Film Production Designer Job Description - Film Jobs Explained

When people watch films, they often don’t think about all the hard work that goes into the set. After all, if a production designer did their job well then the backgrounds and sets should just feel like authentic real world spaces. So let’s go over a film production designer job description and discuss exactly what they do.

The production designer is the person in charge of what the world of the film looks like. Everything from set design to props, they are in charge of and make sure they not only fit the look of the film but also serve the scene in a story telling sense.

They work closely with the director to develop the visual look of the film and help decide everything from color, texture, and style. In pre production the production designer usually starts with research, compiling look boards and figuring out how to make the world feel authentic.

This is especially important when filming a period piece or creating a whole new world from scratch. If shooting on location, the production designer works closely with the locations manager to pick out the perfect location.

However, if the film is not being shot on location, then they manage the construction of sets on sound stages. This involves sketching up plans, building sets, and everything needed to make them feel like a real place.

Production designers are also responsible for acquiring and maintaining all props needed for the scene. Often on bigger productions, there will be a props master that reports directly to the Production designer and does the actual work of collecting, transporting, and distributing the props on set.

Unless that prop happens to be a weapon. In that case you’d have a dedicated person to be a Weapons Master and only they and the actor using the weapon can actually touch them. In between shots, the weapons master then locks the weapons away in a lock box so that no other cast or crew members can access them.

And important history lesson here, this policy actually came about after the death of actor Brandon Lee on the set of the movie The Crow. So yeah… don’t mess around with weapons.

As well as props, the production designer is also responsible for set decoration needs, such as furniture, wall art, textiles, and basically any physical item that will be in the scene. This also includes practical lights in the scene, so often in pre production the Production designer will work with the Director of photography to see if practical lights are needed, where windows will be located, and so on. But all the details of actual set decoration is typically done by the art director or art department, who report to the production designer.

On set, the production designer works with their team of set dressers, art directors, and props masters to make the environment feel real and authentic. They often are looking into the monitors and adjusting things to make sure they look just right.

But the production designer is also responsible for the cast’s wardrobe, makeup, and hair. Usually a wardrobe designer and makeup artists work directly under the production designer to achieve their vision. On indie sets however, the makeup artist and set designers might be working directly with the director instead.

And finally, production designers are also responsible for any physical graphics that are required for a scene. For example, in my short film Hold Up my production designer had to completely make a fake newspaper. Also in my commercial parody Cop Pockets, I had to make a parody version of a Hot Pockets box from scratch. So, that’s the film production designer’s job in a nutshell!

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