a little cameo

The design of a film is mighty important.

It makes all those small details that the script doesn’t include visible, so a production designer has to determine all the right props to match the characters and the location. It all goes towards making the film believable and natural, which is probably why I never believe any of those over-styled rom-com or family dramas that have everything so neat and perfect. They are designed without everyday pe0ple clutter (like I am accustomed to) and really are just show-room floor. The devil is in the detail, so they say.  

So today we met with a production designer for the short film we’re making and did a run through of the script. This meant that we looked at each scene and the possible angles and what kind of furnishings need to be sourced to go with the character’s apartment. We love our production designer. She was a really cool, down-to-earth local who we think we’re going to get along with smashingly.

In the meeting we talked about couches and the type of couch, the colour of couch and the location of the couch for the shoot. We talked about what should go on the walls, is it art or photography, what style, where can we find a loan for those for free. We talked about what should go on the floor, what type of appliances should go in the kitchen and all sorts of other prop details. It was all fascinating.

I spent the meeting pencilling notes on the margin of my script and standing with my mouth agape I’m sure, as I took in all this new information, detail and lingo. Of course I had my little bits of input like “I think a plain red rather than a Persian style rug would look best”. Maybe they weren’t taken up, but I’m going with my fortune cookie reading from yesterday and using my imagination rather than my knowledge.