Production Designer

In the film and tv worlds this title refers to the head of the art department and the one who deals with the biggest Actor on the screen: the set.

Your job starts during pre-production when you, the Director, and Director of Photography work together to create a strategy for the visual backdrop by coming up with the colors, shapes and compositions that evoke the right look and feel for each scene.

After this direction is established the Production Designer launches into research and design: What is the wall material in a speakeasy from the 1950’s? How high are doorways in a current day Australian submarine? These details are what make your set believable. Once the Production Designer has finished their research and come up with a plan for the show’s visual look, they oversee the art department as they materialize your vision.

This is no easy task—the art department is the largest department on a film set. It requires strong management skills to ensure all facets of this large department are working in line with your creative vision. It also requires the patience, flexibility, and creativity to devise new solutions when plans fall through. For example, like when you’re forced to dramatically change a set days before opening night due to script changes or prop problems.

Things like this pop up all the time but the ability of the Production Designer to remain calm and think quickly on their feet, along with an artistic eye and a willingness to work long hours, will help them invent new, better designs that can be implemented in 24 hours.