By Design: Interviews with Film Production Designers [Paperback]

Vincent LoBrutto (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0275940314 | ISBN-13: 978-0275940317 | Publication Date: August 30, 1992

In By Design, twenty prominent feature film designers talk about their careers, their relationships with Hollywood directors, and how they formulated and executed the technical and aesthetic designs of their film projects. The interviews explore production design techniques and the total process of establishing the visual "look" of a feature film, including the design and creation of sets, finding locations, establishing the color scheme or palette of a film, and supervising the costumes, hairstyles, and makeup. The designers discuss in detail their work on many highly acclaimed and seminal works in the field, including North by Northwest, Chinatown, The Godfather, Barry Lyndon, Reds, Amadeus, Brazil, Blade Runner, and The Last Emperor. The interviewees talk about their relationships with the producer, director of photography, art director, construction crew, set decorator, property master, and costume designer, and how the team helps bring the director's vision to the screen. The interviews are presented in an order that gives the reader a historical perspective on the development of production design, from the studio era to contemporary productions. LoBrutto includes biographical background and a complete filmography of each subject, plus a glossary of terms that concern the design process. By Design investigates the visual style of films in a pragmatic and detailed manner usually overlooked by conventional film analysis, and will prove especially useful to film students and scholars, and all aspiring and experienced producers and directors.

Editorial Reviews

Review

“A treasure trove of invaluable information about the art of production design, told in the voices of those who make movie magic. An essential resource for anyone interested in production design as well as for film buffs who want to know why their favorite movies look the way they do. An outstanding achievement.”–Jean Picker Firstenberg Director of the American Film Institute

About the Author

Vincent LoBrutto is a freelance film editor and author of Selected Takes: Film Editors on Editing (Praeger, 1991).

Product Details

• Paperback: 296 pages
• Publisher: Praeger Paperback (August 30, 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0275940314
• ISBN-13: 978-0275940317
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #315,301 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars Great Content... Poor cover quality., May 22, 2010

By 

Freddo-c (Australia) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: By Design: Interviews with Film Production Designers (Paperback)

The info in this book is great. Really insightful info on many of the production designers of your favourite films.
My only negative is that the quality of the books cover is extremely poor. It's sitting in front of me now and after one read the paperback cover curls up at 45 degrees when sitting flat on the table. The corners are bent and the binding is buckled.
Buy this book for it's content but don't expect it to look nice on the shelf or last a thousand years.

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Awesome Book For Filmmakers, July 26, 2008

By 

Kent Nichols (Los Angeles, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: By Design: Interviews with Film Production Designers (Paperback)

I'm getting ready to direct my first feature and this book has been invaluable to help me think about the ins and outs of film design. Seriously huge A-list designers that worked on big movies. Fun to rethink about those films from the designers perspective.

6 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful Book, March 25, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: By Design: Interviews with Film Production Designers (Hardcover)

For those of us designing for motion picture, this is an indispensible collection of interviews with some of the modern masters of the trade.