''(Also known as Designer's Guild or B.F.D.G. and can be seen after a member's name as a
professional certification
Professional certification, trade certification, or professional designation, often called simply ''certification'' or ''qualification'', is a designation earned by a person to assure qualification to perform a job or task. Not all certifications ...
abbreviation)''
A society of British Film Directors and Designers was founded in 1946, for the betterment of the Design in British Films. Out of this society grew the Guild of Film Art Directors, and the present British Film Designers Guild, who now include in their membership all the various branches of the Art Department. They are not a
trade union
A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits ( ...
. The British equivalent of the
Art Directors Guild
The Art Directors Guild (ADG; IATSE Local 800) is a trade union, labor union and local of the International Alliance of Theatrical and Stage Employees, International Alliance of Theatrical and Stage Employees (IATSE) representing 2,979 motion pic ...
(of America), although smaller in size are one of the key organisations in th
Cine Guilds of Great Britainthat work directly with the
UK Government: Select Committee on Culture, Media and Sport.
This Guild is presented primarily to assist
Producers
Producer or producers may refer to:
Occupations
*Producer (agriculture), a farm operator
*A stakeholder of economic production
*Film producer, supervises the making of films
**Executive producer, contributes to a film's budget and usually does not ...
and others to select Department members who will maintain the highest standards of Art Direction, even on the smallest of
productions, and whose knowledge, experience and talent have been proven to be the highest in a medium where four-fifths of the spectators' attention is visual.
The British Film Designers Guild has members in every grade of the art department, from draughtspersons to
costume designers
A costume designer is a person who designs costumes for a film, stage production or television show. The role of the costume designer is to create the characters' outfits or costumes and balance the scenes with texture and colour, etc. The costume ...
, set decorators to production designers, and was formed with the aim of raising the standards and the profile of the art department and protecting the interest of its members.
Art Department positions
The hierarchy in the United Kingdom does have some title variants with job descriptions. Here is a guide to the main positions within each area, as there are many alternatives dependent on the film requirements and to which country the film is based in. Some titles vary like for example Draughtsman ''UK'', to Set Designer or Draftsman ''USA'
The Production Designer is the head of various departments, Art, Construction, Decorating, Property & Prop Making. Here is a guide to the main positions within each area.
*
Production designer
In film and television, the production designer is the individual responsible for the overall aesthetic of the story. The production design gives the viewers a sense of the time period, the plot location, and character actions and feelings. Wo ...
(Feature film), Supervising art director – controls staff, work & schedule req.,
Art director
Art director is the title for a variety of similar job functions in theater, advertising, marketing, publishing, fashion, film industry, film and television, the Internet, and video games.
It is the charge of a sole art director to supervise and ...
(or Production designer for Commercials) usually several positions – controls several sets, draughts, organizes & liaises with trades, Stand-by art director (shooting crew), Assistant art director – draughts & liaises with trades, Art department co-ordinator, Senior draughtsperson ''(lead set designer U.S.)'' experienced draughtspeople who choose to stay drawing board based, draughtsperson ''(Set designer or Draftsperson U.S.)'', Junior draughtsperson, Art department assistant or Runner ''(Production runner U.S.)''.
* Set decorator ''(a.k.a. dresser U.K.)'' – selects all props and set dressing. ''(
Set decorator U.S. is in charge of background dressing and stand-by)'', Production buyer, Assistant set decorator, Assistant buyer.
* Property master – controls prop collecting, storing, dressing, manufacture and stand-by.''(
Property master U.S., is in charge of action props – acquiring, manufacturing and stand-by.'' Assistant property master, Supervising props dresser ''
Lead man U.S.'', Props storeman, Props co-ordinator, Stand-by props ''(also On-set U.S.)'', Props dresser ''
Set dresser U.S. or
Swing gang U.S.'' ''(Swing gang can also refer to set construction in the U.S.)'
Prop dresser '' '' (Note Set decoration and Property are different departments in U.S.)
* Construction manager, Assistant construction manager,
Construction buyer, H.o.D. (Head of Department) Carpenter ''(a.k.a. Chippie)'', H.o.D. Painter, H.o.D. Plasterer, H.o.D. Rigger & H.o.D. Stagehand ''(a.k.a. Stag)''. Within each department is Supervising, Chargehand positions to Labourers & Apprentices.
* H.o.D. Prop maker – works in conjunction with Props, Senior prop makers, Prop maker, Sculptors & Apprentices.
Other titles include Visual Effects art director, Vehicles art director, Locations art director, Concept artist ''(Illustrator U.S.)'',
Storyboard artist
A storyboard artist (sometimes called a story artist or visualizer) creates storyboards for advertising agencies and film productions.
Work
A storyboard artist visualizes stories and sketches frames of the story. Quick pencil drawings and marke ...
, Graphic designer,
Sign writer or Lettering artist,
Model maker
A model maker is a professional craftsperson who creates a three-dimensional representation of a design or concept. Most products in use and in development today first take form as a model. This "model" may be an exacting duplicate ( prototype) of ...
,
Armourer
Historically, an armourer is a person who makes personal armour, especially plate armour. In modern terms, an armourer is a member of a military or police force who works in an armoury and maintains and repairs small arms and weapons systems, wi ...
,
Greensman ''(Greenskeeper U.S.)'', Drapes master and Scenic artist.
Refer also to ''
Film crew
A film crew is a group of people, hired by a production company, for the purpose of producing a film or motion picture. The crew is distinguished from the cast, as the cast are understood to be the actors who appear in front of the camera o ...
''
Art Department Guide U.S.
Collecting Society
This Society was formed out of work done within the Guild to benefit members and has since grown to assist many other departments within film production.
The BFDG no longer operates as a collecting society, after a reorganising of its core business model. They are proud to have championed the establishment of the principles behind "Copyright" and the definition of "Authors" within the Film and Television Industries, and to have paved the way for residuals to be paid to Key UK based technicians. Do contact the guild for more information on directly joining other existing societies.
Closely related departments
*
Camera
A camera is an Optics, optical instrument that can capture an image. Most cameras can capture 2D images, with some more advanced models being able to capture 3D images. At a basic level, most cameras consist of sealed boxes (the camera body), ...
*
Locations
In geography, location or place are used to denote a region (point, line, or area) on Earth's surface or elsewhere. The term ''location'' generally implies a higher degree of certainty than ''place'', the latter often indicating an entity with an ...
*
SFX – Special effects ''(Physical or Mechanical effects U.S.)''
*
VFX – Visual effects
Famous members
*
Ken Adam
Sir Kenneth Adam (born Klaus Hugo George Fritz Adam; 5 February 1921 – 10 March 2016) was a German-British movie production designer, best known for his set designs for the James Bond films of the 1960s and 1970s, as well as for ''Dr. Stran ...
, Production designer – ''
Dr. Strangelove
''Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb'', known simply and more commonly as ''Dr. Strangelove'', is a 1964 black comedy film that satirizes the Cold War fears of a nuclear conflict between the Soviet Union and t ...
'', ''
The Ipcress File
''The IPCRESS File'' is Len Deighton's first spy novel, published in 1962. The story involves Cold War brainwashing, includes scenes in Lebanon and on an atoll for a United States atomic weapon test, as well as information about Joe One, the ...
'', ''
Barry Lyndon
''Barry Lyndon'' is a 1975 period drama film written, directed, and produced by Stanley Kubrick, based on the 1844 novel ''The Luck of Barry Lyndon'' by William Makepeace Thackeray. Starring Ryan O'Neal, Marisa Berenson, Patrick Magee, Leonard ...
''
*
John Barry, Production designer – ''
A Clockwork Orange
''A Clockwork Orange'' may refer to:
* ''A Clockwork Orange'' (novel), a 1962 novel by Anthony Burgess
** ''A Clockwork Orange'' (film), a 1971 film directed by Stanley Kubrick based on the novel
*** ''A Clockwork Orange'' (soundtrack), the film ...
'', ''
Star Wars
''Star Wars'' is an American epic film, epic space opera multimedia franchise created by George Lucas, which began with the Star Wars (film), eponymous 1977 film and quickly became a worldwide popular culture, pop-culture Cultural impact of S ...
''
* Gavin Bocquet, Production designer – ''
Star Wars II & III''
*
John Box
John Allan Hyatt Box OBE (27 January 19207 March 2005) was a British film production designer and art director. He won the Academy Award for Best Art Direction on four occasions and won the equivalent BAFTA three times, a record for both awa ...
,
Production designer & B.F.D.G. Ex Officio – ''
Lawrence of Arabia
Thomas Edward Lawrence (16 August 1888 – 19 May 1935) was a British archaeologist, army officer, diplomat, and writer who became renowned for his role in the Arab Revolt (1916–1918) and the Sinai and Palestine Campaign (1915–191 ...
'', ''
Doctor Zhivago
''Doctor Zhivago'' is the title of a novel by Boris Pasternak and its various adaptations.
Description
The story, in all of its forms, describes the life of the fictional Russian physician and poet Yuri Zhivago
Yuri Andreievich Zhivago is the ...
'', ''
A Passage to India
''A Passage to India'' is a 1924 novel by English author E. M. Forster set against the backdrop of the British Raj and the Indian independence movement in the 1920s. It was selected as one of the 100 great works of 20th century English litera ...
''
* Allan Cameron, Production designer – ''
The Da Vinci Code
''The Da Vinci Code'' is a 2003 mystery thriller novel by Dan Brown. It is Brown's second novel to include the character Robert Langdon: the first was his 2000 novel ''Angels & Demons''. ''The Da Vinci Code'' follows symbologist Robert Langdon ...
''
*
Peter Lamont
Peter Curtis Lamont (12 November 1929 – 18 December 2020) was a British set decorator, art director, and production designer most noted for his collaborations with filmmaker James Cameron, and for working on eighteen ''James Bond'' films, fr ...
br>
Production designer & B.F.D.G. Ex Officio – ''
Titanic (1997 film), Titanic'', ''
True Lies
''True Lies'' is a 1994 American spy action comedy film written and directed by James Cameron. It stars Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jamie Lee Curtis, Tom Arnold, Art Malik, Tia Carrere, Bill Paxton, Eliza Dushku, Grant Heslov and Charlton Heston. ...
& various Bonds films''
* Anthony Masters, Production designer – ''
2001: A Space Odyssey''
*
Anthony Pratt Anthony Pratt may refer to:
* Anthony Pratt (businessman) (born 1960), Australian billionaire, executive chairman of Pratt Industries and board member of Visy Industries
* Anthony D. G. Pratt (born 1937), British art director
* Anthony E. Pratt
...
, Production designer – ''
The Phantom of the Opera
''The Phantom of the Opera'' (french: Le Fantôme de l'Opéra) is a novel by French author Gaston Leroux. It was first published as a serial in from 23 September 1909 to 8 January 1910, and was released in volume form in late March 1910 by Pierr ...
''
*
Michael Stringerbr>
Production designer/Art director & G.F.A.D. Ex Officio – ''
Casino Royale (1967 film), Casino Royale (1967)'', ''
Fiddler on the roof
''Fiddler on the Roof'' is a musical with music by Jerry Bock, lyrics by Sheldon Harnick, and book by Joseph Stein, set in the Pale of Settlement of Imperial Russia in or around 1905. It is based on ''Tevye and his Daughters'' (or ''Tevye the ...
''
* Lindy Hemming, Costume designer – ''
Casino Royale'', ''
Topsy-Turvy
''Topsy-Turvy'' is a 1999 British musical period drama film written and directed by Mike Leigh, starring Allan Corduner as Sir Arthur Sullivan and Jim Broadbent as W.S. Gilbert, along with Timothy Spall, Lesley Manville and Ron Cook. The story ...
''
Published articles
''British Broadcasting'' B.B.C. online news report inc. BFDG/Collecting society
U.K. Government – House of Commons report
Cine Guilds of Great Britain
Related literature
* Film Design, ''Terence Marner''. (Tantivy Press, 1973. )
* The Oxford Guide to Film Studies, ''John Hill''. (Oxford University, 1998. )
* Ken Adam: The Art of Production Design, ''Christopher Frayling''. (Faber and Faber, 2006. )
See also
*
Blank tape levy
Wikibooks
*
Movie Making Manual
Wikiversity
*
v:Filmmaking
References
External links
{{wikibooks
Official sites of...
''British Film Designers Guild''''The British Society of Cinematographers''''Association of Motion Picture Sound''''The Guild of British Film and Television Editors''''Guild of Stunt & Action Co-ordinators''''Guild of Location Managers''''National Association of Screen Makeup Artists and Hairdressers''
Film organisations in the United Kingdom
*
1946 establishments in the United Kingdom