Production Design & the Cinematic Home

verfasst von: Dr. Jane Barnwell

Verlag: Springer International Publishing

Enthalten in: Springer Professional "Wirtschaft+Technik" , Springer Professional "Wirtschaft" , Springer Professional "Technik"

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Über dieses Buch

This book uses in-depth case studies to explore the significance of the design of the home on screen. The chapters draw widely upon the production designer’s professional perspective and particular creative point of view. The case studies employ a methodology Barnwell has pioneered for the analysis of production design called Visual Concept Analysis, which can be used as a key to decode the design of any given film. Through the nurturing warmth of the Browns’ home in Paddington, the ambiguous boundaries of secret service agent homes in Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy and the ‘singleton’ space occupied by Bridget Jones, Barnwell demonstrates that the domestic interior consistently plays a key role. Whether used as a transition space, an ideal, a catalyst for change or a place to return to, these case studies examine the pivotal nature of the home in storytelling and the production designers’ significance in its creation. The book benefits from interviews with production designers and artwork that provides insight on the creative process.

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Frontmatter

Chapter 1. Introduction: Production Design and the Cinematic Home

Abstract

How are these film worlds constructed? As audience members, we often forget that the spaces we see on screen are mostly an illusion, created for the sole purpose of serving a cinematic narrative. Behind the scenes is the production designer, in charge of imagining and creating this fictional universe with the help of a large team including drafts people, carpenters, painters and graphic designers who are supervised by the art director. Film architecture involves traditional skills such as drafting, rendering and model-making and unconventional challenges unique to each project.

Jane Barnwell

Chapter 2. Vertical Hierarchy and the Home in Parasite (2019, Dir. Bong Joon Ho, PD Lee Ha-Jun)

Abstract

In the film Parasite, the Kim family struggle for survival, manipulating their way into the wealthy home of the Park family. The hierarchical structure of capitalist society is reflected eloquently in the duality of the two respective homes. The social inequality is represented and questioned through the inescapable spatial design.

Jane Barnwell

Chapter 3. Racial Prejudice, the Ghosts of Colonialism and Spatial Segregation in Get Out (2017, Jordan Peele, PD Rusty Smith)

Abstract

Get Out follows cool young couple Rose (Allison Williams) and Chris (Daniel Kaluuya) from the city to the suburbs for a ‘meet the parents’ weekend with a difference. When Chris asks if Rose’s parents know he is black she insists there is no cause for concern as they are liberal Obama-loving middle-class white people. However, the Armitage family home is a trap that ensnares Chris with potentially fatal consequences.

Jane Barnwell

Chapter 4. Returning Home: How the Byers’ Home in Stranger Things (2016—Duffer Brothers, PD Chris Trujillo) Reflects Narrative and Character Interior Landscape

Abstract

The Byers’ home in Stranger Things is designed as a transition space, both physically and metaphorically. Situated on the edge of the woods on the outskirts of Hawkins, it is a liminal space between the town, the forest and the Upside Down. Throughout the course of the first season, its small, simple, neutral-coloured interior transforms as Joyce becomes increasingly desperate to communicate with her son and bring him home from another dimension. Although the site of struggle, pain, terror and violence, the Byers’ home is also incredibly resilient, like the family it prevails. It is in the house that traditional boundaries are broken and temporary ones created, rupturing and subverting conventional entrance and exit points. The quiet, small-town community of Hawkins in its everyday familiarity functions as the backdrop to the supernatural events that subsequently unfold, but at the end of season three, the Byers’ home is left behind, its contents packed into boxes, the empty house resonating with self-referential nostalgia for the show’s characters and its fans. This poignant departure suggests a family ready to move on, but how do these transitions reflect on the myth of home?

Jane Barnwell

Chapter 5. Bridget Jones’s Diary (2001, Sharon Maguire, PD Gemma Jackson): A Wild Unconventional Space Bursting with Potential

Abstract

The space of the single female has not traditionally held the glamorous appeal of the single male. Historically all of the reasons to celebrate the male single space are inverted to commiserations for the female counterpart. Instead of a heritage of exciting bachelor pads there are spinsters to be pitied. Shows like Sex and the City and Girls and Fleabag have done much to redress the balance providing fun, frivolous single homes. However, Bridget Jones preceded these and sets the tone for single women occupying the space between family home and marital home, opening up other possibilities outside of those governed by conventional restrictions.

Jane Barnwell

Chapter 6. Secret Homes: How Are the Themes of Espionage Reflected in the Construction of Home in Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2011, Tomas Alfredson, PD Maria Djurkovic)?

Abstract

This chapter explores the ambiguous role of the home in Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2011) and the ways in which the design weaves themes of espionage through the both public and private environments. The emergence of a labyrinth motif is identified, that visually constructs confusion, where there is a lack of clear division between the interior and exterior. The ways in which these boundaries are transgressed reflect turmoil through the design of space, in and out, light, colour and set decoration.

Jane Barnwell

Chapter 7. Finding Your Way Through the Maze: Navigating the Public and Private Spaces of Downing Street in Darkest Hour (2017 Joe Wright, PD Sarah Greenwood)

Abstract

The film is set in 1940 during a turning point in the Second World War. Downing Street is a crucial environment in the film that reflects Winston Churchill’s (Gary Oldman) private and public persona effectively. As one of the most famous addresses in the world, Downing Street contains the twin functions of headquarters of the British government offices and private home of the Prime Minister and, thus, contains the potential for architectural anomalies at every turn. PD Sarah Greenwood used the real exterior combined with built interiors to convey the sense of struggle and lack of clarity during the tense period in British history portrayed in the film.

Jane Barnwell

Chapter 8. The Hero’s Journey: The Quest for Home in Paddington 2 (2017, Dir. Paul King, PD Gary Williamson)

Abstract

This chapter explores the role of the Brown’s house and the prison in the representation of home in the film Paddington 2 (2017). The prison is a key setting in the film, which playfully stitches together popular notions of the real and imagined prison and turns into a community where friendship, food and flowers blossom. It effectively forms a transition space linking Paddington’s journey away from home and back again. The Brown’s house, Paddington’s family home, is established as a warm and welcoming environment, which Paddington is forcibly removed from when he is wrongly sent to prison. On arrival, the prison appears to be a classic harsh and hostile place of incarceration where Paddington is intimidated and alone. However, Paddington’s presence is slowly seen to transform the place into a warm and inviting world full of friendship and hope. The design is crucial in conveying key themes in the script that reflect Paddington’s character and the positive impact he has on people’s lives. The changes we see taking place in the home and prison are metaphors that convey the visual concept at the heart of the film design.

Jane Barnwell

Backmatter

Titel: Production Design & the Cinematic Home
verfasst von: Dr. Jane Barnwell
Verlag: Springer International Publishing
Electronic ISBN: 978-3-030-90449-4
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-90448-7
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-90449-4