Art director

The job

The production designer decides how a set looks. The art director makes it happen.

You turn the design into drawings with the draughtspeople, cost them with construction, schedule them against the shoot and run the crew who build and finish them. On a big show you may run a group of sets or one complex build, under a supervising art director. On a small one you may be the only art director.

A typical day

Morning meeting with the designer on the sets in progress.
Check drawings from the set designers before they go to construction.
Walk the stage build with the construction manager: progress, problems, overtime.
Meet the gaffer and the SFX supervisor on rigging points and practical effects.
Approve paint samples and graphic proofs.
Update the set budget and the build schedule when the shooting order changes.
Visit a location to measure up for a dressing or a build.

Skills

Drawing and design: hand drafting and CAD, scale, perspective, model-making.
Construction knowledge: materials, finishes, time and cost.
Budget control and scheduling.
Managing crews and contractors.
Health and safety awareness for builds. Set construction falls under the CDM Regulations 2015.

Reporting lines

You report to the production designer, or to the supervising art director on a large show. Assistant art directors, draughtspeople, art department assistants and trainees report to you.

How people get in

Art directors come up through the department, as draughtsperson or set designer and then assistant art director. Many trained in architecture, theatre design or production design, including at film schools such as the NFTS. It is not an entry grade.

Next step up

Supervising art director on a large production, or production designer on a smaller one. Many designers step up first on short films, low-budget features or second units.

Taking the designer's sketches and getting them built, on time and on budget.