From 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 Reed Business Information, Inc.
David E. Williams, The Hollywood Reporter
A unique resource that deftly reveals a vastly important yet underappreciated aspect of the filmmaking process.
John Bailey, ASC, cinematographer, The Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood, As Good as It Gets, and The Big Chill
LoBrutto lucidly unravels the sometimes elusive skein that connects the magic trinity of director, designer, and cinematographer."
Gene D. Phillips, senior professor of Film History, Loyola University, and chief writer of The Encyclopedia of Stanley Kubrick
A fascinating and instructive study.
Book Description
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.
From the Publisher
From a galaxy far, far away to a New York City apartment in a Woody Allen film, cinematic production design takes many forms. Because production design encompasses everything translating the script and the director's vision into physical environments, it is an art and craft deeply embedded in the core of filmmaking. While anyone can recognize the importance of a film's "look," many assume that this aspect of cinematic storytelling is only available to Hollywood projects with lavish budgets. That idea will soon change. Author, filmmaker, and film instructor Vincent LoBrutto makes the processes and concepts of the craft accessible to all in The Filmmaker's Guide to Production Design.
From the Author
"Filmmakers are visual storytellers," LoBrutto observes. "Production design provides possibilities that have been long ignored, misunderstood, and underutilized outside of the old and new studio systems."
About the Author
Vincent LoBrutto is an instructor of film editing, film sound, film studies, and production design at the School of the Visual Arts and at Film/Video Arts. He has worked as a film editor for Fox and HBO and as a postproduction coordinator for ABC. He is a contributing writer to Films in Review, Cinemaeditor, American Cinematographer, and Moviemaker and is the author of five other books on film sound, editing, cinematography, and independent filmmaking. He lives in New York City.
Filmmaker's Guide to Production Design SYNOPSIS
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
FROM THE CRITICS
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.
Art & Photography
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