The Power of Production Design - Halal Gurls

Production Design (which includes Art Direction) is about Color Palettes, Textures, Interior Decor, Set Architecture, Shot Selection, Props, Wardrobes, Makeup and Hair. Together these elements tell a story all their own. In many films you can discern mood, temperament, character personalities, and story beats just by the Production Design, the colors, and the costumes. And that's how it should be.

Production Design is one of numerous story telling tools filmmakers use to emotionally connect with audiences. Music and dialogue are two others, not to mention casting the right look of a character. The "art of the frame" serves the same purpose as a framed painting. And the colors the painter chooses, the textures, and the shot selection tell us a story. Except in film, you have 24 such framed paintings EVERY SECOND.

As I work to organize the Pomegranate shoot next year, one of my duties is to be aware of what other films are doing. One such streaming series that came to my attention this week is HALAL GURLS, the Australian comedy about three Muslim girls who all wear hijabs. The Production Design was by Isabella Andronos, an award winning designer in Australia.  In part that is what Pomegranate is about so I took a peak. The first thing that caught my attention was the color palette of walls, props, costumes, hair and  make-up and even the Posters (right). I have not yet seen the series, but I will. Yet, just looking at the stills from the trailer (which I've captured off YouTube) tell us something about the story of these three characters. Here is a selection.

Noice how colors are coordinated and how there is usually only one accent color per frame. Notice also the frame composition and the position of faces and how they are facing. The character of lighting also plays a big role...reflective, overhead, point source, direct, and backlight.

     

And finally the Facebook Selfie (below)...which is in Pomegranate, as well.  What do you suppose the harsh color "ORANGE" here infers?  Or for that  matter the color RED in shots above? And what do you make of the shot when ORANGE and RED both appear in the shot, as below? Notice the red sparring gloves. They're not red just by chance. Or, the RED side light trim in the office shot.

Low Budget Indie with Star Power

As producer for a SAG moderate low budget indie we plan to shoot in Michigan in 2021, the attributes of other successful indie productions catch my eye. Today it was Brett Haley's THE HERO (2017).

All this information is from IMDP Pro. There are clear cut lessons here for people like me...actually NOT for people like me, because I'm not in such a position as Brett Haley was and today is.  But there are lessons.

Here's the synopsis written by IMDB fan Kenneth Chisholm:

Lee Hayden is a veteran actor of Westerns whose career's best years are behind him after his one really great film, "The Hero". Now, scraping by with voice-overs for commercials, Lee learns that he has a terminal prognosis of pancreatic cancer. Unable to bring himself to tell anyone about it, especially his estranged family, Lee can only brood alone as troubling, yet inspiring, dreams haunt him. Things change when he meets Charlotte Dylan, a stand-up comedienne who becomes a lover who inadvertently jump-starts his public profile. Now facing a profound emotional conflict of having a potential career comeback, even as his imminent death is staring him in the face, Lee must finally come to terms with both realities when he finally confesses his situation to the one person he can.

ATTRIBUTES OF INTEREST

Budget $1.2 M

Domestic Gross: $4.1M

Shooting Location: Looks like one plus exteriors all in Los Angeles

Cast and their IMDB Star Rating as of this posting:
-- Sam Elliott - 975
-- Laura Prepon - 1,015
-- Nick Offerman - 1,167
-- Krysten Ritter - 838
-- Katharine Ross  - 1,793
-- Ali Wong - 2,890
-- Andyu Allo  - 1,549

Sam Elliott is married in real life (and in this story) to Katharine Ross

Theatrical Release Pattern (No. of Screens):

The lessons here for a producer wanting to make a movie include:

• Write a story about aging Hollywood actors. (easy to attach famous actors)
• Set the movie in L.A. and shoot it there. (no travel cost)
• Promise actors back end, keep budget low, easy funding (or so it seems)

Most producers, this writer included, would love to get 1 or 2 actors attached with such high ranking, and probably strong marketing attraction. But seven such individuals for a $1.2 M picture? Unlikely...unless you write a story about the actors and set it in their backyard and promise that the leads, who are married in real life, are married in your movie. 

I do not know Brett, but this seems like a project that just rolled off a log.