Production Design in the Contemporary American Film: A Critical Study of 23 Movies and Their Designers

by Beverly Heisner

Overview

While the viewer's eyes are trained on the actors, the production design sets the mood for the film. The design also subtly comments on the action and the characters, moves the plot forward and adds to its symbolic content.

The production design of 23 films of the 1980s and 1990s is analyzed here. The films are divided into five areas: realistic films set in the present day, stylized films (including horror) set in the present day, period films, period films that move through several decades, and science fiction and fantasy films. Among the movies analyzed are The Silence of the Lambs, She's Gotta Have It, The Fisher King, Ragtime, Barton Fink, Goodfellas, and Alien. The quality of the designs is assessed by a careful reading of the mise-en-scene. Often the designers' own words are used to describe the effects and the process involved in achieving them.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780786418657
Publisher:	McFarland & Company, Incorporated Publishers
Publication date:	01/30/2004
Edition description:	ALT
Pages:	181
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.37(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Beverly Heisner lives in Columbia, South Carolina.

Table of Contents

	Preface	ix
	Introduction	1
I.	The Films
1.	Films with Realism Set in the Present	11
	Jungle Fever	11
	The Presidio	16
	Reversal of Fortune	18
	She's Gotta Have It	21
	The Silence of the Lambs	23
	Sleeping with the Enemy	32
	Sliver	34
	The Sunshine Boys	36
2.	Stylized Films Set in the Present	39
	The Fisher King	39
	Return of the Living Dead	44
3.	Period Films	46
	Amadeus	46
	Barton Fink	50
	Chinatown	58
	The Cotton Club	64
	Miller's Crossing	68
	Ragtime	74
	The Untouchables	77
4.	Period Films That Move Through Several Decades	82
	Avalon	82
	Driving Miss Daisy	86
	The Godfather, Part II	90
	GoodFellas	96
5.	Science Fiction Films and Fantasy Films	99
	Alien	99
	Raiders of the Lost Ark	105
II.	The Production Designers (with Filmographies)
	Mel Bourne	111
	Albert Brenner	114
	Dennis Gassner	121
	John Graysmark	123
	Douglas Kraner	126
	Norman Reynolds	128
	Bruno Rubeo	131
	Michael Seymour	133
	William Stout	136
	Paul Sylbert	140
	Richard Sylbert	143
	Dean Tavoularis	148
	Wynn Thomas	151
	Patrizia von Brandenstein	155
	Kristi Zea	159
	Bibliography	163
	Index	165

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