Film School: The Production Designer

One of the most important
roles in any film school
education is that of the
production designer. You may
think it's an easy task, but it's
more than just what it says. In some ways it's more of a
supervisory position where
you have several people
working under you. However,
all of them contribute to the
overall look of whatever film is being made.

The production designer's
responsibility is that of
maintaining the look of a film.
By working closely with the
director and the director of
photography, they are able to keep the visual style of the film
in check over the course of the
production.

The production designer
works with other key
members of a production such
as the costume designer, to
ensure that the fashion sense
meshes with the feel of the film. Say you're making a film
set in the 1950s and for some
reason someone is wearing
clothing for the 1970s; this can
clearly be a problem as you
want to keep track of these types of issues. The same also
goes for props and furniture,
especially if it's a period piece
that's being made; you always
want everything to be from
the same time frame. You wouldn't want a film set in the
1940s to have characters using
cell phones, would you?

These types of things revolve
around the photography, the
costumes and many times, in
science fiction for example, the
special effects. Look at the film
Blade Runner for example and its resemblance to the classic
film noir style fused with a
post-apocalyptic ambiance.
Imagine how the overall look
of the film would be drastically
altered if sunny exteriors were suddenly incorporated into the
film? It would sort of throw
the whole vibe of the film off
kilter, which is why the
production designer is such a
crucial element to any film production.