Smoke and Mirrors: A spotlight on production design
With the inaugural Australian Production Design Guild Awards this month, Joanne Whitehead speaks with a selection of Australia’s leading production designers about the state of their sector in the industry.
While we so often hear the tired ‘it’s an honour just to be nominated’, during the awards season, for Australian production designers, the ceremony itself will feel like a reward, as their achievements are finally recognised on September 21, when the Australian Production Design Guild (APDG) will hold their inaugural awards.
Though associations like APDG existed in other countries before, the Australian guild is relatively new, created in 2009 by founding members Michael Scott Mitchell, Steven Jones Evans, George Liddle, Catherine Martin, Ian Gracie, Colin Gibson and Owen Paterson. With the awards approaching, it felt appropriate to delve a little further into the often misunderstood role of a production designer.
There are many departments who create the overall feel of a film throughout the project’s life, but it’s the production designer who is there from the beginning, working closely with the director and cinematographer to create the most appropriate environments for the story, within the parameters of the production.
“Good production design is invisible to an audience,” says Jon Rohde (Paper Giants -the Birth of Cleo, Beaconsfield). As a result, “they don’t fully appreciate the decision making processes and management decisions that occur. There is a need for better understanding and recognition of the contribution production design makes to the creation of imagery, from both within the industry and outside the industry.”
George Liddle (Daybreakers, Dark City) agrees: “Although most of my industry colleagues are quite familiar with the role of a production designer, it still surprises me that there exists confusion in some people’s minds, especially the difference between production designer and art director. The term ‘production designer’ was first used by David O. Selznick to describe William Cameron Menzies who designed Gone with the Wind. Since then the term production designer refers to the person with the overall responsibility for the design of the film, the art director having a supporting role, usually dealing with logistics and running an art department.”
Ideally, says Liddle, the process would go as follows: “During the conceptual stages of a film or TV project the designer, cinematographer and director get together to set the style and visual mood of the project. The designer plays a leading role at this moment of the production, providing the visual references, in the way of concept art, 3D computer models, physical models, photographic references etc. Once the look and mood of the film is established, the designer’s job is to turn these concepts into the reality that the film or TV show needs. Assembling at this stage is a diverse group of artists, digital designers and craftspeople who will breathe life into the concepts; building sets, creating virtual sets and FX, and making props to create the environment in which the film or TV show takes place.”
Budget Restrictions
Unfortunately, often the reality on smaller budget productions is quite different. “These days, the creative process that is meant to happen at the front end of a production often ends up being compromised through issues resulting from inadequacies in budget, resources and time,” says Rohde. “Some directors aren’t necessarily good communicators and it’s difficult to pre-empt what they want unless they are prepared to have that dialogue with you. Other directors are very sure of what they want and give you visual reference or discuss coverage using the plans you provide. Some directors don’t like to be locked into decision-making about staging scenes and props in pre-production, but this becomes very difficult for the art department to provide a range of options for shooting when they are working to a tight budget.”
When budgets get tighter, it can have a direct effect on the creative process while expectations for high quality and what is to be achieved, is never lessening, says Rohdes. “We now have to work harder and smarter with less resources, and inconsistencies in remuneration. There seems to be a trend where art department budgets have become generic in order to fit a funding formula. [However], each production will vary in design requirements, dependent on period, genre, scripted action, number of locations/sets, and the overall look. Just because a designer has managed to achieve a particular look on a particular production with a minimum budget spend, doesn’t mean that can automatically be achieved on every production.”
A production designer, in most cases, for example, would prefer a set build over location – as a designer has more control and direct input. Using sets “has a direct correlation with more effective and efficient shooting,” says Liddle. “It could be beneficial if, during the financial scoping of a production, more focus could be given to production design potential. It has been proven in many other business models outside the creative industries that ‘design thinking’ at an early stage can actually save time and money.”
Education
With all the infrastructures, departments, financial components and technologies on top of the creative aspect of the role of production designer, some formal study is a must, says Liddle, to learn a deeper understanding of design and all it entails.
“The current options for education and training of production designers and art department personnel wanting to work in film and television in Australia are unsustainable for the future,” says Rohde. “On a standard live-action drama production, the art department is usually the largest department and on the same production there will be, for example, one director. A large imbalance can be identified given the training now on offer to aspiring directors, compared to the training offered to such designers. It should also be noted that for every production designer, there are other supporting art department positions and the training available to those members is relatively non-existent in the current training climate. We need the government to work together with educational and training bodies to balance the future of the industry by developing new training products to meet the needs of the art department. Designers and other art department personnel also need to update skills in line with new digital technologies being used in the industry.”
Production designers also need a strong knowledge of art and design related subjects including architecture, building and construction, history of design, interior design, plus demonstrate skill on computer aided design programs (CADS), as well as a broader filmic knowledge about cameras, lenses and lighting etc.
There are various design courses available with elements of design for screen and various media. There are courses that specialise in theatre and TV design.
Liddle believes AFTRS and NIDA courses are outstanding. “Students graduating from these schools, in my experience, are well qualified and ready to take up a position in the industry.” For more information, Art and Design Education Resource Guide offers a comprehensive overview on design courses available.
Rohde says a mentor system needs to be established to provide on the job training with real practical application and skills transfer between new and veteran practitioners. “As the head of the largest department on a film crew, production designers must have extensive experience, gained over a number of years, usually by progressing through the various art department roles: junior draughtsman, draughtsman, assistant art director, art director.”
With all these different components and aspects involved in the role of a production designer, APDG is a necessity, representing all areas of design for stage and screen. The APDG allows networking and communication for a designer to share experiences and solutions. It helps to bring different experiences and disciplines together, especially in guiding new designers, and honing skills. It has been warmly welcomed by the design community with accredited members including Catherine Martin (Moulin Rouge!, Australia) and Roger Ford (Babe, The Chronicles of Narnia).
“For too long the design community in film, TV, stage, interactive media and events have been without a voice and a place to exchange ideas,” says Liddle. “Designers, artists, craftspeople and other industry professionals now have an organisation that is raising the profile for stage and screen design, promoting professional standards, and nurturing young designers.”
Director of the APDG and storyboarder (Drift, A Few Best Men, Beneath Hill 60), Peter Sheehan says “It’s important that something like the APDG has happened now in Australia because, as is obvious in every new production, the power of digital art, 3D scanning, special effects software and social media is burgeoning. The potential powerhouse of creativity that could result from these innovations needs to have a central, non-profit pivot point or much of this potential may be lost.”
The APDG was established by its founding members and the support of AFTRS and NIDA, but says Sheehan to the guild’s surprise they’ve not found government funding in the setting up process. “It seems like funding bodies decided some time back that all the guilds or institutions that will ever exist in Australia already exist, and that funding is now to be directed at the organisations that already employ people. Everything the APDG has done to date has been done by volunteers.” The upcoming award ceremony will offer production designers some much needed recognition in an industry with a plethora of awards in other sectors.
“Production design can be an exciting and rewarding career,” says Rohde. “You are given the opportunity and privilege to work with many talented and creative professionals across various departments and types of productions. Even though the process remains the same from job to job; you get great variety in the types of productions and the different people you work with. There is always something to learn with each job. There is this great sense of achievement you get from seeing your work on screen. The collective talents of other professionals come together with your contribution, to create something that hopefully resonates with audiences and becomes part of our screen culture and history.”
Image: Underbelly: Razor, VFX by Digital Pictures
fantastic report on this part of the indusrty..glad to hear a voice! Looking forward to the recognition this department deserves. Well done APDG
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