Issues For Media Designers

Introduction

Design is often overlooked but it is one of the most important parts in the production. A character's look and where they have chosen to situate themselves tells us so much about them before the actor even opens his mouth. Designers have to be innovative and creative to make the director's vision a reality and within a budget. Their work helps define a project and is after the actors the most exploited asset the film has beyond the film itself. All of this means that a designer has a lot to consider and balance when they are designing. As a result even the slightest issue in the wider film and television industry can have a significant effect on the designer's work.

For this blog I want to explore what issues in the film and TV industry effects designers. I want to look at how that changes from country to country and from Medium to medium. I will begin by looking at the design process then how it has changed and what changes in the industry effected that. I want to do this through a mixture of research blogs looking at the issues and interviews with designs working now, all over the world and on a verity of different projects.

I want my interviews with designers to shape my research blogs so I am exploring issues that are relevant to them. Some examples of the people I really want to speak to are: Stuart Craig who was the production designer on Harry Potter but he has been designing since 1967 and has worked on films like Gandhi and The English Patient. For someone whose work has spanned so many years it would be interesting to hear how he thinks the industry has changed. Also Nick Ormerod is the designer for the stage adaptation of Shakespeare in Love. I would be intrigued to know what issues and challenges he faced adapting an already established design and how he managed the film’s lovers expectations. These are both people working in the UK but I also want to speak to designers in the US and the rest of the world. Like Alexandra Byrne, who was the costume designer for many of the Marvel films. Speaking to her again about expectations and the pressures of merchandise would create an interesting insight into the commercial world of the movies as well as an American perspective on the industry. These are just a few people who I initially want to contact but as I start to work on my Blog and find that these high flyers are impossible to get hold of my plans will change.

An underlying aspect that I would also like to explore form a personal perspective is how easy is it to enter the industry. The people at the top have been doing it for years and show no sign of stopping. The same people keep winning the Oscars for design, the women who has won the most Oscars was a costume designer. And does it just keep getting harder with the reduction in public funding and Hollywood starting to loose its monopoly on film production is it the people at the bottom who are really going to suffer. So as well as designers I want to talk to agents, emerging designers and design lecturers to hear how they feel about the industry and a future they are stepping into.