The Art Direction Handbook for Film & Television, 2nd Edition

Chapter 2The Responsibilities, the Relationships, and the Setup

Hierarchy of Responsibilities

First Responsibilities

An art director’s initial relationship to the production designer is as intense and short-lived as most film project relationships. Anyone who experienced summer camp as a child understands this dynamic. First encounters on a new film project are driven by the personal need to establish a sense of belonging to a special group, your department, and a political need to define one’s place in the psychological hierarchy of the film. The bond between the prime art department figureheads—the Production Designer and the Art Director—is forged by these human forces and compels the Art Director to fulfill first responsibilities.

How does ...