Exercises to Develop Visualization Skills

• Read a screenplay of a film that you have not seen. Breakdown the script into lists of sets and décor. Make
notes about the color and texture. Develop a work- ing visual concept based on the story and its intent. When
you are confident you are ready to begin the design process, screen the film. How close did you come to the
film director’s concept? Do you understand the approach? If your visual concept differs, would it succeed in
maintaining the integrity of the story and characters? Does it have a directorial point of view?
• Study your personal environments. What do the architecture, furnishings, and décor communicate about time,
space, place, and the people who live there?
• Read a short story or novel. Visualize the literary work as a film. Put it down on paper in words and sketches.
• Read a novel or play that has been adapted to a film. Then, see the film. How has the cinematic process
transformed the story visually?
• Select a painting that depicts a scene before the invention of photography. How has the artist visually rendered
the scene in color, form, and environmental detail? What story does it tell? What does it reveal about the
figures depicted?
• Keep a visualization diary. Make notes on every film you see. How is the physi- cal world of the film
visualized? How does the production design define and inform the story and characters? What is the role of
cinematography in the over- all result?