Art Direction

Production Design and Production Designers

Realism to stylization
Realism: In film history, cinematic realism refers to the credibility of
a film to the believability of its characters and events.

Stylization: This refers to the artificial exaggeration or elimination of details in order to deliberately create
an effect - in other words, to make (or interpret) a person, a face, a tree, a figure, or something as
'grotesque,' 'disturbing,' or 'over-bright' as opposed to realistic or naturalistic.

*Italian neorealism (Italian: Neorealismo), also known as the Golden Age, is a national film movement characterized by
stories set amongst the poor and the working class, filmed on location, frequently using non-professional actors.
Genres in Film
• Adventure
• War
• Western
• Horror
• Mystery
• Thriller
• Romance
• Fantasy
• Sci-Fi
• Animation
• period films
 William Cameron Menzies
• July 29, 1896 – March 5, 1957
• pioneered the use of color in film for dramatic effect.
• earned acclaim for his work in Silent films.
• Production designer for Gone with the wind
• Larger than life quality
• Use of backdrop paintings
Adam Stockhausen
• Production designer for the grand Budapest
• The ways of his research
• Setting up two eras
• Academy award winner for this film
• Isle of dogs, moonrise kingdom etc
Kave Quinn
• Production designer for trainspotting
• Brutal imagery of reality
• Surreal scenes
• Heightening colors and boldness of objects
• Stylish contemporary production design
Catherine Martin
• Production designer of the great Gatsby
• Excessive sets
• 14 weeks to make the Gatsby house
• Inspiration came from Disney world in 20th century
• Won 2 academy awards (Great Gatsby, Moulin rouge)
Brief: Presentation #1
• Choose a production designer
• Choose their best works
• Present all its technical elements: genre, mood, theme, character looks, colors, etc
• why you chose them.
• Present in the form of a moodboard.