Why is Production Design an Equally Important Element in Your Video?
Here’s a job title that often gets the least amount of credit in a video/film, the production designer.
We know a director orchestrates performances and provides an overall creative vision, a writer visualizes a story on the page during pre-production, a producer devises a detailed plan for a smooth production, and the list goes on. Like a team sport, everybody plays a vital role in working towards a common goal.
So just what is it that a production designer does? Why do we need to put so much emphasis on production design when a video is all about cameras, lighting, and performance? Does laying random ornaments in the background of your frame count as production design?
In this article, we are diving into the significance of production design— what is it? Is it necessary? Why should it be as important as the other elements in a production?
What is Production Design?
As viewers of the moving image, we tend to only focus on what is plain to see. But for some of the best films and commercials, look a little deeper in the background and you might notice some of the intended motifs, hidden details, and creative decisions that help to enhance the viewing experience and inject more depth into a story and its characters.
An article from the Nashville Film Institute (NFI) states, “The design of a production ultimately brings the story to life and encourages the audience to engage and interact with it. The details that make up the background of the story also contribute heavily to its overall emotional tone.”
K.K. Barrett (production designer for ‘Her’) uses blood-red orange colour tones to evoke the main character’s temperaments in a retro-futuristic world
So, production design is not just about putting a potted plant in the background to make it look ‘less empty’, it is a craft of its own where creative intent takes center stage.
Take this scenario, for instance: you have a character who is feeling dejected and alone after a failed job interview, he is in his room, curled up in bed. He is a disorganized individual who suffers from germaphobia. Oh, and he also happens to be an avid fan of Rock music.
Now, how would you go about visualizing the scene from a production designer’s perspective? It certainly isn’t just slapping a few Rock band posters on the wall, that’s for sure. This is ultimately a thinking role that, through rounds of creative discussions with the crew, would spark an endless tide of ideas that helps to get everyone invested in the story that you are going to tell.
Speaking of gorgeous production design with strong themes, check out this recent Super Bowl commercial directed by Edgar Wright and starring the always captivating Zendaya.
Notice how the thematic production design of the commercial complements the quirky writing style? Everything simply blends and works beautifully together like a well-greased machine.
Art Direction vs Production Design
A common misconception people have about production design is its relation to art direction.
While an ‘Art Director’ is a role in its own right, they usually work closely with a Production Designer on a film set— often working under the PD to oversee more specific aspects of a production’s visual concept. But in a video production setting, an Art Director typically works with a director to craft the visual aesthetics and mood of a set, taking on a more hybrid role.
Creativity Knows No Limits
Here’s another lovely piece of work that shows how inventive production design could add tremendous value to a project. “寒假作业” or directly translated as, “Winter Holiday Assignment”, follows a young boy in China as he races against time and struggles to ace his Winter Holiday assignment: to perfect and make the best Tang Yuan (a Chinese dessert of sweet glutinous rice balls that is commonly enjoyed during the Winter Solstice Festival).
This gorgeous 4-minute short film is shot on none other than a trusty iPhone 13 Pro Max and features plenty of thoughtful production concepts and leitmotifs (through shapes) that give viewers plenty to feast on and take away from start to finish.
A true work of art transcends more than just the best technical equipment on the market. With “寒假作业”, even a little project that is shot on a smartphone can be treated with the same amount of artistic consideration and treatment to produce wondrous results.
Puma Cali
Puma California, or Puma Cali, is a collection of women’s athletic shoes with a timeless yet retro design from sportswear giant, Puma. We’ve had the pleasure of producing a street-style promotional video for these classic shoes as they make a return to the market.
To evoke a groovy hip-hop quality befitting sunny California and to bring out a sense of youthful exuberance of the shoes’ target audience, we’ve arranged some light production design elements to try and achieve a bohemian-esque aesthetic.
Here’s how it turned out:
Moncler x Fragment
Here’s another project that allowed us to experiment a little in the production design arena. The brief was clear, an editorial video with an edgy, underground feel. Filming in a shipping container (where a logistics company only granted 5 minutes for us to shoot), playing with evocative lights, and scouring locations with the right tenor proved to be quite a challenge but here’s how it all turned out:
Before We Sign Off...
Production Design, like other aspects of video production or filmmaking, plays a part in creating the world, theme, and mood that your story needs. So, the next time you work on a video, think of the project beyond its camera angles and lighting style.
Think deeper. Think smarter.