Production Designer Case Study - Wolf Hall
A production designer is responsible for the overall look, design, feel and atmosphere of the production. They start early on in the making of the production, usually the first person to come in after the director. They do a lot of scouting at the start of a production if they are filming on location. A more theatrical term is 'set designer' but production designer is much more generalised and fits what the job entails perfectly.
Many discussions happen between the director and the production designer to decide whether locations will be used or if sets will be built. A production designer doesn't have authority over a lot of people but they would obviously work closely with a multitude of personnel : Costume designers to agree on how the costumes will match the sets, lighting would be discussed with the DOP and these conversations would help to achieve a common aim and vision. Who they work with depends on the production. The script writer on Wolf Hall, for example, worked closely with the director but not at all with the production designer. If the writer is local, then they can discuss what their vision was for certain scenes.
On Wolf Hall, the director was a documentary filmmaker, so he wanted to film on location to be as historically accurate as possible. Most of the locations are tourist hotspots now so they decided to match the areas with more accessible locations. Nearly all of Wolf Hall was filmed on location, but sets were built on location to save moving around. A lot of challenges were faced, one of which was that a lot of the properties were owned by the National Trust, which meant that the public were allowed to pass through. Also, some of the buildings were older than the era Wolf Hall is set, so they were still being maintained. Some things in the houses needed building over of covering because they couldn't be moved or they were too fragile.
Wolf Hall's production designer, Pat Campbell, attended Glasgow Arts School, and then got a job straight out of there at the BBC. She started off draughting sets, and then became a standby art director working with the camera. She then got her own programme to design and went from there. The BBC allowed her two work her way up. Her advice is to look into the different areas you can work inn, because design entails costume, make-up, set, graphics and so much more. Having an artistic background and being able to draw is a massive part of it, as well as work experience and training courses. It is a difficult job to get into so volunteering is a plus that sets you aside for the rest of the crowd.
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