''(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 (British English) or labor union (American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers whose purpose is to maintain or improve the conditions of their employment, such as attaining better wages ...

. The British equivalent of the Art Directors Guild (of America), although smaller in size are one of the key organisations in th
Cine Guilds of Great Britain
that work directly with the UK Government: Select Committee on Culture, Media and Sport. This Guild is presented primarily to assist Producers 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, 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, a 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. Work ...

(Feature film), Supervising art director – controls staff, work & schedule req.,

Art director Art director is a title for a variety of similar job functions in theater, advertising, marketing, publishing, fashion, live-action and animated film and television, the Internet, and video games. It is the charge of a sole art director to supe ...

(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 mar ...

, Graphic designer, Sign writer or Lettering artist, Model maker,

Armourer Historically, an armourer is a person who makes personal armour, especially plate armour. Historically armourers were often men, but women could also undertake the occupation: for example Alice la Haubergere worked as an armourer in Cheapside i ...

, 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 Filmmaking, producing a film or motion picture. The crew is distinguished from the Ensemble cast, cast, as the cast are understood to be the actors who appear ...

''
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.

Recent Chairs

*1980-1982 - Alan Tomkins *1982-1984 - Tony Curtis *1984-1986 - Peter Lamont *1986-1988 - Charles Bishop *1988-1990 - John Graysmark *1990-1992 - Peter Lamont *1992-1994 - Peter Murton *1994-1996 - Peter Lamont *1996-1998 - Terry Ackland-Snow *1998-2000 - Austen Springs *2000-2002 - Peter Lamont *2002-2004 - Terry Ackland-Snow *2004-2006 - Fred Hole *2006-2008 - Terry Ackland-Snow *2008-2010 - Malcolm Stone *2010-2012 - Kevin Phipps *2012-2014 - Susan Whitaker *2014-2016 - Simon Bowles *2016-2018 - Peter Walpole *2018-2020 - Adam O'Neill *2020-2022 - Sonja Klaus *2022-2024 - Blair Barnette *2024----- - Jonathan Paul Green

Closely related departments

Camera A camera is an instrument used to capture and store images and videos, either digitally via an electronic image sensor, or chemically via a light-sensitive material such as photographic film. As a pivotal technology in the fields of photograp ...

* Locations * 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. Str ...

, Production designer – '' Dr. Strangelove'', '' The Ipcress File'', ''

Barry Lyndon ''Barry Lyndon'' is a 1975 epic historical drama film written, directed, and produced by Stanley Kubrick, based on the 1844 novel '' The Luck of Barry Lyndon'' by William Makepeace Thackeray. Narrated by Michael Hordern, and starring Ryan O'N ...

'' * John Barry, Production designer – '' A Clockwork Orange'', ''

Star Wars ''Star Wars'' is an American epic film, epic space opera media franchise created by George Lucas, which began with the Star Wars (film), eponymous 1977 film and Cultural impact of Star Wars, quickly became a worldwide popular culture, pop cu ...

'' * 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'', '' Doctor Zhivago'', '' A Passage to India'' * Allan Cameron, Production designer – ''

The Da Vinci Code ''The Da Vinci Code'' is a 2003 mystery thriller novel by Dan Brown. It is “the best-selling American novel of all time.” Brown's second novel to include the character Robert Langdon—the first was his 2000 novel '' Angels & Demons''� ...

'' * Peter Lamontbr>
Production designer & B.F.D.G. Ex Officio – '' Titanic (1997 film), Titanic'', ''

True Lies ''True Lies'' is a 1994 American action comedy film written and directed by James Cameron. It stars Arnold Schwarzenegger as Harry Tasker, a U.S. government agent, who struggles to balance his double life as a spy with his familial duties, ...

& various Bonds films'' * Anthony Masters, Production designer – '' 2001: A Space Odyssey'' * Anthony Pratt, Production designer – '' The Phantom of the Opera'' * 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 theatre, musical with music by Jerry Bock, lyrics by Sheldon Harnick, and musical theatre#Book musicals, book by Joseph Stein, set in the Pale of Settlement of Russian Empire, Imperial Russia in or around 19 ...

'' * 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 Jim Broadbent as W. S. Gilbert and Allan Corduner as Sir Arthur Sullivan, along with Timothy Spall, Lesley Manville and Ron Cook. T ...

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. )

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