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Watch: Art department

8 items
See all: Watch: Art department

Career ladder

From first job to head of department

Props, set decoration, graphics and construction are separate ladders with their own cards. They all answer to the production designer.

Art direction

  1. Entry grade Art department trainee Research, filing, runs, copying drawings.
  2. Step 2 Art department assistant Research packs, references, sourcing samples.Watch and read
  3. Step 3 DraughtspersonAlso: set designer; junior first Technical drawings construction can build from.
  4. Step 4 Assistant art director Runs sets or sections for an art director.
  5. Step 5 Art director Delivers sets to the designer's brief, on budget.Watch and read
  6. Step 6 Supervising art director Runs the whole department's delivery on a big show.
  7. Top of the ladder Production designer Head of department: the look of every space.Watch and read

Specialists branch off the ladder at the grade shown; they aren't steps on it

Set decoration

Parallel ladder
  1. Entry grade Petty cash buyer Buys and returns small dressing items.
  2. Step 2 Buyer Sources and hires dressing and furniture.
  3. Step 3 Assistant set decorator Runs dressing for a set.
  4. Top of the ladder Set decorator Dresses every set to the designer's brief.

Props

Parallel ladder
  1. Entry grade Props trainee Loading, cleaning, the props store.
  2. Step 2 Prop hand Moves and places props and dressing.Watch and read
  3. Step 3 Standby propsAlso: dressing or action props On set all day: action props and continuity.
  4. Step 4 Chargehand props Runs a props crew.
  5. Top of the ladder Property master Head of props: every prop, sourced, made and run.

Graphics

Parallel ladder
  1. Entry grade Graphics trainee Prep files, print runs, ageing paper.
  2. Step 2 Assistant graphic designer Signs, labels and documents for sets.
  3. Step 3 Graphic designer All the on-screen graphics for a show.
  4. Top of the ladder Graphic art director Leads graphics on big shows.

Construction

Parallel ladder
  1. Entry grade Construction apprentice Learning a craft in the workshop.
  2. Step 2 Craftsperson Carpenter, painter, plasterer, rigger or metalworker.
  3. Step 3 Chargehand Leads a craft crew.
  4. Step 4 Supervisor Runs a craft across the build.
  5. Top of the ladder Construction manager Builds every set to drawing, on budget.
Grade by grade: what you need before moving up
Art direction
GradeWhat you doBefore moving up
Art department traineeResearch, filing, runs, copying drawings.Knowing the office, the paperwork and the people.
Art department assistantResearch packs, references, sourcing samples.Good research, fast and accurate.
DraughtspersonAlso: set designer; junior firstTechnical drawings construction can build from.Hand drafting or CAD, scale, and drawings built without questions.
Assistant art directorRuns sets or sections for an art director.Managing a set from drawing to shoot.
Art directorDelivers sets to the designer's brief, on budget.Budget control and crew management.
Supervising art directorRuns the whole department's delivery on a big show.Several shows as art director.
Production designerHead of department: the look of every space.A body of work and a director who trusts you.
Set decoration
GradeWhat you do
Petty cash buyerBuys and returns small dressing items.
BuyerSources and hires dressing and furniture.
Assistant set decoratorRuns dressing for a set.
Set decoratorDresses every set to the designer's brief.
Props
GradeWhat you do
Props traineeLoading, cleaning, the props store.
Prop handMoves and places props and dressing.
Standby propsAlso: dressing or action propsOn set all day: action props and continuity.
Chargehand propsRuns a props crew.
Property masterHead of props: every prop, sourced, made and run.
Graphics
GradeWhat you do
Graphics traineePrep files, print runs, ageing paper.
Assistant graphic designerSigns, labels and documents for sets.
Graphic designerAll the on-screen graphics for a show.
Graphic art directorLeads graphics on big shows.
Construction
GradeWhat you do
Construction apprenticeLearning a craft in the workshop.
CraftspersonCarpenter, painter, plasterer, rigger or metalworker.
ChargehandLeads a craft crew.
SupervisorRuns a craft across the build.
Construction managerBuilds every set to drawing, on budget.

Bectu art department card, 2025–26 · Every department's ladder: Careers A–Z · Getting work · Working freelance

Learn it, step by step

4 paths
See all: Learn it, step by step

Safety first

Tools, height, paints and dressing the set

The art department builds, paints and dresses real spaces fast. Its hazards are workshop tools, working at height, chemicals and dust, heavy dressing, and making sure a set is safe for the people who will act in it.

Start the safety module Take the safety check

Watch first

Module 1 of Production design and the art department. Mark them done there to track your progress.

The hazards

6

What hurts people in this department on UK sets, and what keeps them safe.

  1. Workshop and power toolsSaws, routers and nail guns are used only by people trained on them, with guards on and the right protection. Trainees watch and fetch until they're signed off.
  2. Working at heightLadders for short, light work; scaffold towers built by trained people (PASMA); mobile elevating work platforms only with IPAF training. Nothing is left loose overhead.
  3. Paints, solvents, resins and dustRead the safety data sheet. Use ventilation, masks and gloves as it says, especially for spray, resin and fibreglass, and for MDF dust. That's COSHH.
  4. Fire safety of scenerySet materials, drapes and dressing are flame-retardant where the fire risk assessment needs it. Keep exits, extinguishers and fire routes clear of dressing.
  5. Heavy and fragile dressingFix tall furniture and flats so they can't topple, team-lift, and tell standby props about anything glass or sharp. Breakaway glass and anything rigged to break belongs to SFX.
  6. Props that look dangerousAny real or replica weapon is the armourer's, not props'. Prop food is handled hygienically and checked for allergies, because actors eat it take after take.

Who is responsible

  • The production designer leads the department; the construction manager runs construction safety and the build.
  • The supervising art director and set decorator manage their teams' risk assessments.
  • Standby props hand over the set safely and flag hazards to the 1st AD.

As a trainee, never

  • Never use a power tool you haven't been trained and signed off on.
  • Never handle a real or replica weapon: that's the armourer's job.
  • Never block a fire exit or extinguisher with dressing.

Anyone can say stop. If something feels wrong, say so to your head of department or the 1st AD.

Where this comes from

  • HSE: work at heightThe Work at Height Regulations 2005: ladders, towers, platforms and who may use them.
  • HSE: COSHHControl of Substances Hazardous to Health: paints, solvents, resins, adhesives and dust.
  • HSE: CDM 2015The Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015. Ask the construction manager whether a build falls under them.
  • PASMATraining for building and using mobile access towers.
  • IPAFTraining for mobile elevating work platforms (cherry pickers and scissor lifts).
  • Bectu agreements: constructionThe Pact/Bectu construction agreement and grades.

Checked 13 November 2026. This is awareness, not a safety qualification: follow your production's risk assessment and your head of department.

Check yourself

4 situations. Get them all right.

Pass the safety check before the rest of the path. One wrong safety answer means try again. It's practice, and your answers stay on this device.

Question 1: You're asked to cut some MDF for a quick fix, and the table saw is free. You haven't been trained on it. What do you do?

Question 2: Scenic are spraying a resin finish in a closed room. The safety data sheet says to use ventilation and a respirator. There's no fan. What do you do?

Question 3: The director asks props for a 'real-looking' handgun for the next scene. What's the right response?

Question 4: Dressing a bedroom set, you place a tall wardrobe in front of the only exit door. What do you do?

AI in film and TV

How AI fits this department

Concept art, mood boards and previs are where AI shows up first in the art department, best when trained or guided by artwork you own.

Learning path: Prompting and directing AI shots The AI channel Consent and credit

Art department, in detail

What it does on a UK unit

The production designer decides how every space looks. The department draws it, budgets it, sources it, and hands it to construction, set decoration and props to build and dress. On mid-budget UK drama it's often the biggest crew on the payroll, and the busiest in prep.

On shoot days the office keeps designing the sets to come, while a standby art director and standby props stay on the floor making the set work for camera.

Four connected teams:

  • Art direction: design, drawings, models, budgets and schedules.
  • Set decoration: the furniture, fabrics and objects that make a space lived in.
  • Props: everything handled on camera, and everything dressed.
  • Graphics: signs, documents, labels, screens and anything with type on it.

Construction builds the sets and reports through its own construction manager to the designer.

Who it works with

  • Director and DoP: the look, the colour, where the camera goes and where it can't.
  • Gaffer: practical lamps, power in the set and where lamps can hide.
  • Costume and hair and make-up: a shared palette, period and world.
  • Locations: what can be changed on a real location and what must be reinstated.
  • Construction, SFX and VFX: builds, breakaways, rigs and set extensions.

Kit and vocabulary

Term What it means
White card model A plain scale model of a set, used to agree the design and plan shots
Drawings and elevations Plans and side views to scale that construction builds from
Dressing Furniture and objects placed in a set; set dressers do it
Action prop A prop an actor handles; a hero prop is the one seen in close-up
Standby The crew member who stays on set through the shooting day
Strike Removing the dressing or the set after it has been shot
Clearance Permission to show a brand, artwork or document on screen

How to get in

Most start as a trainee or assistant. Production design, theatre design, architecture, interior design and fine art degrees are common, but a portfolio, good research and drawing count for more.

Props people often come through prop houses, set dressing crews or England's props technician apprenticeship. Set decorators often start as buyers.

The ScreenSkills Trainee Finder places trainees in art departments. The British Film Designers Guild runs a newcomer membership grade.

Pay

Don't guess. Use the Bectu art department rate card, 2025–26. Props and construction cards are on the Bectu rate cards index.

Where Futures in Film helps

We don't run an art department course. These pages will help you get to a first art department job:

Who to know: Art department

Other departments

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Where we come in

Hold a art department grade on a crewed unit.

ApplyTrain in Art department

Read for art department

7

The magazines and books people in art department read. Borrow the books free from a library.

All resources and reading: trade press, directories, libraries and more

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Last reviewed 9 November 2026