Enjoy this next installment of our “Behind the Scenes” series for The Storyteller! Watch this one to learn more about the design of the film from expert Jamie Follis.

The term was originally used to describe the visual design of a theater production; literally what was on the stage. With the advent of film, the expression was expanded to mean the visual design of everything that’s captured by the camera, including the actors, the sets, the lighting, the framing of the shot, props, costumes, etc. If the camera sees it, it’s part of the mise-en-scène. The physical design of a film’s mise-en-scène is brought to life by the Production Designer.

The Production Designer is the head of the Art Department and works with the Director to design and oversee the visual atmosphere of the film. This includes set building, set dressing, and props. They bring to life the world in which the story takes place. This look is catered to both the story and how the filmmaker wants to visually express that story. Think about it: a Tim Burton period piece will look vastly different from a Joe Wright period piece.

So how does one find a Production Designer? Well in the case of The Storyteller, Director Joe Crump didn’t have to look far.

Joe approached Hamilton Southeastern HS, where I work. I teach history and run a film studies program and film production company where students come together to create completely original feature length films. We met to discuss the project and Joe found out about my side career as a sculptor/artist, so my involvement grew from there. - Jamie Follis, Production Designer of The Storyteller

Check out this featurette on how Director Darren Aronofsky worked with his Production Designer, Thérèse DePrez to create the look for the Academy Award Winning Black Swan.

We met and discussed certain films that had elements we both liked. Joe had some ideas and I read the script and came up with my own as well. I am also well versed in history, art, and mythology as I teach those subjects at HSE HS. Those would come to be strong influences. We met and my ideas were received well; we ran with them in some cases, and in others I found a way to give Joe what he wanted, or we found ways to blend both what Joe wanted and what I envisioned to create something even newer and better. – Jamie Follis, Production Designer of The Storyteller

During pre-production a Production Designer’s duties include:

• Reading the script and breaking down all the visual aspects that will go into the film. These include: locations, set design, and props
• Determine with the Director if there is there a visual theme that is apparent in each location? (As noted in the above featurette: every set took on an aspect of Swan Lake)
• Determine with the Director if CGI should be used to aide in the creation of the design (will green screen be needed?)
• Create designs conveying the mood, lighting, color and indeed texture of the film. These will be distributed to the rest of the art department
  • Once created, technical designs will be generated so that any construction that needs to be completed can be planned

In deciding what the film will look like, all decisions are based on the idea that the Director and Production Designer are on the same page as to what atmosphere they’re trying to achieve. In the case of The Storyteller, that look came together from a lineage shared by both Director Joe Crump and Production Designer Jamie Follis.

The film had a lot of celtic influences which were very personal to Joe and his wife Nancy. I am also of Irish descent so there was no real communication barrier. I understood what they wanted and loved including those things where we could. Joe really wanted that magical fantasy element and I discussed the Romanticism era and its reverence for nature as being potential influences. I liked the idea of a magic that is devoid of the more fantasy elements of today’s pop culture and draws from more of the celtic druidic folk beliefs of magic and the wonder, awe, and nostalgia they held in the post-industrial era; Joe agreed whole-heartedly. – Jamie Follis, Production Designer of The Storyteller

Once production begins the Production Designer:

• Works with those in the Art Department to coordinate schedules and monitor the (art) budget
• Monitors what upcoming locations are being built and the status of those sets
• Arrive on set early to look over the location with the Director and Director of Photography – Assess the camera set-ups and go over what part of the set needs to be dressed and what props will be needed.

Did You Build It Or Did You Find It?

Shooting on a set involves much more work on the designer’s part. You are starting with a blank canvas, in most cases, and you are bringing in symbolism, imagery, color, and textures that represent the mood or character. You have much more control and ultimately a much more personal and specific look. Actual locations are often chosen because of the look they already have. You also have much less control because you can’t move a tree or paint a building (at least on this scale). The canvas is in many ways 90% done, and you can bring in some small elements to emphasize things. - Jamie Follis, Production Designer of The Storyteller

We’ve talked before about Locations and Tech Scouting. A Production Designer’s job differs whether you’re working in a Practical Location - an existing location – or creating your location on a Stage. But regardless of the type of set, the Production Designer always works with the Director of Photography so that the frame has everything it needs. In the case of The Storyteller, this led to an interesting lesson for Jamie Follis.

Our DP, Dan Clarke, has been amazing. I have learned so much from working with him. We talked very briefly before production began. But during production I worked with him a lot as the shots are being planned and set up. We talked about colors and placement of things. We also discussed wanting to fill the negative spaces to not distract the audience, but no so much that we inversely distract by being too busy or looking cluttered. I basically plan the space, place my pieces and props, and then we move them slightly to give the greatest impact. I have learned to always have a few pieces not placed, that I put up after the shot is set up. - Jamie Follis, Production Designer of The Storyteller

Most films involve some set building and some use of actual locations. But just because the location is built, doesn’t mean it can’t have a fantastical element. Check out this featurette (worked on by yours truly) that explores the amazing world created for Joe Wright’s adaptation of Anna Karenina.

The images of his work – part of an on-going project titled Looming – instantly took me to alien places of mystery and wonder. And they made me want to experiment with set design; take things a little further than I normally would have.

He favors materials he can carry easily, like spheres, smoke bombs, LEDs, and lasers. “I think stuff like technical or budget limitations forced you to think about materials,” he says. “You have to innovate with the best of what you have.”

So there you have it. Limitations can be beautiful, if you think outside the box. Already waaaaay ahead of myself, I started googling and found an 18″ clear acrylic sphere for $45, an assortment of smoke bombs for $35 and LED lights ranging from $3 to $30. I can’t wait to start creating.

All images by David Ogle and Andrew Brooks:

h/t Wired

Learn more about his projects by visiting his production company, Highway 9 Pictures.

We’ve all seen it, most of us might have had it, and everybody dreads it. The ‘White Wall Syndrome’. Here are a few thoughts on how to use inexpensive production design to make your story more dynamic.

One of the common traps that new filmmakers fall into – and I speak from experience – is something I’ve come to call White Wall Syndrome. The name references a specific challenge; the white walls that can overwhelm a frame if you’re not careful, but this is about more than that. White Wall Syndrome is my catch-all term for a lack of production design.

When I say production design, I’m talking about all the design elements you place in front of the lens: Your locations, set dressing, props, hair, make up, and of course, wardrobe. Whether your story takes place down the street or in a galaxy far far away, these elements help you establish the world of your story as real and lived-in.

Production design sells the illusion that the apartment where your hero lives really is her apartment and not just the one your friend is letting you shoot in. That the records on the shelves are what he’d listen to, or that the laser pistol she’s armed with is one she’s used for years, and not something ordered off of Amazon last week.

These elements convey details about your characters and their state of mind. It shows your audience who they are without dialogue or exposition, the same way you get a sense of someone just from seeing what their home is like.

One of the reasons why skimping on production design is such a shame, is that not only is it a powerful story-telling tool, it’s also a tool that us indie filmmakers can get a lot out of without necessarily having to spend a lot money. Provided, that is, you take the time to think about what your design should convey and what challenges it can help you conquer.

To help illustrate, I want to point out some of the choices I made in a scene from my web series The Further Adventures of Cupid and Eros.

Cupid & Eros is a comedy set in a world where gods from every pantheon co-exist and aren’t all that different from us mortals. Our main character, the Roman god of love Cupid, has been in a funk ever since his girlfriend dumped him. His best friend, the Greek god of love Eros (actually a goddess in our world), is determined to pull him out of it.

This is the second scene of the first episode and it’s the first time we see where Cupid lives. To save money, I shot the scene in the apartment I lived in at the time. Normally, it looked like this:

Because we’re still getting the audience up to speed, I wanted Cupid’s place to say a lot about him in general, as well as about where he is at this point in his life – dumped and still not over it. Check out the scene below to see how we used inexpensive production design to get the point across:

Cupid is home alone, eating dinner in front of the TV instead of being out on the town looking for new love. Rather than eating a home-cooked meal or some tasty delivery, we have him eating Spaghetti O’s straight from the can. It’s a small thing, but it’s another way to convey that his existence is kind of sad.

Working with our cinematographer, we also came up with a layout for our set that made the blocking and framing of the scene more dynamic and avoided the white walls I mentioned earlier.

First, we rearranged the furniture so that the couch was floating in the room instead of against the window as it normally was. Doing so created depth in the frame when Cupid is alone, and gave us a more interesting way for Eros to enter and interact with him. The shelves, pictures, and art on the back wall helped fill space behind them, but because they’re far enough away they aren’t distracting.

Lastly, despite the fact that our story takes place in a universe where the gods look like regular folks, we found subtle ways – the hearts on his socks, the reddish t-shirt, his bow by the TV – to reference his mythical nature.

Now, if I hadn’t done any of this, the scene may still have played OK. But if I hadn’t considered the design, I would have missed those chances to add additional layers that convey who Cupid is in our world and where he’s at emotionally when our story begins.

None of this was costly. All the furniture was mine, and we created the mess using my clothes, papers, and mail that I held onto in the weeks leading up the shoot. The pictures of Cupid and his ex were photos of our actor and his wife, that they let us borrow. In fact, the only design elements that I spent money on were a brown sofa cover and enlargements of artwork I’d created for the walls. A lot of production design bang for virtually no buck.

So when you think about your project, try and give as much thought to the production design, as you do to the shots you’re going to compose or the soundtrack you’ll add in post.

What kinds of spaces do your characters inhabit? Are they messy or neat? What books would be on their shelves? What kinds of clothes would they wear and what colors would they be partial to? How can you use the space you have available to you in ways that will keep your shots free of distractions while still feeling interesting?

You might not get as many compliments on your production design as you do on your cinematography or the performances you bring out of your actors, but trust me, your audience will have noticed.

In the film, Michael Keaton plays a washed up actor trying to get back on track by adapting, directing and starring in a Broadway play. The story is good and the acting is brilliant, but the best thing about Birdman is really the production design. Blending seamlessly with an incredibly ambitious cinematography (the whole film is – more or less – shot to look like it was done in one, one take), the production design does an outstanding job of bringing the viewer into Riggan Thompson’s (Michael Keaton) world.

The scene that best exemplifies this is a pivotal scene in which Keaton’s character rushes through Times Square in his underwear. You’ll catch a glimpse of the scene towards the end of the trailer:

What the scene does so brilliantly is showing us how fragile, yet determined, Keaton’s character is, by having him rush through a crowded Times Square in his underwear, after accidentally locking himself out of the theater. In a conversation with Yahoo! Movies, Birdman production designer Kevin Thompson explains how they managed to pull off a scene like this in one of the most crowded places in the world.

 First of all, it was shot on location.

Thompson says, “It had to be done late”. Well past midnight, at 2AM, when they shot the scene, Times Square was still very much alive with people, but less so than during the evening hwre shooting a scene with a well-known movie star would have been all but impossible.

While much of the faceless crowd is actual Times Square visitors, they managed to control – and use – the chaos by dressing the film crew as pedestrians and placing them in the crowd, along with the hired extras, in a way that gave them a bit of a barrier between Keaton and the crowd.

They used a marching band to energize the crowd.

“Having the drummers there really assisted in gathering and holding the crowd, and then also holding space along one side of them,” Thompson said. “It created an energy that helped, I think.”

The actor was on board.

Keaton’s character is the sole focus of the scene, so it was obviously important that he was 100% on board with stripping down exposing himself – physically and emotionally – in front of hundreds of people. Here’s his take on it, as explained to David Letterman: