Production Design
Everything an audience sees on screen serves to tell the story. The colors of the wall in a room (“art department”); the type of furniture we see on screen (“set dressing”); the cup a character drinks their coffee from (“props”); the posters or street signs (“graphics”) all help a story.
And each of these elements comes under the umbrella of “production design.”
A production designer collaborates with the director. The director works to translate a script into shots, blocking, and performance. They create a vision for what they want the film to communicate and how they want the audience to feel - what mood or experience they should have in the world of the film and how they relate to the characters.
A production designer creates an aesthetic - a visual look - based on this vision and based on the screenplay. They work with a director to have a unified and cohesive look so the audience knows what’s happening in the story, what the characters are feeling and experiencing, and how to manifest that experience into a tangible and tactile appearance using limited resources.
Production Design Questions
- What is the thematic argument of this story? What do we want the audience to feel during the story and at the end of the story?
- What are hues and visual cues that can communicate these feelings?
- What are some other films or art pieces that make us or others feel similar to what we want to communicate?
- What resources do we have?
- Where are we in the story?
- What would realistically be in a place like this?
- What does an audience member need to see to understand “We’re here now?”
- What are some examples in the real world of places like this? What can inspire me?
- What graphics (posters, art) would adorn the walls like this?
- What furniture would whoever owns this place have or have left behind?
- What is inside and what is outside?
- How many doors and windows do we see?
- What is our character experiencing and feeling in this scene or story?
- What does this place feel like for the character(s) we follow?
- What are they trying to do in this story and what’s stopping them?
- How much power do they hold in the story
- What are they literally doing?
- What is their relationship with objects (“props”) they hold?
- What do they have to see while in a physical place?
- How do we visually clue in the audience to this character’s experience?