economy of AI. Micro-work, biases and the reconfiguration of film professions.
• Transparency and provenance protocols. Metadata, notices and traceability.
• Legal and ethical framework. Intellectual property, AI Act and energy sustainability.
• AI, queer theory and impossible archives: critical perspectives on gender, sexual dissidence and algorithmic biases.

Module 2 – AI architectures for cinema. From perceptrons to world models

This module explores the mathematical and conceptual foundations of contemporary AI models relevant to audiovisual creation. Through practical experiments in ‘coding for non-coders,’ students will understand how neural networks, transformers, and diffusion models that are revolutionising the industry work.

• From perceptrons to transformers: history and evolution of AI architectures.
• Generative models. Diffusion, embeddings and latent spaces.
• Optimisation and generalisation: how machines learn.
• Computational complexity and green computing.
• Visual experiments: decision boundaries, CNN filters and attention maps.

Module 3 – Computational film analysis. Rhythm, style and narrative

This module trains students to analyse film corpora using advanced computational methods. Students learn to extract formal and narrative metrics (editing rhythm, colour palettes, character networks) and translate them into concrete creative decisions for scriptwriting, production and post-production.

• Design and governance of film corpora.
• Automatic segmentation and formal metrics: ASL, shot scales and movement.
• Story analysis: dramatic beats, arcs and character relationships.
• Audience indicators and circulation trajectories.
• Interactive dashboard and data visualisation for creative decisions.

Module 4 – Generative projects for cinema: from the idea to the project

In this intensive production module, students develop a generative project from start to finish. From AI-assisted world-building to the final project with a transparency package. Text-to-video, image-to-image, 3D-to-video workflows and professional editing tools are integrated to create any type of project: short films, music videos, documentaries, teasers or pilot scenes, among others.

• World-building and scripting assisted with creative control.
• Generative flows: text/image/3D → image/video/audio with narrative consistency.
• Production pipeline with generative AI for video and audio: inpainting, outpainting, colour grading, and sound.
• Legal risk management and energy budget.
• Professional pitch with demo and presentation deck.

Module 5 – Master’s Final Project (TFM)

The Master's Final Project integrates all learning into a research or creation project with public defence. Students can choose between developing an audiovisual piece with AI, a computational analytical study, a mixed project or an academic article, always with complete traceability and a professional transparency package.

• Autonomous project planning and management.
• Development of piece/demo or analytical study.
• Rigorous documentation: report, methodology and technical annexes.
• Transparency package: metadata, model cards and datasheets.
• Public defence before an expert panel.

Upon completion of the master's degree, students will be positioned in an audiovisual market undergoing digital transformation, occupying leadership roles at the intersection of creativity and technology:

Audiovisual creation and direction with AI

• Director of algorithmic cinema and generative narratives
• AI supervisor for production and post-production
• Creator of immersive content and hybrid formats

Research and development

• Researcher in digital humanities and computational cinema
• Cultural data and narrative analyst for platforms
• Developer of AI methodologies for creative industries

Consulting and strategy

• Consultant in digital ethics and AI governance for the audiovisual sector
• Expert in intellectual property and transparency protocols
• Digital transformation advisor for production companies and festivals

Entrepreneurship and innovation

• Founder of Media-Tech start-ups
• Innovation project leader in studios and production companies
• Director of digital creation and AI laboratories

Technical-creative profiles

• Pipeline TD specialising in generative flows
• Data wrangler and curator of film datasets
• Virtual production coordinator with AI