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As a movie director you are the ultimate decision-maker. Other people do the making of the film and you are the one that guides all the movie making parts to make sure they coordinate. You don't need to know the different filmmaking departments as well as craftspeople in those area but a working knowledge can help. One of the most important parts of filmmaking is the production design department. Production designers are responsible for the things the camera sees on a set. To help you better wring what you need from a production designer learning some stuff is in order.

Architecture

The buildings we live and work in are a major part of what is photographed in a film. There are styles and eras for each type of building: multi-family residential, single family residential, high rise office, retail, and low-rise office. Get familiar with the types of architecture in your neighborhood first to the point that you can classify it all by style and era. Find out what architecture is interesting to you personally. Once you know about the buildings in your area move out to other areas that interest you and that you might want to include in a film.

Clothing Styles

Depending on what kind of movies you want to make you will study certain periods of clothing style. If you want to use relatively modern styles of clothing you can find old mail order catalogs, watch modern-day films and TV shows set in that era, and you can shop your local thrift store. A collection of magazines from the era you want to study will help also. There are also unusual places you can study clothing styles: for the 80s you can watch old music videos, 70s you can watch disco instructional videos, 60s you can watch old newscasts. The idea is to get yourself to a place where you can classify every piece of clothing you see as a certain style and era and be able to talk intelligently with a costume designer.

Interior Decorating

People have always decorated their homes, even in the stone age. Styles and times have changes but the general principles still hold. An easy way to get a hold on interior design is to watch HGTV and other home and garden television shows. There are countless books on interior decorating for every skill level. You want to get familiar with the terms they use and start to develop of a taste of your own. Familiarity with color, texture, rhythm, and space will help a lot when you are talking to a set dresser.

Hair, Makeup Styles

Makeup is a modern phenomena (except for prostitutes) but people have always had hair. Though the hair style industry is a relatively new thing there has always been hair styles of one sort or another. The same places where you get information on clothing styles will be a great place to get info on hair and makeup. For hair and makeup there is an additional specialized resource that can give you plenty of images of times gone by. Hair salons have picture books with hair styles of the moment that you can get on eBay that are a wealth of good images.

Production design doesn't have to be your specialty, you don't even have to like it a lot. The important thing is that you understand its importance to the finished film and any knowledge you have of it will make it easier for you to get production design to work for your movie. Become an appreciator, if not a connoisseur, and you'll find it will pay off with a more visually expressive film.