Production Design and Art Direction (Screencraft Series) [Paperback]

Peter Ettedgui (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0240804007 | ISBN-13: 978-0240804002 | Publication Date: February 29, 2000 | Edition: 1

In Production Design and Art Direction sixteen of the world's greatest production designers discuss their craft, revealing the creative process which led to the look of the most memorable films of our time. Contributors include Dean Tavoularis (Godfather Trilogy), Dante Ferretti (whose work with Fellini, Pasolini and Scorsese covers the span of the best of Italian cinema) and Anna Asp (Fanny and Alexander). As aesthetically appealing as any art book, Production Design and Art Direction is densely illustrated with drawings, scripts, storyboards and models, as well as stills from the films. This book is part of the Screencraft series, which includes the enormously successful Cinematography, also by Peter Ettedgui and published by Focal Press in the US.



The text is based on the words of 16 masters of the craft
Beautifully produced and lavishly illustrated with drawings, scripts, storyboards, models and stills from memorable films
Part of the Screencraft series, the first books to explore the crafts of filmmaking by tracing the entire creative process through the eyes of leading practitioners

Editorial Reviews

Review

"The first two in the Screencraft Series written by Peter Ettedgui - Cinematography and Production Design & Art Direction, are beautifully produced large-format books." - Robert Goodman, Videography July 2000

"The second in the Focal Press Screencraft Series, Production Design & Art Direction is a large-format and lavishly-illustrated book featuring interviews with 16 world-renowned art directions and production designers." - Film and Video, June 2000

About the Author

Peter entered the UK film industry in 1986, gaining experience in a number of screen crafts. Initially he worked in production, before moving into the camera department and cutting rooms on pop promos, feature films and television documentaries. He has subsequently worked as a Director's Assistant to Ken Russell, as script and music editor, and associate producer on a number of television projects before becoming a screenwriter. His feature film credits include Vigo (1998) and Onegin (1999).

Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: Focal Press; 1 edition (February 29, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0240804007
• ISBN-13: 978-0240804002
• Product Dimensions: 11 x 9 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.9 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #706,881 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

35 of 36 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars 20/20 Eyesight please: White is for Weddings and not pages!, July 7, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Production Design and Art Direction (Screencraft Series) (Paperback)

Texts on Production Design are just plain fun to read. When I received this text I looked with great anticipation at the big white space and contemporary layout on the cover. Turning that first page, and the second page, and third to see more, and more, white space, accompanied by extremely small print and small reproductions of rare conceptual drawings, storyboards, photos and architectual drawings from films designed by 16 masters of their craft, was a disappointment.

Compared to books like "Hollywood: Legend and Reality" Edited by Michael Webb, from the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service, which also had rarely seen drawings and photos, the visual layout and design lacked impact and clarity. Print within the storyboards, often important clues to how the scene was shot, is hard to read.

Ettedgui's beautiful book is an illustrated interview book, but the interviews prove anecdotal more than educational.

Compared to the Text: "Film Design", compiled by Terence St. John Marner, part of The London Film School Series, 1974, the explanation of how production design was technically done on individual films was meager.

In "By Design, Interviews with Film Production Designers", LoBrutto knows what questions to ask in interviews with 20 masters of their craft to relay meaningful information about how the film industry, as well as these designers, work. Ettedgui's work cannot compare in content to LoBrutto's.

As an independent reviewer, I review books on the filmmaking craft for what they can help you learn about the craft on your own. This is a beautiful book. If your eyesight is 20/20 or better you might not even mind the small print, but once past the intial oh-oh, ah-ah of the size, design and layout of this large text, the content rates not much more than 3 Stars.

Pamela Jean Curry, Film Director in Training at Film Studio Faux,Parody of Motion Picture Film Studio Training.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars not the best but not the worst, August 27, 2001

By 

Joshua Feibus (Gainesville, FL USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Production Design and Art Direction (Screencraft Series) (Paperback)

agreed with the below review, this book is short on a lot of things, but it's still an interesting read. i was going searching for ettedgui's cinematography book, when i found this instead and decided to pick it up. it's a quick, easy read, and there are some nice anecdotes, but there is a lot of information lacking. lots of name-dropping from designers on who they love and by the author on who helped him out. if you're a design buff, i'd recommend the book on the level of hearing from some of the master of the trade. if you're looking for information, i'd say take it elsewhere. this is the least educational book on movies i've come into reading, but i'm not complaining because it's also the easiest to read (the others were practically tech manuals).

4.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful and interesting book, February 23, 2005

By 

D. Rahmel "Dan Rahmel" (Los Angeles, CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Production Design and Art Direction (Screencraft Series) (Paperback)

In this wonderful book, the author introduces some known and not-so well known production designers and art directors. The book presents beautifully rendered photographs of many production drawings and final sets. Seeing the progress from set to screen is fascinating. This book is anecdotal rather the encyclopedic and is excellent in presentation. My favorite sections were the ones on Ken Adam and Richard Selbert.

Ken Adam designed most of the sets for the early Bond films (Goldfinger, Dr. No, Thunderball, etc.) as well as the amazing sets for Dr. Stangelove and Barry Lyndon. He has a great anecdote on how he and Kubrick came up with the war room (and a funny little aside about Ronald Reagan's request upon taking office).

Richard Sylbert is a legend himself with Production Designer credits for such classics as The Manchurian Candidate, The Graduate, Catch-22, Chinatown, Rosemary's Baby, Reds, Carlito's Way, and on and on. For Chinatown, he explains how he layered the idea of water through the various sets and even the glasswork. He also talks about he had sets mirror other sets to provide subtle associations such as between the Department of Water and Power and the morgue.

I also really enjoyed the John Beard section on how he came up with some of the designs for Terry Gilliam's Brazil. Many other production designers are featured including Henry Bumstead, Dante Ferretti, Dean Tavoularis, Stuart Craig, Patrizia von Brandenstein, Allen Starski, Dan Weil, and Nigel Phelps.

The very high quality paper and print quality gives the book a coffee-table book feel. It's a pleasure just to page through it and view the different concepts of movie production design. If you've ever worked in the Art Department on a film or plan to work in a movie art department, be sure to add this to your collection. I would highly recommend it.