Resources for art/production design?

Shawn Philip Nelson

Shawn Philip Nelson

Veteran
I've bought some of the books on Amazon, meh, they deal FAR more with on-set protocol and process then in actual techniques.

I'd love websites or books on how to work with plaster, foam, clay, etc. to make things, how to age stuff, etc.

Any resources are appreciated!!

Btw, when is DVXUser going to get a subforum dedicated just to things like art design, production design, costuming, etc? This is an area of HUGE potential improvement among the indie crowd.
 
Shawn, check out the theatre department section at the library. Lst time I was in there was a bunch of stuff about making sets and props. Might be a good place to start.

I always try to get a book from the library if I can before I buy it. Saves me money on books I don't need.
 
Li-bra-ry? What is this strange building you speak of? :-)

Lol, so bad, I haven't even stepped into one in years. I tend to just review Amazon reviews then buy whatever other people liked :-)
 
shawneous said:
Btw, when is DVXUser going to get a subforum dedicated just to things like art design, production design, costuming, etc? This is an area of HUGE potential improvement among the indie crowd.
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I floated the idea a few months ago, with a poll attached.

It didn't meet with very much enthusiasm. Which may reflect a certain indie philosophy; I don't know.

A lot of aging/dyeing/set carpentry/foam sculpting, etc is stuff that's really learn-by-doing. At least, that's how most of the people with whom I work, learned it. Most of the books I have seen on the subject tend to focus on the studio design process, which is less suited to small-budget indie work than it is to more generously-funded projects.
 
Hey Sad Max, I've been wanting to ask you this for a while. I was reading in that other thread about the "look" of indie vs H-wood films, and you made a comment about smaller budget indie's not having money for construction.

And, that made sense. But I was wondering, what in your estimation is a minimum budget where it would be feasible to bring in construction?

I ask because that's what I had been noticing over the last 5 or 6 months while comparing films that didn't seem to "have the look" with those that did. One of the biggest things that jumped out at me (and so I read that other thread with great interest, as it lined up with what I was noticing) is the art direction/set dressing/ whatever it's called was off.

I'm in the very early stages of a prepping for a feature and I want to do what I can to overcome those failings.


It's very apparent to me, that you can't use an existing home for a film home. There is a marked difference between how an average home looks on film compared with how an average home on film looks, just as an example.

In fact the scene that sparked this realization in me was when someone had an office, I think it was a church or school office, and it looked like someone's living room that they drug a desk into and filmed it against a wall with a door in it. But the walls had home wallpaper, not office wallpaper and the furniture looked like something you'd see in someone's home. I know some small offices look that way, but in a film, it looked wrong and really stuck out in a bad way, IMHO.
 
In fact you can successfully use real homes, offices, etc as locations; most commercials and a lot of tv shows/features rent private homes and various professional spaces, for the purpose. The difficulty is not so much the nature of residential or work spaces as the need to have total access and the ability to get everybody in there to do their thing on the necessary schedule (plus as often as not crews tend to destroy the location on their way in and out). Of course there's always a structural wall that everyone wants to get rid of, but you just have to shoot around that kind of thing...or cut a camera port, hang a picture over it on the way out, and hope the owners don't get curious...

So far as the minimum budget for construction, I hate to give you a weasel answer but it depends upon what you need to build. One single-faced 10'x10' wild wall to close off the end of a location space? 1/2 of a police interrogation room? The entire hangar bay of the USS Nimitz? You get the idea.

Re: the sort of thing you describe with the office set - that sounds like something that could have been addressed with the right low-tack wallpaper or painted flat to cover the wall, plus the right choice of dressing etc to sell the space in its desired role. But this isn't the kind of thing that can be effectively addressed on an as-you-go basis; your art director needs to be in the loop as soon or sooner than your DP so as to start anticipating these things with enough lead time to actually do something about them.
 
That makes sense ... and no, it's not a weasel answer. It makes sense that it really depends from film to film, but you gave me some great things to think about.

I definitely think this is something that needs to be considered on every shoot, and it is probably the one area where we small time indie's fail the most (at least I do). I need to find some people with these talents going forward, and definitely need to bring them in from day 1.

Thanks
 
Larry R said:
That makes sense ... and no, it's not a weasel answer. It makes sense that it really depends from film to film, but you gave me some great things to think about.

I definitely think this is something that needs to be considered on every shoot, and it is probably the one area where we small time indie's fail the most (at least I do). I need to find some people with these talents going forward, and definitely need to bring them in from day 1.

Thanks
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So how about a Production/Art/Set/Costume Design thread where those of us concerned about such things can start discussions, sharing resources, etc?
 
I'm just the tech guy ... can't make those decisions. But I'll pass it along and see if it has feet this time around.

I'd be curious how many around here are just interested in finding people that do this versus those that actually do it. I know I'd be interested in reading the info, but it's not an area I feel inspired to take on as an ongoing role. There are far better suited folks to the task and I'd rather pay them to do what they do best, then to botch it up myself :)
 
Yea, we just are in the middle of fest madness. Loss Fest wrapping up, Quest Fest launching, Script Fest IV viewing starting ... and we do have day jobs outside of this site :)
 
People have lives outside of DVXUser?

I heard about some old DVXUser member who claimed to have climbed the highest mountain and found that he could touch the sky above, but he was kind of eccentric and dropped dead shortly thereafter, anyway...
 
I definitely think this is an overlooked aspect of indie flicks and I'd love to learn more about it. Luckily, we have someone hanging around here who knows a thing or two about the topic.:beer:
 
this is one of the parts of filmmaking that almost every indie overlooks, and it makes a HUGE difference.
 
Li-bra-ry? What is this strange building you speak of? :-)
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DUDE. You live in Portland. Forget the library. You have POWELL's ! Pack a lunch and be sure to leave intended route with friend lest you not surface for a week . . . (Actually the little coffee shop @ SW corner's not bad).

For the unitiated, Powells is the country's largest independent bookseller with tons of used titles. See http://www.powells.com/
 
Ok, passed it on ... looks like they'll set up a sub-forum in the filmmaking section and see how much interest it garners.
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Hope this wasn't forgotten, I've been looking forward to it. Add my vote if we're counting . . .
 
If anyone has questions regarding art dept.-type pre-production, surveying, resources, standards and practices, etc with which I might be able to help out, go ahead and pm me.
 
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