Image by Orin Optiglot

Production design encompasses anything seen on screen. From leaves to lipstick, production design is involved in some capacity. It's easy just to use a modern day production design because it's already everywhere, it doesn't take much effort. The problem is it's also done by just about every other filmmaker and in fact may not be the best complement for your story material.

It's daunting coming up with a production design style that will work best for your film. It helps to have it broken down into categories to spur the creative process. These are some of the pieces from which you can create a unique world that will help your movie be special.

References: Real, Fictional, Combination

Inevitably we need to drop names. Names are everywhere in life and there needs to be a structure as to how things are named, as in life. If you have characters drinking from cans of soft drinks, what do you want the brand to be? It can be the present day Coca Cola, it can be the generic store-brand "cola" or it can be a fictional brand that you come up with. The sum of all the references in your film will add to or subtract from the world you are creating. If you are establishing a fantastical world that is nothing like ours, then a reference to a real life chewing gum may not be appropriate. It's up to you to keep these things in mind when coming up with a look for your film. There is no right answer, just an imperative to give a good answer. In "Pulp Fiction" all cigarettes are Red Apple, no Marlboro or Camels. It begs the questions (even if subconsciously) of where are they are made, who started the company, why only one brand in this world? It works for his film world, something similar may not be right for yours.

Physics: Earth, Alternate World, Combination

Is the world you are portraying just like the one we live in? Does rain fall from the sky and heavy things still fall to the ground? A heavy handed change of physics would be disorienting to a lot of the audience, but judicious use of it can resonate and make it that much more real. "Blade Runner" was set in Los Angeles in the year 2019, yet there was no sand, no sun and near-constant rain. These types of details go far to thicken the experience. Implied in such simple changes in physics are all the steps in between that would get things to this situation. They needn't be obvious elements either, it can just be the smallest element that adds to the whole. In "Star Wars: Episode 4" they simply showed two suns when Luke Skywalker stared at the sunset one day. Nothing flashy, but it spoke volumes.

Period: Past, Present, Present, Combination

When you do a thorough analysis of any single period in time you will see that it's made up of elements of other periods. The times before always continue forward and some styles from the past may disappear but be revived later. Thus will it be with your choice of styles. You won't likely stick to just one but rather mix time periods into something that feels real, though it was never like that anywhere on Earth. In "Napoleon Dynamite" the whole experience was heightened by the populating of the film with a selection of devices of a certain ilk. An artful use of old time things, present objects, and some created just for the film can help elevate your movie to something great.

There are no rules as to how to go about creating a look for your film, it's a matter of feel that is important. It shouldn't just be filled with a series of exciting visual stimulus, it should come together to feel like a certain world. Not all things are going to be gorgeous or stunning, somethings are just plain and don't call attention to themselves. You're creating a world and it needn't look like any world we've known, but it must feel like it could be real.