The Art Direction Handbook for Film

CHAPTER 6

The Physical Scenery Process: Construction

Once hand-built and digital models are constructed, drafting is detailed and approved, and then blueprints are distributed to the construction coordinator. The design is committed to physical form from that point onward. Changes are expensive. It’s wiser to wait a day or two for a firm decision from an indecisive production designer than to rush plans into the shop and literally pay for the consequences. This isn’t necessarily a rule-of-thumb, but it is worth considering in the midst of the hundreds of trade-offs having to be weighed every day. Each situation will certainly dictate which realistic options to consider and how important timing or spending is at the moment a decision is made. ...