The Filmmaker's Guide to Production Design

Learn to turn a simple screenplay into a visual masterpiece! Top production designers share their real-life experiences to explain the aesthetic, narrative, and technical aspects of the craft. Step by step, aspiring filmmakers will discover sound instruction on the tools of the trade, and established filmmakers will enjoy a new outlook on production design. They will learn, for example, the craft behind movie magic–such as how to create a design metaphor, choose a color scheme, use space, and work within all genres of film, from well-funded studio projects to ''guerilla filmmaking.'' This indispensable resource also contains a history of movie making and guidelines for digital production design. For the experienced filmmaker seeking new design ideas to the struggling newcomer stretching low-budget dollars, this book makes the processes and concepts of production design accessible.

LoBrutto (film editing and sound and production design, School of the Visual Arts, New York City) offers advice for professional, student, and amateur film makers on the various phases of film production design, consistently referring to examples from Hollywood movies. Describing the guide as being equally concerned with "why-to" as "how-to," he discusses screenplay visualization, design metaphors, research, working with the art department, pre-production, color, texture, architecture, period films, genres, budgets and schedules, studio and location work, guerilla filmmaking, and digital production design. The text might have been improved by the inclusion of more illustrations. Annotation c. Book News, Inc.,Portland, OR

Library Journal

In this outstanding book on production design, LoBrutto, an independent filmmaker and freelance film editor, goes to great lengths to cover the essentials-storyboarding, set decoration, budgeting, architecture, screenwriting, props, and wardrobe. He begins with an explanation of and introduction to design before dedicating a chapter to each particular facet of production, including one on genres with useful research techniques. LoBrutto tells readers step by step what to do and then illustrates his points by discussing scenes from different films that students can watch to understand and appreciate fully the scope of the text. Ending each chapter are practice exercises to reinforce the techniques. LoBrutto includes a list of 100 films to study, a glossary of terms, plus tools for further research. Ward Preston's What an Art Director Does: An Introduction to Motion Picture Production Design covers much of the same material but is more anecdotal; LoBrutto's book is an in-depth manual for serious filmmakers. This guide should be in every academic library where there is a strong film program, and public libraries may want to consider it as well. Highly recommended.-Rosalind Dayen, Broward Cty. South Regional Lib., Pembroke Pines, FL Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.

Learn to turn a simple screenplay into a visual masterpiece! Top production designers share their real-life experiences to explain the aesthetic, narrative, and technical aspects of the craft. Step by step, aspiring filmmakers will discover sound instruction on the tools of the trade, and established filmmakers will enjoy a new outlook on production design. They will learn, for example, the craft behind movie magic–such as how to create a design metaphor, choose a color scheme, use space, and work within all genres of film, from well-funded studio projects to'guerilla filmmaking.'This indispensable resource also contains a history of movie making and guidelines for digital production design. For the experienced filmmaker seeking new design ideas to the struggling newcomer stretching low-budget dollars, this book makes the processes and concepts of production design accessible.Allworth Press, an imprint of Skyhorse Publishing, publishes a broad range of books on the visual and performing arts, with emphasis on the business of art. Our titles cover subjects such as graphic design, theater, branding, fine art, photography, interior design, writing, acting, film, how to start careers, business and legal forms, business practices, and more. While we don't aspire to publish a New York Times bestseller or a national bestseller, we are deeply committed to quality books that help creative professionals succeed and thrive. We often publish in areas overlooked by other publishers and welcome the author whose expertise can help our audience of readers.