Art Direction for Film and Video Page 8
If you are using some stock flats or already-built units, indicate them on the elevation and plan drawings. Be sure they will fit your plan by taking accurate measurements before you draw them to scale.
Finishing Touches
Boldly letter the word “PLAN” below the plan view, and “ELEVATIONS” below the elevation views. Near the bottom of the sheet, letter “SCALE – 1/2" = 1’ or whatever scale you are using. Draw a heavy line around the edges of the sheet about 1” in from the borders.
At the lower right corner of the border, draw a title block about 3 inches high by 5 inches wide with lines containing basic information: production title and number, set name, producer, director, art director, shooting dates, drawing scale, drawing date, approved by, budget number, sheet number, draftsperson, and total number of sheets. Whew! Lots of information, but useful and necessary.
OFF TO THE BLUEPRINTER
Before you have the construction drawings printed, go over them with the director, the producer, and any other concerned people. Remember that many staff members have trouble interpreting construction drawings, so have the set sketch at hand to help explain. Try to avoid making major changes at this point. If you have to make alterations, be glad you did the drawings in pencil.
Blueprinting (all prints used to be blue) is the traditional, practical way to make many copies of drawings done on tracing paper. The print machine passes the tracing under lights that expose sensitized paper which is then developed by chemical fumes. Most shops can make prints with black, brown, or blue lines.
Print your first set with black lines. Then, if you have to make changes on the tracing sheet, have the second set printed in blue, and any successive sets in alternating colors. This makes it easier to distinguish changes to successive sets of prints. Call attention to changes by drawing a clear arrow with the word “CHANGE” and the date at the changed portion. If you do not want to change your original tracing sheet, the printer can produce a brown-line copy on translucent paper, from which you can chemically erase lines, draw new ones, and have new regular prints made.
Give the construction shop as many sets of prints as they request, and distribute other sets to the company staff – producer, director, production manager, crew chief, lighting director, director of photography, technical director, assistant director, prop master, and stage manager. In other words, everyone who needs to know what is going on.
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When the construction drawings are finished and printed, you can easily make a simple model of the set, using prints. The next chapter shows how to make this helpful aid.
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MODEL MAKING
Models communicate space, size, and shape to company members who are not familiar with interpreting sketches and construction drawings. Models also help the art director see the set more clearly and make changes that could be expensive once the sets are built. This chapter tells you how to make a simple set model using construction prints.
DIFFERENT TYPES OF MODELS
Models depicting theatrical and architectural structures are usually more detailed than those made for film and video work. A theatrical set model may even have a miniature built-in lighting system to show lighting changes. Architectural models usually contain more detail and show interior structure because architects are concerned with structural engineering. Film and video models commonly show mostly surfaces because those are what the camera sees, not what holds up the set.
OUR WHITE SET
We are going to see how to build a simple white model – no color – the purpose of which is to show the scale of the walls, proportions of spaces, and the location of openings. Later, you may want to make models that show color. If so, color the pieces before you put the model together.
First, for any model, determine the scale you wish to use. Our example uses construction prints that we have drawn using a ½" equals 1’ scale. If you want to use a different scale for a model not using prints, remember that you will have to make new drawings to accommodate the different scale.
MAKING THE MODEL
You will need the following materials before you are ready to make a model:
• Plan and elevation prints
• Metal T-square and triangle
• Drafting tape
• Cutting knife such as an X-acto
• Mat board, tag board, or plastic foam-based board – thick and thin
• Glue of your choice
• Pins – glass-head or pushpins
• Wood – Balsa strips and flat sheets
• Paint, colored pencils, markers (if you wish to color the model)
Start with a Sound Base
Thick foam-based board – a sandwich of two thin sheets of paper or plastic with a core of foam plastic – is rigid and light; a good base material. Use thin sheets of the same material for walls and some details. Mat board, thick paper, tag board, and thin balsa sheets are good wall materials and are easy to cut with a mat knife.
Slicing and Gluing
Cut two pieces of foam board: one plan-view size heavier piece for the model base, and one elevation-size thinner piece for the walls. Always cut away from your body and use your metal T-square or straightedge and a metal triangle. Never cut against any of your wood or plastic-edged tools! Spray glue or rubber cement the plan-view print to the piece of heavier foam board. Leave three inches of space outside the wall lines if you want to place backings outside the windows and doors. Leave room for a title and other information at the lower right corner.
Cement the elevation-view print to the lighter piece of foam board or other thin wall material you’ve chosen and cut the wall views out. With dots of glue, fasten the walls in position on the plan-view base. If you use a lot of glue, the model will be difficult to change later if necessary. If you prefer, you can tape the joints on the back of the corners.
SHOWING THE MODEL
To help model viewers visualize the size of the set, place a simple stylized scale human figure in or near the model as you did on the sketches. To enhance the model’s realism, visit a model shop that stocks scale-model furniture, wallpaper, and bric-a-brac, or make your own from balsa wood. The figure below shows the completed model with title block in the front right corner, which finishes the presentation. When exhibiting your model to those concerned, encourage them to hold the model at eye level, which will give them a better impression of available camera angles. If you must make changes, remember that you have saved the original tracings and can make changes for new prints to use for both construction drawings and a model.
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The sketches, construction drawings, and model have laid the groundwork for the finished set. In the next chapter, we will see that the art director still has a lot to do when supervising construction, stage setup, and set dressing.
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SUPERVISING CONSTRUCTION AND SETUP
When the construction drawings and model are finished and approved, the art director finds a construction shop to build the sets, supervises construction, and oversees the stage setup. Production designer Colin Irwin describes his supervision process:
If there’s an art director working under me, a lot of the supervision is his job. The set designer is only on to do the drawings. The art director deals with the everyday jobs because I am busy doing other things. Once I have approved the drawings and send them to the shop, I just pop in once in a while and look at the finishes on the walls. I want to see what the camera will see. On the first shoot day, I open the set with the set decorator and stay until the first shot is done. There’s an on-set dresser who moves furniture around and works with the prop department. Unless there’s a special reason to have an art director on the set, I don’t usually do that because there’s not the time or the money.
GETTING BIDS
If the studio selected by the producer has a construction shop, the sets may be built on the lot as part of the production agreement. If not, the art director takes the construction drawings
to several shops for bids. The lowest bid is not necessarily the best one because a shop may want the job badly enough to cut corners, to the detriment of the job. Besides price, the art director considers the quality of their work and the reliability of each shop.
The entire set may not have to be built new. Shops usually store stock flats and units used in previous productions. Major production centers have independent rental warehouses that rent used pieces such as fireplaces and door and window units. The art director compares the rental fee, transportation costs, and refinishing to the cost of new construction.
CONSTRUCTION AND SETUP SUPERVISION
During set construction, the art director or an assistant should monitor progress with an early morning stop at the construction shop and should be available by beeper, phone, or answering machine. The most carefully done construction drawings cannot include all the information that may be needed.
The production schedule allows a specified amount of stage setup time. The art director has given the head of the stage crew and carpenters sets of plans showing where the set or sets go on the stage, and monitors the setup. Do the walls fit together properly? Are details, such as moldings, chair rails, and ceiling pieces, placed and finished according to the plans? Have the scenic artists and painters followed the painting plan? Is the set decoration and furnishing appropriate to the setting?
Sometimes the production designer’s agreement does not allow supervision during the entire shooting schedule, but usually the production designer is responsible for supervision and design work for the duration of the shoot.
A typical property rental house
SET DECORATION
The set decorator, working with plans and suggestions provided by the art director, locates and rents or purchases furniture, drapery, and decorative accessories. This person also keeps a running account of costs.
Production designer Larry Miller describes his working relationship with a set decorator:
I always come up with a color concept to guide the decorator. The decorator I have used on the last four or five films is wonderful because she is able to go out on her own and if something is not so great, she has no attachment and says, “OK, let’s find something else.” This is a good quality and not so easy to find.
Major production centers have many prop (property) rental houses that rent furniture and accessories from many periods and in many styles. Most of the rental houses specialize in specific time periods or locales such as western, traditional, colonial, or contemporary.
After studying the script and conferring with the art director, the set decorator roams through property rental houses and selects objects to rent and buys other properties that cannot be rented. The set decorator is also responsible for seeing that the rented and purchased properties arrive at the production stage, and that they are arranged in the set as planned.
Rental charges average about 15 percent per week of the assigned value of each piece. Unless the production company sets up an account with the rental house, the house can require a cashier’s check to cover the assigned value of the rented pieces, and another check equal to the rental charge. When the rented props are returned in good condition, the deposit check is returned to the company. The production company must pay for damage to the house’s properties. If the production has a long run, prop houses will work out a production rental plan at less cost than weekly rentals.
THE PROP MASTER
Actors use many hand props such as beverage containers, dinnerware, books, and tools. The prop (property) master obtains and cares for these pieces. If the set contains especially valuable pieces, the prop master photographs or marks their positions and stores them in a secure place. Many prop masters own large closets on wheels that contain thousands of objects which may not be planned for but can save the day in an emergency.
The production designer creates special props, such as a telling element in a Steve Martin film:
In LA. Story, we shot in a lot of restaurants. I love menus and there’s a sequence where the maitre d’ and the chef interview Steve Martin at the bank to be sure he has the financial depth to get a reservation at their restaurant! The menu is featured in the event, so the menu was BIG and we made up the most pretentious dishes you can imagine!
KEEPING RECORDS
As the set stands from day to day, furniture and other objects must remain in the same place, unless the script requires otherwise, so that shots will match. The set decorator and property master take photographs at the end of each shooting day so that if someone moves objects, the prop master can determine their correct places the next day.
These photographs are extremely valuable if the set has been struck (dismantled) and has to be reset for more photography. Photographs also enhance the set decorator’s sample book. Standard practice is to place a rope or other barrier across the set with a sign “Hot Set” to let everyone know that the set is not to be disturbed. The set decorator also keeps copies of the property rental house’s invoices listing the objects that can be rented again for additional setups.
THE CRITIQUE
We can see that the art director’s job is not finished when the sets have been designed. The production designer and art director take a hard look at the sets when they are standing, lit, and dressed, and compares the result with the beginning concept.
Maybe the living room was too large, as the director predicted, or the nightclub wasn’t grand enough. Perhaps the backing behind a window wasn’t convincing because the haze generator didn’t work. Ah well! There’s always the next time.
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So far, we have seen the technical and the creative demands made on an art director. Now, in Part III, we will see more about what the range of an art director’s work is like when production gets underway on some typical projects.
Part III
TYPICAL SETS AND OPPORTUNITIES
A designer meets many different challenges. This part details several typical ones: location work, a talk show, a news broadcasting environment, and a commercial, with emphasis on creating innovative designs.
For the novice considering an art direction career, the last chapter offers suggestions on allied fields in which to gain applicable experience, as well as how to prepare a résumé and portfolio and where to look for a position in television or film.
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A PRODUCTION DESIGNER ON LOCATION
Leaving the convenience of the stage to work on location presents a different set of requirements for the art director, as well as for the rest of the crew. The art director and crew must carefully document the location scene, because they will have to make some of the stage work match.
Colin Irwin, art director on the film JFK, describes some work done to make a location in Dallas, Texas, match documentary film footage used in the movie:
We did a lot of adding to locations, but not much building. We rented the oval office set from Paramount. In Daly Plaza we added to and changed it to match the 8mm film footage used in the movie. We had to trim the trees back, move signs and lampposts, and bring in 10 or 12 truckloads of dirt to cover the concrete parking lot. We also put in styrofoam railroad tracks as the original metal ones were no longer there.
The distance factor is a major consideration for the producer. A location may require minutes to days of travel, and unknown and unpredictable factors can be expensive and time-consuming.
PATTY’S TOWN MOVES
A television network has funded one filmed pilot episode of the Iowa drama. Our producer hopes network programmers will be so enchanted with the result that they will order six more episodes, that the series will run for more than one season, and that it will become a syndicated product.
The producer decides to film all the interiors and the park scene on stage and to find a nearby small town that can be used, with some alterations, for exteriors. The producer and director do not feel that existing movie-lot exterior sets are convincing enough for the mood of the story.
Mari
an Lerner, who specializes in location work, has signed on as art director. She has contracted for six weeks’ work and has received a check from the company for one-third of her total fee, the other portions of which are scheduled to appear at two-week intervals. After presenting sketches, models, and construction drawings, Marian is ready to go on a location-survey trip.