"Treating reality in a theatrical way..."

"The production designer supervises everything that is visual: sets, locations, props, co-ordinator of costume within the settings..."-Ken Adam

We had a full class with Andy on Production Design in the movies. This was absolutely great, a very important part of cinema. What is production design? This question was harder to answer than I thought it would be, It's everything you see on screen. Nothing shown in a shot will be there merely for "kicks." Everything will have been selected, carefully chosen, manufactured down to the last detail, it's all there for a purpose. Making Production Design a vital part of a films DNA, after all it's a visual industry.The movie West Side Story won the Art Direction Oscar in 1961. I think the film is incredibly rich in terms of colour and landscape. With the costumes for the Puerto Ricans and the americans presented so perfectly. The Puerto Rican costumes are so vivid they remind me of those vibrant bags of spices. This intense, passionate colour adds so much to their dances. Its all about collaboration and how each department comes together to produce the best movie possible.
The dark, sleeker costumes of the Puerto Ricans contrast heavily with the very bright 'Beach Boys' look of the Jets. It's incredibly 50's down to the last detail. Look at the cars! The Puerto Ricans are sporting Converse too! Although they do, of course wear the black classic ones.

The New York fire escape stairs will forever be connected to this movie because everyone remembers this scene between Maria and Tony. To take this great scene from Romeo and Juliet and change the balcony with the more modern, urban stairs was a great idea. New York City is almost another character in the movie, not simply a backdrop. The movie uses the city as the land of so much promise and opportunity. Only to find that it's overpopulated and crime ridden. 
The 1948 Oscar for a film with colour went to Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger's 'Red Shoes'. Again this movie is very theatrical, glorious Technicolor epic that has really influenced generations of filmmakers, artists, and aspiring ballerinas. I would argue that it's Art direction has been a big factor in it's appeal.

After our Production Design class I got 'The Diary of Anne Frank' out of the RSAMD library. 

The film received three oscars in 1959. It won the award for best Art Direction, best cinematography and best supporting actress Shelly Winters. (who I was trying to place for the whole film, then I remembered I'd seen her in 'The Night of the Hunter' with Robert Mitchum, and my Buona sera Mrs Campbell, great movie!) Speaking of performance. Performance, performance, performance. I think Robert Mitchum in this 'The Night of the Hunter' is one of the scariest men I've ever seen on screen. I don't know why but his cool tone and hesitation creates so much suspense that I can hardly bare it. I love that feeling though so I do bare it, again and again.

Shelly Winters' Best Supporting Actress Oscar 

for 'The Diary of Anne Frank'

So back to my point! Here is a still I've selected from The Diary of Anne Frank. I had read the book when I was a lot younger and this summer I visited the annex when I was in Amsterdam. They have in their possession Shelly Winters' oscar from the film, which she dedicated to the museum. This was the first oscar I have ever seen. (Im not gonna lie I thought the face might be more detailed but exciting none the less!)  I chose this still because for me it was the cinematography and art direction at it's best. I think it's a beautiful scene between the two young lovers and the lines of sheets give you the sense of separation between them and the rest of the world. The colours (even though it's black and white) look very pure and innocent. As Anne and Peter have been in hiding for an important part of their adolescent years they are each others first love and there purity is shown so simply here through the use of Art direction.

I have already spoken about the master Ken Adam in my blog. In particular his production design in the James Bond movies. People don't always look at his other great masterpieces like 'Around The World In Eighty Days' a wonderful film for the senses. I've always thought the colour palette used here is really something. It just presents adventure, decadence, dreamlike bliss to the audience within a split second. With art direction you can say so much without need in the time it takes to talk. 

"A picture says a thousand words"

Again because of the nature of this particular movie. Colour is extremely important to show travel and the mix of cultures and adventure. The audience wants to also feel that they've been somewhere new and exciting.

"It's a wonderful world, if only you'd take the time to go around it" 

To sell the film to an audience you have to make many promises. The first promise might be the poster. This poster for 'Around The World In Eighty Days' is promising you a fun, gallivanting adventure. Come on a journey to fun new places that you might not have been to before! The actual movie will have to deliver what is being promised by the marketing design. In most films the Production Design has a big part to play in delivering the promise.

I found this still form the film 'The Apartment' I think in terms of Production Design it is a really successful way to present a dull, boring monotonous office. Just look at that! Jeez I would not want to work there!

Just look at all these angles working together to create a space that looks endless and so very daunting. Rows and rows of desks that disappear into the horizon, I really don't see the end! (thus the point I think!) Lines are good for this. A straight line is about the most boring thing your eye can see. Each is the same, shapes conjure up emotions in us that we unconsciously feel from experience. A good Production Designer will play on these emotions to unconsciously manipulate you, allowing you further into the world or characters feelings.
We spoke briefly on the film Amadeus (one of my mum's favorites!) The costumes and sets are just lovely. I think a lot of this was 'borrowed' (cough cough) and used as inspiration for Sophia Copolla's film 'Marie Antoinette'. The still I picked out just looks like a perfect little french cake or something, everything looks delicious and edible. Adding to that sense of decadence again.
We had spoken once before with Andy about scale in the movies. Lawrence of Arabia was one of his example for this. Scale and design are very closely related in films. Its the world that is being presented and therefore needs someone to come up with the look to get the scale right.
A quick re-cap on the rest of the week. We had the whole of Tuesday with Zam. His lessons are really interesting, thought provoking and he's very engaging, it's interesting because as he's teaching you can see how he would be as a director. We each wrote a treatment for our film scene and had to read each others out to the rest of the class.This was a really good exercise. It really got the brain thinking, we had to write the treatment as though we were the director and it was our film. It was funny listening to everyone reading out someone else's treatment. Almost everyone in our class has a very particular way of speaking and articulating something. Listening to Michael read Phil's passionate treatment of Lord of the rings or Luke reading Murdo's was really bizarre!-actually quite a good exercise for Richard's class when we spoke of how every human has their own vernacular and how this shows their character.

Around the World in Eighty Days Title sequence by Saul Bass

So this weeks been very invaluable to us. We had our first sound class with Cam. He's a very good teacher and actually made sound class not suicide worthy. 

"As production designer one always depends a great deal on the efficiency of the art department, and it's effectiveness as a team"

-Ken Adam