Production Design
In 1988, I spent several days on the set of K-9 down in San Diego. Since I knew next to nothing about movie production, I focused my attention on the “below-the-line” jobs, talking with crew members when they were available. One of them was Gary Frutkoff who was working as the movie’s Assistant Art Director. We became friends and have stayed in touch ever since.
Gary has gone on to become a Production Designer and has some excellent credits including Devil in a Blue Dress (1995), Out of Sight (1998), The Limey (1999), Orange County (2002), and TV series such as “Prison Break”.
What does a production designer do? Here is how Wikipedia describes it:
Production designer is a term used in the movie and television industries to refer to the person responsible for the overall look of a filmed event such as films, TV programs, music videos or adverts. Production Designers have one of the key creative roles in the creation of motion pictures and television. Working directly with the director and producer, they must select the settings and style to visually tell the story.
From early in pre-production, the production designer collaborates with the director and director of photography to establish the visual feel and specific aesthetic needs of the project. The production designer guides key personnel in other departments such as the costume designer, the key hair and make-up stylists, the special effects director and the locations manager (among others) to establish a unified visual appearance to the film.
As a visual reference point, here is the feature reel featured on Gary’s website.