What does a production designer do during pre-production?
During the pre-production phase of filmmaking, the production designer is there right from the beginning. This is the time spent brainstorming. After reading the script, production designers meet with the director and discuss their ideas to form a mood and bring in visual themes. Production designers make decisions whether to build sets or use real locations. They also decide if the use of CGI or practical effects to add in post-production is essential to the storyline.
Once they pinpoint the logistics, the production designer has to talk through the budget with the producers. The budget is another determining factor for production design, either limiting or boosting it. From there, the production designer can begin sketching out sets and creating models. This involves a lot of research to understand the period during which a film takes place and the culture or the world of the characters. And that’s especially true whether they are based on a comic book or real life. The designers take in the inspiration the director gives them, using it to flesh out the world.
The research, the sketches, and the models are all handed to the art team hired by the production designer. The art department is the largest film department on set. And the production designer is in charge of their work schedule and budgets.
A production’s art department typically comprises:
- Costume designers
- Set designers
- Graphic artists
- Special effects teams
- Propmasters
- Set decorators
- Carpenters
- Illustrators
- Painters
- Makeup artists
- And many more jobs within jobs
The department delegates work to others, and with everyone’s help, they can move towards production.
What are the designer’s duties during production?
Once shooting begins, the production designer should be virtually everywhere — however, they cannot leave the set. There are things constantly getting prepared or wrapped up by the art department. While shooting, the production designer is on set yet constantly. They must check in with the rest of the team via the art director, their second in command. Whether by walkie or phone, they are overseeing the building of the next set.
On the working set, the production designer is there to ensure the set is to their liking. They also check that each camera setup benefits from every visual element on the set. They discuss anything that might not be working while all the elements — such as lighting, lenses, actors, wardrobe, and set decoration — are in play. Something might end up being too distracting on camera or a hazard to the actor. Or perhaps some element might even need to be added last minute. That’s why the production designer must be on set during shooting.
How does the designer assist during post-production?
In post-production, the production designer can relax a bit. They oversee the art team as they organize and store away anything necessary for reshoots or sequels, accounting for everything. They are primarily there for any input on the CGI, visual effects, or color grading. In the end, they have to make sure all visuals match what the director and the production designer chose from the very beginning.
Production designers can create a million worlds
A good production designer knows how to translate the story’s mood, character, and themes using the physical world around us. What sets them apart is their ingenuity. More often than not, there are constraints on building a world based on the physical limitations of the real world and the production budget. They have to figure out what they can do by combining their own artistic sensibilities along with the director’s vision.
Case study: The Grand Budapest Hotel
With the movie The Grand Budapest Hotel, director Wes Anderson referenced old Kodachrome postcards and the paintings of Gustav Klimt for the look of the titular hotel location. After the crew couldn’t find an old hotel to convert, they found an old shopping mall that the production designer, Adam Stockhausen, could work with.
They planned all the shots so intricately that each set was designed specifically around the shots, not the other way around. And because the movie takes place in two time periods that share the exact location, the production design showcases its power by comparing the same space with an entirely different set decoration that emphasizes the change within the story. The contrast between wealth and decline hits more arduously, and a melancholy looms within the story.
