by Robert Olson
LOCATION LIGHTING
The examples here have shown us how lighting directors can make or break a set’s mood and atmosphere. The same results can happen on location, where we have less control than on a soundstage. Production designers, however, can have some influence by helping choose the most favorable interiors and exteriors.
Art directors’ concern with the mood of lighting on location is the same as for stage work, of course, but flexibility is the key word. Both film and video lighting directors have to light the room from floor-stand mounted lighting instruments because they have no grid in a real room. Also, the light sources have to be cleverly hidden in less space than available on a stage, which calls for much ingenuity from the production designer and art director.
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Now that we have some familiarity with set and lighting methods, let’s meet two important people with whom the art director works: the producer and the director.
Part II
OUTLINE OF A JOB
Now that we have seen the role of the production designer, this part traces the progress of a design project from getting the job to evaluating the results.
We will meet the producer and the director, read the script, analyze the set needs, and learn how to do visual research. Then, based on what we know about the characters and their environments, we will make a sketch of the set and create construction drawings and a model following easy-to-understand illustrations. We will follow the set through construction, setup on the stage, and set decoration, and then we will see where we succeeded and where we can improve.
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MEET THE PRODUCER AND THE DIRECTOR
The producer and the director generate the production and the style of a film and are the two most important people with whom the production designer and the art director work. They control the way the production begins and progresses. In this chapter we will see how to collaborate with the producer and the director and some questions to ask them.
THE PRODUCER
First, the producer needs a project to produce and may hire a writer to write a synopsis, option an already-written complete script, or may just have an idea to “pitch” to a studio or company.
Second, the producer needs money with which to produce his epic. He may have his own money, borrow from a bank, or assemble a group of backers who each provide a portion of the production funds. A studio or outside business organization may also fund the film.
Along with other members of the production company, the producer needs a production designer and can find one in several different ways: word of mouth, previous knowledge of a designer’s work, contact with the production designers’ union, or by chance. If you are just starting out on your career, chances are that a major producer will not call you until you have experience and production credits. Frequently, producers are most interested in your most recent project.
Let us assume that you have worked on a couple of small productions and have worked up a stunning portfolio of real jobs and some speculative samples. After many days of not making any noise at all, the phone rings. A producer wants to talk to you about a project. Those business cards you had printed and passed out to everyone on the set during your last job have paid off.
The producer will describe the project, look at your samples and credits, and evaluate your ability to contribute to the production. Listen carefully, ask pertinent questions, and be prepared at the end of the conversation to be enthusiastic or politely negative. If you decide you want to participate, say so, and get down to business – the production schedule and your compensation. Assuming that you do not yet belong to a union or have an agent, ask how much the producer has in the budget for your services.
You may have difficulty pricing your services. As we have assumed that you have worked a couple of shows, you know how much work you put in and if you felt fairly compensated. Also, because you are eager to get more work experience and want to accumulate more credits, you may want to consider plans which will do just that but will not enhance your bank account.
Plan A: The Points Plan
After describing how exciting a project is going to be, the producer will ask for some sketches. This does not mean that you have the job. The producer may interview several people to compare their ideas. If you get the job, in exchange for your work, you will get points – a percentage of the profits after the production costs are paid. If you are willing to gamble, go ahead and participate, but get the agreement in writing. Sometimes your payment may be just more experience, photos of your work, and another line on your list of credits. This may be OK if your samples are still somewhat sparse and you’re not worrying about paying your phone bill.
Plan B: The Check Is in the Mail
The producer will claim that the production money is in the bank, and that all you have to do is design the sets, supervise construction, and oversee the setup. A check will be in the mail the day the production wraps. Because you do not know how familiar the producer is with the bank or the U.S. mail, prudently ask for a portion of your fee in advance and the rest on the day the production wraps. At least you will get some money in case the production office fails to return your calls later. Once again, decide when experience and samples are worth more to you than payment.
Plan C: The Best Plan
An experienced producer arrives at a budget figure for set construction and art direction services based on the needs of the production. You will be presented with a contract or letter of agreement spelling out what you are expected to do and when. At the time of your signature, the company will give you a check for one-third of your fee, another third at some point during production, and the last third on completion. You will be expected to adhere to the set budget, but sometimes the producer will move money from one department to another, and the art department frequently bears the brunt.
Above- and Below-the-Line Personnel
You will hear about this line – some personnel are above and some are below. Productions prepare two separate budgets: one for the creative people who generate the ideas on which the show is based, and one for the technical personnel and facilities. Individual budgets guide each department and fit into the overall production budget.
THE DIRECTOR
Visual consultant Bruce Block notes:
If the director doesn’t care, isn’t interested in the line quality or the color or tonal contrasts, it doesn’t matter what anyone comes up with. They might as well be directing a radio play.
Many directors ponder the psychological implications of their work. Art Director and Set Decorator Robert Cecchi recalls one director who had definite ideas:
When I did Plymouth, which was supposed to portray the first town built on the moon, the director sat me down and went through this whole thing about the earth being masculine and the moon was feminine. I didn’t quite know what to make of that!
Each director works with the production designer and art director in a different way. If the project is very elaborate, with many sets and locations, the director may want detailed storyboards depicting each camera setup. On a more simple production, the director may prefer to just see an overall view, and work flexibly.
The amount of help directors require varies. Some view the production designer as only the designer of sets and concentrate on the actors’ performances and interpretations of their roles. The sets are just the places in which the actors perform.
Film Direction
The film director usually works with one camera and assistant directors who handle the operation of the company on stage or location, which leaves the director time to concentrate on performances. The film director studies the script, breaks it down into elements, creates the shooting schedule, and works with the director of photography and supervising editor.
Video Direction
The video director’s job is more technically oriented than the film director’s. The control room or truck, where the director usually works, contains many video monitors and
other technical equipment. If the production takes place on a stage, the director communicates instructions to the stage manager and camera operators via radio headsets, while calling camera cuts and other instructions to the technical personnel.
Seated beside the director are one or more assistant directors, the technical crew chief, a sound mixer in a booth, and perhaps some production assistants. The producer frequently hovers in the background. Individual monitors display pictures from each camera, graphic material, satellite feeds, and film and tape images.
During a live broadcast, the video director puts the program together on the spot, unlike the film director who shoots pieces of the film and puts them together with the film editor. Video directors can also shoot in this way if the program is not live, of course, and edit later.
THE PRODUCTION DESIGNER ASKS SOME QUESTIONS
The sooner the production designer confers with the director, the better. In the case of film projects made for television, the director’s time is contracted for a limited number of days, so at the beginning of preproduction the production designer needs to ask some questions such as the following:
• How do you see the style of the show? A fast pace tells the art director that character-defining objects in the sets will be lost in favor of a general look to establish style.
• Do you want suggestions? Many directors don’t. They have a limited amount of time and have their own specific ideas. Others do not have a developed graphic sense and welcome composition and camera placement suggestions.
• What mood do you want to emphasize? Happy? Sad? The art director can glean ideas from the script, but some directors have their own approach to depicting mood. They may want to go counter to the obvious.
• Do you have a color tone preference? Color choice is subjective and it is risky to assume that everyone is going to like your color choices. The director may want the entire production in gray and blue or in warmer tones, which color filtering can accomplish, but the production designer needs to know.
• Can you live with the set budget? Production designer Larry Miller says:
Generally the budget is fairly realistic, but there’s never enough money, no matter what level you’re working on. I like to be involved in the decisions, although on one film we spent a lot of time and money on a set that was then written out of the movie and never used! The art department coordinator and the computer system lets us know a couple of days in advance if we are about to have a problem.
Because the art director has to sign off on set construction and setup, the director must know what is possible and what isn’t so that he or she does not ask for materials and time that are not accounted for. As the old saying goes: “You can have anything you want as long as you’re willing to pay for it.” Maybe the director will be willing to argue with the accounting department.
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So now we have met two more variables – the producer and director. They have signed us to design the half-hour video pilot described in the next chapter.
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HERE’S THE SCRIPT
We are going to work for a producer who is not very affluent and will try to cut corners. The script does not arrive bound in plastic leather with gold-embossed lettering. It has paper covers and is bound with three brass fasteners, the removal of which will allow placement in a loose-leaf binder. The title and author’s name are on the first page, as well as the series title, episode number, the producer’s name, and the copyright notice.
ANALYZE THE SCRIPT
Freely read the script without making notes. Allow your imagination to see pictures of the characters and their environments as well as the story’s general tone. Assuming that you have read the entire first episode script, make notes on the settings.
INTERIOR – Patty’s living room
INTERIOR – Richard’s office
INTERIOR – Mrs. Harrison’s kitchen
EXTERIOR – The town park
INTERIOR – Hotel room in Sweden
Small Towns and Flashbacks
We learn that the story locale is Erling, a small town in central Iowa, population 500. The time is the present, except for the scene in Mrs. Harrison’s kitchen – a flashback to 1938 – and the scene in the Swedish hotel room, which took place five years ago. To begin sorting out the elements relevant to our part of the production, look at the two main characters.
Patty Johanssen
The writer provides a character sketch of Patty:
Patty Johanssen, 26, is the mayor of a small town in Iowa. She is a self-reliant young woman, an orphan since she was 14, when her parents were atomized in a grain elevator explosion. Patty lives in the old family home just off Erling’s main street. She became the mayor three months ago when she decided that her withering hometown needed revitalizing. Patty ran for office and won the election, much to the chagrin of the town elders.
Now that we have some facts about the central character, ask yourself questions about her environment.
1. What does a small town in Iowa look like?
2. What does an old family home in a small town in Iowa look like?
3. What would have happened to that house in its 75-year existence that could give the audience information about its age?
4. What modernization might be visible?
5. What objects would Patty have collected that could tell the show’s audience about her occupation, taste, and general character?
Richard Hansen
The script contains this character sketch of Richard:
Twenty-nine-year old Richard left the big city of Chicago to pursue the good life (he thought) of a small-town newspaper publisher. He is a new guy in town, unrealistic about the prejudices and traditions of the old-timers who are used to having their own way and maintaining the status quo. Richard lives at the back room of the newspaper office—a small building that houses his office, printing equipment, and living quarters.
Again, here are some questions to ask:
1. What does a small-town newspaper office look like?
2. Would Richard’s office be typical, based on what we know about him?
3. What objects would be in his living quarters?
RESEARCH THE CHARACTERS AND SETTINGS
Our producer is not going to give us plane tickets and expense money to spend a week in Iowa, so we have to look elsewhere for visual information. Some art directors keep their own research collections, but have to spend a lot of time and money collecting, maintaining, and housing the material.
It is, however, impossible for most individuals to collect enough material to cover all their needs. Art directors generally have some books and photographs collected from previous projects that may come in handy again. Basic books, such as atlases, architectural standards, lettering, pictorial encyclopedias, and volumes that are of particular interest to the individual, serve the designer well.
Use Your Library Card
Most sizable public libraries maintain reference section picture files that contain photographs and drawings. Remember that an illustrator’s view of small towns in Iowa can be misleading, compared to a documentary photograph. Paintings and drawings can give valuable hints on color and composition, but do not necessarily represent the reality that should be your design’s starting point. Also, the cataloging systems used in libraries may unintentionally hide the pictures you are looking for because they are set up for word rather than picture use.
Specialized Libraries
In the early days of motion picture production this same problem cropped up, so studios assembled their own specialized visual material libraries. These collections contained research material for script writers, but also held picture material for set designers and art directors. A few major studios have retained these libraries, and others have sold their research collections to individuals who continue to provide research services for an hourly fee.
Look Out for the Toaster Experts
When looking for and using research mate
rial, be assured that someone in the viewing audience will notice an error in time placement; for sure, someone will notice the 1955 toaster in your 1949 kitchen. Use objects and decorating styles that were present before, or contemporary with the period in which your sets are supposed to exist, but never after the period, because these objects and styles would not have existed then.
Mail Order Catalogs
As indicators of objects and styles in current use during a specific period, popular mail order catalogs are very reliable. They accurately document mass taste and provide guides to common objects such as stoves, furniture, and bric-a-brac. Family photo albums provide exact recordings of everyday life as well.
Don’t Take Anyone’s Word for It
There’s no substitute for original sources, firsthand observation, and the camera. Don’t guess what something looks like. Spend time searching out reality. Then, put your own interpretation on it.
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Now that we have found out how to gather general information for further scrutiny, in the next chapter we will see how to use these materials.
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USING RESEARCH MATERIALS
This is how Colin Irwin, a production designer, starts his projects:
First I read the script to get a feeling for the story and try to find something that summarizes what the script says to me. Then I pull out research material. I keep a cutting file from Architectural Digest, Metropolitan Home, and whatever magazines that have inspirational material. For specific information, I go to reference libraries.
Now that you have a pile of research material staring you in the face, the time has come to sort it. There it is—books, photographs, clippings, fabric samples, color chips, family albums, and some catalogs. First, organize the pile so that you can find what you need for each set.