Film and Television Production Design
Designing environments that tell a story
“In short, this film project could not have been completed without her
inventiveness, tenacity, and creative skills. She has a quicksilver and flexible
mind and is able to make intuitive leaps in finding solutions with the absolute
minimum of fuss; she is a complete professional.”
Flim Director
To me, the unique thing about film and television production is the variety, depth, and breadth of design skills required. From building sets to understanding design history, producing bespoke props, or creating unique solutions to a director’s challenge, a designer must draw on skills from all areas of design.
The diversity of environments I have crafted has been vast, from a 1940s slum home in Manchester to an Elizabethan mansion, from Grimpen Mire to a moonscape, and so much in between. Film and television production design has set the standard in my design career:
Key skills: A high level of professionalism, communication, collaboration, planning, diplomacy and delivering on budget and time.
As a production designer, I was tasked with creating the look and feel of a film. I had to be an artistic jack-of-all-trades within this collaborative design process, confidently leading an entire art department of creatives whilst working alongside skilled production teams to produce a show. The role required an in-depth knowledge of all aspects of art and design, creation past to present day, coupled with a practical and positive approach to troubleshooting challenges along the way. People within the industry are often the best of the best.
My challenge was to accurately translate the vision of a writer or director to the most minute detail, carefully curating a sense of time and place, and finessing over aesthetics to complement each character’s personality and traits. This was no greater challenge than when working on special effect sequences, where continuity, health, and safety of every detail were paramount.
Taking concepts from initial sketches to live builds, in studios and across diverse locations, meant working with experts from all industries and building a relationship with people from all walks of life. It took tenacity and resilience to get the job done on deadline. I believe it’s this that makes this particular design profession a world class environment for learnt experience.
Tim Brown, CEO IDEO
WHERE IT ALL BEGAN
My first job was with Granada Television in the UK, working with Jeremy Brett making the ‘The return of Sherlock Holmes” on those famous period sets.
It reminds me when I look back to the first set of designs I ever produced, viewers (who are some of the greatest scrutineers and specialists of all time), had to believe or imagine the setting is real. Details needed to be historically correct. And in this depiction, the coat of arms and the creatures designed into the stonework were a part of the story. The huge fireplace of Wisteria Lodge.
RISING TO THE CHALLENGE
My time working on the series The Return of Sherlock Holmes, and particularly ‘The Hound of the Baskerville’ provided me with some of our most challenging set builds. ‘’Grimpen Mire”, a particularly swampy area of the moorland was built in studio. The set comprised of huge carved rock faces with live planting (that needed to be kept alive) and a stage built up to house a pool with glass sides ‘the mire’ – perfect for filming the demise of anything or anyone that fell in below.
My drawings at the time were physically translated by the scenic department with me providing oversight of finishes. The on-site build was both thrilling and intimidating.
A FIRM FAVOURITE
Looking back, although the period dramas were a great challenge in terms of procurement, research, and design and meeting the needs of some amazing directors of that time, one of the most fun experiences for me was working with the famous and long-running Soap ‘Coronation Street’.
Not only did I get involved in special effects during this time, but from visual comedy to car crashes, death, fires and underwater stunts, just about every drama imaginable got played out in a rich tapestry of action and environment. I literally did not know what we would be asked for next!
THE STORY CONTINUES
I went on to work on many more period and modern dramas, quiz shows light entertainment and soaps. The jobs were fulfilling and I got to meet and work with many incredible professionals. I learnt and perfected valuable skills for my present design toolkit. However the Film and television industry is very wasteful in many ways, and unhealthy working conditions have considerable effects on health and mental wellbeing for its employees which I found challenging to watch, and from a creative perspective, I wanted to move on and get more design experience, in different environments and explore new challenges .
Areas of Work
Hi, I'm Nicola
- Award Winning Designer of Built Environments:
- Boutique hotels, cruise ships, film and television
- Social Entrepreneur & Advocate for Sustainable Change:
- Diabetes, End of Life Conversations, Sustainable/Green Communities & Environments
- Expert Coach
- Creatrix of the Alignment Process to cut through the biggest and most expensive obstacle to designing a space or a life that truly supports the desired outcomes: “I don’t really know what I want”
Knowledge, Skills and Abilities
- Concept development – visioning – ideation
- Special effects and illusions
- Communication
- Research
- Mood boards
- Technical & construction drawings
- Model making
- Location finding
- Building sets in studio and on-location
- Finance – budget – procurement
- Managing and hiring
- Health and safety in production settings
- Working with – construction – set decorators – prop masters – dressers – special effects – specialist designers – architects – engineers – electricians – plumbers – decorators – carpenters – joiners – soft furnishers – landscapers – gardeners
Qualifications
- First class honors degree – Manchester School of Film and Television
- Design for the communication media.
- Studied Building Heritage and Conservation Masters Lancaster University.