Production Designer
Production designers must have responsibilities to establish the visual feel and specific aesthetic need of the project. Production designers also have to be able to guide and manage staffs in other departments such as the costume designer, hair and make-up stylists, the special effects director and the locations manager.
Salaries and duties associated with the position:
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Art Director
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Set Decorator
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Costume Designer
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Hairdresser / Make-up Artists
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Special Effects / Visual Effects Supervisor
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Matte Painter
To be a production designer...
Production designer must have a background of working in theatre and basic knowledge about the art of set design and construction, and also need to know how to conceptualize ideas and create a sense of drama through visual spectacle. They also must have expert knowledge of many art and design.
Helpful Subject Courses:
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Technology Drawing
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Colour Theory
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Architecture
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Building and Construction
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History of Design
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Interior Design
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Cameras and Lenses and Lighting
Oral Communication is very important for production designers, because good communication skills would help to be able to inspire and motive the team. Production designer should have an understanding of the production process and technology of filmmaking, a good sense of time and place which they should be able to manage their working time wisely, and they also need to be prepared and think how sets and props will interact with the cast, as well as to be familiar with lightning, special effects and roving cameras.
Teamwork is one of the most important work habits for the production designers, because since the production designers are working behind the scene, they would have to communicate with all the different directors, staffs, and even the actors. I was part of last year’s school production as an actor, so I know how important teamwork is in production team. Not only the actors and the directors are important, but the designers are very important as well because they are the ones who decide all the props, sets, costumes and backdrops.
Sources
[1] Production Designer: The UK Film Industry. Web. 16th, Oct, 2014. <http://www.craftandtech.org/production-designer/>
Production Designer: The UK Film Industry. Web. 16th, Oct, 2014. <http://www.craftandtech.org/production-designer/>
Production Designer: Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation. Web. 16th, Oct, 2014. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Production_designer>