Production Designer Profile: Dennis Gassner

KYLE KEMP

Who is Dennis Gassner?

Dennis Gassner is a Canadian born, Oscar-winning production designer, His career spans over 25 years so far and started in the art department of Francis Ford Coppolas Apocalypse Now. and is well know for his work on a variety of different films including The Truman Show (1998), Big Fish (2003) and Skyfall (2012). He has worked on both Quantum of Solace and Skyfall and in particular won an Art Directors Guild Award for Excellence in Production Design for a Contemporary Film for the latter.

Gassners work and methods.

What I really find Inspiring about Gassners work, especially on Skyfall, was how he experiment with the enviroments he was constructing and refining but still keeping to the overall emotion of the film and its protagonist. A quotation from an interview of Gassner on MI6, a website dedicated to all information on James Bond, is especially interesting saying Throughout the process of "Skyfall", I considered Bond's emotional journey and how each environment affects him and vice versa. This inspires me to focus upon the emotional impact and effects I wish to achieve within my future work, while still experimenting with the creative flair of the scene and concept.

Skyfall Production Video Blog