Faking Reality

Faking Reality by Tanisha Coffey

Movies and television are all about “make believe.” We all know that. But when it comes to faking reality, nobody fakes reality better than the Art Department on a film, TV show or video shoot! Without them, the Director and DP couldn’t capture the most realistic scene on camera. They are the masters of making others believe what they see is realundefinedbe it through full re-creations or providing just enough visual hints to coax your imagination to “fill in” the rest. That is why production design, art direction and set decoration is such an integral part of the film / TV / video making process.        

So, how do they do it?

Well, according to veteran Set Decorator Phoebe Brown who currently works on the hit Lifetime dramedy Drop Dead Diva, it’s a highly coordinated effort. “Diva actually has a full on lot out in Peachtree City. So, it’s a Hollywood style lot. They have two lots; one that has four sets then another one that’s sort of a big hangar warehouse…and there’s, I think, four stages in there too and they shoot on location. So, it’s a lot of sets,” Brown laughs. “We have an Art Director, a Junior Art Director, a Prop Master, a Set Designer and then like a five-person set decorating crew…Wherever they’re shooting, we’re usually ahead on the next set. The permanent sets get reset and then normally there’s one or two special sets that get completely rotated out.”

Now, that’s how it’s done on a major production like Diva that knows it will be in one place for a while. But Brown quickly notes that that’s not the way that it’s done for all major productions. “A lot of features that come to town are mostly shooting on locations because of the time it takes to build out sets.”

The question is: What about on a smaller shoot like a short film or a low-budget feature? Is building out sets or finding locations smarter?

“For the indie filmmaker,” Brown warns, “it’s easier to go to a location. The expense of building out [say] a coffee shop to look like a coffee shot is not in your budget.”

Brown says that regardless of whether you’re on a location or a makeshift set, driving home the realistic feel of the environment is key, especially when you must reuse a set / location as a new locale.

“The thing is to make sure you change as many details as you can. Change all the rugs. Change all the curtains. [If it’s a bedroom] change all the bedding.  Change whatever furniture you can possibly change. If you can paint the walls, do it. If you can’t do that, beg or borrow and bring in a nice big piece of artwork…Artwork will totally change a space. Reconfigure where everything is. I mean, if you hang a curtain up on a blank wall and that curtain is shot, that’s a window. No knows that that’s not a window.”

In the end, Brown says that the key to faking reality like a pro, whether on a big budget feature or a micro budget short, is to put production design near the top of your production to-do list.

“Bring someone on to do the production design from the minute you start doing the preproduction work. The art department is a really important part of your crew. Having someone do props, having someone doing set dressing, having someone really craft the look of your film should be right up there with your camera man.”