Filmmaking has lots of individuals and departments involved. You have the actors, the director, DP, the camera crew, the sound engineers, and the production designers. In most cases, the production designers get less credit than they deserve.
The production designers are responsible for creating the set of the film. Without the proper set, no one cannot bring the perfect look to the film.
So let us introduce you to the work of this important department of all filmmaking.
Who is a Production designer?
The production designer is the individual responsible for handling all the arts and products used in the film. He/ she works side-by-side with the director and the DP to create the set and look they are intending.
The director, the DP, and the Production designer. These three are the trio that gives the film a unified look and feel. The production designer will follow the director’s vision and create a set that best represents the environment setting and art style of the film. The DP will try to represent the scenes in the best way possible in the sets.
That is how the trio contributes to filmmaking. From their role, you can easily understand how important a production manager is in filmmaking.
What are the duties of a Production designer?
A production manager is involved in different phases of filmmaking. He/ she is involved in pre-production, production, and sometimes in the post-production period as well.
During these phases, he/she has to solve a lot of matters regarding filmmaking. We have explained them below.
Pre-production duties
Most of the work of a production manager happens during this phase. It is the important part of their job that includes consulting with the director and producer, budgeting, and others.
Consulting with the director
The first thing a production manager will do is to discuss with the film director. He/she will read the script and get a complete walkthrough of the script from the director. During this visit, the production director will brainstorm set designs and ideas with the director.
Some critical decisions will be made here such as whether to use CGI or real-life elements. Or whether to use a green screen or visit the real location for shooting.
The production designer will try to capture the vision of the director and then plan for the next.
Consulting with the producer
After discussing all the important matters regarding set design, the production manager will then consult with the film producer about their budget. They along with the line producers will discuss the budget and try to bring it down within their costs.
Budgeting is an important part of the production manager since it is directly related to the costs of set designing.
Research and Design
After discussing the set ideas and the budgeting, the production designer will now get down to researching.
The methodology of his/ her research depends on what the visual element he/she is looking for. The designer may need to read a book, consult other film directors who have done films of the same genre, or visit a museum for more compelling materials.
The goal is to illustrate the most accurate and visually compelling design for the set.
The researching process can be hard and sometimes, easy. For example, if the director wants a 1970s New York City environment, research materials can be found very easily. But if the director wants a pre-world war 1 Europe, the production manager will have a hard time getting reliable research materials.
After researching and gathering compelling materials, the production manager will then work on designing the sets and props. He/she will draw sketches and describe the lighting and mood they will have in his department. This way everyone will understand the production manager’s vision.
The rest of the set and prop design is handed over to the art designer. He/she will start working on the sketches and make them into practical pieces.
Hire and manage the art team
Hiring and managing a team is done in the middle of the research and designing process. The production manager will manage the budgeting and the work schedule of the art team.
Production duties
The workload of the production manager during the production period is marginally less. During this period, he/she will monitor the activities in the current set and oversee the future set plans for filming.
Monitor current set activities
The production manager will make sure that every element in the set is at their pace and all equipment is working perfectly during the time of the shooting.
Also, he/she will try to resolve any issue that happens during the shooting.
Plan for the future sets
During the current shooting procedure, the production designer will also maintain work happening on the next set. He/she will be in continuous communication with the art team and maintain the work remotely.
Post-production duties
Usually, the duty of the production designer and his/her team ends with the filming. All they need to do is just wrap up everything in the studio. They cannot just leave everything in the studio.
But sometimes they stay behind because of the director’s instructions. Because they may need to reshoot some scenes for the final cut. But the main duty of a production designer ends with the conclusion of the filming procedure.
Conclusion
So those are the duties of a production designer in filmmaking. As you can see, he/she is the one responsible for bringing the director’s vision to life. He/she and the art team design and prepare the set. This sets the stage for the actors to perform and the DP to capture that performance.
So without the production designer’s effort to create the world of the director, the film is not possible. This means the production designer is an important and integrated part of filmmaking. So they deserve more credit than what they get from us.
We hope that our article has provided you with the detailed work of a Production designer on filmmaking.
